Rumor: Skita for Diaw(ESPN Insider excerpt)

[Lascar78]

yes but this isn't Dirk. It's Skita.

Dirk is an all star.

Skita is a player who averaged under 3 points last year

He is not Dirk. He does not have Dirk's skills. The comparisons end with their body.

Dirk has a .464 shooting percentage in his career. His worst percentage ever was .405 his rookie year. Skita wishes he could hit that.

Skita has shot .301 for his career.

I see no star potential. He has potential to be a big man that will draw his man out of the paint so he doesn't get wide open shots. That's about all I see.

If you compare his stats to Collier's first couple years you'll see he's not even playing as well as he was.

Skita averaged .3 blocks per game last year as a center.

Don't believe the hype

[Traceman]

I said:

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Is he closer to Dirk Nowitzki or Brad Sellers. That is the question for me. Nowitzki may PREFER to be on the perimeter but on the defensive end, at least he rebounds well. On the other hand, Skita hasn't shown the ability (or desire) to rebound consistently well. The guy is 7 feet tall and he only had 3 or 4 boards in several games this summer where he played 30+ minutes. That certainly concerns me.

I just don't know enough about Skita to know if I would do this deal or not. Both guys are very young with a lot of upside (Skita is 21 and Boris is 22). I guess it just depends on who Billy thinks will be the better player.

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The point is that I don't know what Skita's potential is because I haven't seen him enough. No one on this board has seen him enough to know what his potential is. That is why I said in my opinion, it should come down to who BILLY thinks will be the better player.

Comparing Skita's first few years to Dirk's first few years is pointless. Dirk was a VERY experienced player in Europe before coming to the NBA and his game was much more developed. Skita was a project from day one. Skita was drafted PURELY on potential. All he did to get drafted was be 7 feet tall and show the ability to knock down J's in drills. He hasn't had a real opportunity to compete on ANY level so the only people who can really evaluate how good he is (or can be) are the ones who see him in practice and who saw him play several times in the summer league. The Dirk comparison is not whether he is anywhere near Dirk now (please!), it is whether he can be anywhere near Dirk in the future. Regardless of his shooting percentage in his first few seasons, the kid can obviously shoot the ball based on his summer league performance. The question is just how good can he shoot it and can he improve enough in other areas to make him more than just a 7 footer with a J? Again, I think Billy is in a MUCH better position to make a call like that than any of us are.

[Plainview1981]

Why build a team with soft players? Dirk has nice stats

but how far has he went in the playoffs? Of course Finley

defense is slipping... He's getting old. It's not Nellie's

fault that Dirk has slow feet when it comes to defense.

Dirk Nowitiski doesn't win you a championship and I bet

Skita will not do so either. If Skita was good enough

he would be playing more.

[Traceman]

He should be a junior in college somewhere. How many guys who will be juniors in college would be ripping up the NBA right now? LeBron (a soph actually - wow!) and Melo and that's about it. Skita is younger than Childress.

As for building a team with soft players, why is taking a chance on ONE 7-footer who likes to shoot the J building a team of soft players? Skita would be but one guy and isn't it POSSIBLE he could be taught to be a better defender and rebounder as he gets bigger and stronger? I'd say that is about as likely as Boris ever becoming aggressive on offense.

As for Dirk not winning you a championship, is it his fault ALONE that the Mavs don't play D? Did he trade for Jamison and Walker when DAL CLEARLY needed help on D? Why didn't DAL trade for Damp, Theo or even Foyle last year instead of Jamison and Walker? I would take Dirk over ANYONE on Detroit's team, he just needs some help!

[Lascar78]

Dirk came to the NBA just one year older than when Skita came. No huge difference. Dirk shot well from the get go. Skita has not.

There is no Dirk potential in Skita. He might develop a nice shot, but there's alot more to Dirk than his shot that I just don't see in him. For those of you who haven't seen him play , you'll understand once you do. It's just not there in my eyes.

[Plainview1981]

As for building a team with soft players, why is taking a chance on ONE 7-footer who likes to shoot the J building a team of soft players?"

Because, if you are trading for him in thought of him

becoming a Dirk(even if he does) and he indeed becomes

a Dirk type of player you got a center piece of your

team that doesn't play defense. Look at the Spurs/Detroit

who are winning titles now.

"s for Dirk not winning you a championship, is it his fault ALONE that the Mavs don't play D?"

He plays a big mans position and he's a terrible defensive

player so yes alot of it is his fault just like alot of

it was Shareefs fault why the Hawks were a horrible defensive team. If you score 25PPG and give up 20PPG

you aren't helping your team very much. That's what

alot of these 7 foot 3pt shooters like Kukoc/Dirk

do for you.

Players like Dirk put up good numbers. But when push

comes to shove they will not get you finals and titles.

Dirk is a nice player to have you want good regular

season results. But championships now are built on

defense even though I hate to say it.

Besides, the times I've Saw Skita he shot has been

HORRIBLE. He's got a hellva long way if he shot is

even going to be close to Dirks level. The fact that

he is soft on defense is the reason why I really would

not want him.

[nugzfan]

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I didn't realize we had the nuggets' GM in the house. How nice to have you in here sir.

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cute but doesnt change the fact that i was right.

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I think that I read on some Nuggets boards recently that a good perimeter defender is your biggest need. If so then Diaw is a good fit. He has great athleticism and long arms to defend ourside and inside. He is a very good shot blocker. He also plays very aggressively on D though he is very very passive on the O side (which is not a huge need for the Nuggets IMO). This deal might work for both teams. I have read where Skita has bulked up to around 245 lbs and is 7'1". Is he as soft in the paint as others have said?

