Rumor: Celtics targeting Chuck Hayes

[Who]

Also, regarding play at center, Hayes spent over 80% of his minutes there last year.  Again, I understand the concern, but at least he's played the position at a moderately high level.

I strongly disagree with this.

Chuck Hayes inability to play the center position effectively hurt Houston throughout the season. His inability to provide a deterrent at the basket allowed the opposition to create high percentage shots at the rim all season long.

Houston being forced to play Hayes out of position, where he is far less effective, was one of the main reasons they fielded a below average defense last season.

That said, Kevin Garnett can play the five at an extremely high level. He has the length and defensive instincts to be that rim deterrent.

And Garnett has the overall defensive range, as a center, to free Chuck Hayes up to play the four where Hayes is a very impressive defensive player.

A Kevin Garnett (C) and Chuck Hayes (PF) defensive combination would be very effective and much more effective than a Kevin Garnett (PF) and Chuck Hayes (C) combo because playing the five allows Garnett to spend more time closer to the basket where he can alter shot attempts.

They can switch matchups on occasion, where appropriate, but Garnett would need to play the lion's share of the minutes at the five when on the floor with Hayes.

[Evantime34]

Scouting report from my friend who is a die hard Rockets fan.
"Good player for a mediocre team, great defense nothing on offense, short."
I asked him how he could be good on defense guarding centers at 6'6
"I reallly don't know, but he generally does"

Sounds like an undersized player that Celtics fans will love to root for but will curse one offense the same way they did Perk.

I still say you start JO even if you can get Hayes.

[Chris]

I love Hayes.  My only issue would be if they need to use the MLE to sign him, because I think that will be needed to get real centers.  But, if they can get him for the vet minimum, or maybe using the Daniels trade exception, he would be a terrific fit.

[clover]

too much rumor!, my head is spinning, Danny is trying to do something big by the start of the season

I've got it.  This is Danny's new form of misdirection: ask about every single target so the Interwebs are swarmed with rumors and nobody believes any of them.

I'm fine with Chuck as KG's backup.  He and 3J could hardly be more different players.

[snively]

Not convinced C.Hayes is a realistic target if all Boston has is the mini-MLE.

I think the Houston Rockets will offer a comparable deal to 3yrs $9mil and that C.Hayes' loyalty to the organization will keep him there once that offer is made.

Yeah, the Rockets organization loves him to death.  But they have a little chunk of cap space this offseason, a trio of undersized bigs they like under contract (Scola, Patterson and, soon, Marcus Morris) and two centers they're not crazy about (Hill and Thabeet).  There's a real chance they try to turn that cap space into one of the above average free agent bigs out there (Nene, Dalembert, Chandler, M. Gasol).

And I think Boston would harbor real appeal for Hayes.  Rondo's an old teammate from Kentucky, it's a contending team and they'll be offering him major rotational minutes.

[Liam W]

Way too small for a Center. 6'6 are u kidding me?

No thanks

Would prefer a 7'0 footer than a 6'6 guard

Thank you

[snively]

Also, regarding play at center, Hayes spent over 80% of his minutes there last year.  Again, I understand the concern, but at least he's played the position at a moderately high level.

I strongly disagree with this.

Chuck Hayes inability to play the center position effectively hurt Houston throughout the season. His inability to provide a deterrent at the basket allowed the opposition to create high percentage shots at the rim all season long.

Houston being forced to play Hayes out of position, where he is far less effective, was one of the main reasons they fielded a below average defense last season.

That said, Kevin Garnett can play the five at an extremely high level. He has the length and defensive instincts to be that rim deterrent.

And Garnett has the overall defensive range, as a center, to free Chuck Hayes up to play the four where Hayes is a very impressive defensive player.

A Kevin Garnett (C) and Chuck Hayes (PF) defensive combination would be very effective and much more effective than a Kevin Garnett (PF) and Chuck Hayes (C) combo because playing the five allows Garnett to spend more time closer to the basket where he can alter shot attempts.

They can switch matchups on occasion, where appropriate, but Garnett would need to play the lion's share of the minutes at the five when on the floor with Hayes.

Exactly.  Just put Hayes on the opposing team's primary offensive big (Griffin, Howard, Bosh, Amare, Lopez, Boozer) and let KG or JO roam in the paint/cover the less talented big.  Isn't that how Doc has tried to use Baby for the last few years? 

[Roy H.]

Way too small for a Center. 6'6 are u kidding me?

No thanks

Would prefer a 7'0 footer than a 6'6 guard

Thank you

Even if the 6'6" center has played the position very well for a number of years?

It's thinking like that that caused Rick Pitino to try to convert 6'7" Ben Wallace into a small forward.

