[Evilmav2]

What's up, FineCuban... I see you are bringing your war against Bradley to the new Mavs site... That just means I will have to bring all the arguments that I am sure you have heard here too... Many of the steals that our fast break offense rely upon are brought about by the help defense Bradley. When he is in the game, our preimeter players are able to gamble in the passing lanes a lot more than they might otherwise, because they know Mr. Bradley is guarding the lane. For every embarassing highlight of Bradley getting dunked on by Mo Taylor or Derek Anderson, the film will show many more occasions where he intimidates, alters, or blocks players when they are driving the lane or trying to score in the paint. The principle reason that other teams aren't able to post us up on almost every possesion is because of the off the ball inrimidation that Bradley brings to the floor. I like Calvin Booth, but I just don't buy him as a replacement for Bradley just yet. He is injured, and unproven (although I trust Nelsons' assertion that he has a much bigger upside than Thomas, I don't think half a season with the lowly Clippers necessarily proves anything). How many teams in the league can claim to have a better starting center than Bradley on the roster? 15, 16? How many teams can claim to have a better shotblocker than Bradley? Zero... He is not the franchise player that Philly thought they were drafting back in 92, but he is a project that is finally starting to pay off on his long term promise. It took Rik Smits seven years to realize his offensive potential, and Bradleys' rebounding (#12 in the NBA per 48 min!) and shotblocking (#1 in NBA per 48, #2 overall) are head and shoulders above where Smits' were at the same stage of their careers. I am not saying that Bradley will be as good as Smits was in the latter part of the Dunking Dutchmans' career, but he has shown constant improvement, and Smits shows a good example of what a much derided "project" (as Smits was early in his career) can end up doing (he anchored the Pacers in the playoffs for seven years) It just would not be wise to trade away Bradley when his best years are ahead of him, but I think that Mr. Nelson and Mr. Cuban know that. Which is why Mr. Bradleys' jersey will hang above the rafters of the American Airlines Center someday...