Celtics sign O'bryant

[BudweiserCeltic]

Ainge on the deal:

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view/2008_07_12_C_s_make_big_move:_Agree_with_7-foot_center_O_Bryant/srvc=celt&position=1

The Celtics [team stats] agreed to a deal yesterday with free agent center Patrick O’Bryant, believing in the process that they’ve satisfied a roster need.cw2

What director of basketball operations Danny Ainge doesn’t believe are reports that the 7-footer was badly winded and thus had a poor showing in a recent session with the Celts.

“I thought he had a fantastic workout with us,” said Ainge, who is still in the hunt to retain free agents James Posey and Eddie House. “The coaches were all really excited about the possibility of working with him.”

Ainge wouldn’t discuss contract particulars, but according to league sources, O’Bryant will get a two-year deal at the minimum, which means the full mid-level exception remains available for Posey or any other combination of players.

Golden State selected O’Bryant with the ninth overall pick in the 2006 draft, but the former Bradley standout averaged just 1.7 points and 1.3 rebounds in 40 appearances with the Warriors in two seasons.

“Everybody brings something different to the table, and we really like Patrick’s potential for us,” Ainge said. “We’ve looked at him and watched a lot of tape. We feel like he’s got a very good upside and we think he can help us now with his length and his skill. When we finished his workout and convened, all the coaches were excited about the chance that he would be with our team.

“I think Patrick’s matured a lot both physically and mentally since we visited with him when he was coming out in the draft.”

As for whether the Celtics are still in the market for a veteran big man, Ainge said, “We’re satisfied with the players we have now on our front line.”

That, of course, could change if the right inside player is available at some point in the season (see: P.J. Brown or a reasonable facsimile thereof).

Meanwhile, the Posey watch continues.

The Celtics appear to be fairly set in their stance, reportedly not willing to go more than three years at the mid-level for the key reserve.

“I know that James likes Boston and we like James,” said Ainge, “but I don’t know where we stand with what other teams are offering him.”

And just to answer an oft-asked e-mail question from fans, the NBA - unlike the NFL - does not allow its players to restructure contracts and free up money for others. Thus, Kevin Garnett cannot give back some of his millions to make more cash available for Posey.

[Roy Hobbs]

As for whether the Celtics are still in the market for a veteran big man, Ainge said, “We’re satisfied with the players we have now on our front line.”

I hope that's just GM-speak.

[JollyGreen17]

tremendous upside, in danny we trust!

[cordobes]

As for whether the Celtics are still in the market for a veteran big man, Ainge said, “We’re satisfied with the players we have now on our front line.”

I hope that's just GM-speak.

We're not signing Kurt Thomas, so I hope this is GM-speak for "Yeah, PJ will be available at some point in the season, precisely in March, he just doesn't want to be bothered with teams and agents calling him all the time".

[JollyGreen17]

As for whether the Celtics are still in the market for a veteran big man, Ainge said, “We’re satisfied with the players we have now on our front line.”

I hope that's just GM-speak.

We're not signing Kurt Thomas, so I hope this is GM-speak for "Yeah, PJ will be available at some point in the season, precisely in March, he just doesn't want to be bothered with teams and agents calling him all the time".

let's hope so

[BudweiserCeltic]

As for whether the Celtics are still in the market for a veteran big man, Ainge said, “We’re satisfied with the players we have now on our front line.”

I hope that's just GM-speak.

Same here. Yet, he said the same with House last year, and stuck with it till the Cassell buy-out.

Seems like he likes to evaluate what he has on hand before finishing up his roster... who knows what Ainge has in mind; he's always quite secretive about his intentions.

I find it curious that he's quoted saying that he rounded up the coaches and that they were all excited in working with him, so maybe this is not simply Danny going on a whim. They worked him out after all...

As for Birdman, I wonder what was Danny's opinion of him... and if he did offer him a contract, what was the offer.

[Fan from VT]

As for whether the Celtics are still in the market for a veteran big man, Ainge said, “We’re satisfied with the players we have now on our front line.”

I hope that's just GM-speak.

Agreed. Though considering Danny has to work with our players and negotiate with them, it's much better to say "i'm happy with what we have" and then go out and add upgrades and pieces, than it is to say "we need help on our frontline, it's weak" and come away empty handed and go into the season with slighted players.

[celticswillwin43]

22 year old 7 footer who was a former lottery pick as a bench player who could turn into something? I like it danny

[libermaniac]

I never liked O`bryant but I wanted to "scout" him out a bit more. What was said before the draft, his strengths, weaknesses, stats...

I have to say after reading all this that I am not that down on the guy anymore. A good environment, veteran team, Clifford Ray is just what he needs. He might be a decent pickup afterall...

Some links...

