Jermaine O'Neal, Antoine Walker

[Alexander Wang <awang@mit.edu>]

The trade of Jermaine O'Neal for Dale Davis should finally put the
Celtics-Portland trade rumors to rest. The fact that O'Neal netted Portland
a tough, experienced All-Star rebounder and defender like Dale Davis does
clarify the value of his potential. Obviously Pitino was not the only
person who coveted him; Donnie Walsh is a well-respected GM who has built a
quality team. He should get some minutes on the Pacers, who are a bit thin
in front, so we'll have a better idea of whether he could have helped us.

On to Antoine. As disappointing as his lack of commitment to offseason
workouts is, I have a feeling that trading him now would be disastrous. Of
course, there's always some possible trade that would be worthwhile, but
realistically if the Celtics said, "We are 100% commited to dealing Walker
right now", they are going to get totally shafted. Honestly I don't see the
situation as being that urgently bad. The guy still wants to play for
Boston. He's still quite young (just turned 24). I think he's shown
improvement in areas of his game despite his aversion to offseason
conditioning - he focused on passing more, shot 2 pt FGs and FTs at career
highs. Furthermore, when his BYC status expires, there will be many more
possible deals. Basically, I agree with the analogy that others have made
about trading Walker now as being similar to selling a stock at its low. I
don't think it's really going to get worse -- despite our fears, I don't
think he's going to come in 300 lbs and average 10 and 5.

Alex