The Moore signing was a mistake; Danny should have waited (split).

[Roy Hobbs]

Moore is the perfect length that we need, he's learning the team and i think he's going to do a good job.

I hear that a lot, and maybe it's my basketball ignorance, but I don't understand.  What good is length, if it doesn't translate into blocks, rebounds, or offensive mismatches?  A player needs to bring more to the table than being 2 inches taller than other players, doesn't he?

[orrzor]

I prefer Gooden or Smith over Moore, but I think Danny made the right decision, only because Smith was not coming here over Cleveland.  There is a reason he didn't care for a buyout until Cleveland came calling.  We were not getting Smith and Danny knew it. Personally, I think the way the Smith buyout was handled was done on purpose to make sure Boston signed someone else before he was bought out.  Remember Cleveland had said that they understood that Boston was interested in Mikki Moore and would wait for Smith to be bought out.  I remember reading that even before Mikki was signed.

There have been rumors all season that Smith was looking for a buyout.  Even as Smith was telling the media he didn't want a buyout, Smith's agent was talking with the Thunder.  This was before the Moore signing.

It's conjecture that Smith would have signed in Cleveland before Boston.  Maybe that's the case, and maybe it isn't.  However, I would have rather had the chance at Smith (or Gooden) than I would have Mikki Moore, who just isn't that good.

(As for Gooden, Danny obviously has a good relationship with the Sacramento front office.  I'm sure he could have gotten an update on the Gooden negotiations.)

But it appears that Smith was working on a contract with Cleveland before he was bought out.  He didn't give the Celtics the same opportunity.

How do we know that at this point?

Well Roy, it's entirely possible that Danny knew Smith was not coming to Boston when he talked with Smith's agent. This would not be publicized. If Danny knew Smith was not coming, then it was not a mistake to go for Moore, unless you really think he won't improve as he learns the C's system. Which is another issue. But the fact is Danny and others in the NBA know more than the public does about where players are going to end up, while you are assuming Smith was totally open to going to any contender.

[TatteredOnMySleeve]

Moore is the perfect length that we need, he's learning the team and i think he's going to do a good job.

Agreed, Lets go to war with what we do have and stop rehasing what could've been
Gooden is one of the dumbest players in the NBA, and probably injured
Joe Smith isnt that much better than Mikki Moore at this point in his career, sorry.

I wasnt thrilled with PJ brown on our team last year, he looked complelty done and added nothing in the regular season..he ended up working out pretty well in the playoffs(although his contributions are still overrated)

[Roy Hobbs]

Well Roy, it's entirely possible that Danny knew Smith was not coming to Boston when he talked with Smith's agent. This would not be publicized. If Danny knew Smith was not coming, then it was not a mistake to go for Moore, unless you really think he won't improve as he learns the C's system. Which is another issue. But the fact is Danny and others in the NBA know more than the public does about where players are going to end up, while you are assuming Smith was totally open to going to any contender.

Agreed.  If Danny knew that neither Smith nor Gooden would sign here, then Moore was the third best big available.  However, there have been several media reports that Smith wanted to be a Celtic, and publicly, he said he was flattered by the potential interest.  I have no idea what Gooden's thinking is, but I don't see why he wouldn't be motivated to stick it to his former team in the playoffs.

Hopefully some public comments come out to clarify this.  However, the picture that has been painted this far is that Danny specifically targeted Moore, and that makes little sense to me.

[Bankshot]

I prefer Gooden or Smith over Moore, but I think Danny made the right decision, only because Smith was not coming here over Cleveland.  There is a reason he didn't care for a buyout until Cleveland came calling.  We were not getting Smith and Danny knew it. Personally, I think the way the Smith buyout was handled was done on purpose to make sure Boston signed someone else before he was bought out.  Remember Cleveland had said that they understood that Boston was interested in Mikki Moore and would wait for Smith to be bought out.  I remember reading that even before Mikki was signed.

There have been rumors all season that Smith was looking for a buyout.  Even as Smith was telling the media he didn't want a buyout, Smith's agent was talking with the Thunder.  This was before the Moore signing.

It's conjecture that Smith would have signed in Cleveland before Boston.  Maybe that's the case, and maybe it isn't.  However, I would have rather had the chance at Smith (or Gooden) than I would have Mikki Moore, who just isn't that good.

