The Unofficial Tony Allen Appreciation Thread

[fmf2]

saLmon and mashed potatoes...

Last winter, I thought he was on his way to becoming a special player. Maybe he still will, but, as a 6'4 shooting guard with a sketchy outside shot/ball handling skills, and a history filled with injuries, he has become a longshot and expendable.

I'll always remember him fondly, even though his foolishness sometimes drove me nuts.

On another note,
Here are Danny's priorities now:
1. resign Posey.
2. sign a back up center through free agency... Maybe Brezec or Diop?
3. resign House.
4. find a way to dump Scalabrine's contract.

[phaze]

Yeah... winter 06/07 it looked like we were seeing TA emerge.  Just look at those 15 games or so (sigh). 







   

 

[johnnyrondo]

I think it was unofficial with the JR pick, but becomes official with the Walker pick. Thanks for the alley-oop slam to put us up 43 against the Fakers Tony. Good Luck.

I tried to embed a Tony celebration video. Here's the link: http://newengland.comcastsportsnet.com/wickedgoodsports/celtics/celtics-postgame-celebration/


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[Mike Honcho]

I enjoyed the TA era.  And there's no guarantee that he gets outplayed by the new guys.  But I think some other team will offer him a little more than it would cost us to groom Giddens/Walker to fill his role, and that will be it for Tony.  Remember, thanks to the luxury tax, whatever we'd have to play him is basically doubled.

[Sweet17]

I will miss TA. The guy was a truly fierce defender who could just overwhelm teams at times and wasn't really the idiot he was made out to be on the court. He got way to much gruff for biting on upfakes (something every NBA player does) and his so called 'stupid' plays which again players do make from time to time.. He also made some smart plays - but those seem to be quickly forgotten.

Good luck TA..

Pete

[guava_wrench]

can you guys explain to me the restricted free agent situation?? If no team signs tony allen does that mean that the celtics have to still take care of his contract for the 2008/2009 season??

Or can he be cut??

Looks like if he can be cut, he will be.

He is a free agent. He has no contract with us.

My understanding of restricted free agents is:

We can make a qualifying offer to him since he is restricted, but he doesn't have to accept that offer.

If there is a qualifying offer, he can accept offers from other teams, but we have the right to match the other team's offer and keep him.

If there is no qualifying offer, then he is a FA and can sign wherever he wants.

[Gainesville Celtic]

Let me start by saying that i'm not convince that TA has played his last game for the Celtics.  I can't see another team offering him a contract give that we have little/any idea if he can come back.

Would Tony -- who seems to love it here -- sign a 2 yr/$3M contract?  Why wouldn't we do that? Not saying we will but the rumors of Allen's demise as a member of the C's are a little premature IMO.

saLmon and mashed potatoes...

Last winter, I thought he was on his way to becoming a special player. Maybe he still will, but, as a 6'4 shooting guard with a sketchy outside shot/ball handling skills, and a history filled with injuries, he has become a longshot and expendable.

I'll always remember him fondly, even though his foolishness sometimes drove me nuts.

On another note,
Here are Danny's priorities now:
1. resign Posey.
2. sign a back up center through free agency... Maybe Brezec or Diop?
3. resign House.
4. find a way to dump Scalabrine's contract.

Brezec looked good for CHA 2-3 years ago, but he got injured or got "fatigue" or soemthing and couldn't stick with Detroit.  I'll pass.

I'd love Diop, but DAL is rumored to want to give him the full MLE... not sure he's worth that, but not an unwise move for DAL i guess.  I wouldn't give Diop any more $$/years than Perk --- if for no other reason than out of respsect to Perk, but also he's not worth it.

RE: Scal --- i'd love to get him, BBD + 3Mil to Seattle for (fill in the blank -- D. Wikins?) and Devon Hardin.  Won't happen but a guy can dream right?

[TripleOT]

Doc was quoted in today's Herald that they wanted to retain TA, and that Giddens is more of a 2/3 while TA is a pure SG. 

Despite his lapses that make me go crazy, TA has a lot of talent and upside.  He's got crazy lateral quickness on the perimeter, and can stay in front of almost every back court player in the NBA, and he's very good off the dribble.  When he doesn't dribble the ball more than two or three times  in a possession, he can be effective.

