Blurb about Pavlovic

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

Not much, just a tidbit about Pavlovic. I'm hoping the Peja Stojakovic
comparisons are accurate with this guy. But I have a sneaking suspicion that
he may be gone before he gets to the Celts at 16. All these projections are
very early, and this sounds like a guy who will move up in workouts. I
wouldn't be surprised to see some guys like Reece Gaines, Luke Ridnour or
Michael Sweetney slide down a few spots. If you're a Gaines, Ridnour or
Sweetney fan, that's great (I'm not). 

Gaines is a combo guard. He's not a point guard. He played some point guard
in Pitino's system, but we all know that there isn't much structure in a
Pitino offense. Plus, of the little bit of offense they did design, much of
it was set up to get shots for Gaines. Not a recipe for a point guard. If
you just want a combo guard to come off the bench, fine.

Ridnour is a little small, a little frail, not especially quick and
basically is a jump-shooting point guard. He played in a helter-skelter
offense and rarely showed any signs of being an effective penetrator. Again,
just not my cup of tea.

Sweetney is the most interesting, but is he Elton Brand or Danny Fortson? I
haven't seen enough of him to know, but he makes me nervous. There are a lot
more Fortsons out there-undersized power forwards who never completely
adjust to the NBA game-than there are Brands.

Personally, I still am a firm believer in trying to trade up to get a player
you want. The value of multiple picks, in my opinion, is the flexibility it
gives you. If the Celts believe Maciej Lampe, for example, is a
Nowitzki/Gasol type, and they see him sliding down the board a bit, wouldn't
it be better to package the picks and ??? to get up to the 10 spot or so to
draft him? Identify the player you want and go get him. If everything falls
great and Pavlovic drops in your lap and he's the guy you want, then great.
But you better be pretty sure. You don't want to end up with leftovers.

Mark

Oops. Almost forgot to post the blurb. Here it is.

Spurs, Sonics, Sixers, Nets: These four teams were at John Jay gym on Sunday
and Monday to watch Alexsandar Pavlovic, Zoran Planinic
<http://sports.espn.go.com/nbadraft/d03/tracker/player?playerId=18564>  and
Slavko Vranes
<http://sports.espn.go.com/nbadraft/d03/tracker/player?playerId=18483>  work
out. At the workouts, Pavlovic measured 6-foot-8 without shoes, Planinic
measured 6-foot-7 without shoes and Vranes measured 7-foot-6 without shoes. 
One Nets source who attended the workouts called Pavlovic the "best shooter
in the draft."