Some absolute off the hook, ridiculous stuff being said in this thread. I won't get into the specifics as to not insult people but some people here need to get a grip.
The free agency period isn't even officially a week old yet and yet Tony Allen is irreplaceable?
How about Raja Bell, Ime Udoka, Antoine Wright, Keith Bogans, Rodney Carney, Trenton Hassell. There are guys out there that are above average to great defenders that will be available to the Celtics. Some of them can even do something besides play defense.
You should get a grip, too, Nick. None of those guys mentioned above could come close to providing the type of defense TA provided in our 2010 run. Bell and Hassell *once* had that ability, but now they're too old. The rest of that crew never had the skill, speed, or strength to physically compete at TA's level, even in their primes.
The level of panic in this thread is justified because the Heat just brought together 2 of the best 3 perimeter players in the entire league, while we lost one of the best, if not the best, perimeter defender in the entire league in the same offseason. That's bad. This team is predicated on defense and coupled with Perk's injury and Thibs departure, TA's loss is a real blow to our chances...
TA's defense was instrumental throughout the 2010 playoff run, especially in Game 1 against DWade and the Heat. He entered that game in the middle of the 3rd quarter with the Cs at a 14 point disadvantage and used his defense to turn the game around in what was possibly the defining moment of the series and the entire Cs playoff run, holding Wade scoreless for the next 12 minutes of game time. If TA doesn't come off that bench, put that level of defense on Wade, the entire series might have turned, and with it the ultimate fate of this team.
Yet you think that replaceable? Maybe if this team wasn't filled with aging players at 4 of 5 starting spots and had at least one other proven wing defender on their bench. For a team predicated on defense and a team almost completely devoid of super athleticism, it's an absolute back-breaker to lose a great defender and athlete like Tony Allen. We've been athletically deficient on this team for 3 years now and it's getting worse...
Sure, we can use Sheed's contract to put someone else in Tony's spot. But that doesn't change the fact that we let a proven playoff asset walk away for NOTHING and did it at a time when we have very few assets left to improve this team before training camp. We might strike gold with a minimal level signing, but after letting TA get away for nothing we're going to have to hope we do since that's about the only way we can recoup from this.