RE: trades and Sportsline article

["John Lyell" <Jlyell@concentric.net>]

Unfortunately I am not so positive. I don't think we will ever win a
championship with Antoine Walker. Just not the team player, can't play D,
and can't really even elevate. Give me Grant Hill. As far as VP being solid,
I see this only in his build.  He was terrible in the summer league games I
saw. Sometime I see some potential with his good low post footwork, but on
most nights he is lost against experienced centers. Has the body to really
bang and put up some good rebounding numbers, but never has.

Still need a backup point, another shooting 2, a real 4 and a 5 to compete
against L.A. San Antonio, & Minnesota.

John





-----Original Message-----
From: owner-celtics@igtc.com [mailto:owner-celtics@igtc.com]On Behalf Of
Peter G. Toner
Sent: Monday, November 22, 1999 4:33 PM
To: Celtics@igtc.com
Subject: trades and Sportsline article


I actually sent (or thought I sent) a message about this Mutumbo idea a few
days ago, but it apparently was lost in the ether. Anyway, the gist of it
is: why trade now? Last year I advocated a possible Walker (and others) for
Mutumbo (and others) trade before we acquired Vitaly. But now we've got a
solid (if unspectacular) centre and we're playing well as a team - who
would have predicted the start we've had, even with a few disappointing
losses?

I still think we need a backup point (Steve Nash would be great, but at
what price?) and some more low post help, but I'm dead against trading any
of our starters or Forston, or any number of trades resulting in a
seven-player turnaround!?! If we can get some decent help in return for a
combination of Barros, Ellison, Williams, McCarty, or even Battie (but only
as a last resort, I think he'll come around), then fine, go for it. But
we've got a winning team on our hands, and more than anything we have to
let them gel together over a season. Think about it: we seem to look most
impressive and win the most games when we focus on team-oriented things
like good ball movement. Why jeopardize the team orientation that is
generally working well by shipping out over half of our team mid-season?

I'm with Joe on this one - in a few years we'll have one of the best seven-
or eight-man rotations around, as long as we don't trade it away.

Pete