2 roster spots left

[the_Bird]

keep them open for waiver wire veterans

That's normally how we do things.  You don't fill out the entire 15 man roster so you have some flexibility.  

Well, if you've got enough space under the $74.3M hard cap, you can keep guys like Christmas around and cut them mid-season (or trade them for heavily protected second-rounders).  We dumped Semih, 'Gody, and the injured Quis for nothing a few seasons ago, when we signed Troy Murphy and Mikki Moore (I think that was the Mikki Season) and someone else - Sasha?  It's just a little trickier this time around because we need to have enough space to potentially pay 16 salaries - but if there's the room (there should be if we don't spend the BAE), might as well fill out those spots with young, cheap guys who can at least help in practice.

[SCBirdman]

Guys, this team is in WIN NOW mode. As much as I like Christmas and Joseph, they are not going to help us win this year. Pietrus and Dooling will help us win this year. They have play-off experience. They know Doc's system. Pietrus will be healthy this year. He could really help us and we have to have another ball handler. Dooling is that guy and he can hit the open 3 and defend.

Bring Christmas and Joseph to camp and stash them in the D-League.

[the_Bird]

Bring Christmas and Joseph to camp and stash them in the D-League.

If you want to maintain their rights, they need to be signed to NBA contracts and count towards the 15 man roster.  Otherwise, they could play for our D-League affiliate but could be signed away at any time by any other team. 

As per my math, we've got room for Dooling, Christmas, and Joseph  to fill out the 15 man roster; it's just a question of whether that leaves us too close to the hard-cap to be able to cut someone and sign a new guy mid-season. 

The question I have; are we deep enough at the SF position?  Should we pursue another vet-minimum, veteran player behind Pierce and Jeff Green?  Could Lee play a little SF if absolutely necessary? 

[ChefEricT]

I think we're done... For now.  Ainge in the past has liked to leave a spot open for flexibility as the season progresses.

C- Garnett / Wilcox / Collins / Melo
PF- Bass / Sullinger
SF- Pierce / J.Green / Joseph
SG- Bradley / Lee
PG- Rondo / Terry / Christmas

That's 6 legit bigs plus Green who will get minutes at the 4.  Pierce, Joseph, Bradley, Lee, Terry and even Christmas could see time at multiple positions as well.  We could sign Dooling for some traditional, experienced PG depth/insurance, or we could stand pat and keep a little flexibility in case somebody we like becomes available.  I imagine they will bring a few bodies into camp to compete with Christmas for the 14th spot, but if he plays like he has this summer it's his spot to lose. 

So I think we may be done, and I'm OK with it.  I'm happy with how the offseason has gone and I think we are a better, deeper team than last season.  Can't wait for the season to start.

[Who]

(1) backup guard - Keyon Dooling
(2) backup wing - Rodney Carney
(3) backup big - Chris Andersen


2012 Boston Celtics

PG: Rajon Rondo, Jason Terry, Keyon Dooling
SG: Avery Bradley, Courtney Lee, Rodney Carney
SF: Paul Pierce, Jeff Green
PF: Brandon Bass, Jared Sullinger, Chris Wilcox
C:  Kevin Garnett, Chris Andersen, Jason Collins, Fab Melo

[gpap]

Would like to bring DWest back. We still need a true back-up PG

[Jon]

Dooling
Daniels
Then either Christmas or Joseph

I like that Daniels and Dooling have been role players for a long time.  They shouldn't have a problem stepping in for spare minutes here and there after not playing a while.  I don't think the same can be said of the young kids.

I'd obviously take Piertrus over Daniels, but I can't imagine him coming back for the minimum to ride the pine here.  There's no room for him at the 2 or 3 spots unless there are injuries. 

Then I'd give the last spot to Christmas or Joseph (Daniels can be the backup 2 or 3, so either is fine).  I don't like keeping them both.  We don't need 4 rookies on a contending team (particularly not 2 non-first rounders. 

[the_Bird]

Does Quis have much of anything left, though?  In an ideal world, you'd bring Quis to camp on a non-guaranteed contract and let him battle with Joseph and Christmas, but I don't see him accepting a simple camp invite (without a contract guarantee).  I'm not sure at this point if he's any better than those guys.  If the team does still have a need, I think it would be another backup SF (we'd be hurting if Pierce or Green went down), but I'm not sure Quis is that guy.

I think we're probably set with big men.  Bass and KG as the likely starters.  Sully, Wilcox, and a little Jeff Green as the primary bench guys.  Collins as depth, Melo as a project.  You can't really have too many big men, but we should be OK.

