Leon Powe vs. Sheldon Williams

[MVP]

What do you define a healthy Leon Powe? If by healthy you mean that Leon gets to play again, then its Shelden because even though Powe will return sometime in February it will take him another year to regain his athleticism and trust his knee if that ever happens (think TA). If healthy means Leon Powe before injury last year, then of course Leon is the superior player.

In regards to Shelden, I think he'll look much better here not as much because of Ray but because he can focus on his role more. On crappy teams that he played before, his offensive shortcomings hurt the team too much for him on the floor. Here, he'll be on the floor with Pierce/Ray/KG/Rondo/Sheed so the fact that he is a bad offensive player will be hidden somewhat, but his defense and rebounding will be more prevalent.

[Mr October]

Williams has never really impressed me when I've seen him defensively.

Williams doesn't have the athleticism or mobility to fulfill the defensive promise he had coming out of college. He's too slow to defend many power forwards, leaving him as a 6-8 center who's clearly giving up a huge amount of size to opposing players.

He can be a situational defender at the four, defending PF's who lack mobility or offensive skills or like to hang around the rim, but as a full time player he'll get cut apart by more than half the starting PF's in this league. I think Williams is better off at the center position, but he's going to give up a lot at that spot too.

I'd rather have Powe's defense, I think he's a better defender against power forwards.

Good points. Maybe thats the key. Williams is going to be counted on as an undersized backup center. The C's have plenty of depth at the 4  already.

[jambr380]

While I think Shelden Williams may be slightly better than Powe (I know I am in the minority here), I think given their current situations, Powe would be 'statistically' better, as he will get considerably more time (if/when he is healthy).

I am pretty excited by the Shelden signing, though. I know Danny let a lot of people down by not re-signing Powe, but I do think he made up for it (for the team) with a healthier (more potential) version of him. I wish Powe the very best. He has shown so much effort and heart and I have no doubt he will be back in the NBA...and deservingly so.

[SCBirdman]

I think one factor that many people are overlooking is that not only did Leon have another ACL surgery, he also had micro fracture as well. For anyone that does not know, that is when they drill holes in your knee. It is a serious procedure.

How much trauma can one knee take and continue to recover? Will Leon Powe ever be the same player he once was? While I beleive if anyone can recover, its Leon. But if I am in charge of an organization and have a limited window to win another championship, it would be too much of a gamble to sign Leon until he gets healthy and proves he can still play.

In Shelden Williams, the C's get a bigger, more physical defender, someone that can rebound, and someone that comes from a great program. Williams knows how to play the game. I think Clifford Ray will do wondders for his offensive game. WIll he ever be a bigtime scorer? No, but he will improve and I beleive he will be an excellent role player off the bench. I think he compliments Baby and can play along side Baby, KG or Sheed.

[johnnyrondo]

Well the choice is "when/if healthy Leon" so I'll go with Mr. Powe.

[twinbree]

It really depends on what healthy will mean for Leon and Sheldon's playing time and performance. I don't know if he'll improve on the Celtics. I'm much less confident than I was pre-POB in the big man enhancing superpowers of the Cliff Ray/KG combo

Besides I don't really think it matters. For me, Sheed replaced Leon and Sheldon replaced POB/Mikki so he doesn't need to outperfom Leon to make it a net positive in my eyes. My expectations are pretty low. If he can crack the rotation and and give a few useful minutes I'm good.

[chelsearules]

until sheldon comes in and shows he can crack the rotation and contribute i'll have to go with my man powe safe recovery man

[xmuscularghandix]

Williams > Defensively

Powe > Offensively (at least at the end of last season, there were times that he looked horrible in the low post)

[Global Celtic]

It's SheldEn.