Stinger

Great post! I liked what I saw last year from Marvin - especially his ability to get to the line and convert at better than 80%. If you can get fouled because of your ability to drive to the basket and then hit your ft's at that rate you can become a weapon in the nba. I also feel / hope Sheldon will have a strong 2nd year especially at the 5 where he played best last year (given his age a 2nd year breakout is possible). 2 guys battling for the 5 spot with neither named Horford would bode very well for this team. (Zsa Zsa has been very underrated by this board see his PER rating). Best case scenario all these guys continue to develop and we are overloaded at the 3/4/5 and can make a FAIR TRADE (given the young players 2007 performance) and add veterans if we choose - we are still very young and very young teams have a hard time making it deep in the playoff - my personal pet peeve - the refs giving vets too much deference vs the young studs.

Back to the start of this thread I'll be thrilled if either Sheldon or Horford can play meaningful, productive mintues at the 5. With Pachulia playing quite well re the PER we will be in great shape if these two young guys are battling for minute at 5. My personal hope is Sheldon EARNS big minutes at 5 and Horford EARNS minutes at 4 and Josh Smith and Marvin Williams EARN minutes at 3 and 4. If all this happens we are in great shape and can look to make trades later to address needs as EARNED MINUTES will dramatically increase the trade values of all the above.

I'm exhausted with all the recent posts regarding Luol Deng. Sure we all knew he was going to be a great player - especially after he tested as one of the worst athletes in the combine. Deng was falling like a stone in the draft but now in 2007 we all knew he was the player to take - give me a break!

Sothron, Any chance you can fill us in on trades that "Almost were"?

Sothron, Before the draft we asked if you could discuss the "What if" trades that didn't happen - such as Gasol, Calderon, etc. Have you been cleared to talk?

Sothron, Will you be able to share the offered trade scenarios after all is said and done? Knowing what could have happened but didn't due to other factors would be very interesting.