With 1 being my top priority, Walker is about a 9 right now, honestly. He just takes alot of shots to get his points and we already have that scenario with Tracy. And he also looks like he's 40 instead of his 29 or whatever, just a;ot of miles on that body. Mobley is about a 3 or 4 on my list of priorities. It may seem like he shoots alot, but he is making them at a good clip. The only knock on him I have right now is the need for him with the addition of Head. They are both undersized 2's with a great knack for scoring. How bad do we need Cat with the addition of Head and would it stun the rookie's development if we signed Cat. A player we talked about earlier in the season and Walker's ex-teamate, Eric Williams. He's a great defensive stopper who won't need alot of shots and had a season off basically off last year so he'd come in on fresh legs. Talk about stopping Dirk, he'd get it done and is fast enough for transition points. He's a great vet with good lateral speed that could/should replace Bowen. IMO, he could be had for the vet minimum, easily. Head, James McGrady, Sura E. Williams, Barry Swift, Howard Yao, Deke not too bad.
You contradicted yourself. The pieces wouldn't fit. Even Dallas couldn't make it happen. Which is it? If the pieces didn't fit, how could Dallas make it happen? Dallas had Dirk and AW. They play the same position...so AW was ALWAYS out of position. Of course he shot a lot of three's. Dallas also had Jamison, Josh Howard and Najera all of which spent some time at 4. AW didn't work out it Dallas because they had 400 people all playing the same position.
So you're suggesting we move our franchise player back to the two, after thriving at the three, all to accommodate the likes of Eric Williams? Any team with Eric Williams and Jon Barry as their SF rotation can't be a good basketball team---I don't care who else is on the team.
PLEASE!!! You want an offensive player who takes over 18 shots at every position. You need players who can stop people, help control the tempo, frustrate, and do all the little things that don't show up on the stat sheet. The only people Walker is gonna frustrate are fans with his on man defense. If he's soooo good, why doesn't Boston want him, at all. They know him better than anyone, and they're simply not intrested.
Ideally, it would be nice to have Walker and Swift cuz it gives us 2 totally different types of players kinda like Detroit back in the day when they had Aguirre and Rodman. We do need another player who can create his own shot especially when teams double team Tracy and Yao's struggling. I'm not sure if there's another F.A out there that fits the bill, so AW would have to do, especially if we don't get Swift.
1) In my previous post I didn't even mention Walker...... 2) Mentioning Walker has absolutely no relevance to what we're discussing right here with the 2-3 positions. Okay, so back to the topic..... How do you justify moving T-Mac back to the two after the success he had playing the three? I guess we must have made the JJ-Wesley trade for fun then..... If you think its wise to move your franchise player around to accomodate role players that's your opinion. Okay, Bobby Simmons was a different story. Is Williams even a worthy starter anymore? I've seen him play plenty last season, he's a good defender but c'mon, our starter?! Given his age and ability, he's the kind of player best suited as a bench player on a good team. If this improbable scenario played out and Williams-Barry was our SF rotation, we would be in trouble.
Furthermore, unless you're oblivious to the rest of the NBA or you're simply ignoring this detail in support of your argument, Boston is REBUILDING. That is why they aren't interested in bringing back Walker. That is why Pierce is on the block in what will probably end up a firesale. They are rebuilding, starting from stratch and building around their young guys. It's not meant as a personal attack on Walker, hell...he helped turn around that team once he got dealt there. They want cheap, replacable talent hence the Scalabrine signing.
What he said. I made the same comparison in some other thread and I think it bears repeating. Walker was a solid (not spectacular) defender at Kentucky and OK for a while in the NBA, but he's just on the gravy train now. He always got by on physical skills, and they are starting to desert him. He's a 20/8 guy, but only by shooting 8-25, and he's a decent passer, but he'll mix in a TO to balance out every assist. His best moment was in that brilliant Celtics-Nets playoff series about 4-5 years ago, and it's been downhill every since. He turned the Celtics around at midseason because he was familiar with the system and fit right in, and many of the players were familiiar with him and were happy to have him back. (In fact, one reason the Celts were bad enough to need turning around was that they were in a funk over his being trasded in the first place.) Now the Celts are willing to let him walk, and we should be too.