(As for Gooden, Danny obviously has a good relationship with the Sacramento front office.  I'm sure he could have gotten an update on the Gooden negotiations.)

But it appears that Smith was working on a contract with Cleveland before he was bought out.  He didn't give the Celtics the same opportunity.

How do we know that at this point?

Because it was reported that Smith was working on a buyout and was set to joint Cleveland once the buyout was final.  If I can find the link I'll post it.

[TatteredOnMySleeve]

Well Roy, it's entirely possible that Danny knew Smith was not coming to Boston when he talked with Smith's agent. This would not be publicized. If Danny knew Smith was not coming, then it was not a mistake to go for Moore, unless you really think he won't improve as he learns the C's system. Which is another issue. But the fact is Danny and others in the NBA know more than the public does about where players are going to end up, while you are assuming Smith was totally open to going to any contender.

Agreed.  If Danny knew that neither Smith nor Gooden would sign here, then Moore was the third best big available.  However, there have been several media reports that Smith wanted to be a Celtic, and publicly, he said he was flattered by the potential interest.

Hopefully some public comments come out to clarify this.  However, the picture that has been painted this far is that Danny specifically targeted Moore, and that makes little sense to me.

I heard that too, but all along I heard he wanted to go to the cavaliers....(false reporting?)
Joe smith was really ho hum on getting that buyout when we were interested, and being flattered by the interest sounds more like "thanks but no thanks"

[Roy Hobbs]

I prefer Gooden or Smith over Moore, but I think Danny made the right decision, only because Smith was not coming here over Cleveland.  There is a reason he didn't care for a buyout until Cleveland came calling.  We were not getting Smith and Danny knew it. Personally, I think the way the Smith buyout was handled was done on purpose to make sure Boston signed someone else before he was bought out.  Remember Cleveland had said that they understood that Boston was interested in Mikki Moore and would wait for Smith to be bought out.  I remember reading that even before Mikki was signed.

There have been rumors all season that Smith was looking for a buyout.  Even as Smith was telling the media he didn't want a buyout, Smith's agent was talking with the Thunder.  This was before the Moore signing.

It's conjecture that Smith would have signed in Cleveland before Boston.  Maybe that's the case, and maybe it isn't.  However, I would have rather had the chance at Smith (or Gooden) than I would have Mikki Moore, who just isn't that good.

(As for Gooden, Danny obviously has a good relationship with the Sacramento front office.  I'm sure he could have gotten an update on the Gooden negotiations.)

But it appears that Smith was working on a contract with Cleveland before he was bought out.  He didn't give the Celtics the same opportunity.

How do we know that at this point?

Because it was reported that Smith was working on a buyout and was set to joint Cleveland once the buyout was final.  If I can find the link I'll post it.

Even if that's the case, though, how do you know that Smith didn't give the Celtics the same opportunity, or wouldn't have had the Celts had a need for another big?

[CelticsWhat35]

Well Roy, it's entirely possible that Danny knew Smith was not coming to Boston when he talked with Smith's agent. This would not be publicized. If Danny knew Smith was not coming, then it was not a mistake to go for Moore, unless you really think he won't improve as he learns the C's system. Which is another issue. But the fact is Danny and others in the NBA know more than the public does about where players are going to end up, while you are assuming Smith was totally open to going to any contender.

Agreed.  If Danny knew that neither Smith nor Gooden would sign here, then Moore was the third best big available.  However, there have been several media reports that Smith wanted to be a Celtic, and publicly, he said he was flattered by the potential interest.  I have no idea what Gooden's thinking is, but I don't see why he wouldn't be motivated to stick it to his former team in the playoffs.

Hopefully some public comments come out to clarify this.  However, the picture that has been painted this far is that Danny specifically targeted Moore, and that makes little sense to me.

Hypothetically, if Danny was targeting Smith and the agent made it known to him that he was going to sign with another team, do you think he would admit that Moore was his second option?  No, he's going to claim Moore was his target all along.  What comes out in these media reports makes little difference.

[winsomme]

Moore is the perfect length that we need, he's learning the team and i think he's going to do a good job.

the problem with Moore is going to be his strength.

He is going to get overpowered in the playoffs where the level of physicality goes up by tenfold.

