Re: Anderson on the block

[Kestutis.Kveraga@Dartmouth.EDU (Kestutis Kveraga)]

--- You wrote:
If Pitino is able to acuire something of value for Kenny Anderson, it's a
masterstroke. Finally, we're talking about trading a player when his value
is highest. 
--- end of quote ---

I'm not so sure that we could get value in return even now. Kenny's been saying, and doing, all the right things this year, including playing while injured. He's a still-young veteran who, IMO, is at a point of his career where he understands the value of conditioning and defense, and just plain wants to accomplish something instead of becoming just another talented player who never did much in the NBA. More important, he can just flat-out play. He said during one interview earlier this year that basketball to him is "like riding a bicycle", and I agree. Most players have to work at the game; Kenny is like fish in the water, he can get wherever he wants to go, and do whatever he wants to do, pretty much any time he chooses to. 

Despite all that, he has a big contract, and that means teams will be reluctant to give up a lot in return. More likely, it would be a PG limited in some way  - a taller, athletic one with marginal PG skills, or a defensively challenged shrimp  like Knight - + some salary jetsam. I'm still having flashbacks of Billups throwing mid-air passes to the expensive seats, and we don't have a shotblocker to tower over a Brevin Knight-type being posted up, ready to help out.  Edney and Michael Hawkins had excellent PG skills, but,  the longevity of Spud's and Mugsey's careers notwithstanding, you can't seriously use a 5-7 guy as a starter in the NBA. Yes, I know Stoudamire is a starting PG for Portland, but he's a well-built 5-8, and that's Portland after all. 

If the impetus to trade Kenny is indeed real, and is coming from Thanksdad (not necessarily as a direct order, but as a general desire to trim the bottom line), it's yet another indication that we'll never win anything while he's the owner. After shelling out over $120M to Pitino and Walker, he may be having a bout of fiscal anxiety, and ready to go into the Donald T. Sterling mode (i.e., have a sucky, but cheap team). This is, of course, mostly speculation at this point, but I believe the signs are there.