re: In pursuit of #17 (LONG)

[kevin lok <bostonceltics17@yahoo.com>]

Mark, fantastic post! Like our local civil servants always say it has
"value-added".! You must have more than a peek into Wallace's 93pages
vision!!!

I am intrigued with your idea of trading DC for
EWilliams/Battie/Griffin. It is a "good risk". If Hornets were to
throw in a #1 (wishful thinking on me), I would do it immediately.

Looking at Charlotte today (internet news), George "stingy -not
thrify" Shinn, really got his hands full. Wesley and PJ Brown are
hinting extension even though their current deals have 2 years to go.
Baron Davis is looking at the same kind of deal as Pierce. Probably
George got to pay at least 36mil to keep unproven Eddie Robinson.

Seeing this scenario, the long deals of EWilliams/Battie may not be
"exciting" to George, but I may be wrong.

some other comments I got:

> 1.  Nazr Mohammed -- i think he's on the brink of a Jermaine 
> O'Neal-like breakout, rather than a Brad Miller flash-in-the-pan. 
> Remember that Larry Brown kept raving about Nazr and i seem to 
> remember hearing Atlanta demanded he be part of the Mutomob deal.  i 
> doubt he'll come for just a 2 year deal, but if we could lure him 
> with wink-wink deal, do it.

This Nazr is hot hot hot! Seemed everybody wants him. From the
internet :

"The Knicks also contacted reps for power forward Nazr Mohammed, but
seem to have more interest in Sixers backup center Todd MacCulloch."

"If the Pistons cannot land free-agent forward Chris Webber - he's
likely out of the Magic's price range - Detroit will likely focus its
efforts on Davis, Atlanta's Nazr Mohammed or Houston's Maurice
Taylor."

"With a shortage of big men in the league, centers such as Golden
State's Marc Jackson, Atlanta's Nazr Mohammed and Philadelphia's Todd
MacCulloch should be in demand. Seattle and Detroit, two teams with
significant cap room, are expected to pursue a center."


If we also are into Nazr, I hope Wallace and team knows that they
would have to trade one of Pot/Battie/Moiso, to have enough minutes at
C/PF to go around.


> 9.  Donnel Harvey (PF) -- I think he's a FA, but can't confirm that. 
> I think he was cut by Dallas after the trade w/ Washington.  He left 
> Florida a year or two too early.  I think if he had stayed he'd be a 
> top 5 pick next year.  He is a monster physically, but has a very raw 
> game.

He is still on Mavs roster. I read that he going to play in the summer
league. I think he is on year 3 of those 3 year rookie contracts.


You mentioned that come 03/04 season, our picks JJ, K Brown and Forte
plus Antione  would be FA. A important factor is the CBA expires and I
fully expect another round of nasty standoffs between players and
league (the NBDL would come in handy). I feel the league would go
after the garanteed monies and length of deals and also maybe a age
limit for entrants. This is pure speculation at this time, but I feel
something's brewing (every team's complaining about losing money) so I
hope Wallace and team is smart enough not to take on too big and too
long contracts when doing trades, so that we can have maximum
flexibility in 03/04.

Also I think 03/04 (if not earlier) would be the final year of the
Walker experiment, couple with Wallace/Papile/OB deals running out. If
we are not championship level by then, I think Gaston would revamp and
rebuilt once more.

kevin