Posted by TMS:
Again, Zach has value, like him or not, and his value will continue to grow as he continues to put up numbers and that contract continues to dwindle. I agree with the premise that we'll be better off without him but we have to be patient - no panic moves and this scenario to get rid of him is A PANIC MOVE!!!!
i completely disagree w/u on Zach's perceived value... there isn't a team out there that wants any part of him or his contract right now... that should tell u right there how valuable he is right now... & i don't see his value getting any higher until his contract becomes an expiring, at which point we would have already missed out on the big name sweepstakes in 2010... this is a difference of opinion that you just won't be able to sway me on i'm afraid my man.
concerning your point about the #6 pick, point taken... i agree that losing a lottery pick is a big deal but my entire basis of opinion as to why i would be open to trading down in order to unload Zach is because i see big benefits to our future flexibility to make deals by doing it... i see Zach as a poisonous influence on the rest of these players just like Marbury's been & i do NOT wanna see any more selfish stat accumulating players on this team any longer... i wanna see guys who are only interested in playing team first style basketball... i think we can still nab a good prospect even if we trade down in this draft from all accounts of reports i've been reading... unless we can trade up to nab a top 3 pick (& i already said i would love to see that happen) i think another viable option for us to improve over the longterm is to unload that huge albatross & start building this team around guys who complement one another & don't put their own selfish self interests above the good of the team (assuming there's even a team out there that would even take on Zach's contract right now... given the fact the Sixers' GM just shot down that rumor i'm not even sure that option is even feasible at that).
Well my friend I think all of us can agree on one thing at least: we never should've taken Zach on to begin with. To tell the truth I thought it was a pretty decent idea at the time for the few obvious reasons - Frye turned out to be a bust, Francis was washed up, we continued to yearn for that ever-elusive "star player" and Zach was putting up extraordinary numbers, in the Western Conference no less. We all knew about the bad contract and personality issues & I was concerned but I let these other factors cloud my judgement - we made a mistake and I got this one wrong. Hindsight's 20/20 - no clearer than in this instance...
But now that he's here I'm not looking to make a bad situation worse. We're just gonna have to disagree on Zach's value right now T - you say he has zero while I think it's been proven that he's had some value and we need to build that up right now and not sell so low. We've got time - it's not like we're on the verge of doing something as a team this year or that big FA crop is this summer right? We need to be patient and eventually find a way to turn Zach from a detriment to an asset - and as long as he remains injury free and continues to put up numbers I think we can. You figure right now Denver showed some interest - even though I'm not a huge fan of the Kenyon Martin for Zach Randolph swap straight up (it just doesn't really benefit us in any way - we get back a player who's about 4 years older, injury-prone and a shell of what he used to be while inheriting an equally bad contract - kind of a dead end for me - trying to eventually flip Kenyon Martin in a sensible trade will prove to be even harder than trying to move Zach - but if this rumor was true Denver's basically telling you right there that Randolph has some value, more value than Kenyon Martin in their eyes). I think that was on the table. Denver obviously thought Zach was the superior player but just wouldn't kick in anything to sweeten it up for Isiah so it never went any further. I'm glad Zeke balked at this to be honest. And say what you want but Milwaukee also showed interest right before the deadline - I think the proposed trade was Zach Randolph and Renaldo Balkman for Dan Gadzuric, Bobby Simmons and Charlie Villanueva and that came close to getting done with Zeke and Larry Harris - I think it was owner Herb Kohl who nixed it as the deadline drew near. And as far as Phily's current interest goes, I'm not ready to dismiss this just because Ed Stephanski came out and denied interest publicly - I mean what's he supposed to say? Come out publicly and tip his hand? He won't do that - these guy's are all secretive and keep their cards close to their chests TMS, you know that. Bottom line is Mo Cheeks had him before and I think it's been made clear he wants him again, so you know there's interest there. I'm just not ready to gift-wrap our 6th pick in order to get this done. Execute the pick because we have to - the last time we were this high up in the lottery we grabbed two busts in Mike Sweetney and Channing Frye and I'm looking to change that trend. This is a free chance, no strings attached, to improve the team and it could turn out to be a dramatic improvement. All we need to do is do our homework and pick wisely. We could get an all-star here - locked in at reasonable money for the foreseeable future.
Look, is Zach's removal essential? Yes it is. Will he be part of the future or the "winning culture" Donnie's talked about when this team turns the corner a few years down the road? Of course he won't. But right now, don't panic, stay the course - I'm confident something better will present itself eventually - something not involving the sheer recklessness of including our ultra-valuable building block in the process.
[Edited by - finestrg on 06-14-2008 11:53 AM]