[Jon]

Does Quis have much of anything left, though?  In an ideal world, you'd bring Quis to camp on a non-guaranteed contract and let him battle with Joseph and Christmas, but I don't see him accepting a simple camp invite (without a contract guarantee).  I'm not sure at this point if he's any better than those guys.  If the team does still have a need, I think it would be another backup SF (we'd be hurting if Pierce or Green went down), but I'm not sure Quis is that guy.

I think we're probably set with big men.  Bass and KG as the likely starters.  Sully, Wilcox, and a little Jeff Green as the primary bench guys.  Collins as depth, Melo as a project.  You can't really have too many big men, but we should be OK.

Well, Doc showed enough confidence to play him during the playoffs last year.  That was largely because of injuries; however, Daniels actually had a few good games that Doc left him in for extended minutes. 

To me, that's certainly good enough to make him the 14th or 15th man on this team.

Because what I don't think people are taking into account when comparing Dooling and Daniels to the summer league guys is that Dooling and Daniels know how to be role players. 

Most of the guys in the summer league are still used to being stars on college teams, D-League teams, and/or overseas. 

Being a good role player means playing tough defense, setting screens, rebounding, passing, and perhaps most importantly, being ready to step in and contribute in that role even after not playing a few (or a lot) of games. 

So yes, Dionte Christmas could probably beat Marquis Daniels in a 1-on-1 game.  And he could arguably do better than Quis if Doc decided to call PP's plays for them. 

But neither are those things are happening.  So I'd prefer Daniels. 

[the_Bird]

Well, everything that I've seen and heard on Christmas seems to indicate that he "gets it".  Sounds like he knows that defense will be what gets him a gig.  From the ESPN article the other day:

"[Consistency has] just been one of the things that I've been working on," Christmas said after Thursday's loss. "I mean, two years, three years back, guys said I was a scorer, but I was sometimes inconsistent, and that was one thing that I wanted to work on and be good at, just consistency. I wanted to come in and just do everything the right way and just be consistent at what I was doing, whether that was playing defense or making shots or anything. So that was one of the things I worked on a couple of years overseas."

Added Lue: "He's been great. He's been very consistent, playing hard defensively. Offensively, rebounding the ball, making assists. I talked to him [Thursday]; I said, 'We want you to be aggressive and score, but when guys are open, make sure you make the next pass or the extra pass. I know you're the only guy scoring, but we still want to continue to play the right way.'"

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4696466/vegas-will-settle-christmas-future

Notice that he talked about playing D before he talked about making shots!  He's smart enough to know what it takes for Doc to want him!

[slamtheking]

Rondo,Terry,Bradley,Lee,Pierce,Green
Garnett,Wilcox,Sullinger,Melo,Bass,Collins

throw in Joseph as a shoo-in to make the team now.

Based on who we have now for depth, as much as Xmas is being touted, I wouldn't add him to the team.  I'd lean towards resigning Dooling to get a backup PG.  If Danny wants just 14, then that team is pretty set.  If he's ok with 15, I'd see if Birdman would take the vet min.  Hold onto the BAE until mid-year in case a decent waiver candidate becomes available and we can outbid someone for them (provided they're worth a BAE)

[lightspeed5]

Would like to bring DWest back. We still need a true back-up PG

jason terry is a true back up pg.

[TripleOT]

I wonder if they'll either leave a roster spot open or sign someone with a late guarantee, so that person can be cut at the trade deadline to use the roster spot for a bought out big.

The pickings are slim this year for bigs on expiring deals on non-playoff teams.  If Atlanta tanks, Zaza Pachilia is on his last year at $5m.  Charlotte's DeSagana Diop is finally on his last year of his deal.

If Dallas is out of it at the deadline, Kamen's $8m deal is expiring, but Cuban loves to keep contracts like that to make moves.  Utah has Big AL, who could be a buyout candidate, especially of some of their young bigs emerge and take minutes away from him.  Paul Milsap is expiring too.  Robin Lopez, who will probably be on his QO year, and the Suns won't likey be  waiving him

So the best prospects for trade deadline reinforcements for a team who needs a big would be Al Jefferson, with Zaza and Milsap's smaller deals not likely to be bought out.   



 

[gpap]

Would like to bring DWest back. We still need a true back-up PG

jason terry is a true back up pg.

Well true, but isn't Jet more of a SG?

[the_Bird]

Would like to bring DWest back. We still need a true back-up PG

jason terry is a true back up pg.

Well true, but isn't Jet more of a SG?

Danny Ainge was probably more of a 2-guard, too. 

JET is pretty much the prototypical combo guard; the uber-rich Eddie House.