2. I don't have insider anymore, could someone post what he said about our offseason moves?
Here you go:
Offseason Moves
They won the title, so there was no sense rocking the boat. But the Celtics did make some minor alterations around the edges:
• Let James Posey go, drafted J.R. Giddens, Bill Walker and Semih Erden. Allowing Posey to sign with New Orleans after he'd been such a key part of the championship team was a difficult decision … but ultimately, the right one. Matching a four-year, $25 million deal from the Hornets would have made little sense, either short-term or long-term, when Boston had so many other bench players of roughly similar quality and when Posey was almost certain to decline sharply in the final two years of the deal.
The drafting of Giddens at the end of the first round was a surprise -- he's a questionable character guy joining a team that won largely because of its willingness to put egos aside. More important, he doesn't even seem like he's that good. He'll compete for minutes as a reserve wing with Walker, a second-round pick who was one of the top players in his age group before knee injuries knocked down his stock. Erden is a Turkish center who won't contribute until a few years down the road, if ever.
• Lost P.J. Brown to retirement, signed Patrick O'Bryant. Brown will be missed -- it was his clutch jumper that finally put away Cleveland in Game 7 -- but O'Bryant was a nice value pick-up. He barely played in his two years with Golden State and may very well be a bust, but his D-League numbers from last season are intriguing enough that it was worth $1.7 million over two years to find out. Look for Boston to bring him along slowly while the holdovers get the bulk of the rotation minutes early on.
• Re-signed Sam Cassell, Tony Allen and Eddie House. Allen's two-year, $5 million deal is excellent value considering how well he played before tearing up his knee two years ago; he was outstanding on defense a year ago but couldn't explode to the rim at the offensive end. The hope is that he'll be healed enough this season to take over the bulk of Posey's minutes, and if so, he'll be a bargain at this price.
In the backcourt, House earned his two-year, $5.5 million deal with some clutch shooting in the playoffs and vastly improved defense. Cassell hasn't officially re-signed but is expected to shortly; he'll be the third guard when House struggles bringing the ball up and will otherwise act almost as an assistant coach.
• Signed Darius Miles. Miles is on a make-good contract and will be suspended for the first 10 games of the season if he makes the roster because of a violation of the league's substance-abuse policy. Some wonder if the Celtics were abusing substances themselves by signing this deal after the way Miles flamed out in Portland, but it's a no-risk situation … and one that potentially cripples a rising power in the West.
Miles was declared medically unfit to play due to knee problems and his salary came off Portland's salary cap, but if he plays at least 10 games in either of the next two years for the Celtics, the Blazers have to put his salary back on … cutting into their trove of 2009 cap space.
Topic: Hollinger's Celtics season prediction (Read 5210 times)