So... what do we do for a center?

[clover]

Maybe if come tomorrow Danny offers Stiemer the BAE in the hand, he'll take it over Minny's $3M in the bush.  (Though they say teams are wanting to hold off on using their BAE until the market develops.)

The only other real need is shooting guard, and I hope Danny does manage a S&T for that.

[BleedGreen1989]

If we do indeed sign and trade for lee we will probably use our bi annual on steamer. Who else is worthy of it? And he already said he would probably accept it from Boston...

“Just because Greg would get an offer more than the biannual doesn’t mean he would take it,” Naiditch said. “If the Celtics were to offer him the biannual, and he had a choice between the biannual with the Celtics and may a little bit more with another team, I’m quite certain he would still go with the Celtics.”

[Who]

If Stiemsma leaves, I would be open to the idea of Bass + Sullinger as the main big man combination while Garnett gets his rest with Ryan Hollins (quick-footed center) and Jamaal Magloire (power-based center) as third string centers who can be called upon when the team needs more size / defensive presence.

If Boston cannot get a viable primary backup center, I think will probably have to go with four centers on the roster. Garnett as the starter. Fab Melo as a project center who can't be relied upon for any time.

Then the team is left with free agent centers who are too limited to fulfill all the obligations you want them to be able to do (hence the two PF lineups as primary choice) ... so you have to split it up and bring two guys in who can offer differing skill-sets to plug holes where necessary. To get the coverage you want (in terms of defensive presence / skill-sets). Hollins (quick-footed) and Magloire (power-based) in this scenario.

[Who]

If we do indeed sign and trade for lee we will probably use our bi annual on steamer. Who else is worthy of it? And he already said he would probably accept it from Boston...

“Just because Greg would get an offer more than the biannual doesn’t mean he would take it,” Naiditch said. “If the Celtics were to offer him the biannual, and he had a choice between the biannual with the Celtics and may a little bit more with another team, I’m quite certain he would still go with the Celtics.”

I don't understand what Danny is waiting for. Stiemsma is needed.

[BleedGreen1989]

If we do indeed sign and trade for lee we will probably use our bi annual on steamer. Who else is worthy of it? And he already said he would probably accept it from Boston...

“Just because Greg would get an offer more than the biannual doesn’t mean he would take it,” Naiditch said. “If the Celtics were to offer him the biannual, and he had a choice between the biannual with the Celtics and may a little bit more with another team, I’m quite certain he would still go with the Celtics.”

I don't understand what Danny is waiting for. Stiemsma is needed.

I completely agree, I mean if you look in our price range who is better than steamer?

[BudweiserCeltic]

If we do indeed sign and trade for lee we will probably use our bi annual on steamer. Who else is worthy of it? And he already said he would probably accept it from Boston...

“Just because Greg would get an offer more than the biannual doesn’t mean he would take it,” Naiditch said. “If the Celtics were to offer him the biannual, and he had a choice between the biannual with the Celtics and may a little bit more with another team, I’m quite certain he would still go with the Celtics.”

I don't understand what Danny is waiting for. Stiemsma is needed.

I disagree. Stiemsma should be a 5th or so big off the bench, you don't waste the BAE on him. I'd rather just keep Hollins for cheap (which I assume he'll be available at), and wait to use the BAE on someone who could take on a larger role for us, and I'm positive those opportunities will be around.

[the_Bird]

Wilcox seems like the most-likely option.

Among vet-min depth guys, is DeSangana Diop still available?  Not a good player by any stretch, but I've always thought of him as being a decent defender.  Legit size.  Should be pretty cheap.  You wouldn't play him a lot, but his six fouls would all count.

Aaron Gray could have been a decent depth signing, but he's back in Toronto.  

Przybilla?

Kurt Thomas?  He seems like a guy who would fit right in.  Undersized, but he's always been tough as nails.  

Nazr Mohammed?  

I agree, I'd like to see the team have some legit size deep on the bench, someone that's not afraid to use up their fouls.  LeBron killed up in part because he could drive the lane with impunity - which is the big thing that we've been missing in the post-Perk era.  Other players used to say very explicitly that they hated driving the lane against us, because they didn't want to run into him.  There are times when you just want to have a big body in there that's going to make them thing twice about driving.

[kozlodoev]

If we do indeed sign and trade for lee we will probably use our bi annual on steamer. Who else is worthy of it? And he already said he would probably accept it from Boston...

“Just because Greg would get an offer more than the biannual doesn’t mean he would take it,” Naiditch said. “If the Celtics were to offer him the biannual, and he had a choice between the biannual with the Celtics and may a little bit more with another team, I’m quite certain he would still go with the Celtics.”

I don't understand what Danny is waiting for. Stiemsma is needed.

If you want someone to bang down low, Stiemsma is not your guy -- he gets pushed around as often as Hollins.

[Fafnir]

If we do indeed sign and trade for lee we will probably use our bi annual on steamer. Who else is worthy of it? And he already said he would probably accept it from Boston...

“Just because Greg would get an offer more than the biannual doesn’t mean he would take it,” Naiditch said. “If the Celtics were to offer him the biannual, and he had a choice between the biannual with the Celtics and may a little bit more with another team, I’m quite certain he would still go with the Celtics.”

