There are a lot of mock drafts here having Battier taken by Atlanta. Someone wrote, I think this Atlanta thing is a smokescreen. Could someone point me to articles about Atlanta's GM or coach saying they want Battier at the 3? I would think they'd drop a couple spots to pick Battier later? Who else in the draft is on record wanting him? For instance, is Chi or NJ going to take him if they trade down with Vanc?
Appearently, Atl wants Battier so they can win now. If they pass on Battier at #3, then the Bulls could take Battier, the former teammate of Elton Brand. Brand said that he knows Battier is a great player and he would want to pick him if he were avaliable at #4 but he's not the one making the pick, so who knows what will happen. Here's a link to a story about it. Take the website into consideration though: http://204.202.129.224/nba/ ------------------ President of the (the Rockets first pick in the draft) fan club. [This message has been edited by Greg#3 (edited June 05, 2001).]
HP, Chicago has recently expressed a lot of interest in Battier as well. Both Atlanta and Chicago are in similar situations-- a lot of young talent already in place. They could both definitely use a very solid defender, shooter, and intangibles guy like Battier who could contribute right away not only on the court but in the lockerroom, off the court, etc. Atlanta has two very good frontcourt players in Ratliff and Mohammed, and Lorenzen Wright is a solid backup or spot starter there. Getting a guy like Diop, or possibly Brown/Curry is not a pressing issue for them. They have good talent up front, a great young SG in Jason Terry, and a developing swingman in Dermarr Johnson, who can really play anywhere from PG to SF. Brevin Knight at PG is just average, but there are no standout PGs in this draft worth drafting anywhere in the neighborhood of the top 6 or 7 imho. Atlanta could be fooling us, but when you take a closer look, a stable force on defense, offense, and in character like Battier at SF could be a very good fit for a young team like Atlanta. ------------------ President of the Mo Taylor and Jason Collier fan club! Draftsource.net-- the premier source for draft info. Profiles, rankings, mock drafts, and more!
I find it very difficult to believe that Atlanta would actually tip their hand as to who they want to pick in this draft. Smokescreen city. Atlanta is probably hoping and praying that Kwame Brown who is the real gem in this draft can be there when they pick at 3. Battier in my opinion is just not worthy of a top 6 pick in this draft thats loaded with young talented big men who are usually hard to come by. Good small forwards are a dime dozen in this draft. This why I think that Brendan Haywood and Loren Woods are going to be picked higher than most people think. ------------------
I think this whole Battier thing is a smokescreen. The Bulls will likely jump on him at 4th overall, but the player that the Hawks secretly want imo is Eddie Griffin. A fair amount of mocks put Griffin at #1 overall to Washington, but I wouldnt make that assumption so quickly. By all accounts, MJ is leaning towards trading pick 1 and has been shopping it from team to team for more immediate help. I would suspect that the player teams would be aiming for in a trade scenario is Eddy Curry. Despite what remarks people may make about Curry, agile 300 pound centers with excellent hands and good touch dont come along everyday. A team like New Jersey or Vancouver wanting to move into the #1 spot would serve themselves well by taking him and letting him develop. ------------------ Check out the Best Source for Draft Info Draftsource.net
I've also heard that a main reason why is because last year they drafted DerMarr Johnson based on his potential and that they weren't happy with how long it's going to take for him to contribute...so they want a guy like Battier who may not become the BEST player coming out of this draft, but he can help immediately. ------------------ Jazzkiller
Jordan would make that deal, but I seriously doubt the Grizzlies do it. It appears that Rahim is willing to stay with the team now since he can get a fresh start in Memphis. The Grizzlies want to make their team more dynamic and can do that if the chips fall for them in this draft. They are targeting Jason Richardson with the 6th overall pick which is the player this team needs and will apparently put Bibby and Dickerson on the trading block. Richardson-Rahim-Swift would be a very nice athletic core of talent to build around with the next goal being to acquire solid veteran defensive minded role players to fill around them. ------------------ Check out the Best Source for Draft Info Draftsource.net
So, you are in the school that thinks there is no clear #1, meaning anything in the top 3 is near equally GREAT!
