No more Free Agent signings

Al-Haqq · Post #1 » by **Al-Haqq** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 3:35 am

I'm like most of you, I want another big man, another PG etc .... but those who are expecting some available free agents to be signed will be disappointed.

Danny Ainge even stated that he's got the pieces and he's off for a vacation because he's not interested in anyone available.

My point: very likely we won't be signing anyone.

We, according to him, have the pieces.

PG - Rondo / House / Pruitt
SG - Allen / Tony
SF - Pierce / Giddens
PF - Kevin / Powe / Davis / Scalabrine
C - Perkins / O'Bryant

That is our 2008/09 roster, or at the least, that's what we should expect it to be.

I think O'Bryant will surprise people. He has a great wingspan, freakish really ... so with his length and size down low, it'll make us stronger defensively. I can't wait to see him and KG on the court at the same time.

However, Tony Allen needs to deliver this season. We have no choice. He HAS TO.

Bill Walker won't be playing with us this year, nor will Erden. Sam Cassell ... he may be back. I expect him to, but I hope not.

I also hope we get George, but don't expect it. We still have a great team.

"general manager Danny Ainge is taking a "call us, we won't call you" stance on prospective players after announcing Tony Allen and Eddie House have agreed to two-year contracts with the team. "I'm not going to comment on any guys," Ainge said yesterday of available free agents. "I'm not chasing anybody down. I feel we have a solid team now and I'm going to take some time off."

dwestside · Post #2 » by **dwestside** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 5:03 am

I think this shows that they may be giving Tony Allen a bigger leash this season. I mean every statistic points out that Tony is terrible with limited minutes, and they resigned him ... If they'd buried him in the rotation it would have been a worthless signing.

greenbeans · Post #3 » by **greenbeans** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 5:29 am

Don't forget how much Danny loves to posture too.

GregB · Post #4 » by **GregB** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 5:40 am

Unless, Walker goes to europe. We probably don't sign anyone else. Their isn't a big man that we can realistically acquire, That would really be an upgrade over the guys that are aleady on the team. I think we keep the roster spot open and wait for a ringer chaser to become available.

SonicYouth34 · Post #5 » by **SonicYouth34** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 5:45 am

I think hopefully with Rondo playing more than 29 mins. we won't have to worry about the PG spot. Unless Giddens shows he's ready to step in now we need another wing to play with TA and can knock down the 3 ball. Same goes with O'Bryant.

SLCceltic · Post #6 » by **SLCceltic** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 5:15 pm

We need another skilled 7'+ player-------harrison at 270 would be nice
magloire could help (more postseason)
Araujo would be cheap
Kandi

big strong atheletic (so not so much JMagloire)
Magloire for his wisdom
KG could get Kandiman to put that 7'1, 275 body to work on D and kandi should get some easy looks

Playing on a championship team pushes everyone and its fun

Rocky5000 · Post #7 » by **Rocky5000** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 5:39 pm

About the Vacation thing, shouldn't he take care of Giddens first? It seems like a good idea for him to get to Boston and start preparing for the season.

TheSheriff · Post #8 » by **TheSheriff** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 5:57 pm

SLCceltic wrote:We need another skilled 7'+ player-------harrison at 270 would be nice
magloire could help (more postseason)
Araujo would be cheap
Kandi

big strong atheletic (so not so much JMagloire)
Magloire for his wisdom
KG could get Kandiman to put that 7'1, 275 body to work on D and kandi should get some easy looks

Playing on a championship team pushes everyone and its fun

None of those guys are really upgrades over POB. Kandi is certainly not.

hiphop1 · Post #9 » by **hiphop1** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 6:58 pm

I am still hoping for Marbury, besides a big I think we could really use a true vet pg.

MVP16 · Post #10 » by **MVP16** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 7:23 pm

hiphop1 wrote:I am still hoping for Marbury, besides a big I think we could really use a true vet pg.

Why, we won without one last year (Cassell sucked), and Rondo is much more experienced/proven then last year.

hiphop1 · Post #11 » by **hiphop1** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 7:26 pm

MVP16 wrote:
hiphop1 wrote:I am still hoping for Marbury, besides a big I think we could really use a true vet pg.

Why, we won without one last year (Cassell sucked), and Rondo is much more experienced/proven then last year.

He would also make up Posey's scoring, he would probably average like ten to twelve a game of the bench between the 1 and 2.

GreenGrizz · Post #12 » by **GreenGrizz** » Thu Jul 24, 2008 8:52 pm

I think AInge wants 14 players until the trade deadline like last year. He is comfortable with leaving one spot open in case someon gets cut.