I don't understand what Danny is waiting for. Stiemsma is needed.

Danny might not be the one waiting, I'm guessing Stiemsma is waiting to see if he can get more from Minny or one of his others suitors.

Furthermore the agent's statement can easily be seen as pressure his other suitors to offer him a solid amount over the BAE. GMs are likely offering just 2 million via game theory logic and threat of going back to the C's could change that behavior.

[Who]

If we do indeed sign and trade for lee we will probably use our bi annual on steamer. Who else is worthy of it? And he already said he would probably accept it from Boston...

“Just because Greg would get an offer more than the biannual doesn’t mean he would take it,” Naiditch said. “If the Celtics were to offer him the biannual, and he had a choice between the biannual with the Celtics and may a little bit more with another team, I’m quite certain he would still go with the Celtics.”

I don't understand what Danny is waiting for. Stiemsma is needed.

If you want someone to bang down low, Stiemsma is not your guy -- he gets pushed around as often as Hollins.

I still want a Magloire-type if Stiemsma is re-signed.

[AB_Celtic]

Among vet-min depth guys, is DeSangana Diop still available?  Not a good player by any stretch, but I've always thought of him as being a decent defender.  Legit size.  Should be pretty cheap.  You wouldn't play him a lot, but his six fouls would all count.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CKHOMKqxYw

thanks but no thanks

[Who]

If we do indeed sign and trade for lee we will probably use our bi annual on steamer. Who else is worthy of it? And he already said he would probably accept it from Boston...

“Just because Greg would get an offer more than the biannual doesn’t mean he would take it,” Naiditch said. “If the Celtics were to offer him the biannual, and he had a choice between the biannual with the Celtics and may a little bit more with another team, I’m quite certain he would still go with the Celtics.”

I don't understand what Danny is waiting for. Stiemsma is needed.

Danny might not be the one waiting, I'm guessing Stiemsma is waiting to see if he can get more from Minny or one of his others suitors.

From the reports, it sounds like Danny hasn't made Stiemsma an offer yet.

Just keeping the dialogue open (Danny). No contract offers.

[Fafnir]

If we do indeed sign and trade for lee we will probably use our bi annual on steamer. Who else is worthy of it? And he already said he would probably accept it from Boston...

“Just because Greg would get an offer more than the biannual doesn’t mean he would take it,” Naiditch said. “If the Celtics were to offer him the biannual, and he had a choice between the biannual with the Celtics and may a little bit more with another team, I’m quite certain he would still go with the Celtics.”

I don't understand what Danny is waiting for. Stiemsma is needed.

Danny might not be the one waiting, I'm guessing Stiemsma is waiting to see if he can get more from Minny or one of his others suitors.

From the reports, it sounds like Danny hasn't made Stiemsma an offer yet.

Just keeping the dialogue open (Danny). No contract offers.

Hmmm

I wonder what other position he's thinking he could use it on then? Maybe Pietrus, dunno....

[the_Bird]

If we do indeed sign and trade for lee we will probably use our bi annual on steamer. Who else is worthy of it? And he already said he would probably accept it from Boston...

“Just because Greg would get an offer more than the biannual doesn’t mean he would take it,” Naiditch said. “If the Celtics were to offer him the biannual, and he had a choice between the biannual with the Celtics and may a little bit more with another team, I’m quite certain he would still go with the Celtics.”

I don't understand what Danny is waiting for. Stiemsma is needed.

Danny might not be the one waiting, I'm guessing Stiemsma is waiting to see if he can get more from Minny or one of his others suitors.

From the reports, it sounds like Danny hasn't made Stiemsma an offer yet.

Just keeping the dialogue open (Danny). No contract offers.

He's not going to give Stiesma anything over the vet minimum until the Courtney Lee situation is resolved.  If we can bring in Lee for one year with the $2M exemption, that'll be a lot more important to the team than losing Stiemer (and replacing him with one of the guys on my list).  

Besides, if Minny is offering $3M, why would Stiemer sign for $2M (short of a Joe Smith-type handshake about the NEXT contract he'd sign)?  Stiemer's only earned a couple hundred thousand playing pro basketball; he can't walk away from $1M as easily as Ray Allen did.

[kozlodoev]

If we do indeed sign and trade for lee we will probably use our bi annual on steamer. Who else is worthy of it? And he already said he would probably accept it from Boston...

“Just because Greg would get an offer more than the biannual doesn’t mean he would take it,” Naiditch said. “If the Celtics were to offer him the biannual, and he had a choice between the biannual with the Celtics and may a little bit more with another team, I’m quite certain he would still go with the Celtics.”

I don't understand what Danny is waiting for. Stiemsma is needed.

If you want someone to bang down low, Stiemsma is not your guy -- he gets pushed around as often as Hollins.

I still want a Magloire-type if Stiemsma is re-signed.

I don't think we'll carry 4 centers, even if Melo is not expected to play a lot. Seems like a bit of a lavish use of roster spots, especially given we already have 3 PFs as well.

Also, there may be an expectation that Sullinger can bang inside in stretches, Glen-Davis style.