Ditto that, Desert Scar. Minny fans should be thrilled. Kandi is a far more physical inside presence than Nestero, excactly what the Wolves needed. Also, Kandi's upside is much higher. Nobody can dispute that. If Kandi develops, KG could have the help he needs to make the 2nd round. This is a terrible development for the Rox.
It really isn't that terrible. The Wolves and SA has about the same age of core (TD, KG, Wally, Manu, Kandi, Nesto)--with only Parker being really young (I though I think he is very overrated as an individual talent and largely a product of the Spurs easy system for a PG). If the Rockets get in a position to beat one, they can beat the other. Thus the Rockets should not focus on an immediate answer to those teams, but just focus on developing the best team they can 3,4,5,6,7 years out. So assuming Yao develops into one of the best players in the league--of course a must for us to be titled contenders, think about who will be the right guys around him.
sort of agree with you. In 2 years, it will be important for the Rox to fight for entry in to the 2nd round. The wolves, mavs and kings are likely matchups in the first round (2 years from now), not the spurs (who will likely still command a 1 or 2 seed.) The wolves will be a stiffer test with Kandi.
The kid's 21 and he's been a starting point since he was 19 in the NBA. Coming from France of all places. He definitely has room to improve in the consistency of his playmaking. You think the system of the Spurs helps Parker, but it really limits his game. About 70% of the time he's dumping the ball into Duncan and forced to stand and admire. When he's at his best is when he's out on the break with the rock, or when the Spurs move away from 4down and let Parker create. The real knock on his game is that he doesn't have a jumper he has that AJ/Elie-esque set shot. As for Minnesota, Olowokandi could be a blessing or he could be a curse. The reason SA and Minnesota had Nesterovic rated above Olowokandi is that Kandi has not shown development in his game since he's been in the league whereas Nesterovic has...in addition to the fact that there are questions about Kandi's health and his work ethic. For SA Nesterovic was the better fit offensively. He fits in with the direction the Spurs are taking, which to implement a Euro-style game around Duncan. Defensively, Nesterovic will fit into their system. Straight up Olowokandi is the better post defender. Most likely it will now be Duncan taking on more of the top post assignments on defense. If Olowokandi gets his act together then this could turn out to be a steal for Minnesota. We shall see. Even Denver turned out not to be that enthused about him. SA probably checked with Alvin Gentry about what he thought of Olowokandi. The Spurs had him rated low on the list of available bigs.
Parker is a decent player, and an even better prospect. But IMO he is just overated and his ceiling (if he gets a much more consistent shot and discipline to his game) is more on the level of Mike Bibby than say Marbury, Francis, Kidd, Baron Davis, Payton, etc. It was ludicres that he 1) couldn't understand the Spurs wanted Kidd there after what Kidd and Marbury did in most of the games against him, and that he could not understand 2) that he has a lot to learn, and needs much greater consistency in his skills, to be considered a top flight PG. Also, so many announcers were talking like Parker is the best young PG in the league. Just compare him with Arenas. Arenas is just as young, newer to the position, newer to professional ball, probably more personally immature, and played for a bad team. Yet Arenas shot better in all forms and has a better A/TO ratio, imagine what that guy would do with TD drawing the defense. My point really isn't that Parker isn't a fine prospect for the Spurs--but he is not close to a sure thing as one of the league's best, and his ceiling say relative to the bigger, better shooting, and just as quick Arenas is lower. If I were the Spurs I would go hard for Arenas and decide to let SJ go if need be--if Parker and Arenas become great, great, because Arenas can probably play quite a bit of 2 or you trade one of them. I just don't think the Spurs should count on their current back-court being good enough to always play with the best. Agreed, I think both teams made wise moves. Minn more needed Kandi's presence defensively, the Spurs more needed a polished offensive game to go with generally adequate defense and a guy they were sure would fit in.
