Re:Today's Insider

[Tammo29@xxxxxxx]

>>Lots of interesting stuff from Insider today. Apparently Pavel Podkolzine
is
considering pulling out of the draft because he hasn't gotten a guarantee
from a team in the top 10. But all the GMs say it's impossible that he'll
slip out of the top 10. >>


  I heard an interview yesterday with the guy who runs NBAdraft.net.
He said the reason Podkolzine was considering dropping out was because there
have been so many questions about his medical condition.  He wants to get
things taken care of and cleared up.  They (his advisors) think if he waits a
year
he'll be the #1 pick next year.


>>The last item is a wild trade rumor - Peja Stojakovic and Bobby Jackson to
the Nugs for the No. 3 pick, Marcus Camby and Ryan Bowen. That's
interesting.>>



  With Camby's history of injuries and illness the Kings would have to be
pretty high on Anthony for this trade to make any sense at all.
Color me skeptical on this one.



>>Blame the unstable nature of the first round on the commitment issue. Teams
have been burned in the past by committing too early only to see a player
they covet slip in the draft. Then teams are forced to decide between
reneging on a promise to draft the guy the really want, or settling for the
guy they committed to.
"You have to really love a guy -- and I mean really love a guy -- to give
him a promise," one Western Conference GM told Insider. "I know it's popular
for teams and the media to speculate about promises, but in actuality, I
don't think it happens very often. I think agents would like everyone to
believe it happens -- that way they can shift the blame if things go wrong
in the draft on someone else -- but the truth is it normally doesn't make
sense for a team to make a promise."
Several other GMs agreed.>>



  These promises, where players don't have to work out or be tested against
other players in their draft class, only help the player.  An agent isn't
going
to hold their client back if he thinks they can get a better position.  Of
course not.  There's not only the prestige of going higher there is also the
rookie salary scale that any first round player will have to adhere to.
A player that could have gone #10 but instead goes #16 loses $1,250,000 over
three years.
A player that could have gone #10 but instead goes #20 loses close to
$2,000,000 over three years.
So it stands to reason that with any promise that takes a player away from
the camps and away from workouts where his stock could possibly rise it would
have to be a sweet deal for the agent and player to agree to it.

Unless the Celtics think Banks is the best player in the draft, this throws
Wallace's stance of always taking the best available player regardless of
positional needs right out the window.

Which brings me to this question.  Am I the only one who is hearing totally
different things from Ainge and the owners than I'm hearing from Wallace?
They seem to be on totally different pages.

TAM