So Who's this Player Wyc talks about???

[crownsy]

Id be fine with zaza if we cant get dice though.

[youcanthandlethetruth113]

Shaquile O'Neal!

[hpantazo]

whoever it is , it better be someone good. Imagine, after referring to this player and mentioning that the checkbook will be open, if they don't get whoever they have in mind and instead introduce the signing of Mikki Moore #2. I have a feeling that whoever it is, they have already talked to him and just can't mention anything for fear of the hammer of Stern coming down on them.

[acieEarl]

I think there are some truths that are pretty much self-evident:

- Artest and Marion would never accept the MLE to play as backups here. I strongly suspect this is also true for Gortat.

- McDyess has a lot more in the tank than Sheed. To assume Wallace is still the better player of the two is a leap of faith. Maybe it can happen, but the signs, while inconclusive, clearly point otherwise.

- We don't need Iverson. We need a better backup wing than Jamario Moon (who isn't a good 3pt shooter and is a terrible slasher). Parker would be a better backup wing than Jamario Moon. Grant Hill would be a much better backup wing than anyone else realistically available.

Probably true about Artest and Marion, same with Sheed. Not sure how the market is going to dictate the money for these guys. They may fall into that Posey range when we signed him for cheap for a year so they can try to cash in the next year.

[KungPoweChicken]

Why is Gortat one-dimensional?

I've been seeing Gortat playing for 5 years, he's tested enough.

Gortat's offensive game is virtually non-existent. Outside of layup range, he is useless.

Even if that was true, it'd mean that Howard and Powe, for example, are also one-dimensional players. However, it's not even true. Gortat has a solid mid-range game and he's very good in the pick'n'roll. He's not an offensive force, but he's decent enough. I don't think you can get a backup big who can score 25 ppg anyway.

I will, however, admit that he gives good energy and it usually translates to solid defense. But I fail to see how a former second round pick who has played a total of sixty nine career NBA regular season games is "tested". Sorry, that's not good enough for me. Yes, he has had his moments in this year's playoffs. But let's not get carried away. Gortat is what he is, a hustle player with limited ability, who may or may not be playing above himself for a contract (Big Baby anyone)? I think we can do better.

With that reasoning, Scola or Fernandez aren't tested either. For a backup, Gortat has showed more than enough in his years playing pro-basketball to be considered tested. Who cares if he's a former second round pick? It only shows that some GMs are clueless when evaluating international players. I think NBA GMs will disagree with you and Gortat will eventually get a much better contract than you seemingly would.

According to 82games.com, Gortat shoots 38% on jump shots and 57.8% from the foul line, yet somehow you think he is a good shooter. He is not. Your comparison to Scola is way off. Scola started all 82 games this year, he played an integral part on the team, and his offensive game is far more advanced than Gortat's. Rudy Fernandez is a guard, so I don't see your point there. Nevertheless, he set the record for most three pointers in a season by a rookie, which is more than Gortat will ever do in this league. Just because all three guys are foreign doesn't mean they are similar. But I know this post will be in vain, for you have some sort of irrational Gortat love.

[cordobes]

Why is Gortat one-dimensional?

I've been seeing Gortat playing for 5 years, he's tested enough.

Gortat's offensive game is virtually non-existent. Outside of layup range, he is useless.

Even if that was true, it'd mean that Howard and Powe, for example, are also one-dimensional players. However, it's not even true. Gortat has a solid mid-range game and he's very good in the pick'n'roll. He's not an offensive force, but he's decent enough. I don't think you can get a backup big who can score 25 ppg anyway.

I will, however, admit that he gives good energy and it usually translates to solid defense. But I fail to see how a former second round pick who has played a total of sixty nine career NBA regular season games is "tested". Sorry, that's not good enough for me. Yes, he has had his moments in this year's playoffs. But let's not get carried away. Gortat is what he is, a hustle player with limited ability, who may or may not be playing above himself for a contract (Big Baby anyone)? I think we can do better.

With that reasoning, Scola or Fernandez aren't tested either. For a backup, Gortat has showed more than enough in his years playing pro-basketball to be considered tested. Who cares if he's a former second round pick? It only shows that some GMs are clueless when evaluating international players. I think NBA GMs will disagree with you and Gortat will eventually get a much better contract than you seemingly would.

But I know this post will be in vain, for you have some sort of irrational Gortat love.

Please, don't used ad hominem arguments or I'll have to ignore you. Have I accused you of having some sort of irrational Gortat hate? I haven't, have I?

The fact that Gortat didn't start, unlike Scola, only means he couldn't beat Dwight Howard for a spot in the starting 5. And if you want a player as tested as Scola to be acquired with the MLE, I think you're into a huge disappointment.

It's not that their foreigners, is that they proved they could play overseas before joining the NBA.

You may not like Gortat, but to call him one-dimensional for playing near the basket (and personally there's where I prefer my 7 footers to play) is quite ridiculous.

[KungPoweChicken]

Why is Gortat one-dimensional?

I've been seeing Gortat playing for 5 years, he's tested enough.

Gortat's offensive game is virtually non-existent. Outside of layup range, he is useless.

Even if that was true, it'd mean that Howard and Powe, for example, are also one-dimensional players. However, it's not even true. Gortat has a solid mid-range game and he's very good in the pick'n'roll. He's not an offensive force, but he's decent enough. I don't think you can get a backup big who can score 25 ppg anyway.

