If you don't like detonation, you'll have to have it. If you install a cam with a lot of overlap in the profile, you should be able to get along without it as long as you keep the heads a little cooler than optimal for power production.
If Chevrolet used an EST system with a knock sensor in 1981, we wouldn't be wrestling over whether or not to keep the EGR.
Incidentally, if the system is working properly, it isn't even a factor at throttle openings above about 20%. The EGR should never be open beyod that point. The worst thing about them is the location of the valve itself and the vacuum solenoid valve - right in the way of the rocker cover and distributor hold down bolt.