Why would Murphy chose Miami?

[Roy H.]

Our big men:  KG, Shaq, BBD, Krstic, JO, Green (situationally)

Heat big men: Bosh, Haslem, Dampier, Anthony, Big Z, Magloire

Which group do you think would be easier to break into?  I think we have clear starters, clear backups, and even a decent fifth big, assuming health.  Miami has Bosh, Haslem, and a bunch of mediocre, one-dimensional guys.

[Celtics/Run]

Our big men:  KG, Shaq, BBD, Krstic, JO, Green (situationally)

Heat big men: Bosh, Haslem, Dampier, Anthony, Big Z, Magloire

Which group do you think would be easier to break into?  I think we have clear starters, clear backups, and even a decent fifth big, assuming health.  Miami has Bosh, Haslem, and a bunch of mediocre, one-dimensional guys.

Those are decent sized question marks. The evidence of team basketball is not with Miami.

[LooseCannon]

Maybe Murphy should take his time and see give it a few weeks to see if any team suffers an injury that makes it desperate to sign Murphy.

[wdleehi]

Maybe Murphy should take his time and see give it a few weeks to see if any team suffers an injury that makes it desperate to sign Murphy.

Why? 


He can get minutes on a prime playoff team now.  Why wait?  He has been waiting all year to play. 

[dark_lord]

unfortunately, the weather alone is enough to impact the decision (at least it would for me if i were him).

[35Lewis]

I'm with Roy on this one, but it raises a bigger question if you list all of our big men... Why would the Celtics want Murphy?

If you really think about the position he plays and how he plays it then his offensive game seems redundant next to all of our big men outside of Shaq.  If we want to spread the floor with a center then we keep Krstic out there or throw in Big Baby.  And don't forget that Green was a 39% three point shooter last year and Doc likes to run with a small 4 in the fourth quarter.

Murphy is a nice piece and I want to get him only to keep him from Miami, but at the end of the day this team doesn't need Murphy.

[Celtics4ever]

MIA is 14-15 against teams with winning records.  They are bottom feeders.  In the past James has done better in the regular season than in the playoffs.  They are not going to play many bad teams in the playoffs.  I think Shaq and O'Neal can overpower MIA bigs.  Krstic even is more mobile than Murphy. 

A lot depends on Murphy.  Does he want to play and sit back and win a ring?   Right now, I don't think it's an honest assessment as the O'Neals are both out with injuries.  He may look at us and think I am better than Krstic and I will start now.

I don't care if he chooses them.  I want him to deny him to them but I think we can beat them either way.

[nba is the worst]

I think most players would prefer the Celtics to the heatles for multiple reasons. The chance of winning a title this year tops the list.

However, the chance for meaningful playing time on Miami as well as the income tax differential (what is MA state tax?) are obviously keys - Haslem may not be back at all, and with Damp/Z as the incumbents, it is a far lesser challenge to get minutes than it will be with the Celtics.

It will be interesting to see what happens.

[Spilling Green Dye]

Our big men:  KG, Shaq, BBD, Krstic, JO, Green (situationally)

Heat big men: Bosh, Haslem, Dampier, Anthony, Big Z, Magloire

Which group do you think would be easier to break into?  I think we have clear starters, clear backups, and even a decent fifth big, assuming health.  Miami has Bosh, Haslem, and a bunch of mediocre, one-dimensional guys.

I have to disagree a bit.  While I stated earlier in this thread that Murphy would get more minutes on Miami b/c they have less depth, I think you are over-valuing our bigmen.

Jermaine - I don't expect him to be healthy.  Even if he does come back, he'll be rusty and an unreliable player on offense.  Murphy is a better rebounder and a better shooter/scorer.  Edge:  Murphy

KG - Starts, and will get 30+ minutes a game in the playoffs.  I don't see Murphy ever cutting into that.

Shaq - Starts, and will get about 22 minutes a game in the playoffs.  That still leaves another 26 to be divided elsewhere, whihc is where Murphy can make a major impact.

Krstic - I like some things I've seen from him, but I'd still give Murphy the edge.

Green - Should not be playing PF/C, except under rare circumstance.  

BBD - Can only be considered a 3-dimensional player b/c of his girth.  In reality I don't think he's better than the Miami bigmen, and Murphy would ideally cut into BBD's minutes.  @35Lewis who said "If we want to spread the floor with a center then we keep Krstic out there or throw in Big Baby", I think that's a terrible idea.  Krstic somewhat spreads the floor, but BBD doesn't at all.  See jumpshooting stats below:

Murphy:  52% jumpshooter (in 2009-2010, last full season played)
BBD:  42% jumpshooter (2009-2010) and 38% (2010-2011)
Krstic:  44% jumpshooter (2009-2010) and 41% (2010-2011)

A 10-15% gain is enormous.  That's like suggesting we space the floor with Rondo (45% jumpshooter) instead of Ray Allen (59%).  

Throw in that Murphy is probably a better rebounder than anyone not named KG on our team, and this becomes a no brainer to me.  Many of our bigmen are neither reliably healthy or good enough to take major minutes from someone like Troy Murphy.

[LilRip]

it will be interesting how DA will convince Murphy to play here. Going to MIA makes a lot of sense to be honest, because he'll likely be the starting C. All he'll ever have to do there is rebound and shoot 3's and lose.

[The DarkPassenger]

It is a real possibility that the Celtics might lose Murphy to Miami. ESPN reported that Murphy did not think the Miami would eat the necessary contracts in order to sign him and when he found out that they were it was unexpected.

I do not think that is a good sign for Boston at all. This isn't the end of the world for us but Danny took a huge gamble when he traded all of those guys and now he has to work some magic to get some talent to come in and contribute for us.

I don't think it's a huge deal if we miss on Murphy because I would hope that Danny already knew that this is a possibility and prepared for it. Now if he did fully expect Troy to come here and that's why he was okay with making some of those moves it was not smart.

[Gomesfan]

hopefuly Kg Ray P2 RR & Doc got on a plane after the game to go see Murphy ala Sheed, to get Murphy to sign w/ us!

[minijericho29]

the question should be: "Why would Murphy NOT choose Miami?"

[Celtics/Run]

the question should be: "Why would Murphy NOT choose Miami?"

Because Miami isn't coming out the East.

[wdleehi]

the question should be: "Why would Murphy NOT choose Miami?"

Because Miami isn't coming out the East.

Players have egos.


I have no doubt that a player like Murphy would think he will be the tipping point to get Miami a title.