Draftexpress: http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Patrick-O-Bryant-333/
NBAdraft.net: http://www.nbadraft.net/admincp/profiles/patrickobryant.html


Stats:
College: http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/patrick-o-bryant
NBDL: http://www.basketball-reference.com/nbdl/players/o/obryapa01d.html
NBA: http://www.nba.com/playerfile/patrick_obryant/career_stats.html

The NBA stats are meaningless. The D league stats are comparable to Gabe Pruitt's adjusted for his position. I am not thrilled with Pruitt; but to say this is a big mistake lets be fair. His rebounding % was #1 in D league and he led in Blocks per. He was seen by many as "the dominant big man in the 2006 draft" according to draftexpress during a year where most mocks had him ranked in the top 15. Bradey and POB stole the show in the NCAA tournament "upsetting Kansas in the first round and Pittsburgh in the second. It was O’Bryant’s 28 point performance against Aaron Gray that put him in the national spotlight. On the season, O’Bryant averaged 13.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg, and 2.9 bpg in 25.7 mpg. He shot 55.2% from the floor, and 67.6% from the line". 

Danny looks at people in terms of their whole career. He was clearly watching POB closely in 2006. By the way draftexpress "worst case Michael Olywokandi" - still a young kid and a late bloomer at that. Only concern is he made over 2mil. last year; but decent gamble at  min. salary.

FOX link above second year team option

From the draftexpress link:

It’s pretty clear that Don Nelson’s style of play doesn’t suit him (or any other 7-footer not named Dirk for that matter) very well, so it’s quite possible that some NBA team looking for an athletic big man with freakishly long arms and great upside could be able to make something happen if they really wanted to. It’s obviously way too early to give up on him.

[celt4ever]

great signing for both side for the celtics super cheapppppp for a guy that can give you a block shot by mistake if clifford ray work hard with this kid and he sees the light at the end of the tunnel we have the second year cheapppppp too. remenber he is the 15 man on the roster by now and the worst case scenario put him on tv to replace pollard. in the other hand this kid and his agent know that he is going to play with the big 3 he can dunk a lot of ball and maybe maybe if he work hard and leave the donut after 2 years he can get paid. remenber it's better play with people that pass the ball and make you look good. ask scalabrine

[bucknersrevenge]

definitely not who i expected. i assumed danny had his mind set on the birdman. but yeah ill take a flyer on a young talented legit 7fter that can block some shots. obviously his negatives have been pointed out so im gonna reserve full judgment until i get a chance to watch him play on our team. if danny says the coaches are excited to work with a kid with his potential then ill wait and see what they can do with him.

heres to hoping he pans out. if he does that means kg can spent the vast majority of time at the 4 where he belongs instead of splitting so much of his time at the 5 like he did last year. if we resign posey hopefully that means then posey can spend all of his time guarding 3s instead of 4s which he is not nearly as effective doing.

[goCeltics]

Spears says he signed for 2 years 3 million, doesn't sound like it was for the min.

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/07/12/celtics_get_their_big/

[Who]

Spears says he signed for 2 years 3 million, doesn't sound like it was for the min.

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/07/12/celtics_get_their_big/

I trust Marc Spears to have his information right. Especially when he's had a bit of time to sort everything out. Very good at his job and has a good track record.

$3mil over 2 seasons. Can you use only part of the LLE? I didn't think you could but I'm not certain. They had to use part of the MLE to do that right? That would be somewhat close to 1.5mil the first year right? So wipe that off the available MLE money.

So they can't offer Posey the MLE anymore. They'll have something close to 4.5mil to offer him.

Did we just lose James Posey?

[goCeltics]

Spears says he signed for 2 years 3 million, doesn't sound like it was for the min.

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/07/12/celtics_get_their_big/

I trust Marc Spears to have his information right. Especially when he's had a bit of time to sort everything out. Very good at his job and has a good track record.

$3mil over 2 seasons. Can you use only part of the LLE? I didn't think you could but I'm not certain. They had to use part of the MLE to do that right? That would be somewhat close to 1.5mil the first year right? So wipe that off the available MLE money.

So they can't offer Posey the MLE anymore. They'll have something close to 4.5mil to offer him.

Did we just lose James Posey?

i think they would have used the LLE

[bucknersrevenge]

Spears says he signed for 2 years 3 million, doesn't sound like it was for the min.

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/07/12/celtics_get_their_big/

I trust Marc Spears to have his information right. Especially when he's had a bit of time to sort everything out. Very good at his job and has a good track record.

$3mil over 2 seasons. Can you use only part of the LLE? I didn't think you could but I'm not certain. They had to use part of the MLE to do that right? That would be somewhat close to 1.5mil the first year right? So wipe that off the available MLE money.

So they can't offer Posey the MLE anymore. They'll have something close to 4.5mil to offer him.

Did we just lose James Posey?

no we didnt. the herald piece quoted above says 2 years at the minimum and the 2nd year is an option from what i read also. i find it hard to believe ainge would give up a possibility at resigning posey for a deal this small.