Hopefully, no team will throw him a decent offer and the Cs will sign him for under $2m a year for two or three years.  There have been a few guys like TA who didn't get the offer they expected and had to sign on the cheap, like DeShaun Stevenson, and with few teams under the cap, and 2010 looming as a bonanza FA year (LeBron, Wade, possibly Kobe, teams aren't going to gum up their salary structure, even on the back end.  Scal type deals in the $3m range won't be as prevalent this summer.   

[BudweiserCeltic]

I don't know people, I think TA will still be around. He should be a cheap sign, and he's a trade chip at the least.

I can see Danny keeping him as a PG/SG with Rondo and Pruitt having the main PG duties. If someone vet. min. comes along for PG, he'll sign, but he'll keep Tony at the time being and focus signing Posey or Posey-like player, and then on a Center.

[Roy Hobbs]

I don't know people, I think TA will still be around. He should be a cheap sign, and he's a trade chip at the least.

I can see Danny keeping him as a PG/SG with Rondo and Pruitt having the main PG duties. If someone vet. min. comes along for PG, he'll sign, but he'll keep Tony at the time being and focus signing Posey or Posey-like player, and then on a Center.

I don't know. 

First, Tony isn't that cheap.  He's due a $2.7 million qualifying offer, which gets doubled under the luxury tax.  He's not worth that much.

Second, our roster just doesn't have a lot of room on it.  We have nine players under contract, plus the two draft picks.  Resign Posey, a point guard, and a center, and we're up to 14.  I think Danny would like the roster flexibility to add somebody else as needed, rather than commit to Tony (especially when Giddens has the same skills).

[BudweiserCeltic]

I don't know people, I think TA will still be around. He should be a cheap sign, and he's a trade chip at the least.

I can see Danny keeping him as a PG/SG with Rondo and Pruitt having the main PG duties. If someone vet. min. comes along for PG, he'll sign, but he'll keep Tony at the time being and focus signing Posey or Posey-like player, and then on a Center.

I don't know. 

First, Tony isn't that cheap.  He's due a $2.7 million qualifying offer, which gets doubled under the luxury tax.  He's not worth that much.

Second, our roster just doesn't have a lot of room on it.  We have nine players under contract, plus the two draft picks.  Resign Posey, a point guard, and a center, and we're up to 14.  I think Danny would like the roster flexibility to add somebody else as needed, rather than commit to Tony (especially when Giddens has the same skills).

I could care less about the luxury tax to tell you the truth. If it'll really hinder Danny's chances on improving the team like he wants, then sure. But I don't think that's much of an issue at the moment. This team is commited to winning.

But, I still feel the bigger value here is in a trade chip. And with that trade chip, you can get that roster flexibility you want plus fill up some holes without losing some of your key components.

At worst, you keep Allen as a situational PG and SG, PG behind Pruitt (who knows what we got on him). I don't see him as the disaster he's being made out to be by many here.

In all, I think TA allows DA to make wise trades to improve our team by adding players to our core group instead of using some of our core to fill some holes.

We'll see.

[CoachBo]

I agree with Roy - the Tony Allen era, such as it was, came to an end last night. I don't expect a qualifying offer at this point. There's no way he's worth five large with the luxury tax tab.

He might have a chance with one of the lower tier teams where his athleticism will trump his terrible judgment with the basketball, but as I've been saying, we don't have any room for a player with that low a basketball IQ.

I would hope, also, that the silly notion some have about bringing Gerald Green back on other Celtics boards is similarly dead.

[crownsy]

Here are Danny's priorities now:
1. resign Posey.
2. Sign Tom Tib.
3. sign a back up center through free agency... Maybe Brezec or Diop?
4. resign House.
5. find a way to dump Scalabrine's contract.

fixed number 2 for you, we have to resign tommy T.

as for TA, i just don't see us making him a 2.7 million dollar offer, he's shown nothing to deserve it since he reinjured himself. This si no longer a team where we can sacrfice a bench spot and hope he'll come around.

As i said though, its my hope, for tony's sake, that some team takes him and is able to give him that time, i still think with alot of work he could be productive. not last winter productive, but productive.

[Who]

I'd like to see Danny rescind Tony Allen's qualifying offer and let the youngster establish himself elsewhere. He's a good player and he deserves to play. The Celtics have two very interesting prospects in Giddens and Walker to take his spot in the rotation.

[SShoreFan 2.0]

With the drafting of Giddens and Walker Tony must be out buying packing tape and cardboard boxes this morning.