1) I was not excited -- I was pissed (and on record for being so).
2) That said, I never expected to be THIS right. When he came I knew he was a one dimesnsional softish guy who did not make you win. That's why I was mad. He was the Peja of PFs. And fading. And what we needed was a beast in there next to Brad. But I still at the time cautioned people, primarily Peja fanatics, that SAR was every bit as established an NBA scorer as Peja was, and it would not surprise me to see him lead the team in scoring. Er...nope. Me being a pie in the sky optimist once again apparently.
3) which brings us to today. SAR is a bencher. He has slowed way down. He moves painfully, like an old Patrick Ewing. The knees look to be a problem, just as New Jersey predicted they would be. He still has those professional scoring moves, but that's literally ALL he brings to the table at this point. I was not in favor of getting him, but I honestly never thought his deceline would be this steep.
4) PFs who do not defend, rebound, blocks shots are a joke. Now move those PF, who are really just blopwn up SFs, over to center, and you have a disaster. So far as I know Jerry Reynolds is the only one who thinks SAR at center is anything but a very bad idea. Last year his per48 +/- at center was -6.0 (that's not good -- 82games.com). His value, what there is of it, is as a designated scoring 6th man at PF. He cannot physically compete at center, has lost all of his quickness to pay SF. So bring him in, throw him the ball, let him get a few shots off, take him out before the other team figures out they've got a green light to pummel us inside. But frankly I'd far FAR ratehr watch Hawes and Justin get those minutes.
5) When you started this thread I thought you might be referring to his speculative value as a trade piece. What can be concluded from the fact that he is still on the roster is that either his value ain't what we hoped it was, and he's as unmoveable as the rest, or that Geoff, having dumped the long term contract on him only two years ago, is still in the throes of manlove for another of his softy one dimensional scorers.