Basketball ramifications of the Jeff Green situation.

[hwangjini_1]

According to Chris Forsberg of ESPN, the C's will retain Green's bird rights apparently.  They also would be allowed to apply for an diasabled player exception, but likely will not, as it would cost them upwards of $27m.

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4687222/what-greens-loss-means-to-cs

thanks for the link. that certainly lays out the depressing options faced by the celtics now.

sigh... but i will try to cheer you up with a tp. 

[snively]

I'd like to see Ainge become as aggressive in a pursuit of Kirilenko as he was with David West.

He looks to command about the same money we were offering West. 

Kirilenko would give the C's the small-ball line-up they wanted with Jeff Green with additional support at the wing as needed.

[Yugocelt]

What about Omer Asik at C?

[Jon]

This is certainly very bad. You can't gloss over that. But I wouldn't writer the season off yet. We just now need even more good fortune than we did before. And we needed a lot before.

As Who said, if Marquis some stays healthy, he can fill most of the void that Green has left. When healthy Quis is a starter-quality wing who does a lot of things well. There's no reason he can't play 30 mpg and eat up most of the backup minutes at the 2/3.

I'd also strongly consider bringing back Posey. Yes, he's fallen off a bit, but I think coming back here could revitalize his career much like Branch's career was revitalized by coming back to Brady. I said when Posey left that he really only would succeed in a system of big time talents that would deflect attention from him to allow him to do the little things. He's obviously not a player who you can lean on offensively. He clearly didn't have that in Indy, but he could have that here.

I'd also strongly consider toying with lineups with JJJ at the 3. He can hit the 20 footer, is superathletic, and is quick. And at the 3 is slight frame wouldn't be an issue. We could also post him on smaller 3s. Do we want him guarding elite 3s? Maybe not, but he should be able to handle backup 3s in the NBA.

[fairweatherfan]

This is from Bucher so I'm taking it with a huge grain of salt, but, is it true that since the Celtics are voiding Green's contract and he won't play this year, he remains an RFA next offseason?

[FrDrake]

This sucks.  No two ways about it. I was down on the season when they missed out on David West but this really takes the cake.  With the condensed schedule and aging starting lineup the Cs desperately needed Green to play big minutes this season to take the load off of Pierce and to a lesser extent KG.

From a basketball perspective the real kick in the groin is Green was the key to any midseason or offseason move for the Cs to jump start the rebuilding process.  You knew his name would be included with expiring contracts like JO and Ray Ray perhaps with a pick to try to pry a top talent from a struggling team around the trading deadline.  Now the Cs can't even do that.  

[LooseCannon]

I preferred Pavlovic over Gilbert Brown (who I would hope to stash in Maine), but I think I would prefer it if the Celtics rolled the dice on Brown rather than bring in Posey to fill Green's roster spot.

[Neurotic Guy]

Honestly, its the difference between a 3rd seed and a 4th / 5th seed. 

+1. Maybe 6th seed even. And maybe first round out rather than a second. I am going into this season with no expectations though. I am really looking forward to when Danny starts blowing it up, which could be at the trading deadline this year. Then we will see if those who think he is a genius are right or those who think he is just okay (me) are right.

Way to early to be talking seeds.  How are we already a 6th or 7th seed when you add guys like Dooling, Wilcox, & Bass to the team ?

You guys are severely underrating these men, especially a guy like Wilcox.

Don't do it. It will come back & bite ya in the booty, believe me.

You mean the Same Chris Wilcox who is a journeyman, average power forward? The Chris Wilcox who is a mediocre to bad defensive player who sat on the bench for many games for the Pistons the last two years? Do you mean the Keyon Dooling who is really not much of an improvement over Delonte West? Or the Brandon Bass who is a slight upgrade over BBD, but who has one of the same issues BBD has -- he doesn't like to pass the ball. If these three guys are what is going to put the Celts over the hump, then the league is worse than I ever thought it could be.

Reality probably puts the C's slightly better off than they were at the end of last year -- that's if the Big 3 don't age.  Regardless, what benefit is there to deciding the C's have no chance prior to the season's first pre-season game? 

Quis looked very good last night, and who knows -- perhaps JO will be healthy and Rajon will improve his shot.  I'd rather be a little unrealistic and hopeful at this point in the season. And not that I'd root for injury, but a tweak to DWade's or Lebron's knee and I'd say the C's have as good a chance as any team.

[LarBrd33]

certainly keep hope alive...

but it would seem this team isn't much of a threat at this point.  Our roster seems to be lacking in a major way. 

[Roy H.]

certainly keep hope alive...

but it would seem this team isn't much of a threat at this point.  Our roster seems to be lacking in a major way. 

I agree that's probably the case, but there are worse things than watching three Hall of Famers and a young, exciting all-star PG.

[LarBrd33]

certainly keep hope alive...

but it would seem this team isn't much of a threat at this point.  Our roster seems to be lacking in a major way. 

I agree that's probably the case, but there are worse things than watching three Hall of Famers and a young, exciting all-star PG.

Our bench is pathetic... unless Bass is starting... in which case, our bench is HORRIBLE.  Who is our backup guard?... Keyon Dooling?  Ouch.  Our backup SF?... what's left of Marquis Daniels?  ... we're in trouble.   It will be fun to watch our 4 guys if our 4 guys stay healthy.  Beyond that, though... we're going to either overwork them or lose a lot of games.

[Yugocelt]

Who is left that we could sign?  Can we still make some sort of a deal?

[Eris]

A lot depends on Marquis Daniels' health.

If those doctors are right that Marquis is healthy + what they have fixed will make him less fragile in the future ... and if Marquis manages to stay healthy and play a large amount of games (massive "if")

Then there shouldn't be much of a difference to the Celtics W-L record.

Daniels can eat up most of the 2/3 minutes behind Allen and Pierce, and if *somebody* (Dooling, Moore, Bradley) can take some of the minutes at 2, then Allen and Pierce can get the rest they need during the regular season. But only works if Daniels can stay healthy all season.

I think Danny really needs to find someone to backup Daniels now...not a 3/4, but rather a 2/3.  Trade a pick and an exception for somebody!

[RJ87]

What about Omer Asik at C?

 
Asik plays for the Bulls.

[Eris]

Al Thornton anyone? Last I remember he was getting waived, not sure if he's landed anywhere yet. He could be a perfect tweener fit for Green, although a downgrade. Or Outlaw, but I think he's going to the Knicks.

Otherwise, we could go with JJJ in our small-ball lineup. He can run the floor and spread the floor with his range. He can't guard 3s, but he won't need to if he's playing the 4 with KG at the 5. I actually like this idea, and it's a way to get him on the floor. It also means we don't have to focus on getting a true tweener to replace Jeff.

The problem is that we need someone to get Pierce and Allen off the floor. Losing Green isn't a PF problem, Bass, JJJ and Wilcox have that covered. Losing him is a SF problem and it trickles down to being a problem at the SG as well.

The Celtics need to rest KG, Allen and Pierce a lot this year to keep them fresh for the playoffs. I think Green was going to be used to keep Paul's minutes at SF down to the mid 20's and Daniels was going to do the same at SG to keep Ray's minutes down. With Green gone, Daniels will need to backup 2 *and* 3, but he can't handle *that* many minutes. So, the Celtics need another wing, either a 2 or a 3 (preferably a 2/3) capable of absorbing 15 to 20 minutes of playing time.