Re: Astute Analysis of Today's Multispectrum Draft & Other News

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

Ray wrote:

That Minnesota story actually was out yesterday
and you can't deal Walker straight up for Brandon,
because his salary is much greater: 14 M to 11.

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But the story also has Minny sending Anthony Peeler along with Brandon, and
Peeler's contract is $3.7 mill. It's not guaranteed, though, so the team
taking him could just cut him and free up that salary.

There's no way Minnesota deals Brandon's salary for Baker (McHale isn't
Chris Wallace) or for the Celtics rejects (EWill, McCarty, etc.). The only
way they give up that expiring salary is to get a productive player in
return. The other names bandied about - Eddie Jones, Brian Grant, Jalen
Rose, Ricky Davis, Ron Artest - give you a pretty good indication of what
they're looking for and are a pretty good gauge of Toine's trade value
around the league.

I'll be surprised if Ainge has the guts to do it, but I can almost guarantee
that's the discussion. From the Celtics' point of view, they could clear
Toine's maximum deal and EWill's $5 mill off the cap heading into the next
offseason (Brandon's deal comes off the cap in February). You take a step
back, of course, but you also increase your flexibility. If you do it, maybe
you go get a Juwan Howard with the MLE as a stopgap. Whatever. But there's
no way anyone but Antoine is part of that discussion. The irony is the
Celtics held the same kind of chip last offseason-Kenny Anderson-and
completely botched it with the Baker trade. No way there's another GM out
there stupid enough to make a similar mistake.

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Ray wrote:

By drafting Banks at 16, you'll likely see Phoenix take Carbakapa at 17,
New Orleans goes Best PF available, and Utah scoops up the draft's best
shooter: Pavlovic, who's likely rated much higher than Sofoklis.

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That's exactly right, but if they've made the promise, they've made the
promise. I'm sure Ainge sees the same thing and has a contingency plan.
Remember the "high school big man" rumor? 

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Ray wrote:

Jackie MacMullan with some interesting news. It looks like it's either
Ford at 4 with Toronto -- but of course, there's the big rumor of the
Mavs
shipping LaFrentz and their pick for this pick and Davis - Brilliant
trade
by Dallas if it occurs, by the way -- or Ford drops down to the Bucks at
8.  

MacMullan thinking that Wade will go to Miami at 5 seems a little off.
They already have Butler and Jones.  Lampe, Podkolzine, 
Bosh, and Kaman all seem to fit better here.

So, Chicago wants Wade, well so do the Clippers allegedly. 
It seems that Wade goes 5 - 6 - 7.

Now, if Chicago doesn't take Pietrus at 7, he seems to drop to
either Washington at 10, Seattle at 12, or Memphis at 13.

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I see it playing out like this: 1. Lebron; 2. Darko; 3. Melo; 4. Bosh; 5.
Lampe; 6. Podkolzine; 7. Pietrus; 8. Ford; 9. Kaman; 10. Hinrich; 11. Wade;
12. Sweetney; 13. Pavlovic; 14. Ridnour; 15. Gaines; 16. Banks. After that,
who knows? Probably Carbakapa to the Suns, Collison to the Hornets and Hayes
to Utah, followed by the Celts. If this happens, I wouldn't be shocked to
see them trade down, picking up a second-rounder in the process, and
snagging their high school big man a little later-Lang, Perkins or Ebi. In
the second round, maybe they grab Bell, Walton, Beasley or an international
slider like Delfino, Pachulia or the Polish guy-someone they can stash
overseas for a season.

Mark