Who should the C's have given the MLE to last offseason? (Instead of J. O'Neal)

[apc]

He's going to be able to give us 15-20 solid minutes of defensive basketball in the playoffs

is he?
i am not so sure about that.

[Chris]

in hindsight it might not have been a terrible idea to just hold out and wait. 

Imagine if we still had the MLE to pick up a guy like Troy Murphy after he got bought out.

Or we could've snapped up Erik Dampier in December for a 1 yr deal.

Or we could've waited til the buyout season.

No chance Shaq signs for the less than the MLE if we had it available. 

Given Perk's injury, I just don't think we had much of a choice. 

[Edgar]

there wasnt much to pick really
shaq wasnt available and last year JO was
semi healthy
so i guess it was a nice try after all
still i sould had offer frie a 3 year contract, to see if he bites.with beneffits.
dont ask me which ones.. but i am sure shaq have some..lol

[pearljammer10]

I would have done things the same way. I would have gone after JO with the MLE.

[Celtics18]

I would've loved for the Cs to have gone after Dorrell Wright.

  I don't think Wright was looking for a gig with no chance of starting.

Well, I guess he got himself a good gig out in GS.  I would have loved him coming off the bench to back up Paul and even some behind Ray, though.

He wouldn't have started obviously, but it could have been a pretty good gig for him, I think.  Oh well, water under the bridge.

[Cman]

It would have gone to Shaq.

Yep.  As it is, we got JO, who might still give us something in the playoffs (and did provide depth in the beginning of the season while KG was out), and Shaq.
No complaints here.

[xmuscularghandix]

Just pretend Shaq is making MLE and JO is making the minimum. It'll make everyone feel better.

[Jon]

Very premature.  While I'm not saying that he will turn it around, let's not forget attitudes about Sheed and the C's as a whole last year. 

Overall message: don't count your chickens before they hatch.  And given that we don't necessarily need this chicken to hatch to win it all, I'm not too down about this matter at this point. 

[jimmywolfrey]

I thought the Celtics shold look at Kwame Brown as the 5th big man.   He can guard the PF and C spots.  He wouldn't have cost the full MLE either.  He would have given you 5-7 points and 6-8 rebounds per game with 20-25 minutes.  He is an above average post and help defender even though he isn't a great shot blocker but will alter shots. 

Thats just me since I've tracked his whole career starting with his 1st year with the wizards.  I feel really sorry for him because a majority of people still only view him as the #1 overall pick bust that he is.  BUT he is a very servicable big man and ironically used to handle Jermaine O'Neal when they used to be matched up against each other back in the day. 

Celtic fans probably haven't seen him play much this year with the Bobcats but since he has been back from a twisted ankle, he has played well rebounding the ball very well. 

If we need a Center, Kwame would be valuable.  He actually has similar skills to Perk defensively.

[housecall]

Just pretend Shaq is making MLE and JO is making the minimum. It'll make everyone feel better.

I wonder if Shaq feels that way.

[housecall]

I thought the Celtics shold look at Kwame Brown as the 5th big man.   He can guard the PF and C spots.  He wouldn't have cost the full MLE either.  He would have given you 5-7 points and 6-8 rebounds per game with 20-25 minutes.  He is an above average post and help defender even though he isn't a great shot blocker but will alter shots. 

Thats just me since I've tracked his whole career starting with his 1st year with the wizards.  I feel really sorry for him because a majority of people still only view him as the #1 overall pick bust that he is.  BUT he is a very servicable big man and ironically used to handle Jermaine O'Neal when they used to be matched up against each other back in the day. 

Celtic fans probably haven't seen him play much this year with the Bobcats but since he has been back from a twisted ankle, he has played well rebounding the ball very well. 

If we need a Center, Kwame would be valuable.  He actually has similar skills to Perk defensively.

you're correct,he has been servicable for a few seasons.Some think of him as the old Kwame from his early yrs.tp

[LooseCannon]

I thought the Celtics shold look at Kwame Brown as the 5th big man.

One problem is that anyone decent under 30 may have preferred to go somewhere where he felt he had a chance to win the starting job.  The Celtics needed a center who would be willing to sit on the bench when Perkins comes back.

[Fafnir]

Just pretend Shaq is making MLE and JO is making the minimum. It'll make everyone feel better.

I wonder if Shaq feels that way.

Who cares, he's made enough money.

[jimmywolfrey]

I thought the Celtics shold look at Kwame Brown as the 5th big man.

One problem is that anyone decent under 30 may have preferred to go somewhere where he felt he had a chance to win the starting job.  The Celtics needed a center who would be willing to sit on the bench when Perkins comes back.

Very true... but he is only making like 800-1mill from the bobcats I believe this year... throw 2.5 at him and i'm sure he would have signed.

[chambers]

As with Rasheed, I'm pretty confident we won't fully appreciate the value of JO's signing until the playoffs come (assuming he's healthy and can contribute).

If JO is healthy throughout the playoffs, it will make the mid level signing worth it.

A healthy rotation of:
Perkins / JO / Shaq / Garnett & Baby... = Championship

The playoffs get very physical under the basket and that crew will put some major hurt on any other team we face. It's gonna get ugly for other teams trying to deal with us in the paint come playoff time.

exactly.
tommy point for you sir.
can't wait to see us in a 7 game series vs ilgauskas and anthony and then howard and bass.
good luck eastern conference.