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What you say Ozzy, only really makes sense if Joe Dumars is an idiot. The Pistons organisation has shown that they are pretty decent evaluators of talent (Wallace, Williamson etc.). I think they are aware of Prince being a more polished product right now, if that's the case (which even if it is, doesn't really matter, 'cause Prince is getting no pt).
What it comes down to, is that Prince isn't playing, and neither would have White. But why would they keep around Prince and not White? If White was the prospect he's being touted as, why wouldn't they keep him on the end of the bench and develop him? I mean, its what the Pacers are doing/done with Harrington, Bender etc. The argument doesn't come down to an age issue, it comes down to an issue of how the Pistons view the situation. Saying that keeping White was impossible is a fallacy, as mid-season the Pistons were able to pick up Danny Manning. They could have even kept White on the IR and worked on him there. My argument is not based in his not getting playing time, or even a judegment of what he has done when he has had time to play. All I've been trying to say is that if he was the valuable commodity that you and others are saying he is, then the Pistons would have found a way to keep him there.
As for Battier, he was drafted high, but his talent level coming out was pretty solid, as he's a solid role player. Maybe another team would have been willing to take a risk on a White or a Johnson at the 5 spot, but already taking a risk on Gasol, an Swift previous, the Griz wanted someone solid to slide in and be able to make a contribution.
Also, I don't want to get into an argument about a player improving and not being able to improve. Are you saying someone with limited athletic ability can't get any better? Was Larry Bird the same player at 23 that he was at 27? You might as well use that as your example, not Battier. Both dominated college for more then 1 year. Both don't have an abundance of physical gifts, but are hustle players.
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