Re: Centers of attention

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

Hi David,

Good analysis of the available big men. I was a Haywood fan back at draft
time, but it seems we never seriously considered him. Our braintrust just
doesn't seem to appreciate big men like Haywood. Everyone would love Shaq,
Duncan, Dikembe or Alonzo, but there's a lot of room between those guys and
the Battie-Vitaly-Blount troika. Yet we seem completely uninterested in
upgrading unless it's an all-star.

Anyway, Magloire would be a nice pickup. I'm sure you'll get a lot of "he's
no better than what we have..." type posts, but he is better. He averages
6.3 points and 4.6 rebounds in just 15 minutes per game. He also shoots 50
percent from the floor, 76 percent from the line, averages 1.5 points per
shot (a great rate) blocks almost a shot a game in those 15 minutes. 

I'm estimating that Magloire and Battie probably share comparable per-minute
stats across the board. The reason I like Magloire is he has at least 20
pounds on Battie (Magloire listed at 260, Battie at 240... and I'm betting
Battie's weight is generous). He's a much more physical player. He plays
well against the Celtics for that reason-he outmuscles Battie and is more
mobile than Vitaly.

Is Magloire an all-star? Obviously he isn't. But he's an upgrade. His salary
is small, and apparently he's available. Interesting thought.

As for the others you mention... Jackson and Dampier, from Golden State,
would be upgrades but they're too expensive for the Celts... Bradley is
interesting. He actually would be Battie-deluxe. He could roam and trap and
block shots from the weak side-all the things Battie does-only Bradley could
do them better. But he's too expensive and the contract is too long, so he's
out.... 

If they really wanted a big man, others potentially on the block include
Lafrentz, Camby, Theo Ratliff, Dale Davis, Keon Clark, Greg Ostertag, Brian
Grant... but it won't happen.

The truth is I'll be shocked if the braintrust does anything at all. They
don't want to trade expiring contracts. They don't want to add contracts or
salary. They can't trade Kedrick and probably won't trade Forte because
they'd look bad. They could trade Joe Johnson, but I don't think they have
the guts. Nobody else, other than Pierce and Walker, has any real value. JJ
would make great tradebait, but they won't do it. It's going to be status
quo, except for tweaks, until 2003.

Mark