I submit to you that Chris was not ready to come out, of college that year. If he had been ready to come out he would not have been on the bench and only averaging eight minutes a game. He should have stayed for his junior and senior year. Players who come out early are routinely given eight starters position at the next level. Wilcox, deficiency was that he could not hit outside jump shot. He is a great leaper, but the NBA has a lot of great leaper's. You have to do something else to insure your position on a NBA team other than jump high.

Even worse for Wilcox was that he plays power forward and was drafted by a team that already has Elton Brand. The Clippers are finally competitive and the Jaric-for-Cassell+draft pick trade was fantastic, but until recently, all they've done is screw up. Why they drafted a power forward with the 8th pick when they already had Brand (and Melvin Ely) is beyond me. Wilcox certainly needed to work on his J, but what he really needed was an opportunity. He is clearly making the most of his chance. I don't think it was a bad trade for the Clippers though, because he was never going to be a good backup to Brand. He doesn't have the right skill set and discipline to go in for 3-5 minute stretches and hold down the fort. He needs to get a lot of run so that he can play through mistakes and offset his negatives with positives. Some guys are just like that. Plus, Radmonovich is really helping LA spread defenses with his deep range. He is a much better complement to the players they already have.

Did you get to see the 26-24 game? As a Seattle fan I am very happy with the trade...and Wilcox is a great fit with the team. Monster and Beast are words that come to mind. His guns are huge and his athleticism reminds me of Amare before his injury.

Ok...26pts & 24 rebs along with 2 blocked shots followed up with a 20-10 & 6 assists? And by the way...that 20-10 included a good number of mid to short range shots.

Please God, tell me the Sonics aren't about to sign *another* underachieving "4.5" to a huge deal all because he plays well during the pack-it-in portion of the season.

In fact, the Clippers *did* play Wilcox--he was their starting center at the start of last season, and put up regular 20s and 10s. Then he played himself out of a job: teams exposed how one-dimensional his game is and his work ethic and longstanding inability to focus brought him back down to earth, and it was back to riding pine and complaining about how he was underrated. First Wilcox couldn't beat Melvin Ely for a job, then he couldn't beat Chris Kaman for a job. Sure he stands out on a team where Rob "Charmin" Swift gets minutes and Nick Collison is considered a "power" forward. Sonics management keeps forgetting that once you're eliminated from the playoffs, the second half is effectively summer-league competition. Playing well against it doesn't count. Signing Wilcox to a huge deal based on one season would be a Calvin Booth-sized mistake.