Favorite Celtics FA signing ever?

[Roy H.]

Without the benefit of hindsight, what was your favorite Celtics free-agent signing of all time?

I was really high on Dana Barros, and of course Horford, Hayward and Kemba.  My favorite, though, was Shaq.  He was such a brilliant fit on that team, and seeing him line up with the rest of that 2011 team was amazing. It sucks that his weight and bad injury luck caught up with him, because that was clearly a championship caliber team.

Television doesn’t do the size of that man justice.  I was there opening night of that season, and he looked out sized compared to guys like KG, LeBron and Bosh.

[Donoghus]

I was in junior high at the time and he was past his prime but I was amped when Dominique signed with the Celtics.  I just remember it being a bit surreal seeing him in a Celtics jersey.

[RJ87]

I was really, really excited about Hayward. A 27 year old wing coming off an All-Star season in the West? I thought we were taking a serious step towards banner 18.

[Redz]

I was in junior high at the time and he was past his prime but I was amped when Dominique signed with the Celtics.  I just remember it being a bit surreal seeing him in a Celtics jersey.

Yeh.  That was a fun one!

James Posey was a great one for that magical 2008 team.

[Csfan1984]

PJ Brown. Knew it was a chip when he signed on.

[Celtics2021]

I remember where I was when we got Horford, and literally jumped up and down on a street corner when the news flashed across my phone, so I’ll go with that.

Shaq was fun, mostly because he was a larger than life figure in Boston that year.  You never knew where he might pop up with some antic.  But he wasn't impactful enough on the court to be an All-time signing — if he had been, the Kendrick Perkins debate wouldn’t have raged for a decade.

[footey]

Pete Maravich. He was my all time favorite basketball player.  Emulated him throughout high school, down to the hair cut and floppy sox.

Just wish he could have stayed on one more season, and gotten his elusive ring.

[Birdman]

Got many but my favorite was Gordon Hayward…unfortunately no one knew what was coming…Rasheed Wallace, I hated when he played for other teams but was excited when he came here…

[Kernewek]

Somewhat recently and already stated: Shaq, Sheed, Kemba.

Somewhat recently and not already stated: Leandro Barbosa. Always liked him on Phoenix and he'd had a perfectly cromulent year with Indiana the year before he signed with us.


Not a favourite signing, but it was nice to see Gerald Green come back as well.

edit: oh! Jason Terry was fun. Forgot he was a FA signing.

[jambr380]

I was in junior high at the time and he was past his prime but I was amped when Dominique signed with the Celtics.  I just remember it being a bit surreal seeing him in a Celtics jersey.

Yeah, this is an easy one for me. I had just finished 8th grade and I remember hearing the news at a local basketball camp of all places. He was always my 2nd favorite player (next to Bird) so I was so excited!

[makaveli]

Strangely so, Nate the Great Robinson

[Jvalin]

Probably Hayward. No way could we have predicted he'd break his leg 5 minutes into his debut. Bad luck.

[boscel33]

I'm older, but can't think of any other signing than Hayward that sparked the fan base.  There have been many in the past too, people forget about Barros coming home, McDaniel, Maravich, Nique, Gary Payton, and Horford to name some.  None of them brought the anticipation that Gordon brought with him though.

[Smartacus]

David West... until it fell apart. I was convinced that he was the missing piece to keeping the KG Celtics going. David West was such a better player than I thought we would be capable of adding to that roster, great off ball shooter, tenacious defender, good rebounder, but it wasn't meant to be. 

As for an FA signing that did go through it has to be Horford. Unfortunately I also thought Horford could lead to Durant so that was part of it but Horford solidified the front court after we lost KG after years of pulling my hair out watching Sullinger Olynyk and Zeller try to man the middle.

Horf also felt like it broke Boston FA stigma of no one wanting to sign here.

[Roy H.]

David West... until it fell apart. I was convinced that he was the missing piece to keeping the KG Celtics going. David West was such a better player than I thought we would be capable of adding to that roster, great off ball shooter, tenacious defender, good rebounder, but it wasn't meant to be. 

As for an FA signing that did go through it has to be Horford. Unfortunately I also thought Horford could lead to Durant so that was part of it but Horford solidified the front court after we lost KG after years of pulling my hair out watching Sullinger Olynyk and Zeller try to man the middle.

Horf also felt like it broke Boston FA stigma of no one wanting to sign here.

Yeah, David West would have been phenomenal. If a few things went differently during that era, I really think that team could have been considered one of the best mini-dynasties of all time.  Instead, we “only” won one championship.