Joe_Wiz wrote:
2. In fairness to EG, the trade was not necessarily unwise, given the information available to him at the time. In hindsight, it was a bust, but so are some early draft picks.
Huh? So its not fair to criticize trade b/c he had no idea how bad a deal it would be???
Shoot, I would love to work in situation where I had to make important decisions that effected a organization's future, but I wasn't held responsible for the failures suffered by that organization from the decisions I made. Man, that would be totally f*cking awesome!!! I'd love a job like that!
Seriously though, the information at the time would have told him everything if he had simply done the research. Miller was coming off a terrible year in Minny in which he refused to shoot and was passing up open shots so the likes of Rodney Carney & Bobby Brown could brick them (Sound familar?). Foye was a 3 year vet than hadn't improved one bit since coming into the league. That crap is not worth a 5th pick.
I think what pissed me off the most was when EG said recently that "people said this was a weak draft". He didn't say "he believed". He noted that "people said". I almost lost it when I read that. Did EG need to rely on other people to tell him it was a weak draft or did he come to that conclusion himself? It sounds to me like EG fell victim to 'group think", I think more time was probably spent on the phone begging for a deal than scouting potential prospects.
Finally, its one thing to take a risk, miss in the draft and end up with a bust. It's a whole nother level of suckiness, to be scared to draft a bust, try to play it safe and trade for two mediocre veteran free agents in a move that's even a bigger bust.
Basically, EG failed because he was afraid to take risk. That's not the type of guy you want at the head of any organization.