Zonkerbl wrote: Booker is a good pickup for #23.
It seems to me the group think on this board is that Booker is a solid player and good value for the 23rd pick.
For a period of time I believed this to be true, however, he never plays and his windows of actually being a productive player have been small relative to the size of the season. I don't think he's really justified the pick/trade.
Rookie Year - He was rotten until the beginning of March, but was injured for the last 11 games of the season.
Second Year - Started off cold again, yet produced at a decent rate in Feb & early March, however, he missed 16 of the last 18 games.
Third Year - He's stunk or been injured.
His production has come mainly because he's been forced to start so some body gots to shoot, don't they? Booker is an averageish back up PF in the league and at his current rate I don't consider him a lock to be in the league beyond his rookie deal. There just isn't room for undersized, injury prone, inconsistent back up big men who aren't great rebounders or defenders in the league.