February 19, 2002

I have mixed feelings when it comes Jalen Rose. The Pacers need size, but Rose is a franchise player who has made it clear that he would like to retire as a Pacer. I like Rose and would hate to see him leave, but the Pacers are heavy on the forward position, and he seems to be the odd man out. (I couldn't care less about trading Travis Best, a player that I've wanted out of Indy for a few years now.) At this point, I still don't think I'd be willing to give up Rose for Miller, Artest, and Oakley. I'd prefer something more enticing. Any offers?

posted by jacknose at 03:47 AM on February 19, 2002

I think the Pacers should move Rose. He is a sub-allstar making all-star money. He has always shown potential but never quite realized it and at some point you have to decide that the potential buckets are not as meaningful as real ones. The Pacers look really good with a lot of youth in Harrington, Bender, O'Neil, and Tinsley and are 2 or 3 years from being a serious power. Where will Rose be in 2 or 3 years? I think he might be in the way so it might be better if he were on his way. BTW Simmons' trades are comedy...I hope! The Rashad Lewis for Mo'Pete and Keon Clark would be robbing the Raptors. Mo'Pete is almost the same player as Rashard Lewis. Why would the Raptors then throw in a 7 footer who could be worth 16 & 10 with 2 bpg as filler? I am also confused about how Pitino is responsible for Michael Stewart's contract since Yogi is a raptor not leprachaun! Trades I think will happen: Rose to the Bulls in a swap of bench quality players. Pacer fans will feel robbed but in a year or two will be very happy as the roster space created allows future stars to develop and Rose continues to underacheive even on a team where he is the only option. Van Exel to New York: He is overpaid, at the tail end of a career and despite being tough is starting to suffer regular injuries (even if they don't keep him from playing). Fits the Knicks mold (or should that be mould?) perfectly. Gatling to anywhere: The human tumbleweed...need i say more?

posted by srboisvert at 10:19 AM on February 19, 2002

What, exactly, is TrailBlazers' syndrome? The syndrome of winning the title this year?

posted by djacobs at 10:55 AM on February 19, 2002

jalen rose has an excellent ppm score, i think, and if chicago increased his playing time i think his ppg would increase in turn. as a bulls fan, i am not sure what to say. jalen rose fits well at SF, and it's been a while since chicago had a great SF, but what about eddie robinson? the free agent from last summer is also a small forward. would eddie feel fine with being a backup? could someone possibly move positions (maybe eddie to SG?). moving ollie opens up a spot for guyton, whom i think is a better shooter than ollie though not necessarily a better FT shooter. (i am not sure of the stats on that, but ollie was good at the freethrow line.) jamal crawford is tentatively scheduled to come back on march 1, and then the bulls would have to make a decision on what position to play him (he seems suited for either guard position). i like this deal for both teams, now that i think about it. getting rid of mercer opens up the SG spot for crawford, robinson et. al and you get a consistent scorer in the lineup with rose. (mercer scored some points, but he takes a LOT of shots; his shooting pct. rivals iverson, in that both are pretty bad percentage shooters.) while it's nice that krause could tell oakley to stuff his thumb up his butt by way of not trading him, i have a feeling oakley will be his "professional" self by whining and whining like only he and small children can do.

posted by moz at 12:09 PM on February 19, 2002

Oh, the Pacers are going to benefit. Jacknose, I think you're going to love Artest, he is a monster on defense, it's a different game when he's on the floor. Brad Miller isn't fascinating or anything, but he definitely can handle his position I think Rose is a point guard, he's done well for the Pacers but when you watch them, he has a lot of very quiet 18 pt games. This is absolute speculation, but I always thought that Larry Bird saw a little bit of himself in Jalen Rose, so he wanted him to play out of position at point forward and then Isiah Thomas doesn't see anything resembling himself in Rose, so he wants him as far away from point guard as possible. It was a bad marriage between Thomas and Rose, which is too bad but they're all better off. As far as the Bulls point guard goes, I've had the misfortune to watch many a Bulls game lately(thanks WGN!). It hardly matters who plays point guard because the offense mostly seems to move through Charles Oakley of all people. He gets the ball every posession to jack up a bad 3-pointer or make some ridiculous dipsy-doodle pass between his legs because he commands a lot of respect from the young players, but jesus, some nights I want to shoot him with a tranquilizer gun.

posted by pastepotpete at 01:30 PM on February 19, 2002

I think the Pacers come out much better after this trade. Living in Illinois, I get to see the Bulls play a lot on TV, and I have followed both Artest and Rose extensively since they're on my fantasy team. Ron Artest is an absolute gem of a player who plays great defense and has really quick hands. There is no doubt he's an all-star in the making. In Miller, they get a proven center that can start, and in Mercer they get a scorer. Meanwhile, they cast away Best, who has been a non-factor this season backing up Jamaal Tinsley, while Rose has been playing less minutes than before and is obviously not a favorite of Isaih Thomas.

posted by gyc at 07:15 PM on February 19, 2002

I'm officially happy. Here are the Pacers of the future: Jermaine O'Neal - 23 yrs. old Jamaal Tinsley - 23 yrs. old Al Harrington - 22 yrs. old Jonathan Bender - 21 yrs. old Ron Artest - 22 yrs. old Brad Miller - 25 yrs. old Jeff Foster - 25 yrs. old Ron Mercer - 25 yrs. old Austin Croshere - 26 yrs. old That's freakin' brilliant (a load of young talent).

posted by jacknose at 02:00 PM on February 20, 2002