RE: Things heating up

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

Here's my line of reasoning: Brown/Chandler are 1-2. Curry seems set at 4.
Golden State already has Antawn Jamison, a 'tweener forward, so they don't
seem like a good fit for Rodney White. They also have been burned by taking
the "safe" route more than any other team (it's how they ended up with
Adonal Foyle over McGrady and Todd Fuller over Kobe Bryant), so I'm ruling
out Battier (if he's the slider). If it's Griffin or Gasol, I'm just going
on a hunch between the two, and believe they take Gasol (if I'm wrong, Gasol
very easily could fall in the Celts' laps at 10). That gets you to 6, where
the rumored trade is Detroit moving up specifically for Rodney White. Then
you're to 7 and Griffin/Battier is officially sliding. New Jersey might take
either guy, but then Richardson becomes the slider. Then you're to
Cleveland. They seem to be zeroing in on Joe Johnson. Would they switch and
take the Griffin/Battier/Richardson slider? Battier, maybe. The others? If
it's Griffin, the whispers about his character are going to get louder, and
any team drafting him at this point is doing so sight unseen. Who would they
choose between Richardson and Johnson? Hard to say, but you'd have to think
they'd err on the side of caution and take the guy they know more
thoroughly... Johnson. Then you're at 9 and Vancouver (assuming the trade
happens) and they supposedly have targeted Diop. Now, they are considering
Richardson at 6, so if Jersey passes on him and he slides to 9, they
certainly could take him and leave Diop for the Celts. But if it's Griffin,
doesn't he kind of dupliate Shareef? And if it's Battier, is his upside
great enough to pass on Diop? Of course, this all depends on Atlanta. If
they take Rodney White, everything is in flux again. Washington still may
trade down. Who knows? But I do think the potential is there for a Paul
Pierce-type slide.

I know I'll get killed for saying this, but I think Battier excites me the
least of the top 10 picks. He may very well be the rookie of the year, but I
think he's destined to be a nice role player. The Celts certainly could use
that, but I have my sights set a little higher at this point. 

Mark

 -----Original Message-----
From: 	OzerskyJA [mailto:OzerskyJA@cmog.org] 
Sent:	Monday, June 25, 2001 10:48 AM
To:	'Berry, Mark  S'; 'celtics@igtc.com'
Subject:	RE: Things heating up

Interesting, Mark, and pleasing too, in a way.
But what makes you think that Golden State will
opt for Gasol.  Boy, was I wrong about Chandler.
I was sure his stock would plummet.  If we get
Griffin or Battier at ten.  Griffin/Johnson?
Battier/Brown?  Wow.... Memphis/Vancouver is said
to be considering Radmonivic, though.  And of course
if Golden State takes Rodney White rather than Gasol,
which I would expect them to do, that would open up
Gasol for us at ten.  Maybe we could even get Gasol
and Battier out of this draft!  And then add Zach
Randolph at 21, given the maturity glut.   I can't
take much more of this!

btw,  do you guys want to exchange phone numbers
so we can talk during the draft or pre-draft show?
I'm planning on putting my free minutes to good use....

josh

-----Original Message-----
From: Berry, Mark S [mailto:berrym@BATTELLE.ORG]
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2001 10:14 AM
To: 'celtics@igtc.com'
Subject: Things heating up


The draft really is starting to shake out. Today's indications are that
Kwame Brown and Tyson Chandler will go 1-2. Chandler's stock is soaring
again. Assuming that happens, Atlanta becomes pivotal. Indications have been
they'll take Battier, but rumors this weekend had them considering Griffin
or Rodney White. It seems that either Battier or Griffin could slide
depending on who doesn't go 3. That's because the rest of the lottery seems
to play out like this... 4. Bulls-Curry; 5. Golden St.-Gasol; 6. Vancouver
(for Detroit)-Rodney White; 7. Jersey-Jason Richardson (could opt for
Griffin/Battier slider); 8. Cleveland-Joe Johnson; 9. Detroit (for
Vancouver)-DeSagna Diop. That leaves either the Griffin/Battier slider or
Richardson for the Celts. Unlikely, but reminiscent of the Pierce draft,
when he got past the top five and the rest of the top 10 passed him by
because they already had zeroed in on others. It could happen because
Griffin has the character issues and Battier lacks upside. The Celtics, I
would think, would do backflips for Griffin or Richardson. I haven't even
considered the impact of Atlanta drafting White. That would result in utter
chaos.

Who knows what happens at 11? I do think the Celts are moving away from the
Murphy/Bradley camp. I find myself hoping the Kedrick Brown rumor is true.
We haven't heard the Celts associated with VladRad, but I'm wondering if
they aren't just keeping their interest in him low key. The other name to
watch is Tony Parker. The weekend rumors have his stock soaring, and I've
read quotes comparing him to Jason Williams with better decision-making and
shooting, and even Jason Kidd. I think the Celts were targeting him at 21,
but he'll be long gone by then. Could the Celts work out something with
Houston-say 11&21 for 13&18-so they could take Parker at 13 and Kedrick
Brown at 18? Seems like one way to get the two guys they seem to like.
Houston might do it to move ahead of Seattle for VladRad, Murphy or Haywood.

Where is the Portland rumor coming from? I must have missed that. The only
guy on that roster that realistically would interest me in a deal for the
11th pick is Bonzi Wells, and I have concerns about him coming off the knee
injury. But if they offered Bonzi and 19 for 11, the Celts would have to do
it. Please let me know where that rumor started.

Going into the weekend, I really thought the Celts would end up with Gasol,
Diop or Joe Johnson. Now, I think only Joe Johnson from that group has a
realistic chance of getting to the Celts. I was starting to get fired up for
an all-Agatha Christie draft of Gasol/Diop, Kedrick Brown and Tony Parker.
Not going to happen, though.

Mark

P.S. As for the Antoine debate... Both sides can stack up numbers that make
their arguments look good. The truth is probably somewhere in between. He's
nowhere near Kevin Garnett, no matter how you want to present the numbers;
and he's much more valuable than some of the flotsam and jetsam others would
trade him for. Joe makes some interesting arguments basically defending
Antoine's shooting percentage, but plenty of other players are the focus of
opposing defenses and still manage better than 41 percent shooting. His
supporters say he's not even 25 years old, but his critics point out that
he's entering his sixth season. His supporters say he's working out for the
first time, his critics say all the workouts in the world won't cure shot
selection that led to almost 600 3-point attempts. Would I trade him for
Kwame Brown or Eddy Curry? In a heartbeat, but that's just me.