Tannenbaum Explains the Cromartie Trade
by John B on Mar 21, 2010 9:00 AM EDT
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PrintMike Tannenbaum discussed why the deal for Antonio Cromartie was so important yesterday.
"We thought corner was an absolute must," Tannenbaum said on ESPN New York (via Sports Radio Interviews). "We felt that we had to improve that position. So Cromartie was the key to the offseason because, looking at our options, it was the Cromartie trade -– or it was the 29th pick in the draft. To get that out of the way, we really enhanced our draft because now we can say that whatever happens in the draft, we can take whoever we want. Move up, move down we can get what we want. Without Cromartie, at the 29th pick in the draft, we would have taken a corner."
This is one of the reasons I like Mike so much. He understands the necessity of filling needs through free agency and trades. It's all about flexibility entering the Draft. When a team does not have needs, it can find the best player available. Teams get into trouble when they become fixated on one position and pass over better players capable of helping them more for a longer time. They often make picks they shouldn't.
Best example? In 1984 the Portland Trail Blazers were so obsessed with taking a center in the NBA Draft, they picked Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan. Don't you think they could have found some other way to address center?
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You make good points, but I’m not sure you used the best example. In the NBA, you always go with the good big man over the good little man. That was only a bad pick in hindsight, as the big man was injury prone and the little man turned out to be the greatest player of all time. Nobody criticized Portland when they made that pick. Nobody thought Jordan was THAT good coming out of college. In fact the running joke later was “who was the only man who could hold down Michael Jordan?” The answer was Dean Smith, his college coach.
Dumped Edgar Renteria and adopted Buster Posey. Biggest upgrade since George Jefferson moved up to a deluxe apartment on the east side!
by rxmeister on Mar 21, 2010 9:31 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
In the NBA, you always go with the good big man over the good little man. That was only a bad pick in hindsight, as the big man was injury prone and the little man turned out to be the greatest player of all time. Nobody criticized Portland when they made that pick. Nobody thought Jordan was THAT good coming out of college.
I recently read The Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons from ESPN. He rewatched the NBA Draft from 1984, and he talks about how the way the announcers made it seem like Jordan was the obvious choice back then.
Nevertheless, we can find another analogy.
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Haha rxmeister, so wrong. Bc history repeated itself in the 2007 draft when the Blazers passed over Kevin Durrant (now budding superstar) in favor of center Greg Oden (whose career has been marred by injury). Fool me onece…
I’m wrong talking about Jordan-Bowie because Greg Oden keeps getting hurt? I’m sure that makes sense to you, but I doubt anyone else would get it.
Dumped Edgar Renteria and adopted Buster Posey. Biggest upgrade since George Jefferson moved up to a deluxe apartment on the east side!
by rxmeister on Mar 21, 2010 2:58 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Yes. They missed out on the GOAT bc they took an injury-prone big man to fill a need rather than a gifted talent, then they did the exact same thing some twenty years later. Besides, JB was using an extreme to make a point, which it seems you apparently missed judging by your nitpicky response.
The point is, you don’t blindly fill a need or follow conventional wisdom when a supreme talent is there to be had. But sometimes the talent is harder to see and the needs are a little more pressing. So if you are able to fill needs via free agency and trades, you’re better able to spot a hidden treasure.
Correct me if I’m wrong but Durrant was one of the leading scorers and rebounders in the nation, showed nice range with his jumper, was a good defender and had a reputation for being a shot-blocker, and showed suprising strength despite having a thin frame. The only knock on the kid was that he would have to put on some muscle to compete at the next level, despite the fact that he was never pushed around and was a top 5 rebounder.
Oden was slender, athletic, defensive center. He had no offensive game, unimpressive numbers overall, but was an athletic 7-footer. His early collegiate career was marred by injury.
Instead of actually looking at the two and watching them play, most stuck with the conventional wisdom that you should take a big man over a small man, and everyone went gaga over Oden. And everyone that actually watched Durrant projected him to be an all-star, not a decent pro mind you, but an all star. But Portland went big man that showed nothing that would indicate he would be successful in the pros.
Yeah but Oden was hyped up like nobody had been
since Lebron. He was incredibly dominant on defense, he dominated on defense at Ohio St playing with a broken wrist all year. Dude was crazy. To me, Durant v Oden was a toss up based on preference. Oden is a crazy talent in his own right, he’s just gota stay healthy.
Still though, the story of Oden vs Durant is far from complete. Durant has gotten the upper hand early but he hasn’t even played his first playoff game yet (which I can’t fucking wait for).
"Relax, all right? Don't try to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are boring; besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls. It's more democratic."
- CRASH DAVIS
Funny this article came out today. Last night, while battling insomnia, I sat down to put together a mock and came up with 5 different possibilities (all at 5 different positions) for our first pick. So this thing is wide open. I found myself weighing and balancing who will help us out the most now vs. who might not be of much help this season but will be dynamite down the line; and then looking into the later rounds for smart gambles on players who might not be all world talents but would fit in with our scheme and persona. Needless to say, its exhausting, and not something to be done if you want to sleep and your into this stuff. Buts its gotta be nice for a GM to go into the draft without the anxiety of plugging leaks and snuffing fires. Tanny can into to some backroom with Rex, lay out the blueprint on the table, take a deep breath, and scheme like a mad scientist as they try to plan how to get this thing built. I’m loving the thought of them having the luxury of taking 2nd and 3rd looks at guys, scouting the lesser known schools more thoroughly, and being able to pick best available with the first and then coordinate the rest of the accordingly.
I like the move because at corner there are no sure things...(not saying cro is)
Now you have a need in safety and passrush……well 1 bang on the head you will have an emedeat need at safety. BUT now u can go pass rush or BPA in the 1st. And 2nd rd. get Nate Allen or Morgan Burrnett.both i think are sure things.
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