Re: "Gave Mercer Away"

[Michael Gooen <callmebogie@yahoo.com>]

--- "Berry, Mark  S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG> wrote:
> I was referring to the immediate returns and how it impacted the team
> the
> season following the trade and last season. Kedrick Brown and Joseph
> Forte
> didn't help Pitino one bit (but he did make the trades and doesn't get
> any
> credit for the return).>>

I, for one, give Pitino credit for the return.  I think accumulating 3
draft picks in a deep draft was an excellent maneuver.  The
Walker-Pierce-Mercer troika had lousy chemistry and I believe Pitino was
correct in his assessment that Mercer was the one that needed to go.  I,
for one, wish Pitino had made more of those build for the future type
moves rather than lateral moves (e.g., Travis Knight).  I'm a spoiled
Celtics fan.  I'm not excited about going from 15 to 36 wins.  I care only
about getting to #17.  I'm glad that Josh's new buddy seems to be oriented
the same way.

Not every good trade gives an immediate return.  I'm not suggesting that
Mercer for KBrown/Forte is a heist of this magnitude, but one could make
the point that the Lakers didn't get an immediate return for Gail Goodrich
when they traded him to the Jazz for a future first round pick ... but the
Lakers used that pick several years later to select Magic Johnson.

<< Probably would have been interesting to see what happened had Fortson
never been injured. I wasn't a fan of his, but maybe he really could have
been the power forward that shifted Toine to small forward.>>

I agree with you there, Mark.  I prefer to see Toine at small forward too.
 I, too, wonder who's going to rebound on this team.  I'd like to see O'B
experiment with a Johnson-Pierce-Walker-Battie-VP (or Blount) lineup.

I DID like Fortson -- anyone who's that much of a beast on the boards is a
valuable player.  But he doesn't seem to be able to stay out of foul
trouble, and his health is a real concern.  So I don't blame Pitino for
bailing on that experiment, and I'll credit Pitino if Joseph Forte turns
out to be a "puzzle piece".

> 
> Mark
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