Aaron Gray

[action781]

I haven't seen a ton of him, but watching him play last night, I feel like he's a pretty solid ball player.  Not spectacular, but he knows where to be on the floor, can finish, can rebound, can't tell if he is a very good defender, but doesn't seem to be a liability at least.  I was pretty surprised to see him in his last year of a contract paying him less than $1 mil this season.

What do you guys think he'll command next offseason?  Anybody have any interest in the celtics signing him?

[theswitch]

Definitely interested, not really sure why nobody but Toronto offered him a cheap one-year deal. We could've used a guy like Gray for the vet min, no offense to the Steamer.

[fairweatherfan]

Yeah, I was hoping we'd take a crack at him in the off-season - not a guy you want to lean on heavily, but as a 5th big for the vet min he's an excellent option.

Of course, it's possible Danny did look into him and he declined since he'd get more minutes in Toronto and maybe get a better next contract.

[greenpride32]

He's a big body that takes up space; doesn't offer up much else which is why he got the vet min on a bad team. 

I'd prefer the Steamer though Doc has cut his minutes down to nothing if JO and Wilcox are healthy.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I haven't seen a ton of him, but watching him play last night, I feel like he's a pretty solid ball player.  Not spectacular, but he knows where to be on the floor, can finish, can rebound, can't tell if he is a very good defender, but doesn't seem to be a liability at least.  I was pretty surprised to see him in his last year of a contract paying him less than $1 mil this season.

What do you guys think he'll command next offseason?  Anybody have any interest in the celtics signing him?

After seeing his solid play in last year's playoff series against the Lakers, I was hoping Boston would nab him last offseason. He's one of the biggest bodies in the league, and he has some ability too. If I was Danny, I'd be checking right now to see if there's any way I could get him cheap in a trade this season.

[oldmanspeaks]

I followed him in college and he is always underated because he has limited upside due to lack of great athletic skills. However he does have significant basketball skills. First unlike a lot of others, he has legit size which isn't inflated. He has very good scoring ability from 12 feet in and isn't afraid to give up his body on either offense or defense. (he also can hit from 15 if open). I have always liked him as a solid backup center who can guard the "big guys" and who can score a bit around the hoop. He played in a help defense role in college and did well in that role. His only big limitation is guarding quick guys playing center.

[Celtics4ever]

You can teach size.  He is big and strong.

[moiso]

I'd rather have Steimsma.  On a good team Gray wouldn't get off the bench.

[kozlodoev]

You can teach size.  He is big and strong.

We need some boxes moved or something? Vince Wilfork is big and strong too, don't see him playing in the NBA though.

[ScoobyDoo]

I've always liked Gray, from the time he came out of college. Not as a starter, but as  a guy in your center rotation, either your second or 3rd string guy.

He is big, physical and he can get the ball in the basket when he's close. And he's not afraid to challenge guys on their way to the rim. No superstar, but a very solid back up NBA center.

He played a great playoffs last year as well and showed he's not afraid to bang with any of the big guys in the league.

I was really hoping we would sign him to our center rotation and to be honest I really don't understand why we didn't as we are desperately thin at the center spot, it would have been a a good and cheap solution.

This was a no brainer to me as a signing. The way this team is built with the big three, we don't need a impact player at center. WE need a big guy who can take up space, hit people, and score bunnies when handed to them by the big three and Rondo.

Gray can finish decently around the basket and i wouldn't be suprised if he didn't average 10-15 a night with all the easy looks he'd get playing along side our big four.

I was aggravated that we made no play for the guy. It was like Ainge felt we didn't need a center.

Right now, Stiemsma is an enjoyable project to watch but come playoff time when people start really shoving each other around, you will want Gray over Greg every game. 

[action781]

Gray can finish decently around the basket and i wouldn't be suprised if he didn't average 10-15 a night with all the easy looks he'd get playing along side our big four.

That's what I thought.  I think he'd play similarly to the way Krstic did during that good stretch of his last season with a lesser jump shot, but better defense and rebounding.

Upon further looking into his stats and game logs, it looks like he has a real problem staying on the floor without getting into foul trouble.  He has committed a foul approximately once per 5 minutes in his 8 games this season.

[RyNye]

All Gray is really good at is rebounding. He is not a good scorer (TS% < 50%), doesn't get to the line, doesn't make defensive plays, and doesn't score, either in volume or efficiently. However, he is a beast at crashing the boards. Not sure where all this talk of him being a good finisher is coming from, the numbers don't lie. But he is a big body who can board with the best of them.

[fairweatherfan]

You can teach size.  He is big and strong.

We need some boxes moved or something? Vince Wilfork is big and strong too, don't see him playing in the NBA though.

So your argument is that if there are big, strong guys who aren't playing in the NBA, size and strength aren't an asset?  Interesting take - I suppose by a similar token that intelligence doesn't matter in neuroscience, since Stephen Hawking is smart and I don't see him working in that field.

[kozlodoev]

You can teach size.  He is big and strong.

We need some boxes moved or something? Vince Wilfork is big and strong too, don't see him playing in the NBA though.

So your argument is that if there are big, strong guys who aren't playing in the NBA, size and strength aren't an asset?  Interesting take - I suppose by a similar token that intelligence doesn't matter in neuroscience, since Stephen Hawking is smart and I don't see him working in that field.

No, my argument is that you need actual basketball skills to play in the NBA. Being big/strong/quick etc. is fool's gold.

Or to paraphrase your example, Hawking certainly isn't a great neuroscientist regardless of being extremely smart.

[Celtics4ever]

We need some boxes moved or something? Vince Wilfork is big and strong too, don't see him playing in the NBA though.

Nice try but Manute Bol and George Muresan kind of blow a hole in this line of thought. No?