Re: Penny Hardaway

[Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu>]

> This trade would set us back two years.  We are already weak at the power
> forward/center position.  I can not see giving up Mercer and Battie for
> Penny.  They would have to throw in Doleac or Austin.

It's rather strange that Battie has become the big man savior of the 
Celtics recently. I think the guy has potential down the road but I don't 
see him as an immediate solution by any stretch. If he really is as good
as some people see him, we should be worshipping Pitino for his amazing
rip-off of Jerry West.

> Penny does not want to play point guard, so why trade Anderson?  Please
> say it this is not true!

And no, it's not "true", it's a speculative trade suggestion on my part. What
is true is that Pitino confirmed that he'd be interested in Hardaway - who
only a few years ago was one of the top talents in the game. Sports fans
tend to have a short-term memory. What's also probably true is that a 
sign-and-trade involving Hardaway would have to include Mercer at least. 

A sign-and-trade involving Hardaway would require that he agree to it also,
so Pitino would only do it if he talked to Hardaway first. So he could 
confirm that Hardaway would 1) play point guard for the Celtics if asked,
and 2) be happy playing for Pitino.

A trade for Hardaway would be a gamble because there's the possibility that
he never again shows the ability that made him an all-NBA first teamer.
It's a gamble I'd be willing to take because it would give the Celtics three
potential all-NBA types in Walker, Pierce, and Hardaway (and I don't put
Mercer in this category). Hardaway causes matchup problems which would be
a handy for building an offense around (like Mark Jackson for the Pacers),
and eliminates the defensive size liability at point guard. And he's not
going to cost much more than Mercer, and we'll be getting him in his prime
years (he's currently 27). And he has 45 games of playoff experience.
Even if he contributes at his current level, 15.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 5.3 apg,
he'll be a fine complement to Walker and Pierce, and a better all-around
player than Mercer.

Alex
 
> Greg
> gh18@juno.com
> 
> On Sat, 29 May 1999 14:19:05 EDT Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu> writes:
> >As Ray has reported, in the WEEI interview, Pitino confirmed that he'd
> >be interested in a talent like Penny Hardaway.
> 
> ___________________________________________________________________
> You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
> Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html
> or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]
>