This is from today's Boston Herald: Ainge: No truth to 'Toine rumors By Steve Bulpett/ Celtics Notebook Tuesday, July 12, 2005 - Updated: 07:40 AM EST LAS VEGAS - Danny Ainge said yesterday that he's found discussions about a sign-and-trade deal for Antoine Walker very interesting. That's because he's heard of them only through the media and Internet. There have been reports of trade talk between the Celtics and Sacramento, Houston and now New York. But all the words have apparently been generated in print only. "I've had no conversations," Ainge said. "I have not had one conversation with anybody about Antoine. Not one." Some of the speculation appears to be arising from Walker's representative doing his job. With Walker wanting more than the mid-level exception available to free agents, Mark Bartelstein is trying to drum up interest in a sign-and-trade that would give his client a chance for a better contract. "I understand, and that's Mark's business," Ainge said. "But I have no idea what he's working on. I really don't. I have no idea." Asked flatly if the Celtics are trying to move Walker in such a manner, Ainge said, "I am not." As for whether he'd be amenable if Bartelstein or another club approaches him with a reasonable proposal, Ainge said, "A sign-and-trade has to make sense for us. That's all. It has to be a good deal for us." The Celts look to be letting the Walker situation shake itself out. Ainge has spoken to Bartelstein and kept open the lines of communication, but the matter isn't close to resolution. "First of all, Antoine has to want to come back at a number we want, and we haven't even discussed that yet," Ainge said. "It's that simple."
A high cahracter hussle player who can hit the 3 and a strong rebounding, defensive-minded small forward (who also has a good character) ... yes, those are awful players to have on your bench
Bottom line for Boston and Ainge has already said this. They are looking for "financial flexibility." And that translates into moving Blount or LaFrentz packaged in any deal WITH Walker. So probably ANY S&T deals involving Walker HAVE to include EITHER Blount or LaFrentz. Blount's deal is less money but one more year than LaFrentz. As a Rockets fan, if you want Walker, are you willing to take on Blount's or LaFrentz's contracts as well? How bad do you want Walker?
no, dont take any of those chumps... why are we even discussing walker anymore? what happened to swift? B/c from the looks of things... it doenst seem like walker is going to come here. there are a lot more teams that fit his playing style that are intrested in him and would be willing to deal more money out. stop with the walker banter... its not happening.
The key to his statement is that he said "As your small forward rotation". Indicating that one of those players would not be on your bench. He'd be your starter. I love both of those guys. I'd love to see Eric Williams as a back up on our team. I'm not so sure I'd go so far as to agree with the poster that said any team with a small forward rotation of those two guys would be a bad team, but I'll definitely admit having either of those guys as starters isn't ideal.
Hey. Whatever happened to LaFrentz? I remember he had a nice little shot when he was with Dallas. However I never get to boston games.....how well does he play? Isnt he like 6'11 or near that? I can see him giving Yao a breather and us not loosing too much on offense. Of course our primary back-up is Deke, so Im not sure it would be worth the money for a 3rd option. Of course our team could always use front court scoring. So Im up in the air.
LaFrentz has a nice shot and can block shots but in general from whatching his games he is a mediocre defensive player and pretty soft. He doesnt seem like a JVG to me. The Rockets probably would be more interested in Blount if given the choice.
I understand the concern about Walker. I watched him for countless years playing in Boston, and let me tell you that I never liked his game; however, I think many on this board are underrating him. He's been one of the best pfs for years now. Not many guys average 19 and 9. I'm not defending his lack of defense or his shot selection. They both need a lot of work; however, the things that are harder to teach, like passing, rebounding, a soft touch, and passion for the game, Walker has. He would have been very dangerous to have against Dallas. Why? Because teams can't leave T-Mac, and did you see all of the wide open looks Bowen got? Remember all the wide open looks Howard got before he went down? Walker is a scorer, one of the best, and there are only a few teams in the league that would have a more prolific scoring threesome if Walker was a Rocket. I understand all the hating on Walker, but let's not blow it out of proportion. The guy is a good basketball player, and any team would be lucky to get him for the MLE.
Solid object post sir. I can see where I agree with you. I have been in favor of Walker based simply on what you said about his ability to score. But most people here are unwilling to gamble over his chimistry and shot selection and I can understand that.
Maybe you missed my point of how a guy like Williams is a good bench player but not starter material? ....and since when gas Jon Barry ever played or capable of playing SF? Yeah, that's one hell of a SF rotation. I always love seeing us get older, slower and less athletic whenever possible.
