|
|
 |
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
A sure thing MJ should opt for old reliable over new and trendy
Updated: Thursday August 23, 2001 5:30 PM
NEW YORK -- It's a fancy new model of sports-utility vehicle, and it's all the rage among the high schoolers in this year's NBA draft-lottery class. Tyson Chandler drives one. So does Eddy Curry. "Everybody in this draft's got one," Curry jokes, referring to the new Cadillac Escalade. Then there's Shane Battier. When asked what he was driving as a high school senior, the Duke graduate could only laugh at the difference. "Probably the best car I'll ever own," Battier said. "A 1982 Chevrolet Celebrity. Powder blue." In a nutshell, that's what Wednesday night's NBA Draft is all about for Wizards boss Michael Jordan. Does he opt for the trendy, hot choice, even though it might guzzle gas, catch a car thief's eye, or roll over at the first violent lane change? Or does he go for the safe, reliable model that won't dazzle the neighbors but starts on cold February nights? It's a tough call, but Jordan should follow his own advice from those old TV ads and drive home the Chevy.
Sure, Chandler and Kwame Brown are intriguing talents. They might turn out to be great players, but there's really no way to know. They could also turn out to be SUVs loaded with options that sputter and break down once they leave the showroom floor. Battier, however, is as close to a sure thing as one can find. He has size (6-foot-9), he can shoot, he rebounds and defends, and he knows how to win. Unlike the high school players, whom scouts say will need two or three years to develop, Battier is ready to step in and contribute right away. Perhaps most important, Battier is a hard worker who will make the necessary adjustments to survive in a cutthroat league. NBA scouts say the one thing they can't measure is how much desire a player will have to put in the extra hours once he gets to The Show. Battier, who was known at Duke for his work ethic, brings no such concerns. "Basketball is a game where you can improve every single day," Battier says. "The great players, like Jordan and [Larry] Bird, kept improving [right up to the end]. That's the approach you have to take." Battier would also spare the Wizards the prospect of developing a young high school player only to see that player leave when he becomes a free agent in four years. Does Washington really want to risk putting in the time and resources to develop Brown when he might turn around and pull a Tracy McGrady on them? Brown, it's worth noting, is represented by Arn Tellem, the same agent as McGrady. There's a tendency for teams holding the No. 1 pick to expect a home run. Unfortunately, those days are long gone. The lack of proven college players and influx of high-school talent has turned the draft into one big crapshoot. Jordan loves to gamble, so it's no surprise he's said to be leaning toward Brown or Chandler. But in this case MJ should take Battier. Sometimes it's better to walk away from the table with a sure thing. Marty Burns covers pro basketball for CNNSI.com. Click here to send Marty a question or comment.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