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we do need perimeter D and skita is defintely an outside player. poor mans keith van horn i would say. hes no dirk.

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I just love Diaws game. It would take someone better than sitka for me. For nene I would defnitley do it.

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damn thats funny.

diaw is better than skita now...but skita has the higher potential. it depends on what the teams need and if they are willing to wait.

[pathway23]

I'd rather have Diaw all day long. Skita has showed me nothing. If you can't play D you're worthless in my book and its about desire more than anything.

[MoonKnight]

I agree with you Trace. I almost detect a bit of playa hating going on with Skita from some posters none of whom have watched him play more than 5 games. We are a rebuilding team that can afford to make a low risk/high reward type trade for Skita. While I like Diaw I don't see why he is soo untradeable under our circumstances (rebuilding team with a lot of swing players on the roster). Combining Woodson's coaching with more PT could be just the cocktail that will allow Skita to turn into a real good player.

[pathway23]

I don't "player hate" Skita. I admit I haven't seen him play but I have his stats and I doubt most of those supporting him have seen him play either. We aren't living in Colorado, most of us ATL fans, and don't regularly see Nuggets games. But there has got to be a reason Denver didn't give him that PT. I feel Skita is more of a gamble than Diaw. Diaw has a huge upside imo because he can play defense and has courtvision ball handling and passing skills. You don't want to give up on a guy with all the basketball intangibles like that just for a guy 7 ft tall with a jump shot that doesn't play D.

[ATLien_]

Maybe its not Diks fault alone but he sure has a much better team around him than Tim Duncan ever had. He has a better team around him than Garnett ever had.

Dirk is a nice player, but you would have to put alot of good defensive players around him to even think about a championship.

As for me Ive only seen sitka in ESPN summer league highlights, but I have seen Diaw on a real NBA court. I don't see any reason to trade for sitka.

People ask how can we know how good Sitka is going to be, but then they turn around and say Diaw is only going to be a role player? Last time I checked Diaw was one of the better rookies from his draft class and Sitka hasn't shown anything on an NBA court. So how can you after one year deduce that Diaw will only be a role player with no offense?

IMO Diaw has just as much upside as sitka if not more. Just because your 7 foot doesn't mean you have more upside than another guy. For the people who claim that claim that Diaw will be a role player and Sitka can be a star, please show me some kind of evidence or give a theory to support your claim.

Things I know about Sitka: 7 foot, shoots 3's

Things I know about Diaw: 6-8, french slam dunk champion, Hawks best perimeter defender, good ball handler, excellent court vision, excellent passer, good shooting mechanics, very atheletic, pretty good shot blocker.

Now to me I don't see how u can say Sitka has more upside. Maybe one of you sitka experts can fill me in on more of his strengths.

[Plainview1981]

"Playa hating"

How can you "Playa hate" someone that has never done

anything in his career besides some meaningless crappy

summer league games that most will not remember next year?

[pathway23]

For once I agree with Hotlanta =)

( I must admit, I have agreed with him more lately, and have realized how correct he was in the past about the team Babcock assembled)

[TheDude]

no dis on skita but i've seen Diaw play and honestly, I think he has alot of potential. I actually see him of having more of an opportunity to be like Pippen than Chill.

He's still young (22 this past april) and he already can see the court very well and has a great feel for the game. The only thing he doesn't do exceptional is shoot. And that's only because of lack of shots, not a low shooting percentage. I mean I really think Diaw is going to turn out to be allstar material.

Then again, I'm a Hawks homer sometimes. And I've had 4 beers so far.

[Buzzard]

I am not so sure this would be a good move for us either. Diaw could turn into a great passer and rebounder for his size no matter what position he plays. With our total lack of a true PG, I can see why we would be reluctant to pull the trigger on this as well.

[Plainview1981]

You know I'm not the biggest fan of Boris... But trading

him just because we have Childress and Josh Smith is not

a good idea either. Childress has alot to prove because

it is reported he didn't look so good in the summer league.

He might not be a better player than Diaw in the future. If

Childress was already a 18PPG 5RPG 3APG player and Smith

looked promising in the regular season I might could come

closer to seeing Diaw traded for Skita. But right now Diaw

is more proven than Hansen/Smith and Childress.

[Buzzard]

No doubt about it, getting rid of Diaw could cost us dearly. Hopefully this is a last resort to come up with a big.

I would rather offer the Un-proven Mihm 20 to 30 mill than trade away Diaw for Skita, who has less experince and quite possibly less upside than Mihm.

[Traceman]

well enough to know whether or not he has more upside than Boris! I don't know whether Billy should make the deal or not and I suggest that none of us here do either. Many of us here have seen Boris play in 70+ games but I'll be surprised if ANYONE on the board other than Nugzfan has seen Skita play more than twice. I have only seen him play once and that was VERY briefly. My point remains that Billy is certainly in a better position than any of us are to know whether or not such a deal makes sense and I will defer to his opinion as to whether or not he should pull the trigger on such a deal.

I read a couple of my posts above and if it comes across that I am FOR making the deal, that is not accurate. I was simply trying to point out that those who insist we should not make the deal don't really know anything about Skita.

Skita's career path so far reminds me of Jonathan Bender. Both were slender 7-foot guys who preferred to play on the perimeter. Both were drafted at age 18 at #5 overall. Both got VERY limited playing time in their first 2 seasons and both shot the ball poorly in those 2 seasons. Bender just turned 24 and looks to be on the verge of finally living up to his potential. Skita might be 24 before he starts to put it all together as well. The question is just how good that package will be once it is put together? Will that package be better than Boris' package? I don't know.

I like Boris. I am certainly not looking to trade him and only would do it if I thought the deal would make us better. I think he is going to be a quality NBA player.