OT: Posey goes public, Celtics are top choice.

[WCDYNASTY]

James Posey and Eddie House, key reserves in the Celtics' NBA championship run last season, last night expressed a desire to remain with the team, in their first public comments regarding free agency. Posey played down the possibility of returning to Cleveland, his hometown, though an NBA source said the Cavaliers might up the ante in an effort to get a talented player to aid LeBron James. Other teams interested in Posey include Detroit, New Orleans, Washington, and the Lakers. Mark Bartelstein, who represents both Posey and House, hoped to have something in place yesterday, but he said there was nothing new with either client. Celtics general manager Danny Ainge greeted Posey last night but said there was no news on the situation.

BOSTON GLOBE

LINK:
http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/07/15/posey_goes_public_celtics_are_top_choice/

[WCDYNASTY]

I like Posey but he's a bit overrated to me. With the glut of SF's the Lakers already have I'd have to say no thanks.

[Lakers_1990]

Can you say "contract year" this guy has Bonzi Wells written all over him.

[RJM]

All of a sudden Posey's overrated to those bitter that he chose another team before their own. Comeon guys first of all hope is not lost, and no he isn't overrated.

[semi-sentient]

In other words, no one has offered him the MLE yet.

[DubaLakers]

I saw another link on this site that didn't even list the Lakers as a team interested in him.

[TonyMontana]

I think there's a lot more better players out there we can pursue than Posey.
Him and House are only looking for a Phat payday since they won a title with the Cs, so he's agents throwing the Cs as Posey favorite team, YA okay then why is it that the Cs havent signed neither one of these guys?
Honestly Im not sold on Posey AT ALL.

[Kilroy]

I think Posey is slightly over-rated... By Laker fans...

He comes off the bench for the Celts and we could possibly need a starting SF... I'd love to have him on the team and I think he'd make a big difference in our post-season but I wouldn't go higher than Boston is reportedly willing to go.

I think Boston offered him the exact Right contract. It's more than I would have wanted the Lakers to pay for a bench player but he's probably worth it... So in that respect he's not being over-rated by Boston.

But the Lakers fans who think we need to offer him the full MLE are over-rating him. It just isn't worth that much at this stage in his career. But to be honest, unless we are willing to go the full MLE, I don't think we have much chance... I can't see him moving across the country for a Mill or so unless we're willing to go the distance for the full MLE term. I don't want another McKie riding the pine at 36...

[Danny Darko]

He should be off the radar because of Ron. He wouldn't chance coming here and becoming one of the hordes of 3's we are collecting. He'll go back to Boston.

[TylersLakers]

See.. this is what I don't get.

According to speculation.. we're willing to trade one of our best players in Lamar Odom for a player in Ron Artest, who is a wrecking ball on and off the court. Would he be able to change his attitude with the Lakers? No one knows. He could be a Shane Battier personality for all we know this year. His past does not show that, though. He takes "questionable" shots, and his defense has dropped the past couple years.

So we're willing to take that chance.. according to speculation.

But when it comes to James Posey, where ever he's gone, he's hit big shots. After Wade and Haslem, you could argue that Posey was the 3rd best player on that team in the Finals.

One of the reasons we don't have 2007-2008 NBA Champions to our resume right now, is James Posey. I never saw ONE Laker dive for a ball. If it wasn't for James Posey, the Celtics would have lost Game 4. Would have been a totally different series.

Guys diving for loose balls and hitting shots, that's not because of a contract year. You don't lose that all of a sudden that you got money. Players like him ENJOY hitting big shots, and if he can do it making 5 million a year, why the hell not? Especially playing with competitive players in Kobe, Pau and Fisher.

This Laker team needs some thugs. A player who isn't afraid to get some floor burn to save a couple points from being scored against us. We need some cold blooded players in the clutch. We have a chance at that, if we up the money a little bit. 4 years, MLE.. That's all it would take. And we keep Lamar Odom.

With signing James Posey.. we're not risking anything. Trading Lamar Odom for Ron Artest, we are.

But wait a minute.. we want a wrecking ball, instead. Oh, sorry.

[Kilroy]

See.. this is what I don't get.

According to speculation.. we're willing to trade one of our best players in Lamar Odom for a player in Ron Artest, who is a wrecking ball on and off the court. Would he be able to change his attitude with the Lakers? No one knows. He could be a Shane Battier personality for all we know this year. His past does not show that, though. He takes "questionable" shots, and his defense has dropped the past couple years.

So we're willing to take that chance.. according to speculation.

But when it comes to James Posey, where ever he's gone, he's hit big shots. After Wade and Haslem, you could argue that Posey was the 3rd best player on that team in the Finals.

One of the reasons we don't have 2007-2008 NBA Champions to our resume right now, is James Posey. I never saw ONE Laker dive for a ball. If it wasn't for James Posey, the Celtics would have lost Game 4. Would have been a totally different series.

Guys diving for loose balls and hitting shots, that's not because of a contract year. You don't lose that all of a sudden that you got money. Players like him ENJOY hitting big shots, and if he can do it making 5 million a year, why the hell not? Especially playing with competitive players in Kobe, Pau and Fisher.

This Laker team needs some thugs. A player who isn't afraid to get some floor burn to save a couple points from being scored against us. We need some cold blooded players in the clutch. We have a chance at that, if we up the money a little bit. 4 years, MLE.. That's all it would take. And we keep Lamar Odom.

With signing James Posey.. we're not risking anything. Trading Lamar Odom for Ron Artest, we are.

But wait a minute.. we want a wrecking ball, instead. Oh, sorry.

We need some thugs but Artest is too much of a thug?...

