[rabbitproof]

Originally Posted by Kidd Karma

I'll compare Dirk to the KG situation. This is Minny's 2nd year without KG. Minny picked up Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, a 2009 first round draft pick and their own pick, plus cash. They are currently 11-26 after finishing off a really bad year last year. They netted Kevin Love, Mike Miller this past offseason. And things don't look any better for next year either, draft wise, no prospective top 5 talents is projected in this draft. They're looking at 2 more losing years, totaling 4 consecutive losing seasons.

On the flip side, with some good trades, Boston was able to build a championship team, when they were in a similar situation with Paul Pierce. Having already run the gamut....supposedly, with younger pieces, Pierce was the odd guy out. Being as shrewd as he was on the court, Ainge built a squad around Pierce, a squad of similar age, talent and desire as Pierce. It didn't take much a couple of 1st rounders, one proven talent(Jefferson).

There are names out there Marion, O'Neal, Redd, GWallace, Felton, Brad Miller, Camby, and they're probably going really cheap. The Mavs have a little bit of everything to offer, expirings, young chips, downtrodden proven stars, bigs.

I believe it took more than a couple 1st rounders and some were lotto (counting the Allen trade). Plus, Boston was the pits for a couple years so they got high picks and young talent. Our best players are expensive and 30+.

Lastly, I don't think any of the names you're listing are in the KG/Allen ballpark. Both of those guys have a solid shot at going to the HOF.

I'm not arguing to trade Dirk but for those who think duplicating Boston's work is the solution, it's not. It's a dream as Boston did a once-in-a-generation thing. I would also note Boston had the unbelievable fortune of having Allen and KG come from the West. When you're talking multi-time All-Star trades (AI, Shaq, even Kidd), they almost never stay in the conference so we need to look East and look for multi-All-Stars if we want to duplicate Boston.