Right now, the Celtics have two projects on the roster with guaranteed contracts, Bill Walker and J.R. Giddens. I'm assuming that the front office learned a lesson, and wants to minimize the number of players who won't be contributing to the roster next season.
Assuming that the team only wishes to carry one additional project next season, would you rather have third-year player Gabe Pruitt, or the injured Leon Powe, expected to be back around February?
I say Powe. Prior to his injury, Powe exemplified everything that it means to be a Celtic: tough, hard-working, team-oriented, etc. He's proven before that he'll do everything in his power to recover from injury, and let's not forget that a possible cause of his current injury was the fact that he came back early from an earlier injury to help lead this team into the playoffs. When healthy, Powe brings a rebounding and post game that nobody else on the bench possesses.
As for Gabe... he hasn't earned any minutes in two seasons -- despite the Celtics being desperate for a point guard -- and the only headlines he's made have been for an ill-advised DUI. He'll get a chance to show what he can do at summer league, but thus far, his contributions have been few and far between.
For me, this is an easy one. Keep Powe, and let Pruitt walk. While some are going to say that we should replace both, I see no reason why we can't keep Powe on a 15 man roster when only 12 players are allowed to be active. The key to this off-season is replacing Mikki's and Pruitt's slots with actual contributors, rather than cutting ties with Powe.