Re: Kevin Willis Update

[opi@unesco.org]

Way Of The Ray wrote:

> I believe if there is a Kevin Willis to Celtics trade it will
> involve Antoine Walker for Willis and McGrady. This is in reference to
> Celtics news group member Roger William's sighting of Willis at
> Logan Airport Sunday. Willis could have been in town to visit friends
> or his agent or check out the Ryder Cup, but if it was to conduct
> a clandestine meeting with the Celtics, the above trade would be
> the sort of deal pitino would do. An alternative trade would be to
> send Tony Battie, cap filler and the Denver pick for Willis.
> The usually reliable inside track has not had any Willis information
> as pertains to a Ryder Cup appearance, so maybe something is up....
> Ray

Kevin Willis is already 37-years-old and managed just .418FG% last year,
far below his career .495FG%. Some might say he is finished. He had a
great career IMO.

If you favor trading Tony Battie plus a Denver 1st round pick for Willis
at this stage, then I'm glad you are not a GM.  Battie's solid PF numbers
after Walker went down last season and his confident play at FILA suggest
he may be a better prospect than Kevin Willis next year and down the road.
Just my opinion.

Remember that McGrady is not yet a double figure contributor in either of
his two NBA seasons, so there is a risk in trading Antoine and building
around that kid.
-----

Bob Miller wrote:

> >Look at that starting lineup: Hakeem, Sir Charles, Anderson, Steve
> >Francis and either Pippen or whoever they get in exchange for him.
>
> Has any team ever won the championship with a rookie starting point
> guard? (Even in Magic's rookie year, Norm Nixon was their starting
> point).

With that much firepower, you'd think Houston would get more wins starting
a pure ball distributor point guard. Personally, I think there is still
plenty of room in the NBA for an impact 6-3 shooting guard, especially one
will great speed and ball handling skills. More and more you see converted
NCAA small forwards playing that position, even if they can't dribble or
defend a great dribbler. IMO, Houston shouldn't pigeon-hole Steve Francis
with the "point guard or bust" label, unless that kid shows he's really
very precocious and also unselfish.  The last thing that lineup needs is a
fifth scorer. It would be a pity to see that much talent fail to mesh as a
team.


Joe