Jordan wants to trade the 1st pick - can we work a deal? - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

MFFL · 05-22-2001, 08:40 AM

It's been widely published that Michael Jordan wants to trade the their pick to get a player who can help immediately. Do the Mavs have the resources to make a trade for that 1st pick?

Hales233 · 05-22-2001, 09:12 AM

I think we do have the resources, but without a consensus #1 pick, I just don't see us trying to move any of our key players to grab the first pick.

madape · 05-22-2001, 09:21 AM

Yes, we have the resources: Dirk Nowitzki or a package that includes Finley and Nash. I think thats about what it will take to move up to number one. Still interested?

LonestarROB · 05-22-2001, 09:22 AM

Hell NO!

TheKid · 05-22-2001, 09:46 AM

I wouldn't trade Najera for the number one pick in this draft. It's garbage. Unless that Chinese guy or Jason Williams were in the draft, I wouldn't even bother.

Murphy3 · 05-22-2001, 10:19 AM

thekid, you may need some type of mental examination after that statement

giostar · 05-22-2001, 11:59 AM

If najera were to come out this year... say he had 1 year left at OK, and stayed... I'll bet that he would be a top 10 pick this year. Why even bother to trade up to the top 15. There isnt anyone there that is going to help us next year. The only one I can see that could help is Battier. Eveyone is there is about 2 or 3 years away from developing. I think we already have 2 of those players in ZhiZhi and Harvey.

Murphy3 · 05-22-2001, 12:22 PM

do you honestly think that najera would be a top 10 pick?
he could barely get off of the bench for most of the year on a team that wasn't extraordinarily deep.
maybe there's some type of reason for that?

Big Boy Laroux · 05-22-2001, 12:25 PM

i agree with giostar, if he had one more year of college under his belt (even though his eligibilty was up), he would be at least top 15, maybe top 10. this year's draft is thin.

plus, he didn't play much because
a) nellie doesn't play rookies
2) he made rookie mistakes (which is understandable)
Third) he was hurt

he deemed himself worthy of minutes in the palyoffs.

Murphy3 · 05-22-2001, 12:36 PM

a top 10-15 player is supposed to be someone that starts in the nba for quite a few years.
with najera, that's not going to be the case, he will forever be a guy that predominantly comes off of the bench

Murphy3 · 05-22-2001, 12:38 PM

hell, let's just be honest
the top young up and coming forwards and centers are...
#1
Najera

#2
Ekeezie

#3
wang

#4
Booth

hell, if they were in the draft this year, i'm sure they'd all go in the top 5

Big Boy Laroux · 05-22-2001, 12:39 PM

riiight. sorry we don't agree with you man...

because top 15 players ALWAYS start, right? sure.

madape · 05-22-2001, 12:41 PM

There is absolutely no way Najara makes it into the lottery. I'd be willing to bet he couldn't even crack the first round. NBA teams are now looking for young, raw talent in the draft. They want potential superstars. Najara, no matter how much you like him, will never be more than a 7th or 8th man in the NBA. No GM in his right mind would waste a top 10 pick on someone that will never even be a consistent starter. He's not big, he's not particularly athletic, he doesn't have a great shot, and can't score as well as the blue chip small-forwards. Hustle and gritty play do not make a player a lottery choice. Just watch and see where Shane Battier, a far better college player than najara was, is picked. I'm willing to bet that at least three high-schoolers are picked before him.

TheKid · 05-22-2001, 12:41 PM

Well Wang would that's for sure. Actually I was being sarcastic when I said that, however what would hurt him is that he would have been a senior and for some reason people love the high schooler's now a days. In all seriousness though, I would take my chances on Najera ANYDAY, than Griffith, Curry, Kwame Brown who are all expected to be top picks. I'm dead serious about that too!!!

Big Boy Laroux · 05-22-2001, 01:12 PM

there is no doubt that high schoolers will be picked ahead of battier. but he'll still be in the lottery. and whoever gets him will be lucky, because he will do the little things that win games.

and i know najera will more than likely never be a starter. I don't particularly like the guy. but with one more year of college under his belt (rather than a year of not much PT at the pro level), there is no doubt in my mind that he would be a better player.

I was also simply stating that being a lottery pick does not guarantee a starting position.

giostar · 05-22-2001, 01:13 PM

Battier is going to be taken in the top 15. And I will say this now... 10 of the teams that pass him up are going to regret it.

As for Najera... I just do not think that anyone would take him in a trade to move up. But at the same time, i don't think the Mavs should use him as trade bait either. The top picks in this draft have potential... thats all. Everyone thinks they are going to get the next Kobe or Garnett by drafting a high school player. I think the top 5 may be hihg schoolers, and I'll bet that at least 3, maybe 4 will be busts. For every Garnett, there is a Leon Smith...

