Re: BSG's take

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

Josh wrote:

Didn't see this posted.  Simmons take is very well-thought
out, strongly felt and argued, and persuasive.  I disagree,
though, and I think in a year or two this will go down as
one of the worst trades in Celtics history, much worse that
the Potapenko trade, which at least had some long-term
basketball logic to it.  I sure hope I'm wrong.

---end---

Josh, do you really believe Joe Johnson will ever be the player Shawn Marion
or Andre Miller are? I just don't see it. And just because the Potapenko
trade was had "some long-term basketball logic"-I guess you mean because
they were trying to fill a need-doesn't redeem it. If they thought Vitaly
was any kind of long-term answer to anything, then they're even worse
evaluators of talent than we think. Of course, based on the way they've
drafted, they probably are just that bad. Regardless, Joe Johnson will have
to be Tracy McGrady to make this worse than the Potapenko trade. At least
Rogers and Delk will help. Vitaly, just for a hard dose of reality, is a
4-point, 5-rebound guy making pretty big money. I don't think there's a huge
demand for his type around the league.

I think this trade has forced some fans to face up to the fact that the
Celts had a chance in the last draft to reshape the franchise and they
failed miserably. They had three picks in a tremendous draft and whiffed on
two of them. The third is yet to be determined. They cut their losses with
Joe Johnson. As for the first-round pick, they weren't going to use it
anyway. We've seen it reported several times in the last two weeks that they
just wanted to get rid of it because they didn't want to pay the contract.
It was gone anyway, and not for any kind of great return-they didn't want
any salary. When you concede they blew it with JJ, it's a lot easier to like
this trade. And when you see how impotent the offense can be when Antoine
and/or Pierce aren't involved or hitting (like last night), then you should
appreciate the value of Rogers and Delk. If Obie uses them...

One quick point... Remember Wallace's comment about moving up one spot for
Haywood? "That wasn't really possible" or some such thing. Tell me, do you
think the Cavs would have accepted the Celts 2002 first-rounder in exchange
for swapping spots in last year's draft? I sure do. If you weren't
interested in paying the salary of the 2002 draft pick, why not make that
deal? There are so many ways to second-guess the way the Celts handled the
draft. The only thing you can really say is they butchered it. Absolutely
butchered it. And it's sad, because it was a golden opportunity.

And, finally... If I'm wrong about Joe Johnson, and the Celtics are wrong
about Joe Johnson, and the only reason he didn't make it here is because he
was overwhelmed by Pierce and Walker... well, if that's the case, then you
have to make some major changes. You can't be satisfied with a team that can
only function with Pierce and Walker taking turns demanding the ball the
second it crosses half-court. I don't believe that yet. I believe everyone
encouraged Joe to assert himself more and he just wasn't going to do it. I
believe they'll encourage Kedrick to assert himself more and more as he gets
more comfortable. We should find out soon enough. The team brought in two
potent offensive complements in this trade. If they become spectators like
Joe Johnson, then we'll know there's a problem with the captains and the
coach. We'll see.

Mark