ChrisAndersen available for one year vet minimum; Do we want him?

[masteremile123]

Not likely if we want to use the BAE . We already have 3 camp invites and one of those guys are getting signed add birdman and that's your 15 man roster . If we don't want to use the BAE than PLEASE sign this guy.

[LooseCannon]

If he could stay healthy for even 75% of the season,

I'd like to see some Birdman advocates give their estimate of how likely this is to happen.

[GreenEnvy]

I would totally take him over someone like Christmas.

Big man insurance. He can rebound, defend, and run.

I like Sully (and Melo to a lesser extent) for the future, but I want to win #18 NOW.

Give me a rotation of KG/Bass/Wilcox/Anderson/Collins.

I don't know the cap numbers right now (or does anyone really without the details of the KG/Bass/Green deals?), but would signing him (and cutting Christmas and/or Joseph) eliminate us being able to sign another vet minimum guy during the season?

I don't mind saving the BAE for next season, but I am guessing Ainge wants some wiggle room in case he needs to make a move during the season.

[nostar]

Rondo, Bradley, Pierce, Bass, KG, Jet, Lee, Green, Sully, Wilcox, Dooling, Joseph, Collins, Melo

=14

So we really only have 1 spot right now. Since Joseph's contract is at best partially guaranteed we could cut him mid-season and sign someone else but his contract is attractive on two fronts. He makes less than the vet's minimum and is not fully guaranteed.

With Joseph's contract our estimated salary is ~72M. Using the BAE would put us up to ~74M and we'd have about 400K to work with on top of that.

The way the numbers work out is that if we cut Joseph preseason or really early in the season we could probably add a vet's minimum contract and use the BAE while staying under the hard cap at 74.3M. That is assuming his contract is not guaranteed.

[chambers]

Chris Anderson is garbage. No thanks. We already wasted 800K on Collins- don't need another scrub big, throw Melo out there early in the season and if he doesn't get the swing of things, grab a big at trade deadline.

[LilRip]

Yes please. Chris Andersen is a legit back up big. He can block shots and injects energy the moment he hits the floor. He can change games ala Avery Bradley, with his energy and defense and rebounding. He'd also be the best offensive rebounding big man we have. I'm a fan of Christmas but Birdman is just too good to pass up. I think we should sign Birdman and choose between either Joseph or Christmas (or Smith) as the last man to make it to the roster.

[jdub1660]

Rondo,Terry,Dooling
Lee,Bradley
Pierce,Green,Joseph
Bass,Sully
KG,Wilcox,Melo,Collins

Add in Anderson and that rosters complete
He can play right alongside KG and tear up a teams game trying to attack the basket
Hopefully Joesph contract is non guaranteed and we can cut him if some super free agent becomes available.
But that's unlikely given the amnesty rule and most teams getting rid of players that way

[kozlodoev]

Yes please. Chris Andersen is a legit back up big. He can block shots and injects energy the moment he hits the floor. He can change games ala Avery Bradley, with his energy and defense and rebounding. He'd also be the best offensive rebounding big man we have. I'm a fan of Christmas but Birdman is just too good to pass up. I think we should sign Birdman and choose between either Joseph or Christmas (or Smith) as the last man to make it to the roster.

Maybe this was true... 5 years ago.

He's not getting signed for the 15th spot -- we need another SG. Sorry to burst everyone's bubble. Not to mention that we worked him out and didn't sign him, years ago -- and he's not gotten any better since.

[kozlodoev]

Rondo,Terry,Dooling
Lee,Bradley
Pierce,Green,Joseph
Bass,Sully
KG,Wilcox,Melo,Collins

Add in Anderson and that rosters complete

Yeah, because 6 big men are just not enough. And it's fine going into the season with 2 SGs, one of which will start off injured 

[celticmania]

i like terrence williams, he would give us more depth at the 3 and 2

[LilRip]

Yes please. Chris Andersen is a legit back up big. He can block shots and injects energy the moment he hits the floor. He can change games ala Avery Bradley, with his energy and defense and rebounding. He'd also be the best offensive rebounding big man we have. I'm a fan of Christmas but Birdman is just too good to pass up. I think we should sign Birdman and choose between either Joseph or Christmas (or Smith) as the last man to make it to the roster.

Maybe this was true... 5 years ago.