I think you could kinda see it yesterday in a game that was played like a playoff game. He just gets pushed around too easily.

The place where he could be a help is the regular season where generally the games are more wide open and hopefully his energy will get some plays to help us win a couple of games and get home court advantage.

[CoachBo]

Perhaps Mikki Moore was the cheapest alternative?

Still think you've got to read between the financial lines on everything that's happened since the Finals ended. I suspect we don't want to pay the freight for Smith or Gooden.

And, I agree with Winny - length without strength or numbers - 41 percent isn't "consistent" shooting - is useless. Moore got bounced around some yesterday, and that's a warning sign.

[nickagneta]

Considering that any free agent released by their team before March 1st is eligible to sign with your team and still be eligible for playoff play no matter when you signed them, would it have killed Danny to wait for the deadline to come and then, if he couldn't get anyone better than Moore, just signed Moore anywhere from between now and 2 days from now? Moore could have waited and then been added in the next day or so if Danny couldn't get Gooden and/or Smith.

Or, being well connected, which all of us aren't, could Dannt very simply have already known about Smith and Gooden and either

1.)decided Moore was a better option
2.)Gooden wasn't going to come here
3.)Smith wasn't going to come here
4.)all of the above.

That is possible.

Or, conspiracy theory here, the trades with Sacramento were all arranged to get Moore bought out for the express purpose of jarring him loose and getting him to sign here without having to pick up the remainder of his salary in a trade. I would not doubt for a minute that everything that went on with those stupid second round protected trades(who the hell ever puts protection on second round trades) was nothing more than a fancy accounting way of doing a three way trade where the C's got Moore, Sactown got Cassell and Solomon and Toronto got POB and yet everyone saved some cash by doing the waiving and buyouts.

I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle of these scenarios but we can debate all day long and the truth is that we will never find out and never know. But as for my opinion, I think there was a lot of talking and dealing and conversation that might not be completely above board that went on and that's why we are we where we are with only Moore and Starbury and without Gooden and Smith.

[Andy Jick]

mikki moore stinks...

the only thing different between he and POB is he's a "veteran" so that makes people feel more comfortable with him.

another wasted roster space...

[Coach]

Now if Danny really believes that Smith or Gooden can help out a lot, I'm sure he won't hesitate to cut either Pruitt or Giddens and make a play for them.  But he still made the right decision by signing Moore, IMO.

Let's get something straight.  They are not cutting Giddens, and probably not Pruitt.  They are on the books next year, and for them to cut them, they would have to eat their salary.  In these economic times, that isn't happening.  If we are going to cut someone for a power forward, it would be either Powe or Davis.  They come off the books this year, and by signing another power forward, they would become more redundant than they already are.

[CelticsWhat35]

Now if Danny really believes that Smith or Gooden can help out a lot, I'm sure he won't hesitate to cut either Pruitt or Giddens and make a play for them.  But he still made the right decision by signing Moore, IMO.

Let's get something straight.  They are not cutting Giddens, and probably not Pruitt.  They are on the books next year, and for them to cut them, they would have to eat their salary.  In these economic times, that isn't happening.  If we are going to cut someone for a power forward, it would be either Powe or Davis.  They come off the books this year, and by signing another power forward, they would become more redundant than they already are.

I gotta disagree with you here.  Pruitt is only due $700K next year.  On a team with an $80 million payroll, and a short window as title contenders, I would seriously doubt ownership would hamstring Danny for such a small amount.  Powe and Davis are rotation players.  Pruitt is not.

[nickagneta]

Now if Danny really believes that Smith or Gooden can help out a lot, I'm sure he won't hesitate to cut either Pruitt or Giddens and make a play for them.  But he still made the right decision by signing Moore, IMO.

Let's get something straight.  They are not cutting Giddens, and probably not Pruitt.  They are on the books next year, and for them to cut them, they would have to eat their salary.  In these economic times, that isn't happening.  If we are going to cut someone for a power forward, it would be either Powe or Davis.  They come off the books this year, and by signing another power forward, they would become more redundant than they already are.

Pruitt is on a team option for next season. If the Celtics were to add another player and they feel that Pruitt will not grow into the type of player they need in one off season, he would be the man to go because he actually isn't on the books for next year.