AInge needs to Act

[liam]

If no Pargo, I think option #3 is Antoine Walker.  He'd provide veteran leadership, outside shooting, and give this team the ability to play small ball from time to time.  He's better than Scal in EVERY respect and as we've seen in the last 2 weeks, we've really missed the little that Scal does provide.  Imagine if we replaced that with someone who was better than Scal and had that Championship experience?  Walker is a fine #3 option if we can't find anything better.

Except, of course, Scal has contributed to an NBA team this season, and Antoine hasn't.  That should tell you something about how NBA GMs see Antoine's potential contribution.

I was an Antoine fan, and I'd rather see him here than POB, simply because I like Antoine better.  However, in terms of useful contributions, I'm not sure what Antoine has to offer.

Well, that argument works both ways.  Scal could have easily been cut in training camp and not been signed by any other team and we could be thinking the same things about him.  That said, I'd definitely have to have Antoine in for a workout to make sure he's at least in playing shape, but beyond that he's a no-brainer.  Scal would be a rotation-level player if he did one thing consistently--rebound.  He never has and that's why he's always been in and out of the lineup over the course of his career.  Antoine can rebound and he'd give us a legitimate small ball lineup.  

All this argument aside, I don't think Ainge is going to even think of signing Antoine unless there's a major injury in the front court.  So, Pargo remains the best, lowest cost option to improve the bench, assuming PJ doesn't want to come back.

Pargo just signed a contract with Oly a couple of weeks ago. They surely aren't releasing him from that contract and I'm fairly certain he's not interested in being released anyway.

Plus, I know you have some peculiar opinions on basketball players, but Pargo would be, IMO, a bad fit. He's another highly unreliable player, who can singlehandedly make you lose a playoffs game. Just ask the Hornets. House is a better version of Pargo. Pargo is more versatile, can create shots and plays better defence, but he's also more mistaken prone and he likes to play heroics. We already have Tony Allen as a player who isn't intelligent enough to understand his limitations. I guess you like that kind of players - to the point you guaranteed that we're better with Tony Allen than we would be with Posey (improved defence, better offence, etc.) - but I personally believe some reliability is a fundamental trait of winning basketball. Players who can be so extremely horrific as Tony Allen and Pargo are often dangerous to their own teams. Anyway, it doesn't matter: Pargo is not a FA and he won't be anytime soon.

scal is definitely better than antoine at this point in my opinion. i don't care for scal really because he does'nt work hard in the offseason but he's probably in better shape than toine now. having said that, if scal is one of our rotation players vs. the cavs or lakers (if we can make it that far) that is NOT  a good thing.

I agree - Scal is better than Toine (and it's not even close at this point of their careers) and if he's part of our rotation coming the playoffs, that means some trouble.

Pargo is streaky, but he helped the Hornets a lot last year. He's a good defender and a scorer. Loads of energy. The Hornets made a mistake in not resigning him.

[Fan from VT]

is bonzi wells still out there?

He's available. Last year he averaged 9.1/4.5/1.3 pts, rbds, assts, with .445 shooting. He's probably in ok shape as he was playing in a Chinese league before deciding not to return to that.

[Tradetime]

I think Rashad McCants would be a good fit. Instant offense off the bench, and he's available. Sling Minny O'Bryant and a future second rounder.

[Roy Hobbs]

I think Rashad McCants would be a good fit. Instant offense off the bench, and he's available. Sling Minny O'Bryant and a future second rounder.

He's instant offense, but does he fit in in terms of chemistry?  He's got a reputation as a bit of a problem child, which is why his playing time has been so sporadic.

[wdleehi]

Celtics just don't have the pieces to make an impact splash in the trade market.  No hot young guys (besides Rondo and Perk)  No 1st rounders to trade.  No good expiring contract to trade.


Basically, Celtics used everything they had last year to get KG and Ray.


The difference is they did a better job fitting role players around them in the offseason.

[wahz]

We need Robert Horry, Stephon Marbury, P.J. Brown, Ricky Davis, Antoine Walker and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

funny Brick

no, we just need a guy like pj and a guy like posey.

An alternative is that Shaq decided he wants a title and accepts a buy out from Pho for a fraction of his contract and arrives here in two weeks. It'd be good fun to trot out Shaq and KG up front in the playoffs.

I know, i know.....

[Brickowski]

There's no one out there.  It's sink or swim with what they have.

Folks had barely heard of Roger Mason until Popovich got hold of him.  Good franchises develop players.  They aren't always looking for a quick fix.

