Re: Here's a trade to make

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

I would say Taylor and Baker are different players, but not as vastly
different as you suggest. How many of Vin's points were 15-foot jumpers?
Plenty. You're right that Mo Taylor takes more of those mid-range
jumpers than Vin, but I don't think he's soft. He also has a post-up
game. You can throw it to him with his back to the basket and he knows
what to do with it. He's a good pick-and-roll player because he really
knocks down that mid-range shot. He's a career 48 percent shooter who
simply doesn't shoot three-pointers (thankfully). He averages around 5
rpg in 28 mpg, and around 12 points (although he has averaged as much as
17). He's 6-9, 255. You're right about him being injury-prone. He has
missed a lot of games (15-20 a season) in recent years.

But it may be a moot point. ESPN Insider says Ainge's No. 1 target is
Juwan Howard. Apparently it also mentions interest in Williamson and
Dale Davis, but Juwan's salary, production and good attitude are
attractive to Ainge.

I'm not a Juwan Howard fan, but I was surprised at his numbers this
season and in recent years. He's averaging about 16 points and 7
rebounds per game this season, on 45 percent shooting. Those numbers
were 18 and 8 the previous two seasons. He's a career 18 and 7 guy, on
47 percent shooting. He's 6-9, 260. He has been durable. 

Howard definitely fills a need. He's a true power forward who can score
efficiently in the low post and is a decent rebounder. But he has been
on some really terrible basketball teams. Maybe that's why I don't like
him. He just seems cursed. I don't believe he's the reason these teams
are bad, but he also has proven he isn't a guy who can make a huge
difference on his own. He was signed to the mid-level exception this
past offseason, so he has five more years after this. That's reasonable
money, but a lot of years. He's tradeable, but not someone teams will be
knocking your door down for.

Insider says it's Howard and Garrity, who has four more seasons. That's
a lot of commitments. The good news is, if that's the deal, then the
Celts would have to include Walter to make it work. So there's the
addition by subtraction aspect to consider. 

Insider says Ainge has offers involving Mills/Mihm out there for guys
like Howard (No. 1 on the list), Williamson and Dale Davis and is
waiting for someone to bite. Howard probably is the best fit in terms of
talent, but Davis would be a nice fit also, and only has one more year
on his deal. He'd be a valuable trade chip next season.

I don't know. I'm torn on Juwan Howard. Maybe it goes back to his days
with the Fab Five in Michigan (I know, that's irrational, but I can't
help it). It would be nice to have some bona fide NBA big men next
season - Lafrentz and Howard, along with Blount and Perkins - but I'm
still torn. Thoughts?

Mark

--- --- ---

Kestas wrote:

I think that they are very different players (drinking aside) in terms
of how
they score. Taylor is just not a low-post player. I have this image of
him as a
pretty-soft, injury-prone finesse PF who shoots midrange jumpers. When
he's on,
he's pretty hard to turn off. I remember him torching Toine a few years
back.
Maybe I haven't seen enough of him.



-----Original Message-----
From: Sean Giovanello [mailto:sgiovanello@xxxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2004 9:20 AM
To: Berry, Mark S
Cc: celtics@xxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Malik Rose

If Danny has a long term plan, he cant make any of the deals.  That is, 
unless he is Rick Pitino with an eye for talent....

Berry, Mark S wrote:

>Rose for Mills and Jones doesn't work. The salaries don't match up. In
>fact, playing around on RealGM, I couldn't find a combination that made
>sense.
>
>
>
>But, let's assume they came up with something. What are everyone's
>thoughts on Malik Rose? Personally, I love the guy. He's a warrior. He
>makes winning plays. Anyone who liked Eric Williams would love Malik
>Rose. He's an undersized power forward, but at least he's a power
>forward. He fills a need.
>
>
>
>So what's the problem? Well, he has a huge five-year contract. He got
>one of those deals that made you take a second look when it was
>announced. He's a nice player. I'd love a guy like that, but only if
>he's making about half the money Rose is currently making. Rose is one
>of those guys who was overpaid by his team because he was so valuable
to
>them, but probably wouldn't be as valuable to anyone else.
>
>
>
>Would I do this trade? If it's Rose and San Antonio's first-rounder for
>Mills and Jones, I probably don't do it. You're taking on a bad,
>long-term contract and the only incentive would be a very late
>first-round pick - and every year you hear about teams trying to dump
>those picks so they don't have to pay the guaranteed contract. Do the
>Spurs own the rights to any promising foreign players? Do they own
>anyone else's first-rounder? Ray, do you know of anything? It would
take
>something like that to prod me into making this trade. This is
assuming,
>of course, that Ginobli is off limits.
>
>
>
>These are the types of players we're talking about now. They all have
>bad contracts - Williamson, Rose, Jahidi White. The key is how much the
>other team is willing to pay to convince you to take the bad contract.
>If it's just a low first-rounder, that shouldn't be enough. Personally,
>I'm still hoping the Suns include either Vujanic (our answer at point
>guard) or Zarko (maybe the answer at power forward). Casey Jacobsen
>doesn't cut it.
>
>
>
>The point is this: The return we get for the Mills contract shouldn't
be
>based on the player with the big contract. It should depend on the
>sweetener.
>
>
>
>Mark