Re: Paul's right

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>]

Kestas, 

Your points are well made. I'm sure it seems like I'm willing to trade
Pierce for a song, but I'm not. My point, and I think Paul's as well, is
that Pierce, at his very best, is going to be a good player. He's not a
player that makes his teammates better. Someone mentioned Marbury, and
that's dead-on. Marbury doesn't get it yet, but someday soon he's going to
be a guy who dominates games by scoring, passing and defending. He's a
special player. Kobe, Vince, KG, even Odom... those guys are special
players. Pierce, as good as he is, in my opinion is never going to be
special. He lacks something those other guys have... maybe it's a killer
instinct, maybe it's as simple as the ability to consistently create his own
shot, maybe it's a combination of a lot of things. You can't measure it in
stats, but watch them and you know.

Now, would I love to have Pierce on this team if we also had a Marbury,
Vince or KG? Absolutely. But Pierce also happens to be the most valuable
bargaining chip we have in bringing that kind of talent to Boston. If the
right deal came along... and I'm not saying Pierce for Houston is right (or
even Toine for Houston, although in my opinion, you'd have to seriously
consider either proposal), but just holding onto these guys waiting for them
to improve... I don't like that idea.

I admire most of you on this list for your patience, but I don't think we've
reached the point where patience is all we need. This team needs talent.
Difference-making talent. The only guy we have who really qualifies is
Toine, and he can't be counted on. We can keep waiting for these guys to
become the kind of players we hope they'll be (but I don't believe they'll
ever get there) or we can make some moves to speed the process along.

I understand where you're coming from, but I hope you can see my points,
too.

Mark