Re: C's mentioned in trade-up, etc....

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

I think Ray left off the part about the trade-up. I'm guessing he's
referring to the Detroit-Vancouver situation. Vancouver has until Friday to
let Detroit know if it will be sending a draft pick (top 18) to the Pistons
this year. If not, they are required to send one next year (if it's in the
6-18 range). The Grizzlies don't want to send the No. 6 pick this year
obviously, so they're trying to trade for another pick later in the first
round to send to Detroit. They also want to keep next year's pick because
the draft is going to be held in Memphis-plus, next year's pick also will be
in the top 10. Vancouver hasn't found any willing trade partners because
it's so early in the evaluation process, most teams aren't ready to trade
this year's picks. Boston Sports Guy mentioned the Celts might send 11 and
21 to Vancouver for the 6, so the Grizzlies could send 11 to Detroit. The
Grizz normally wouldn't do this deal, but they're over a barrel and might
see the 21 pick as at least some compensation for giving up their sixth
pick. Seems plausible. The Celts certainly would do that deal in a
heartbeat. BSG speculates they'd hope Battier was on the board, and that may
be true. They may also see it as a chance to get Diop, Richardson, White or
Gasol... or package 6 and 10 to move into the top 3.

As for Chandler slipping... it's still early, so it's dangerous to assume
anything. Having said that, it wasn't that long ago that this kid was
compared to Kareem. Is he ready to play center in the NBA? Obviously he's
not. But will he be three years from now? He's 18 years old and hasn't even
started to grow into his body. I know no one enjoys talking about draft
picks and two- or three-year waits, but how many times can we make the same
mistake? McGrady, Kobe... Three years is the blink of an eye in the life of
a franchise. I don't know squat about Tyson Chandler, but let's not write
him off already. If he's there at 10 and the Celts pass just because he
needs a couple of years of seasoning, then they deserve more mediocrity. If
they pass simply because he's not good enough, that's fine. And one more
thing... let's give Moiso this season before we give up on him. And can we
once and for all stop lumping every tall, thinly built young player in as
"another Moiso." Do any of us really believe Moiso didn't contribute this
year because of his size or strength? He didn't contribute because he wasn't
aggressive enough. It has nothing to do with his stature. A guy can be
passive at 6-8 just as easily as at 7-0.

Mark