Isn't that a good reason for keeping the picks (to body up our roster) or using them to move up. Free Agency has been a bust for us. Shandon has been mediocre. Cato was GRANTED a big contract long before he earned it. We treated him like a free agent. Mo T has been our best venture. I hope we keep him and blow off Webber if he doesn't blow us off first. Some, though, have advised moving picks for future picks. I don't see that that accomplishes much. ------------------ "How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak. Because someday you will have been all of these."
I'm not sure I agree. This strategy probably didn't pay off for us - but it easily could have. Hind-sight is 20/20 (grr... I hate using platitudes). Anderson turned out to be a glorified defender/hustler. But at the time, everyone thought he was going to be a lot like Derek Anderson turned out for the Spurs (closest approximation). If that'd happened, we'd be sitting pretty right now and Anderson would be getting a fat contract. Or what if Taylor had learned to rebound, and become a 16 and 8 player like some had hoped? Granted, that didn't seem too likely, but with his athleticism, was a possibility. Heck, if both of these guys had worked out as we'd hoped... we'd have been the 5th seed in the playoffs, and talking about how the draft might supply us with that a great bench player (all we'd need). The Rockets had some bad luck. Sometimes you lose, as we did then, sometimes you win, as with the Drexler trade. I don't think the strategy itself was flawed. ------------------ Newbiehad... coming to a bbs near you, October 31st. [This message has been edited by haven (edited June 27, 2001).]
It accomplishes more cap room for signing both Webber and Mo'. Every 1/2 million is vital to get BOTH of them. The other way to accomplish this is to trade the #13 and #23 to Seattle for the #12 if only Radman is left and Seattle is threatening to take him, especially if there is a guy like Woods avaible who Seattle wants anyhow, and they can't make up their mind. Anyhow, if one spot gets us our SF, the 23 is worth jettisoning to get it. Thus clearing some cap room and still getting Ken Johnson at #18 for shotblocking.
It appears to me that the rent a player cheap strategy used to sign Shandon and Mo for a season or two at a bargain rate is now being shown to have its downside. We have nobody signed to trade up with. Was it a strategy with only one goal in mind-- to sign Webber--? Was it necessitated by Hakeem's and Cato's contracts? I'm wondering if the strategy has proven to be the best one or if we should we continue the strategy if given the chance. ------------------