[Celts Fan 92]

Way too small for a Center. 6'6 are u kidding me?

No thanks

Would prefer a 7'0 footer than a 6'6 guard

Thank you

Even if the 6'6" center has played the position very well for a number of years?

It's thinking like that that caused Rick Pitino to try to convert 6'7" Ben Wallace into a small forward.

Good comparison Hayes is super strong for his size he never gets bodied in the post but im not crazy bout this aquisition

[Overrated]

I like Chuck and I think he'd be good for the Cs - they need some grit and rebounding - but I don't think he's the answer at the 5. They need a real big man, someone who can protect the paint and handle (I use this term loosely) the Howards and Bynums of the league.

[Evantime34]

Also, regarding play at center, Hayes spent over 80% of his minutes there last year.  Again, I understand the concern, but at least he's played the position at a moderately high level.

I strongly disagree with this.

Chuck Hayes inability to play the center position effectively hurt Houston throughout the season. His inability to provide a deterrent at the basket allowed the opposition to create high percentage shots at the rim all season long.

Houston being forced to play Hayes out of position, where he is far less effective, was one of the main reasons they fielded a below average defense last season.

For whatever it's worth, Houston's defense was significantly better when Hayes was on the floor.  His individual defense was very good, and the team defense was better with him than it was without him. 

Usually as a 5 to be a good help defender you need to either take charges or block shots. Does he do either of those things?

[Who]

Not convinced C.Hayes is a realistic target if all Boston has is the mini-MLE.

I think the Houston Rockets will offer a comparable deal to 3yrs $9mil and that C.Hayes' loyalty to the organization will keep him there once that offer is made.

Yeah, the Rockets organization loves him to death.  But they have a little chunk of cap space this offseason, a trio of undersized bigs they like under contract (Scola, Patterson and, soon, Marcus Morris) and two centers they're not crazy about (Hill and Thabeet).  There's a real chance they try to turn that cap space into one of the above average free agent bigs out there (Nene, Dalembert, Chandler, M. Gasol).

And I think Boston would harbor real appeal for Hayes.  Rondo's an old teammate from Kentucky, it's a contending team and they'll be offering him major rotational minutes.

If it comes down to Houston signing one of those guys or parting with Hayes, they'll definitely discard Hayes.

They like him, they want to keep him ... but they won't let him get in the way of something more important.

But from the looks of their salary situation, they will likely need a sign and trade to land one of those guys ... so they should have a good chance of retaining Hayes' bird rights. From there, if they successfully acquire one of those guys (or D.Jordan), I would expect Houston to try and retain Hayes and make him the backup C.

And if they miss out on those FA centers - which I think is their most likely scenario - I reckon they'll keep Chuck on a low priced deal to fill that void. They'll be wary of their 2012 cap space so they won't go crazy, they won't match a full MLE deal, but I expect them to go as far as a mini-MLE contract.

[Roy H.]

Also, regarding play at center, Hayes spent over 80% of his minutes there last year.  Again, I understand the concern, but at least he's played the position at a moderately high level.

I strongly disagree with this.

Chuck Hayes inability to play the center position effectively hurt Houston throughout the season. His inability to provide a deterrent at the basket allowed the opposition to create high percentage shots at the rim all season long.

Houston being forced to play Hayes out of position, where he is far less effective, was one of the main reasons they fielded a below average defense last season.

For whatever it's worth, Houston's defense was significantly better when Hayes was on the floor.  His individual defense was very good, and the team defense was better with him than it was without him.  

Usually as a 5 to be a good help defender you need to either take charges or block shots. Does he do either of those things?

He's a pretty mediocre shot-blocker; I don't know much about his charges.

I would disagree with your premise, though.  KG doesn't take a lot of charges, and he's not a very good shot-blocker, either.  He is, however, an extremely good team defender.  Granted, he's not a center, but I don't think centers absolutely need to create turnovers or block shots to be valuable defensive players.

[ballin]

Chuck Hayes is a surprisingly good defender despite being only 6'6 at the C position. Much, much better than Glen Davis. On top of that, he's actually an efficient scorer and a good rebounder. I'd take him in a second. I think Ainge should also be taking a look at Kris Humphries.

[Celtics4ever]

He is fat and not remotely in shape presently.  

I think he could better play PF more naturally than C.  As for the defense depends whom against.

Howard scored 22 against him last year and had 14 boards.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201101220HOU.html

Gasol had 26 and 16 boards against him

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201102010LAL.html

Gasol had 8 points and 9 boards against him

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201012010HOU.html

Gasol had 29 points and 11 boards

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201010260LAL.html

Maybe we ought to look at him as a SF?   Yao played in the last game but he doesn't do well against true bigs folks.