He didn't look too bright to me when he went 0 for 11 & MDA stuck with him for 32 minutes in game 2. He's lucky Landry looked so God awful, you hardly noticed Bill Walker at all.
The only thing about Walker is he is on a cheap contract option, and we need that to fill the 12man roster.
I think we were set back for multiple reasons, that's my actual beef. That accordng to my calculations we should have realistically made the playoffs LAST YEAR, then competed this year in the 2nd rnd.
However, a more accurate view of our jettisoned players is this...
THEY WERE NOT STARTERS, at least Felton was the only one. On a real contender, Gallo and Chandler (compared to Melo) would be coming of the bench- so yes we lost depth
But NOT just because of the trade, we lost depth PARTLY due to D'Antoni. It was HIM who decided to not play and develop assets that HE wasted on the bench. Brewer and Randoplh come to mind, and we can throw in Barron because D'Antoni rathered Jeffries.
That said our needs =
1 & 5- the 5 HAS to be prioritzed over the 1. Centers are a rare commodity
2- Fields either steps it up or is replaced in the starting line-up. HE IS AND WAS A NATURAL 3, forced to play out of position, and he doesn't have a 2 game.
Bench-depth.
Our only assets are Fields, Walker once we resign him, and Balkman.... and our 17th pick
With this IF we follow the D'Antoni model, we will gamble another season to target a free agent before trading assets and investing for the immediate future, because D'Antoni has conveyed that he NEEDS a specific player type
And that he is more than willing to sacrifice the good of the team in order to buy time for an improbable acquisition.
Take off the D'antoni goggles, and it becomes obvious that waitng is no longer an option. Time to find a real complimentary piece and sacrifice money to get someone who ISN'T a rental.
That's how winning teams are built. Core, then cheap efficient compliments. Fields could be one, but when we take the D'Antoni glasses of, he means nothing compared to the missing man in the middle. With the D'Antoni model, we mind as well play Balkman at center, and root for CP3, an exciting regular 2013 season, and a gut-wrenching early playoff exit.
Even the Heat need Bigs! Hello!