Re: Magic Want To Package Their 3 Firsts For A Top Five Pick

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

"Berry, Mark S" wrote:

> This is the dumbest piece of "news" I've seen in a long time. Of course the
> Magic want a top-five pick. So do we all. The Celts would gladly trade 10,
> 11 and 21 for a top five pick. It ain't happenin'.

True, true, but I can think of one team, that might be interested,
and that's Vancouver, because they want to dump Reeves, and
they need multiple draft choices.  Vancouver is such an enticing
team to trade with: Shareef, Bibby, Reeves, a top five pick, Dickerson,
Swift...

Really, the Grizzlies have everything the Celtics need from point guards to
power forwards to centers to shooting guards to scorers.

The C's and Vancouver should get together on a mega
deal. Draft choices, Walker, Pot; everyone but Pierce. Make a
big splash, Pond and Wallace. Okay, it's not happening, but
Wallace needs to do the telemarketer thing with the Grizz,
and just hound them into a deal.


> Teams rarely trade down
> in the NBA, and certainly not without a legit player to make it attractive.

True, true. However, the C's might be able to move in the 6 - 8
range, by packaging two of their picks. 10 & 11 for (6-8) that's
not out of the realm of possibilities.

>
> As I recall, the Magic and Bulls were offering multiple lottery picks to
> move up just a couple of spots last year, and couldn't find a taker.

However, there have been moves upwards in the past drafts.
Dallas traded up for Nowitzki, and Milwaukee got
Pryzbilla from Houston.


> Now,
> I'm with Joe H. in his thinking that the Celts would be wise to discuss a
> Walker-for-top-three pick. You just don't get many chances at franchise-type
> big men, and if Walker (or even Pierce for that matter) can land you a Ming,
> Curry or Kwame Brown (maybe Eddie Griffin), you do that deal.

> As for the draft in general, like it or not, we'd better start thinking of
> it as a "delayed reaction" kind of thing. If the Celts draft a high-schooler
> like Dasagna Diop, for example, just think of his first year (maybe two) as
> his college seasons. He's not here, he's off at Duke polishing his game.
> Year 3 is his "rookie" year when he breaks into the rotation. It's the only
> way to think of the draft these days. If teams go into it looking for the
> quick fix, they're following the road to ruin.
>

Diop. Diop. Diop. You're too Diop happy. All the quality centers --
with far and few exceptions -- get chosen in the top five picks
of every draft. Any center there for the Celtics is likely to be just
average. They'd be better using the 21st pick on the best
center available.
Ray


>
> Also, forget Gary Payton. His best years are behind him and he would cost
> you Walker or Pierce. I'm not opposed to making a big trade, but it needs to
> be for a guy who will be contributing to this team when it's ready to
> contend-and that's four or five years away.
>
> Finally, I find it amusing that in all of the Boston media coverage of
> O'Brien's hiring, they never mention what happened at the University of
> Dayton. They mentioned his first season there, when they won 20 games, but
> they completely ignore the devastation of the rest of his tenure there. He
> left that program a wasteland. Now, maybe he's a great pro coach, but don't
> you think any responsible journalist would at least point out that this guy
> has a coaching track record beyond 24-24 over the past three months?
>
> Mark