From: koehnema@enuxhb.eas.asu.edu (Harry Koehnemann)
Subject: Re: JJ (was Re: YATR (Yet Another Trade Rumor))
Followup-To: rec.sport.basketball.pro
Reply-To: koehnema@enuxhb.eas.asu.edu (Harry Koehnemann)
Organization: Arizona State University
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 18:04:44 GMT

In article <43341@sdcc12.ucsd.edu> cs163wav@sdcc8.ucsd.edu (Anthony Minkoff) writes:
>In article <1993Jan11.184818.12573@ennews.eas.asu.edu>,
>koehnema@enuxhb.eas.asu.edu (Harry Koehnemann) writes:
>Only Harry.  *Sigh.*  Not to nitpick, but it's 2 second rounders
>and a first rounder-- Mustaf is also included in the deal.  But is
>it really sensible to measure three-year veterans by their draft
>positions?

You can't teach athleticism.  You've got it or you don't.  JJ is an
extremely talented player.  Suns are apparently very good at finding
good players in late rounds and then motivating them to play at their
best.  But I won't even pretend that those guys the Suns find are
anything near the caliber of the top few picks. 

>>For Suns - loose Ceballos, replacable with Dumas.
>
>Well, I'll refrain from comments on Ceballos' character :^), but I
>don't know if Phoenix really wants to trade away their backup (and
>good enough to start) SF at this point.  What if Dumas falls off the
>wagon?

Well, Suns have rolled the dice many times before.  The thing about Dumas
is that he could have played in Europe/Israel/... for 2+ mil/year, stayed
on drugs, and had a "happy" little time.  Instead the guy spent an entire
year+ in rehab and is now making the league minimum playing for the Suns.
He's shown the commitment.  I really don't think (and I doubt the Suns do
either) that that's a large risk.  What happens next year when Dumas wants
what he's worth?  But hey, you can sign your current player to *anything*
you want, right?  Thank God we have a salary cap?!?

>Yeah, if JJ can come in and immediately play point better than
>Negele Knight, and if Dumas stays clean, then this should turn out
>to be a good trade for Phoenix.  A couple of big "if"'s, there.

My dog can play the point better than Knight's looked this year.  He looks
*terrible*.  A point guard surrounded by all this talent and he's always
looking for his shot.  Who's on the floor at the end of a close game -
Majerle/Ainge/F. Johnson, it's never Knight.  Anyways, with the ball skills
of the Suns roster, I'm not sure they need a true PG (ala Chicago).

>>For MAvs - they get something for basically nothing.
>Nothing?  Are you familiar with the concept of "opportunity cost,"
>Harry?  Do you have any idea how many offers Dallas has had for JJ?

They haven't made a deal yet.  Here's 2 starters on the best team in the
NBA and a guy they have look hard at in the past (Mustaf).   I've heard
that Dallas is currently talking with ~10 teams, but I have no way of
knowing what they're offering.  The longer Dallas waits, the less they're
going to get, I would imagine.  I also imagine the only team with enough
talent that their willing to part with probably would be the Suns.  JJ's
a risk - he's not a free draft pick, you're giving something up for him.

Bottom line - I love it for the Suns and I would imagine it's about the
best offer Dallas is going to see.  Another one mentioned was Ferry and
Clevelands #1 (probably in the 20's) - now there's a great offer.  At
least this one's legit.
--
Harry Koehnemann
enuxha.eas.asu.edu