Re: Las Vegas SUN Ex-Rebel Banks skips draft camp

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Josh asked:

what do we think of this?

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I think it's a mistake. There's a reason an agent would agree to
this-because he's pretty sure there's no way his player would be drafted
that high (or higher) otherwise. Marcus Banks was considered a borderline
first-rounder-and more likely a second-rounder-heading into this week.
Jamaal Crawford has proven that a player can make great strides with a
strong Chicago performance, but Crawford was a little mysterious-he only
played half of his freshman season-and he was 6-foot-6. Looking at this
point guard crop, does anyone really believe Marcus Banks would have wowed
people so much that he'd become a top-15 pick? A 6-2 scoring point guard? So
for that reason alone, it's dumb. It's like the Kedrick Brown thing. Look
back at that draft. Does anyone believe Kedrick Brown would have been a
top-nine pick if he had worked out for other teams? No way, no how. So why
make the promise? It's just dumb.

On top of that, it ties you into something when you never know what might
present itself at a later date. Let's say on draft night, the Heat decide
they want to start shedding payroll and offer Brian Grant and the fifth pick
for Eric Williams, assorted flotsam and jetsam, and the 16th and 20th picks.
But the Celtics can't do it because they've made a promise to Marcus Banks.
Or maybe someone slides-say T.J. Ford, Lampe or someone like that-and all of
a sudden 16 and 20 are enough to get you to 10 or 11 to pick that player.
But, again, you can't do it because you've made a promise to Marcus Banks.

So, you might say, "big deal, if a better offer comes along, just break your
promise." You do that and you alienate the player's agent and those things
come back to haunt you. No, the only thing worse than making a deal like
that is breaking a deal like that.

What's the advantage for the Celtics? Again I ask, does anyone believe
Marcus Banks would have been a top-15 pick after workouts? Anyone? I sure
don't. At least make him go to Chicago and see how he stacks up. If he
doesn't wow anyone, he's still just a second-rounder. If he does play well,
then MAYBE you think about making some kind of guarantee at 16 just to keep
some other team from falling in love with him. But this early? It's just
dumb.

Personally, I'm not convinced it's true. This just doesn't feel like a Danny
Ainge move. Chris Wallace? Yes. But not Ainge. Then again, remember how
incredulous we all were when Andy Katz first reported that the Celtics were
the team who had made the promise to Kedrick Brown? No one believed it-not
at 11. That was way too early for a guy no one expected to go higher than 19
in the draft. Then we started buying into the hype and thought our BDT had
outsmarted everyone and found this JUCO Syd Finch... Well, he was Syd Finch
all right-a figment of someone's imagination.

So, would this shock me if true? No. But it doesn't feel right.

Mark

P.S. Josh, have you been able to find anything else on Banks? I'm curious to
learn more about the guy. Just in case...