Let me be clear about the SW pick

[Guest Walter]

1st quick explaination and history...

Last year the draft had 3 franchise Pgs we could face up against each other. A rare opportunity to select from the best of the best at a position of need having seen them all side by side. MW's HS past and play at UNC was not that special no matter what title hype surrounded him and we had a proven better prospect at Sf in JS. The choice was a simple one in my mind. If ever there was a time to pick for positional AND skill set need, even if the team should lack a potential superstar, that was the year to consider position more (although I didn't even see MW as the talent of the Pgs).

We fast forward to this year. We still lack a superstar. Having addressed not one need with MW we remain in the same boat needing positions and skills filled and addressed. Time is running short and the future has been mortgaged. Trading 2 future picks and Diaw dramatically reduced future capitol and moved up the time table. We therefore needed to act big, fast, and bold to remake this team into a TEAM this offseason.

I saw superstar potential as our 1st need, position filling

as our second, and skill variability as our third. I insisted upon at least star potential, refuse to get a player severely undersized for his position, particularly on the interior, strongly recommended not continuing our forward glut UNLESS a superstar potential player could be had, and lastly wanted trade value. That's why Bargnani was by far my 1st choice and trading Childress and #5 for him (+) was my suggesting. He had superstar potential (removing my concern about forward glut), filled a position at Pf, had skill variability not found on this team, & was extremely well-sized for his position. I also spoke about trading down.

Regardless, the draft AT LEAST came down to Roy (or Foye) and Shelden. Of the two, Roy actually has some superstar potential and certainly has the greater star potential, both fill a positional need (as I see Roy as a good distributing back court mate to JJ), doesn't add to the forward glut, has higher trade value, and is good at everything not just 1-dimensional.

I don't see Shelden as a horrible pick for a team needing interior defense. But we AREN'T JUST THAT! We are a team needing so much more. SW somewhat addresses one problem while creating another (sitting a #2 overall pick and plummetting his value), doesn't bring mush star much less superstar potential, and has utterly no trade value. He is at best a push of a pick even if he did not force MW to the bench. Unless we trade MW (with or without Al) for similar talent at Pg or C, SW is less of a pick than a push.

Equally bad is HOW this happened.

1) We made a promise to a marginal, reach pick and forced our hand a month before the draft without even trying out other players,

2) we made that public and only didn't get burned for it because BK was the only GM that so overvalued SW,

3) and BK, having strongly stated his philosophy, traded in his integrity further by abandoning it

We also didn't go after a Pg prospect when they fell for cheap.

Anyhow, this offseason called for bold moves, a superstar above all else, a TEAM with varied skills and positions filled as much as players able to play various positions, and BK locked us into a stale, safe reach a month before the draft. This is not how you build a team. Four years and immeasurable capitol and we still resemble a frankenstein team, only now with the safety of a 1-dimensional defensive short, short-reach big and very little hope of getting its needed superstar.

A poor draft made worse by the draft before it, made worse by the draft before it. No matter if BK goes with consensus or against it, he gets it just wrong enough or absolutely wrong to d@mn this franchise. Unless he can make bold moves now (and SW has very little trade value), BK must be relieved of his position prior to next draft.

W

[sturt]

[RAHMOR]

Sticky this post.

[tmac13]

Damn...A 100 posts all saying the same thing..We get it..

[Guest Walter]

Shelden Williams isn't a bad player if you are a team needing interior defense UNLESS you pick him #5, have many other needs including superstar, help at Pg or C, and post scoring, a player with more of both was passed over, and drafting SW benches a #2 pick.

It would help if we had tried out everybody we could before we made some silly promise to SW.

W

[Yeti]

Nicely stated

[Final_quest]

Keep in mind you are a fan, I think. No need for a 5 paragraph essay to demonstrate you can write a persuasive argument.