Re: We don't need a draft pick?

["hironaka@nomade.fr"<hironaka@nomade.fr>]

I've only seen them play a total of five times, but my 
opinion is that Parker and Tinsley ought to be praised as 
draft day steals in roughly the same proportion that 
Brevin Knight and Bobby Jackson were as rookies a few 
years ago. That is to say, whatever they've proven thus 
far counts for no more or less than it ought to. Tinsley 
may or may not be a defensive liability with a Quinn 
Buckner shooting touch, and Parker may or may not be as 
puny and frail as Brevin Knight (who was a waterbug of a 
ballhandler who I think also averaged over 3 steals per 
game as a rookie). Parker, in particular, has never 
played well at least when I've watched him on TV. Not 
that fast, not that great a shot, no special court sense 
worth mentioning.

But if these guys are for real (and look I've watched 
these guys less than probably everyone out there), that's 
great.

But the salient point is that this doesn't mean that 
teams very often find playoff-asset-calibre NBA point 
guards after the 20th pick in the draft. Even in so-
called "point guard" drafts.

Personally, I'm very impressed with the flair and passing 
acumen of Chris Duhon (not that I expect him to be 
available in the last third of any first round). He's 
short, but he's really a standout player.

But c'mon let's not get all crazy about the value of our 
first round draft pick, particularly after getting three 
years worth of unfulfilled potential in the last draft.

I think there will be universal agreement that Bryon 
Russell is a much more successful NBA player than 
Strickland ever was. And he's been to the playoffs every 
year (with better playoff than regular season stats 
incidentally). How many total games of playoff experience 
do the Celtics have on their roster? You can argue that 
this kind of consideration might matter. Moreover, this 
is Boston's last chance to add depth in case of injury. 

I'm not going to advocate this trade scenario...to me 
this is really a wash. But on the other hand its hard to 
argue convincingly that we'd be better off keeping 
Walter, Randy and our current draft position. What are we 
trying to prove there?

The thing I fear about Waltah is that if he's still on 
our roster at season's end, Obie may feel compelled to re-
up him for an additional three years. Walter seems like a 
very good guy and I'm sure signing him would please 
Antoine Walker and other key Celts. 

In other words, Waltah is just barely good enough to hang 
onto a roster spot we may be better off employing to sign 
or develop a true backup power forward. By trading him 
midseason (as we've reportedly tried to do before), maybe 
Obie is really just trying to avoid rejecting a great kid 
that he has already coached for close to a decade.

But again, I'm not favoring this trade. I just feel it 
can be purely justified on basketball grounds (as opposed 
to financial grounds).

Joe

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