He's not getting signed for the 15th spot -- we need another SG. Sorry to burst everyone's bubble. Not to mention that we worked him out and didn't sign him, years ago -- and he's not gotten any better since.

another SG? despite having Bradley, Terry and Lee who are all starter-level talent and can play big productive minutes? Not to mention we can sign Christmas as another SG (although he won't get minutes) who has played in european leagues. By your logic, we might as well get another PG because we only have Rondo and Dooling. Get Smush Parker in there.

my concern with the big men stems from this: after KG and Bass, we don't really have rotation-level talent. Collins can play a bit of scrub minutes, give 6 fouls and all, but we all know he's a terrible rebounder, an OK defender, and a non-existent offensive player. Sullinger is a nice rookie, but it's hard to put so much hope on a rookie. He will have his flashes, ala Big Baby rookie year, but I don't think it'd be smart to rely on him to regularly provide productive minutes. Melo is a project. and Wilcox, well, he was pretty good years ago. He can still be good and serviceable, but i'd like to see how heart surgery has affected him

I don't think Birdman should start. But i do think he's definitely better than Wilcox/Sully/Melo/Collins. If we sign him, then the first bigs off the bench should be Birdman and Wilcox. Plus, there's a real need to limit KG's minutes which further adds to the need for big men. And not Melo-level or Collins-level big men.

EDIT: did a little research and here are some relevant stats:
(per 36 mins, and i took Wilcox's stats in 2010-11 since he missed so many games in 11-12)

Wilcox: 15.3ppg, 9.8rpg, 0.6bpg, TRB% 16.7 and DRtg of 110
Andersen: 12.4 ppg, 11.0rpg, 3.4 bpg, TRB% 17.8 and DRtg of 99
Collins: 4.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 0.4 bpg, TRB% 9.1 and DRtg of 104

[GreenFaith1819]

Yep...still want the man in Green.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkHM_rIe6Sk&feature=related

Tired of seeing LeBron as the only one with these types of blocks.

This man immediately changes the game when he's on the floor.

Now imagine him with KG - policing each other. Even in stretches that is a potent defensive tandem.

Add in Rondo and AB and that is lockdown.

[More Banners]

I've always been a fan of the Birdman, but nobody will even think about signing him until this business with ICAC is cleared up. 

His game is perfect, though.  He just got caught up in a rotation mess in Denver and lost the numbers game.  Adding his size would change things quite a bit.  We could actually go big for a whole game, not that it'd be a good idea (unless Bass or Sullinger can be a backup 3?)

[Professor of Rondology]

I think Danny might be giving Anderson a very hard look right but wisely biding his time.  Our use of the final roster spot hinges on many factors that are very much up in the air right now.

Avery Bradley's health. 
Guessing how soon AB will recover- and how capable he will be when he's back- is only going to get easier as the weeks go on.  If he will miss significant time, we are going to be very thin at SG so we might need Christmas.  If not, maybe Danny takes a flyer on Birdman.

Paul Pierce's knee. 
If the issue lingers (or- god forbid- gets worse) we might have to sign a vet wing (like Quis) to back up JG.

Sullinger's development.
If Sully is going to give us 15-18 minutes of solid production, we do not need a 6th big man. But right now nobody knows if Sully can do that.  The more time Sully spends in the Celtics facilities with the Celtics staff (and players), the easier it will be to make that call.
 
Anderson's legal issues. 
It looks (at least, in the articles I've read) like the Birdman is innocent, but an open police investigation is a distraction we do not need.  It wouldn't surprise me if Danny has been waiting for this case to be resolved before making an offer.

Clearly there is not much (if any) interest in Birdman around the league, so Danny can afford to wait patiently as this decision gets easier and easier.  Danny has done an excellent job up until this point but there are some question marks surrounding this team (and this specific player), and he is wise to wait before using the last roster spot.

Here's a question for the salary cap geniuses out there, because I know we are very close to the hard cap:
 How many more vet min contracts can we dish out before losing the ability to use the BAE mid-season?  Can we afford to sign Birdman to a vet min contract and waive him (or Joseph) if a more pressing need (or a more attractive option) pops up?

[Jon]

At the minimum, the Birdman is no-brainer.  By all accounts, his whole legal issue stems around some slightly underage teenager who sent him photos of herself under the pretense she was in her 20s.  This is not some Sandusky-esque situation. 

I wouldn't do the BAE though.  We need to hold onto that for the buy-out period or next year when we can get either a better player or a bigger need.  Anderson would be nice, but with KG, Wilcox, and Collins already here (not to mention Sullinger and Melo), he's much more of a luxury than a necessity at this point.