[CoachBo]

Certainly doesn't appear to be a lot of favorable options on the table.

[greenwise]

1. Get Marbury if/when he gets bought out and play Cassell in the meantime

2. Send flowers, chocolates, cards...anything to New Orleans and get PJ back

3. Get a conditioning coach just designed to make Antoine Walker fit again


Price of this: cheap 

[goCeltics]

hey maybe we can trade mccants+madsen for scal/giddens, even though this is a pretty even trade, i'm sure the lala press and phil jackson would make a spectacle outta of it, just like they did with the kg trade, would be worthwhile to do it just for that aspect alone.

[D Dub]

Cassell will add another dimension to that second unit, and another cold-blooded shooter for the stretch run.  He will have a field day posting up the likes of MoWills, Boobie, and DWest.

Patience, this is a marathon not a sprint.  I don't care how many more we lose -- this is going to be a hard group to beat 4 out 7 games when it counts.  That's all you can ask for really..

[greenwise]

hey maybe we can trade mccants+madsen for scal/giddens, even though this is a pretty even trade, i'm sure the lala press and phil jackson would make a spectacle outta of it, just like they did with the kg trade, would be worthwhile to do it just for that aspect alone.

I don't think there will be many trades with Minny, they got criticised by the media and other teams when they made the KG trade.

I like the trade idea though

[greenwise]

Our bench is really short and there are some roster spots that are not being used:

1. Cassell. I wonder why we cut Miles and gave his spot to Sam. If he was not going to play (at least until the All Star) why didn't we just not resign him and try Miles in the meantime? I know Sam has little left, but he should have played already. Otherwise it's a useless roster spot

2. Giddens. I understand that he may be a project with much work to do, but 0 minutes and 0 chances seem to indicate that there is a problem here. If the kid is not good for this team, then why did we select him? We could have traded his rights to another team, for example. Another useless roster spot

3. O'Bryant. Cut this guy please. We could sign anybody that could play more minutes. It is clear that he will not or at least shouldn't be on the playoff roster and he gets very little time on court. Another mistake.

4. Pruitt's role is really intriguing. Some times he plays and makes the offense go better, some other times he is ignored. What's the story with Gabe?


We have 4 roster spots that have 0 value right now. We need a PG and Pruitt gets no playing time, we need a wing and Giddens is in the NBDL (while Walker sits on the bench), we need a big and O'Bryant adds nothing to this team. Either we cut them, trade them or do something!

In the meantime House tries to be a PG, Davis plays as center (!!!) and Allen is lost out there trying to be Posey. We were lucky that Scal really played much better than expected this year, he is the only reason that the bench hasn't been killed more times.

As the topic thread says, Ainge needs to act. It is not a major change, but this team really needs a little change, some pieces to add and some others to drop. The 9-10 core is good, but a championship team needs more.

[slamtheking]

the reality of the situation is that DA's only likely move is to watch the waiver wire and pick up a veteran big that gets cut and then free up Sam's spot to sign him. 

We're going to finish out the season and title run with what we have.

Depending on the results,
- DA will either be very active moving our expiring contracts next summer if no championship (House, TA, Veal, POB, etc.... -->all except Ray) to get back a solid F/C---some sort of 3-for-1/3-for-2/2-for-1 deal to clear some roster space. 
- He'll most likely only resign one of Powe or BBD. 
- He'll do the usual search of the bargain bin for FA's since we don't have any real money to work with and hope he can get better development out of Pruitt, Giddens, Walker. These players need to become the replacements for House, TA, Cassell, Veal.  A vet combo guard would be a on the short list for FA pickups.
- Unfortunately he doesn't have his greatest asset for improving the team next year which is his ability to draft well (no #1 and a very low #2).

This is what we're looking at for the next 2 years.  Hopefully he retains his future #1 picks after this year since they are a very solid asset when DA is using them.  If the C's make a significant drop in the standings next year, don't be surprised to see Ray moved as an expiring to bring in a new 'disgruntled' stud with longterm contract options that won't resign with their current club or want a trade(Bosh/Amare would be nice but unlikely)

[Brickowski]

the reality of the situation is that DA's only likely move is to watch the waiver wire and pick up a veteran big that gets cut and then free up Sam's spot to sign him. 

We're going to finish out the season and title run with what we have.

I think that is accurate, with the caveat that I don't see any veteran bigs being waived.  And even if that happens, would you really be excited to add someone like Jake Voshkul?  Would a player of that caliber put them over the top?

The grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence.