Celtics sign O'bryant

[BrickJames]

This is just a thought and I am not saying it is true, but has anyone ever thought that maybe the reason we aren't seeing much ink on House is because the Celtics have determined they do not want him back?

I have certainly thought this.  As some of you may know, I'm not as enamored with House as the majority of the board is in terms of his basketball ability, especially his ballhandling, defense, and crunch time offense.  He has a lot of heart and wears it on his sleeve, and I respect that, but have been clamoring the Celtics should constantly be looking for and upgrade, and believe Sam-I-Was, even at this stage of his career, is one.

All that said, does anyone have any information about why Eddie's son Jalen was able to attend all the home games starting at some point in the season (ASB or so)?  That is quite unusual, don't you think?

Does Eddie have some personal issues going on?  Ones that were perhaps disruptive to the rest of the team?

As a relevant/possibly related note: He's married to Mike Bibby's sister.

Anyone know anything that can back this theory up or dismiss it?

[JHTruth]

First of all, I don't trust Nellie's assessment of this kid. Nellie apparently decided he was trash within the first week of meeting him and never gave him a chance after that. According to many G-State fans, POB performed well when given the opportunity. I don't think highly of Nellie's opinion of any young big man, as he would prefer to play 6'9" Al Harrington at C. POB was simply placed into the worst possible situation after being drafted. A coach who has no use for players like you and a FO lacking the guts to support you against the coaches wishes.

The kid is a legit seven feet and agile and smooth for his size. He can at least see the court which is better than Pollard ever did. This kid can be something. I will reserve judgment..

[Scribbles]

I've thought about this signing since I read about it and finally came to the conclusion that hey, he's a cheap sign and is 7 feet.  At the very least he can spell Perk 10-15 a night and provide some shot blocking and rebounding.  Like other's have said we don't need scoring on this team.  Plus he his really raw.  He could devolp into something half useful.  I like the signing today more than I did yesterday. 

[Evantime34]

I've thought about this signing since I read about it and finally came to the conclusion that hey, he's a cheap sign and is 7 feet.  At the very least he can spell Perk 10-15 a night and provide some shot blocking and rebounding.  Like other's have said we don't need scoring on this team.  Plus he his really raw.  He could devolp into something half useful.  I like the signing today more than I did yesterday. 

I don't think he will spell Perk for 10-15 minutes at the very least. I think at the very least he doesn't play at all or about as much as Planet Pollard when he was healthy. We still have yet to get PJ's replacement who I hope will be Kwame Brown.

[goCeltics]

Once a player is released from this rookie contract, he becomes a free agent.  The *only* team that is restricted in the amount of money they can pay that player is the team who waived him, which can only resign him up to his rookie scale amount.  All other teams can pay him as much or as little as they want, only confined by the limitations of the salary cap and the maximum/minimum salary.

I'm not sure why ESPN would report that Gerald signed a "minimum" contract for $1.4 million, but that's no accurate.

Let's hope the team used the LLE here, and not part of the MLE, like they did with House last season. 

I seriously don't know what the team sees in this kid, to invest more than the minimum.  Bad signing.  I can't imagine Andersen would have been too much more expensive.  O'Blount has more "upside", maybe, but Andersen is a better player right now.  So is Elson.  So is Doleac, even.  "Upside" doesn't do much for us when we're trying to win a championship.

birdman is an addict, and o'byrant doesn't have to improve alot to be better than elson and doleac

[Chris]

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".

This is where I stand.  The fact is, other than Thomas, no other big man was going to help this team much.  O'Bryant has a chance of being 6 fouls against bigger front lines.  But really, I expect the C's to hold a roster spot open for PJ, or someone else (Mourning?) later in the season. 

It would be one thing if there were significantly better options out there, but I think anyone else would be just as iffy a signing as O'Bryant at this point, so its worth taking a flyer on him.

BTW, if it turns out he didnt sign for the vet minimum, then I am not nearly as high on this signing...but I would be absolutely shocked if he did sign for more (even if there are reports otherwise).

[Roy Hobbs]

Once a player is released from this rookie contract, he becomes a free agent.  The *only* team that is restricted in the amount of money they can pay that player is the team who waived him, which can only resign him up to his rookie scale amount.  All other teams can pay him as much or as little as they want, only confined by the limitations of the salary cap and the maximum/minimum salary.

I'm not sure why ESPN would report that Gerald signed a "minimum" contract for $1.4 million, but that's no accurate.

Let's hope the team used the LLE here, and not part of the MLE, like they did with House last season. 

I seriously don't know what the team sees in this kid, to invest more than the minimum.  Bad signing.  I can't imagine Andersen would have been too much more expensive.  O'Blount has more "upside", maybe, but Andersen is a better player right now.  So is Elson.  So is Doleac, even.  "Upside" doesn't do much for us when we're trying to win a championship.

birdman is an addict, and o'byrant doesn't have to improve alot to be better than elson and doleac

I would rather have Dwayne Jones or Lance Allred then O'Bryant.  From what I've seen, he's a terrible player, and nowhere near ready to contribute in the short-term.  I'm fine with him as a long-term investment, but I'd hope we could find somebody better to be our primary backup center than somebody who has played approximately 200 minutes in the last two seasons.

Again, for all the talk about the "win now" philosophy in the Posey thread, people seem to be strangely content with the idea of having a project as our only bench big man with legit size.  Certainly, that isn't the best "win now" move, by any stretch.

Also, Elson is significantly better than O'Bryant. 

[goCeltics]

don't think elson is going to sign for the LLE.

[Roy Hobbs]

don't think elson is going to sign for the LLE.

Maybe, maybe not.  He made $3 million last season, so the $1.91 LLE isn't that far off.  We'll see what he agrees to.

[nickagneta]

Once a player is released from this rookie contract, he becomes a free agent.  The *only* team that is restricted in the amount of money they can pay that player is the team who waived him, which can only resign him up to his rookie scale amount.  All other teams can pay him as much or as little as they want, only confined by the limitations of the salary cap and the maximum/minimum salary.

I'm not sure why ESPN would report that Gerald signed a "minimum" contract for $1.4 million, but that's no accurate.

Let's hope the team used the LLE here, and not part of the MLE, like they did with House last season. 

I seriously don't know what the team sees in this kid, to invest more than the minimum.  Bad signing.  I can't imagine Andersen would have been too much more expensive.  O'Blount has more "upside", maybe, but Andersen is a better player right now.  So is Elson.  So is Doleac, even.  "Upside" doesn't do much for us when we're trying to win a championship.

birdman is an addict, and o'byrant doesn't have to improve alot to be better than elson and doleac

I would rather have Dwayne Jones or Lance Allred then O'Bryant.  From what I've seen, he's a terrible player, and nowhere near ready to contribute in the short-term.  I'm fine with him as a long-term investment, but I'd hope we could find somebody better to be our primary backup center than somebody who has played approximately 200 minutes in the last two seasons.

Again, for all the talk about the "win now" philosophy in the Posey thread, people seem to be strangely content with the idea of having a project as our only bench big man with legit size.  Certainly, that isn't the best "win now" move, by any stretch.

Also, Elson is significantly better than O'Bryant. 

I gotta agree with Dwayne Jones. I thought he showed some good stuff and heart during the playoffs. I've never seen O'Bryant but if he got the LLE and the LLE could have gotten Jones here, that would have been my preference.

Of course I reserve the right to change my mind if O'Bryant comes into camp and actually shows he might have skills that could help us now.

[keith]

First thing I thought of when I heard about this signing was Kandi.And that's not a good thing

[hpantazo]

call me crazy, but I predict that in these two years, O'bryant will contribute to the celtics at least as much as Bynum will contribute to the Lakers. He will be a defense force after our assistant coaches get working on him.

[cordobes]

call me crazy, but I predict that in these two years, O'bryant will contribute to the celtics at least as much as Bynum will contribute to the Lakers. He will be a defense force after our assistant coaches get working on him.

You are crazy.   

[Chris]

call me crazy, but I predict that in these two years, O'bryant will contribute to the celtics at least as much as Bynum will contribute to the Lakers. He will be a defense force after our assistant coaches get working on him.

I am an optimist at all, but this is a bit over the top.  Do you think Bynum is going to not come back from the injury or something?  Or do you think O'Bryant is all of a sudden going to be an All-Star?  I think you might have missed just how good Bynum was last year before his injury.

[hpantazo]

call me crazy, but I predict that in these two years, O'bryant will contribute to the celtics at least as much as Bynum will contribute to the Lakers. He will be a defense force after our assistant coaches get working on him.

I am an optimist at all, but this is a bit over the top.  Do you think Bynum is going to not come back from the injury or something?  Or do you think O'Bryant is all of a sudden going to be an All-Star?  I think you might have missed just how good Bynum was last year before his injury.

I think Bynum is way overhyped. He is far from being an all-star. Maybe one day he will be, but he is far off of being one right now, and coming back from his injury will also take time. If he was on the clippers rather than the lakers, he would not be getting so much attention. If O'Bryant had the playing time that Bynum had, I think he could easily put up similar averages.