Free Agent centers

[Mr October]

With Sheed most likely retiring and Perk needing recovery time, the Celtics are going to need 1 or even 2 centers in the off season. If they go the free agent route the pool looks like the following:

May require some or all of the MLE:

Shaq
Haywood
Jermaine O'Neal
Milicic

These guys could possibly play for the minimum:

Brad Miller
Ilgauskas
Ratliff
Ben Wallace
Kwame Brown
Earl Barron
Nesterovic

I'm guessing Haywood is going to be looking for a full 5 years of MLE. I wouldn't be down with that.

I like the idea of getting either O'Neal (hands down if they can be convinced to play for the minimum), and then trying to get Miller, Barron, Brown or Ben Wallace in that order.

The alternative is to run a smaller team with KG at center. If we do that I think KG's knees might explode by February. Small ball might be worth it if we can pickup Tyrus Thomas though.

your thoughts on the center position and free agency? Did I forget anyone of quality?

[More Banners]

Shaq's horrid defense...no to Shaq.

J.O. has been reduce to a thug.  I don't like him and won't pay to watch a team he is on unless it's the C's kicking his rear.

Agree on Haywood-too much money.

Seen Brad Miller play defense?  If so, you must have a long, looooooong memory.

Not looking good at the 5.  I'd probably go with an uptempo lineup and try to wrangle one of the slightly more plentiful athletic PF's in free agency or try to bundle Sheed's contract and trade up for a better (if overpaid) player (Okafor?).

[hwangjini_1]

that is one pretty uninspiring herd of free agents. none of them make me excited.

indeed, i am not sure how many of them could clearly outplay williams.

[Meadowlark_Scal]

Kwame brown and ratliff, two players with a lot of talent and the body, but really bad attitude....we had ratliff before, he was soo dumb, sitting on the bench brooding, the next year we got kg, if he only was "with it" he could have been there too. Shaq, nothing left but big hacking, oneal, if only we could sic him on artest somehow....! Or gasol, but somehow it would work against us. No to all. Haywood is the best choice, shown to have skills, the body, and actually keeps getting better when around the right team mates.

[Who]

(1) Ben Wallace -- smallest financial commitment + very good cover while Perkins is out + very good backup big once Perk returns.

(2) Darko -- the player most similar to Perkins but he'd cost nearly the entire MLE

(3) Kwame -- can play defense and can rebound. He would likely eat up half the MLE though.

No interest in Shaq, Jermaine, Big Z or Brad Miller. Not as rotation players. Third string centers? Okay, that's fine.

[PosImpos]

Is Tyson Chandler opting out of his contract?  I thought I read that somewhere.  Might be worth considering paying him some money. 

Rondo might be able to do for him what C. Paul did for him (alley oop galore).

[eugen]

Haywood is the only one

[Cman]

It took a 3 year MLE deal to land Sheed.

That suggests to me that it will take the full MLE to land Shaq, O'Neil, Haywood.  Close to the full MLE for Brad Miller, Ilgauskas.

Someone will offer more than the min to Kwame Brown, ditto for Ben Wallace.

If we want to talk about players available for the min we are talking about Etan Thomas, Earl Barron, Rasho Nesterovic.

I like the idea of Ben Wallace.

[snively]

Ben Wallace would be perfect.  Hard to believe he signed for the minimum last year.

[PosImpos]

Ben Wallace was on the verge of retirement last summer.  Hard to believe he has enough left in the tank to play a full season + post-season again.  I think he only played in Detroit this last season because he wanted to finish his career there.

[Mr October]

I forgot about Milicic. What do you think it would take to sign him? Do we even want to spend that cash on him.

I worry about the Celtics platooning undersized centers next year.

[Who]

I forgot about Milicic. What do you think it would take to sign him? Do we even want to spend that cash on him.

I worry about the Celtics platooning undersized centers next year.

In the $4 million to $6 million range would be my estimate

I don't want to spend that money on a center with Perkins here. Doubly so because it stops the C's from spending the MLE on another need or player.

I would have had some interest in Darko as a Perkins' replacement but Perk's injury has pretty much ruled that out as a possibility.

[Mr October]

How about another round of POB?

He's got size and skill.


....just kidding. Man, getting a Sheed and half a season of Perk replacement is going to be hard.

[looseball]

that is one pretty uninspiring herd of free agents. none of them make me excited.

indeed, i am not sure how many of them could clearly outplay williams.

I agree with your assessment of this "herd".  And our biggest need is a rebounder.  So, is Williams the answer?  He can certainly rebound.

[Dchuck]

Is Tyson Chandler opting out of his contract?  I thought I read that somewhere.  Might be worth considering paying him some money. 

Rondo might be able to do for him what C. Paul did for him (alley oop galore).

I agree. 

I posted earlier the same thing.  He's 28, tall, long, athletic could learn a lot from KG and Perk about toughness and hard work. 

Remember Sheed is gone (take that to the bank), Perk won't be around till at least December (also, knee injuries will take at least a calendar year to get back to normal playing capabilities; see KG) and even at that he is going into his final year of his contract.  His knee may not be worth counting on or investing in for that matter.

How about this?  With the exodus of free agents and their salaries from this team (Sheed, Scal, Shelden, Finley and say.....wait for it....Ray Allen) they could take Jordan Crawford at 19 and have Tyson Chandler.

Crazy, I know.