Re: Re: interesting NBA notes

[Alexander Wang <awang@MIT.EDU>]

I'd rather have this team built right than have it built quickly. Before 
this draft, we had a team with quite a few holes: basically the 3-12 spots 
on the roster. That's a bit harsh, but if you define a hole as "below 
starter quality", then everyone but Walker and Pierce counts. We also had 
three draft choices but a bad cap situation relative to the luxury tax. I'm 
happy we spent the draft choices on our best talents rather than a center 
like Haywood. Realistically, those mid to late first round centers don't 
give you anything for at least two years anyway, by which time a swingman 
like Johnson and Brown could conceivably be a star-quality player who can 
bring something much better than Haywood in a trade.

As for Mohammed, I'd think that O'Brien has a decent idea of whether he's 
worth trading for. Maybe they've looked into it and balked at the price. 
Not everything appears in ESPN insider.

We managed to play .500 ball with our starting center (Battie) and starting 
point guard (Anderson) out. Anderson may very well be finished, but somehow 
I doubt we're going to get worse at our point guard position than we did 
last year. I like Palacio but he's probably a third string talent, and if 
he can't improve on his play from last year, my guess is we can find 
another CBA guy who can. Hopefully, given another year of development for 
our young stars, we'll improve on that .500 record. I think that Mark's 
right, we're going to get mauled inside on a lot of nights. Speculation 
about Mohammed aside, I don't think anyone's going to give us an upgrade 
over our current centers in a trade or sign-and-trade without demanding 
something more than Vitaly or Battie - probably a first round draft pick, 
for a slight upgrade.

Next year, you'll hopefully be getting that sophomore jump from Johnson and 
Brown. You get another shot at the draft. Maybe you make a trade if either 
of these guys has developed enough to increase their value by that much.

And the year after, you get under the luxury tax again enough to add a free 
agent.

So there's room for improvement over the next few years, if we're patient. 
If you start getting desperate to improve your team now, you might make 
trades like your #1 pick for Potapenko. While I'd like to see improvement 
at both the center and PG position, I doubt it's possible without giving up 
quality talent or draft picks. I'd rather that didn't happen.

Alex