MFFL · 05-22-2001, 01:29 PM

I'm agreeing with Madape - teams are now drafting for raw potential. Everyone is swinging for the fences. Good solid fundamental players like Najera (who would have went mid-first round 10 years ago) now are second round players.

Murphy3 · 05-22-2001, 02:12 PM

there's a difference between mid first round and the #1 pick, mffl.
i'm not arguing that najera couldn't/shouldn't have been a first round pick. i'm arguing when someone said that they wouldn't trade najera for the #1 pick

TheKid · 05-22-2001, 03:36 PM

Well I'm not arguing either. I'm saying the draft is so weak, I wouldn't even trade NAJERA for one of the top picks in the draft because I PERSONALLY believe all of them are going to be as significant as Najera is. Atleast right now they are.

MFFL · 05-22-2001, 04:49 PM

I agree murph. If Jordan traded the 1st overall pick for Najera, he would be run out of town - legend or not. The potential of that pick is huge. It will probably be a huge hit or a huge bust. I was just pointing out that Najera, while valuable, would not have been drafted higher than the 10th pick even in the very weak drafts.

MFFL · 05-22-2001, 04:53 PM

kid - I think this might be one of the best drafts since Bird and Magic were selected. But guessing who the players are going to be will be almost impossible. The top 5 to 6 players are kind of lumped together. Different GM's will value them differently. The best player could come anywhere within that clump.

Murphy3 · 05-22-2001, 04:55 PM

najera will always be a bit player, or a role player.
in the first round, especially the first half of the first round, you don't go into it thinking, wow, maybe we can get a guy that can be the 9th - 10th man and never be more than that.
in the first round, especially if you're picking in the top 15, you're looking for a guy that will be a very good player for many years, a starter, definitely.
if you're picking in the top five to ten, you're picking a guy that you think has a very good shot to be an all-star in the league.
even a weak draft, there's very good players that will be all-stars one day.
yes, not every top ten pick is a success, but a good percentage of them are good players.

MFFL · 05-22-2001, 05:05 PM

murph - you have to admit that there has been a major philosiphical change amoung the GM's in the NBA. Everyone tries to hit the homer run now, nobody plays it safe. It used to be that after the top 5 or so players, everyone else tried to add that bit player to add to their roster. My thought is that changed with the drafting of Garnett and Kobe. They turned into such huge stars and since this is league of copycats, now everyone is doing it.

dallmav · 05-22-2001, 05:23 PM

Hey Murphy,

Courtney Alexander was picked 12th, where was he most of the year as a maverick, on the bench. Najera was to. Don Nelson does not play rookies. Najera is going to be a hell of a player in the nba. Hes not a #1 pick though. But he could have been a top 15 pick if he had stayed in college.

Hales233 · 05-22-2001, 05:25 PM

Kid, Good thing you aren't the GM

giostar · 05-22-2001, 06:47 PM

If someone wants to dangle a top 5 pick for najera, then take it. But there isn't any way that someone is THAT dumb. Najera would fall into that "solid player that can help a team out for a few years" category.

What I am saying is, I don't think we should try and trade into the top 10, because #1 the asking price is going to be too much. #2 what we will get in return may not be any better than a Donnell Harvey or a Wang ZhiZhi... basically young players with potential. Nothing has been proven by the players who will be selected high... except they can dominate other high school players. There is no doubt they have potential. But potential is hard to judge when you are that young. At least college players play against other college players. If you can dominate at a college level, there is a better chance of making it in the pros than if you dominate at the high school level.

I'd even bet that ZhiZhi or Harvey could be taken in the top 10 if they came out this year. Do we want another project?

MavsFanFinley · 05-22-2001, 11:15 PM

Did any of you watch NBA Today? David Aldridge was mentioning that some of the teams (early picks like the Clippers and Atlanta) will try to trade there picks for later ones (like 8-9-10) or trade them completely to get a veteran instead? He was saying the Clippers don't need another rookie on that team but a verteran that can help the young guys.

scooterj5 · 05-23-2001, 01:23 AM

Jordan should just take one of those young HS centers.

Big Boy Laroux · 05-23-2001, 08:01 AM

i was just on that nbadraft.net site, and i know who we should pick with a late second-rounder. Casey Calvary! That guy is physical as hell!

Mavinator · 05-23-2001, 05:05 PM

Of course, how do we teach Eddie Najera to be 6-10 and 300 pounds like Eddie Curry?

TheKid · 05-23-2001, 05:44 PM

Curry will eat his way out of the NBA, just like Thomas Hamilton who was even MORE heralded than Curry.

MavsFanFinley · 05-24-2001, 12:04 AM

I copied this from the mavtalk board...about Donnie Nelson being on TV.

they had donnie nelson on txcn talking about the mavs and what they could do and he said they could very easily get into the draft between the 15-20th pick if they wanted to stating how they traded this years (24th) pick to orlando along with 3 mil cash for the 13th pick last year which was CA

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