Wednesday, August 06, 2003

Well theres not much goin on in the NBA, so ESPN Insider decides to go in the wonderful land of make-believe. Below is the first trade suggested in 5 trades they wish would happen:
Antoine Walker to Chicago; Donyell Marshall, Marcus Fizer, Jerome James and Eddie Robinson to Boston; Shareef Abdur-Rahim to Seattle; Vladimir Radmanovic, Brent Barry, Eric Williams and Bulls' No. 1 to Atlanta Why the Bulls should do it: It appears that the Bulls have settled on the three young players they intend on building around -- Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry and Jamal Crawford. Now it's time to think playoffs. The addition of Scottie Pippen this summer was a move in the right direction, but adding Walker to the mix finally propels them into playoffs. In return the Bulls must give up three bench players, which shouldn't be hard to do. They've been trying to dump Robinson's contract all summer and neither Marshall nor Fizer has the talent that Walker does. Walker's ability to handle and pass the ball are perfect in the triangle offense, and spies in Chicago claim that Walker, a Windy City native, is in the best shape of his career after intensive workouts this summer. A front line of Chandler, Walker and Curry will be among the biggest and most versatile in the East. Put them together with Crawford and Jalen Rose and the Bulls should make plenty on noise this season. The downside? The Bulls lose some depth on the bench by dumping Fizer and Crawford. (ed.: i think he meant to say marshall here) Projected Starting Five: PG Jamal Crawford SG Jalen Rose SF Tyson Chandler PF Antoine Walker C Eddy Curry
Needless to say, this trade idea doesn't really do it for me. Mostly because I don't like Antoine Walker at all. Sure supposedly he's slimmed down, but he's still a chucker. Chuckers aint so bad, but the Bulls already have one in Rose. Having 2 guys who love to shoot but not play defense will not work out on this team. Besides, people were worried about shot distribution when they signed Pippen, imagine the problems caused by adding Walker as well? One good part of this deal idead though is that they would rid themselves of the Robinson contract, and Walker's deal is done after this year with a player option for next year. But overall that's way too much to give up for an overrated player.