Historically, we have not done this anywhere near as much as many other NBA teams.

Our most recent"desperate" time to fill the roster had Danny et.al. scouring the world for possible Celtics. China, perhaps timing-wise with many teams' seasons ending over there was where we picked up two players, but we were looking in Europe too, as well as other places.

I hope this trend continues, and it seems to have, given this little blurb from RealGM about our interest in Italian player Gigi Datome:

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=1238535

http://www.sportando.net/eng/usa/nba/52287/boston-celtics-among-nba-teams-interested-in-gigi-datome.html

He seems athletic and can shoot. Here's a little view of his athleticism:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPhlQrxYW5M&feature=player_embedded

Supposedly, the Cs are one of three NBA teams looking at him.

He looks like an interesting prospect, but irrespective of us interested in him specifically or not, I am just happy that we are exploring overseas options more vigorously and hope that it continues and just wasn't borne out of necessity to fill the roster.

Hopefully it opened Ainge's eyes to other possibilities.

Beat me to it. TP.

I type r....e....a...l....l....y s...l....o....w....l....y.

http://www.celticslife.com/2011/10/top-5-celtics-that-never-were-5-nick.html

Always makes me think of the man who never was.

http://www.celticslife.com/2011/10/top-5-celtics-that-never-were-5-nick.html

Always makes me think of the man who never was.

TP, great article, impressive career.

Too bad the 80s for us, despite their glory, are strewn with a lot of high impact coulda, woulda, shouldas where we lost out.

gigi is 25 years old and 6' 8.75". good height for a small forward and still young.

my question would be about his defense, not offense. if he is willing to learn defense, so much the better.

if he is good sign him. why not? such a signing does not preclude the celtics from signing a center...if they can find a decent one.

if gigi plays with green at the same time, maybe he can open up the floor for green.

I still say Nenad Krstic is a guy I wouldn't mind seeing back on the Celtics.

I used to watch lot of european basketball before (I'm european). If I have to choose the best country to pick up a nba prospect, that would be Italy. The basketball culture there is based on 2 main skills (toughness and accuracy at shooting), they excel at those 2 compare to other countries.
I believe it is easier to adapt an Italian to the nba.
But again, it's a general rule, I don't know this guy particularly.
I think with the new CBA rules, franchise will have to find opportunities in other countries to fill up their roster at low cost. A good pick and you can save a couple of millions for the same results.