And who says all it would take to get Posey is 4 years at the MLE... My take is that he wants the FULL MLE or he's signing with Boston.

Posey is a thug for sure but he's also never been a legit starter. He also bounces around a lot. He's around a 35% 3pt shooter but only averages around 9 points a night at around 28 min agame with 5 rebounds... His defense is good but not any where near Artest... Correct me if I'm wrong (I couldn't find any mention of it) but he's never been named All-Defensive first or second team... He's gotten 'honerable mention' a few times but that's all I could find...

So for the price Boston's paying, he's a good deal, but if we were to commit more money too him for longer, it would be like matching the Ronnie offer everyone is so quick to denounce... It just isn't quite worth it.

I think this is true whether we keep LO or not... I mean, if all we need is a bruiser who can fill in from time to time and hit 1.5 out of 3 treys like Posey, couldn't we find a cheaper option? Posey would be great but his stock will never be higher and he knows it... Buy low sell high... Now's not the best time to buy some Posey but it might be an ideal time to get us some Artest (not sold personally but there's some logic to it)...

[supaflash]

We don't need Artest OR Posey imo. They'd be nice, and helpful, but we don't NEED anyone extra then what we have.

Thats why its not worth the MLE for 4 years. 2 years sure, maybe 3... Even Boston sees that. He's a decent player sure, but he's old and slowing down. Makes you wonder if he's so great why they won't give him a long term deal?

[WCDYNASTY]

All of a sudden Posey's overrated to those bitter that he chose another team before their own. Comeon guys first of all hope is not lost, and no he isn't overrated.

First of all don't presume anything about me, I think he's over rated because I really do believe he is! Im not bitter that he might chose another team before the Lakers because I don't want the Lakers to sign him.

[TylersLakers]

See.. this is what I don't get.

According to speculation.. we're willing to trade one of our best players in Lamar Odom for a player in Ron Artest, who is a wrecking ball on and off the court. Would he be able to change his attitude with the Lakers? No one knows. He could be a Shane Battier personality for all we know this year. His past does not show that, though. He takes "questionable" shots, and his defense has dropped the past couple years.

So we're willing to take that chance.. according to speculation.

But when it comes to James Posey, where ever he's gone, he's hit big shots. After Wade and Haslem, you could argue that Posey was the 3rd best player on that team in the Finals.

One of the reasons we don't have 2007-2008 NBA Champions to our resume right now, is James Posey. I never saw ONE Laker dive for a ball. If it wasn't for James Posey, the Celtics would have lost Game 4. Would have been a totally different series.

Guys diving for loose balls and hitting shots, that's not because of a contract year. You don't lose that all of a sudden that you got money. Players like him ENJOY hitting big shots, and if he can do it making 5 million a year, why the hell not? Especially playing with competitive players in Kobe, Pau and Fisher.

This Laker team needs some thugs. A player who isn't afraid to get some floor burn to save a couple points from being scored against us. We need some cold blooded players in the clutch. We have a chance at that, if we up the money a little bit. 4 years, MLE.. That's all it would take. And we keep Lamar Odom.

With signing James Posey.. we're not risking anything. Trading Lamar Odom for Ron Artest, we are.

But wait a minute.. we want a wrecking ball, instead. Oh, sorry.

We need some thugs but Artest is too much of a thug?...

And who says all it would take to get Posey is 4 years at the MLE... My take is that he wants the FULL MLE or he's signing with Boston.

Posey is a thug for sure but he's also never been a legit starter. He also bounces around a lot. He's around a 35% 3pt shooter but only averages around 9 points a night at around 28 min agame with 5 rebounds... His defense is good but not any where near Artest... Correct me if I'm wrong (I couldn't find any mention of it) but he's never been named All-Defensive first or second team... He's gotten 'honerable mention' a few times but that's all I could find...

So for the price Boston's paying, he's a good deal, but if we were to commit more money too him for longer, it would be like matching the Ronnie offer everyone is so quick to denounce... It just isn't quite worth it.

I think this is true whether we keep LO or not... I mean, if all we need is a bruiser who can fill in from time to time and hit 1.5 out of 3 treys like Posey, couldn't we find a cheaper option? Posey would be great but his stock will never be higher and he knows it... Buy low sell high... Now's not the best time to buy some Posey but it might be an ideal time to get us some Artest (not sold personally but there's some logic to it)...

There's a difference in what kind of "thug" we need.

James Posey is a basketball thug. He brings toughness, physicality, an enforcer type role. Correct me if I'm wrong, but he hasn't had too many off court issues. He hasn't punched fans and beat his wife. He doesn't have off court issues, and that's what worries me about Ron Ron. I, personally, like Artest a lot. I just think that Posey would serve a better purpose, and we could keep LO.

And about Posey not first or second team all defensive.. A lot of that is about media attention, publicity. Ron Artest, Duncan, Shane Battier, Bruce Bowen and Kobe are going to get those because they're the big names, and people would rather see that than James Posey or other role players off the bench.

An article said 4 years, MLE is what he's looking for. Boston was offering 3 years, 12 million according to reports.

[hermes]

thugs?

and posey just sign with the celtics and let the league get on with their business, quit toying with us!

[TonyMontana]

All of a sudden Posey's overrated to those bitter that he chose another team before their own. Comeon guys first of all hope is not lost, and no he isn't overrated.

First of all don't presume anything about me, I think he's over rated because I really do believe he is! Im not bitter that he might chose another team before the Lakers because I don't want the Lakers to sign him.

DUB C........... relax Mang he didnt directly mean you. He ment everyone in general and I think he is overrated myself, and Im over him as well, so lets focus on Artest for now or anyone else that can help this team to win a CHIP.