Re: Trades

["John Lyell" <johnlyell@hotmail.com>]

I agree. Olowokandi has been the second coming of Benoit benjamin so far.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Niles, Shawn" <SNiles@vanderweil.com>
To: "'Alex Wang'" <awang@mit.edu>; <celtics@igtc.com>
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2000 6:13 AM
Subject: RE: Trades


> Why would you even consider trading our best player in Pierce, who in his
> second year is already a proven player, for Olowokandi, who you yourself
> call a "gamble". That would be a very foolish move.
> 
> Shawn
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Alex Wang [mailto:awang@mit.edu]
> Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2000 4:36 PM
> To: celtics@igtc.com
> Subject: Trades
> 
> 
> Enough about "Spintino", the trading deadline is coming up! Pitino was
> quoted as saying that a lot of teams were tied up in the Larry Hughes
> sweepstakes, and that more trade possibilities should open up. As a
> "peace offering" to Joe, Kestas, and Tom, I'll criticize Pitino for
> this statement: Shouldn't Pitino have realized this and been patient
> before he shipped off Danny Fortson? Not bad, huh? OK, now let's talk
> trades.
> 
> I'd see three needs for the Celtics right now:
> 
> 1) A center or center/power forward with size, defensive skills, and
> shotblocking. Ideally you'd want rebounding and at least a bit of
> offense in the package, but those types are pretty hard to acquire
> in trade.
> 
> 2) A swingman with decent size who can shoot the three-pointer with
> quickness and accuracy. This can be a relatively one-dimensional
> backup quality player who can take minutes away from the McCarty,
> Williams, and Cheaney group. Someone who could give us 8 ppg in
> limited minutes and hit 40% on threes would make a difference on
> this team.
> 
> 3) A backup point guard with size and defensive ability, who is skilled
> enough to bring the ball past halfcourt without being terrorized by
> the Mookie Blaylocks of the league. If this player has three-point
> range, all the better.
> 
> The last two needs can be filled with relatively low first round draft
> picks (and time for them to develop), the $2M exception, or trades
> involving Fortson. My personal preference would be to wait until the
> offseason to try to fill these needs with the draft and free agency.
> 
> The first need is something that Pitino has said won't come from the
> draft or free agency. You can get a starter-quality swingman with the
> $2M exception but as far as I know, nobody got a starter-quality
> center. You can sometimes get a starter-quality center in the
> mid-to-late 1st round of the draft but usually they take three or
> four years before they are servicable. I don't think the Celtics
> are planning on waiting that long before they upgrade.
> 
> That leaves trades. First of all, I think that if the Celtics said,
> "You can't have Walker or Pierce or any draft picks", then the
> remainder of their roster probably wouldn't be sufficient to get a
> good center. One thing that I never hear mentioned is the prospect
> of Pierce getting traded. People talk a lot about Walker getting
> traded but he's really the less tradable one: he has the big salary
> and base-year restrictions.
> 
> Now Pierce is already one of the best shooting guards in the league
> in only his second year. He's signed cheap to the new rookie contract.
> Well, why would you even consider trading him then? Well, you always
> ask what you're getting back first. Back when Miami had Glen Rice,
> most fans probably thought, why would we ever trade Rice, one of the
> top offensive weapons in the game? Of course, if it's for Mourning,
> it looks awfully good. I don't expect us to get a total rip-off like
> that - a comparable trade would be getting Duncan for Pierce.
> But you can probably imagine a package that would be pretty tempting.
> Mark Berry has mentioned Olowokandi. How about Olowokandi and Derek
> Anderson for Pierce and Eric Williams, say? Not good enough? What if
> they throw in a future first round pick? Tempting. What about the
> 2000 pick? That would be very hard to refuse although I doubt they
> offer it.
> 
> The Clippers get a sure star to play alongside Odom - their own
> version of Pippen and Jordan, locked down to rookie contracts, which
> or the Clippers is always a primary factor. They get value for Derek
> Anderson who they probably don't have any hope of keeping anyway.
> We get a center who is a project and a gamble but possibly a 15 pt,
> 10+ reb, 2.5 block inside presence down the road and a talented
> combination guard who is a perfect fit for the Pitino system.
> Of course, the Clippers are one of the few teams that Antoine could
> be traded to, so that would be an alternative. But my main point is,
> if you really want a good big man, you have to at least consider
> Pierce a possibility to be traded.
> 
> OK, there are very few centers in the league that are worth trading
> Pierce for though. I can't dream up of another plausible scenario
> right now, except for trading Pierce during the draft for one of the
> top college centers. I don't follow college ball much so someone else
> could comment on that. So let's exclude Pierce and Walker for the
> rest of the discussion. Some combination of Fortson, Battie, Vitaly,
> even Anderson, and first round draft picks might be sufficient to
> snag a center of the future. Supposedly everyone but Jamison (and
> now Hughes) is tradable on Golden State so maybe Dampier could be
> had at the right price (is he BYC though?). Or what about Foyle?
> 
> How about Jermaine O'Neal from Portland? Can any Portland list members
> comment on his ability to play center (although he's also a base-year
> player I believe)? Cato is rumored to be available but that seems
> somewhat doubtful to me.
> 
> Alex
> 
>