Re: Knicks

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

Jim wrote:
Of all the things that have happened to the Celtics over the last 15 years
or so, the one that I truly do not regret is that they held on to their
aging players "too long". Does anybody really wish they had traded Bird or
McHale in the late '80s? The Celtics current problems come from a mix of
poor management and bad luck, not because they kept Larry Bird too long. But
that was a long time ago and things are different now. I don't blame the
Knicks for trading Ewing. In fact, I think they showed plenty of loyalty
giving him his last contract which was far more than he was worth at the
time. I'm also not sure how much the Knicks have helped themselves with this
trade. We'll have to see who goes next, Houston or Sprewell and what they
get in return, but both of those guys are better than Rice right now, aren't
they? 

Jim, I agree on all counts. As for the Knicks after this trade, it depends
on what they do next. If they land Webber (for Houston-Camby-??), it was a
decent deal. If they land Mutombo (for Houston or Sprewell and Camby) it was
a decent deal. If they settle for Matt Geiger or Vitaly Potapenko (they've
been discussed) it was a lousy deal. And if they stand pat (won't happen),
it was awful.

First of all, yes, Houston and Sprewell are light years ahead of Rice at
this point, so trading either Houston or Sprewell under the assumption that
Rice is an adequate replacement is simply not accurate. However, if they
improve their front line with either Mutombo or Webber (by trading Houston
or Sprewell), they certainly seem to be a better, more balanced team.

The real winners here were the Lakers. They traded Rice, who they didn't
want anyway, for a perfect PF complement to Shaq who also happens to have
experience in the triangle offense. And they get an experienced frontcourt
reserve in Greg Foster in the bargain. Good deal.

The Sonics also did well. They sacrifice an aging PF for an aging center,
but the aging center clearly will have more impact on that team. Of course,
they're still not good enough to beat Portland or LA, and half the team will
be in a retirement home or a loony bin in three years.

The Suns... got out of Longley's contract. Not bad.

The Knicks are the only losers here, unless they salvage it with their next
move. We'll see.