Severn Hoos wrote:dobrojim wrote:like when we sent the right to vladimir varanchenko (with apol for spelling) to
CHI and they sent us Capt Kirk, Seraphin and the pick that became Chris Singleton.
Thanks for the reminder. And that seemed like such a haul at the time.
Oh wait, we got something when we traded Kirk away to the Hawks, so it's all good. What was it we got in that deal again....?
[Yes, I realize it was Jordan "the other" Crawford. But if you really want to rub salt in the wound, state it like this:
We traded VV to the Bulls for Kirk Hinrich and the chance to draft Eric Bledsoe and Kenneth Fareid. That makes it sound so much better if you don't clarify that we failed to exercise the chance to draft those guys...]
You've conflated two deals, both terrific -- that was a high point for Ernie, and I had a lot of confidence in him at that point.
We traded the rights to Veeremenko to Chicago for their #17 (they took Seraphin for us) and Kirk Heinrich. Then near the end of that season, we traded Heinrich to the Hawks for their following year (2011) R1 pick and Jordan Crawford.
I had no problem w/ Ernie picking Seraphin. In fact, I was glad he did. The guy hasn't worked out, but not every #17 pick does. As to Bledsoe, Hands says that he wanted us to pick him at #17. But you know how memory is.... I'd like to see the post where he says something definitive to that effect.
Keep in mind that Bledsoe hadn't really had a strong Freshman year at Kentucky. In fact, he's only gotten really good the last couple of years. He wouldn't have been high on my list. And, if you look at the 12 guys taken after him in R1 that year, you could argue that the best of them has been Trevor Booker!
In other words, despite Seraphin never developing, I thought and still think that Ernie had an outstanding draft that year. I *loved* the trade up for Booker, and unless you wanted us to pick Lance Stephenson at #35 you can't really think we gave away much to move up and get him.
Turning around and trading Heinrich for a next year #1 and a guy who looked quite promising (Crawford) was an equally good move. I was very optimistic. But, then everything went South for 2 years (w/ the exception of picking Beal, of course).
