how many more times do you want to post that? we didn't trade any of those guys for shane battier. we traded rudy gay. what other guys from uconn have done is certainly interesting but hardly at all a guarantee of ANYTHING at all from gay.
Battier + Miller for 8 + Swift + Filler would appease me. I like Battier. I don't know if Gay will become a stud. But this trade is simply too lopsided. As to Battier, he came to Duke as a top 10 prospect. Went on to be overshadowed by the rest of his stellar classmates (and Corey Maggette), and later by the emergence of "Call me Jay" "Can't Miss" Williams. But just as everyone thought the door closed on Duke's championship aspirations in 1999 when 4 starters left the program, and then seemingly proven the following year on a relatively early Sweet-16 exit, Battier stepped up and led Duke to a championship in 2001. Sure, his 2 teammates ended up going earlier in the draft, but IMHO, it was really Battier who was the keystone of that championship team. In Memphis, Battier ran into similar situation as Duke, buried behind a stud and a potential stud. Don't write him off just yet. 4 years in the NBA and 2 years in college are about equivalent time frame when it comes to honing your art. The guy might be tweener, and SF is certainly not his natural position, but if he can emerge as Robert Horry of the new millennium <i>with drive</i>, I'd be ecstatic. And I think there's a good chance that he will do just that on this Rockets team. Having said all that, I still think we overpaid. But I do see a lot more potential in Battier than most people here.
Thats the point. It may not be the best trade in history, but it makes us better NOW. I like it. I'll eat crow too if we have a worse record beacuse of this trade.
to me my biggest quibble w/putting swift in the deal is strictly spite. its the classic "you screwed me before i can screw you" thing. the thought im sure of most people upset about stro leaving is that we COULDVE hornswaggled some other GM (thomas, mchale, ainge) to get something from stro but we let ourselves get porked over first and gave him up for nothing.
i don't feel like stro was worth much to any gm. the potential card is long gone on him. chuck hayes is already a superior defender and rebounder. his upside and potential is better then swift. addition by subtraction.
i dont argue that but again, there was the potential (there goes that word again )to find a GM spaced enough to take him and give us something better in return