Heypartner, Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a rule against trading away #1 picks two years in a row? It seems that I read that somewhere. ------------------
HeyPee, you didn't ask me, but... I think there would be a fear among gm's this year of drafting the next "Sam Bowie". I personally don't think Bowie was a bad pick. If he had stayed healthy and played 12-15 years, he would have been a great pick. Not Jordan, but still a very good pick. Compare that draft with this one. You've got some big men that may have more potential than Bowie, but much less is given about them. Maybe they will be more like Olowakandi than Shaq. Maybe worse. Maybe Stanley Roberts. Maybe Darrell Dawkins. He had a fantastic NBA body and was good, but didn't dominate like Shaq. Maybe Griffin or Richardson may be close to Jordan. Maybe its Griffin and he shots some guy in a bar next year. Anyway, I think there is a good chance that someone in the top 3 is going to regret their pick sometime down the road. So, the easy way out is to trade the pick and if your 10th or 20th or whatever doesn't work out, you don't look so bad. ------------------
hottoddie, you are correct. And I had a NOTE that I was going to include in my post about it but thought it was too minor and got in the way. Trading consecutive first rounders is what I believe Toronto did, or someone. Somebody traded 3 consecutive future 1st rounders, and it destroyed them. The NBA made a rule to not allow that stupidity anymore. However, there is a workaround. In short, draft day trades don't necessarily count as trading future draft picks. What I'm referring to is a Pryzbilla/Collier type trade, where each team drafts for each other, thus preserving their ability to trade the next #1 later in the year. For instance, have you heard anyone on this board say that we can't trade our #13 because we traded our #9 last year. No! That's because we technically traded Pryzbilla, not our #9. So, what I was proposing is Chicago would select the player Vanc wants, just like we selected Pryzbilla, and come the #6 pick, Vanc would select who Chicago wants...then they swap those players and add SAR with the other draft pick kickers. I still could be wrong, and a Pryz/Coll trade may prevent you from trading a future #1 on draft day...or something really loophole weird like that. So, I am assuming they could make it two atomically separate trades to get around that. ie. SAR/27/33 for the player the Wiz's pick at #1, then the #6 Vanc picks for the Wiz's 2002 #1. Does that make sense? [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited June 05, 2001).]
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a rule against trading away #1 picks two years in a row? It seems that I read that somewhere. It's the Ted Stepien Rule (after the former Cleveland Owner). It just says that you can't trade be without a first rounder in two future years. Here's the FAQ explanation: This is called the "Ted Stepien Rule." Stepien owned the Cavs from 1980-83, and made a series of bad trades that cost the Cavs several years' first round picks. The trades, as columnist Chris Young put it, "amounted to giving up Manhattan for a bag of beads." As a result of Stepien's ineptitude, a rule was introduced which prevents teams from making trades which might leave them without a future first-round draft pick in consecutive years. This rule applies only to future first round picks. For example, if this is the 99-00 season, then teams can trade their 2000 first round pick without regard to whether they had a 1999 pick, since their 1999 pick is no longer a future pick. But they can't trade away both their 2000 and 2001 picks, since both are future picks. Teams sometimes work around this rule by trading first round picks in alternate years. In addition, teams are required to have only a first round pick, and not necessarily their first round pick. So teams may trade away their own future picks in consecutive years if they have another team's first round pick in one of those years. http://www.members.home.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#75 Stepien traded off so many draft picks, that when the Gunds bought the Cavs, one of the conditions of the sale was the the league had to give the Cavs additional first round picks. If I remember correctly, the Rocket's Rodney McCray pick (3rd overall) came from Cleveland. ------------------ [This message has been edited by aelliott (edited June 05, 2001).]
upon further review, the Milwaukee side of the Pryz/Colleir trade proves that you can swap drafted *players* and package you next yrs #1 with that. That is exactly what Milw did. That gave us Collier and their next #1 for Pryz. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited June 05, 2001).]
MManal, do you think Jordan would make this trade? #1 and their 2002 #1 (top 5 protected or something) for SAR and the #6, #27, #33 Notice how this really is SAR, #27 and #33 for the #1 with the #6 this yr having more value than the #6 next year. This allows Vanc to unload a disgruntled SAR, move up, and replace their lost pick next yr. This allows Jordan to get a bonafide NBA star and the #6 to hit the ground running. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited June 05, 2001).]