I will, however, admit that he gives good energy and it usually translates to solid defense. But I fail to see how a former second round pick who has played a total of sixty nine career NBA regular season games is "tested". Sorry, that's not good enough for me. Yes, he has had his moments in this year's playoffs. But let's not get carried away. Gortat is what he is, a hustle player with limited ability, who may or may not be playing above himself for a contract (Big Baby anyone)? I think we can do better.

With that reasoning, Scola or Fernandez aren't tested either. For a backup, Gortat has showed more than enough in his years playing pro-basketball to be considered tested. Who cares if he's a former second round pick? It only shows that some GMs are clueless when evaluating international players. I think NBA GMs will disagree with you and Gortat will eventually get a much better contract than you seemingly would.

But I know this post will be in vain, for you have some sort of irrational Gortat love.

Please, don't used ad hominem arguments or I'll have to ignore you. Have I accused you of having some sort of irrational Gortat hate? I haven't, have I?

The fact that Gortat didn't start, unlike Scola, only means he couldn't beat Dwight Howard for a spot in the starting 5. And if you want a player as tested as Scola to be acquired with the MLE, I think you're into a huge disappointment.

It's not that their foreigners, is that they proved they could play overseas before joining the NBA.

You may not like Gortat, but to call him one-dimensional for playing near the basket (and personally there's where I prefer my 7 footers to play) is quite ridiculous.

The "Gortat love" bit was a joke and not meant to be taken seriously, for I presented my case against Gortat before it. Anyhow, if you were Danny, how long and at how much would you be willing to pay Gortat?

[gustusias]

McDyess. Danny has him wrapped up already I would imagine.Sean Grande was on celticstuff live before the playoffs and mentioned that he saw McDyess's name on Ainge's mobile phone around all star break. We almost got him then, and according to Grande
he would be very shocked if Antonio was not a member of the Celtics this fall.

[cordobes]

The "Gortat love" bit was a joke and not meant to be taken seriously, for I presented my case against Gortat before it. Anyhow, if you were Danny, how long and at how much would you be willing to pay Gortat?

If I was Danny, I'd offer him a $18 millions/4 years contract.

However, if I was the GM of a team looking for a center to start, I'd offer him the full-MLE for 5 years or even more.

[Drucci]

I think that Wyc is talking about McDyess, which would be a good news for us since he would probably accept to sign with the Celtics and would be a perfect big for our bench.

[paintitgreen]

It'd be nice to get McDyess, then we could focus on the backup small forward spot, which is where I think we need the most help. I wonder what he'll cost though. If it's $4 or less for 1-2 years, I'm all for it.

For people who said we'd spend over the MLE, remember that we can't spend over the MLE on any given player. That's the maximum we have available to offer one player. We also have the LLE, but that can't be combined with the MLE to make a super exception.

Given that, Artest and Varejao cannot be the guys Boston's thinking of, or if it is, then we're not realistically getting them. Varejao is opting out of a $6.2 million contract for next year. Word is he wants $10. Maybe he gets a long term deal starting at 7 or 8, though I'm not sure who offers it. (Oklahoma City? I think he'd work there. Maybe Memphis. Both those teams need size and have their offense coming from other positions. Or, what would be dangerous for us, it could be a sign and trade getting back an asset for Cleveland - something like Varejao and Ilgauskas for Shaq.) Artest is getting $8 plus right now, and Houston has his Bird rights so they can offer him any amount of money without messing up cap space. Now, they won't give him a max deal or anything, but they'll definitely beat a midlevel offer and focus on trading McGrady's expiring contract to bring in more help.

Marion, McDyess, Wallace, and Hill all make sense too. To whoever mentioned Moon, if we could get him for the LLE, I'd like it.

Fan from VT - If that was your wishlist (Dooling, Pietrus, Andersen), good calls (though not actually possible - Pietrus took the whole MLE, Dooling got $3.3 of the MLE). With Pietrus and Andersen instead of Eddie House (whom we couldn't have afforded if we spend our entire MLE on Pietrus) and O'Bryant/Mikki Moore, we'd have beaten Orlando - Andersen could have given some minutes on Lewis, and Pierce could have guarded Lewis for stretches while Pietrus took Turkoglu. Question is, without Garnett, could we have exploited Cleveland's front court deficiencies as well as Orlando did? That Cleveland team was built for us, not Orlando.

[gar]

Marion would be the best complement; however he can disappear at times at not sure about team chemistry. I Marion tight with any of the big 3?

[star18]

What if we trade for Artest and send Houston BBD, TA, Scals & Pruitt.   Is that possible? For some reason I just don't think Artest is a good fit with Yao and T-Mac, and the rest of the team is talented if they added a young BBD he could be very successful there and I think TA could fit in well with Houston too, they are a good defensive team.  If we can get Artest, start him, and have Ray as our 6th man that would be some ridiculous defense there in the starting 5 with KG,Perk,Ron,PP & Rondo. We would have size also, you have to admit that defense could break some records there they would be nasty. Plus Artest doesn't really like Kobe and we may have to face the Lakers again if we get to the finals next year, so his feud with Kobe has to give him some sort of chance of coming to Boston. 

[Cman]

who do you guys think Wyc has in mind.

Big Baby and Grant Hill.

[Jon]

Marion would be the best complement; however he can disappear at times at not sure about team chemistry. I Marion tight with any of the big 3?

Also didn't Marion want out of Phoenix because he didn't think he was involved in the offense enough?  That isn't going to work playing with two (maybe three) other superstars.