SLCceltic · Post #13 » by **SLCceltic** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:33 am

TheSheriff wrote:
SLCceltic wrote:We need another skilled 7'+ player-------harrison at 270 would be nice
magloire could help (more postseason)
Araujo would be cheap
Kandi

big strong atheletic (so not so much JMagloire)
Magloire for his wisdom
KG could get Kandiman to put that 7'1, 275 body to work on D and kandi should get some easy looks

Playing on a championship team pushes everyone and its fun

None of those guys are really upgrades over POB. Kandi is certainly not.

I never said they were, we just need another big body to play some true center in case of injury and bad matchups------I plan on obie being decent, but not sure if i want obie/KG and Baby manning the middle with a perk injury

floppyriver · Post #14 » by **floppyriver** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 2:29 am

I'm thinking Giddens still isn't a sure thing yet. Bartlestein's his agent and he and Danny have been fencing with each other since the draft...

Anyone think a sign and trade with Scalarbrine is doable for a vet?

Luxurytaxlotterybust · Post #15 » by **Luxurytaxlotterybust** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 2:47 am

I highly doubt a sign and trade for old Veal Scal is doable. Danny is going to be forced to hold on to him and use him as trade bait this time next year when he $3 million in an expiring contract looks a bit more interesting to teams. And even then I bet he is forced to send over $3 million in trade cash.

MVP16 · Post #16 » by **MVP16** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 3:19 am

floppyriver wrote:I'm thinking Giddens still isn't a sure thing yet. Bartlestein's his agent and he and Danny have been fencing with each other since the draft...

Anyone think a sign and trade with Scalarbrine is doable for a vet?

Bartelstein is also the agent for Eddie House and we had no problem signing him. Also, if you look at last year, Pruitt was signed on August 30th and Big Baby was signed on September 4th. I think both Walker and Giddens will eventually be signed. Signing the rookies is probably the last on Danny's to do list, even after the contracts for the assistant coaches. Also, he probably wants to keep the roster flexibility for a little bit in an off-chance that some good veteran can't get a contract he wants in free agency and wants to sign here for cheap. But the free agency market is drying up fast so I don't expect us to wait as long as we waited last year to sign the rookies.

Jammer · Post #17 » by **Jammer** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 8:03 am

Al-Haqq wrote:
My point: very likely we won't be signing anyone.

We, according to him, have the pieces.

PG - Rondo / House / Pruitt
SG - Allen / Tony This July, Doc referred to Tony as a pure two, while Danny said that Tony can play some point.
SF - Pierce / Giddens Giddens is 1/2 inch taller than Tony Allen (according to official pre-draft measurements. I think that when Doc referred to Giddens as a 2/3, it may have referred to his quickness more than his size.
PF - Kevin / Powe / Scalabrine
C - Perkins / O'Bryant I think Davis is the defacto third string center, until someone better comes along.

That is our 2008/09 roster, or at the least, that's what we should expect it to be.

"general manager Danny Ainge is taking a "call us, we won't call you" stance on prospective players after announcing Tony Allen and Eddie House have agreed to two-year contracts with the team. "I'm not going to comment on any guys," Ainge said yesterday of available free agents. "I'm not chasing anybody down. I feel we have a solid team now and I'm going to take some time off."

As far as the call us, we won't call you approach;
keep in mind that Danny has offered one year contracts, at the veteran minimum rate,
to three unsigned players:

Dikembe Mutombo (Hoopsworld says he plans to play for Houston or retire, but he is still not signed, nor with a championship)

Alonzo Mourning (says he won't announce his plans for this coming season before December)

Jason Williams (looking for a longer term deal at more bucks, he made almost $ 9 million in 2008)

So Danny and Doc don't have to call those 3, they are waiting for return acceptances.

Either of those centers would likely send Glen Davis to the Inactive List.

Giddens may be good enough to push Pruitt to the Inactive list, although I wonder if Bartlestein is pushing to get Giddens to a team where he will see some daylight. That would be a shame, Giddens might be a decent bench player, even though Danny has said that he doesn't expect him to see much time this season, Danny described Giddens as having talent.

If the Celtics do sign Bill Walker, he (or Giddens) could easily end up spending the entire season on the Inactive List, which might be why the Celtics reportedly asks Walker if he would play in Europe for a year right after they drafted him. Walker controls that, though, since the Celtics must make a qualifying offer to Walker by training camp or the Celtics will lose their rights to him and he will be free to sign with any team.

vanillacoke4234 · Post #18 » by **vanillacoke4234** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 10:35 pm

I think the only signing we have to do is of a player to replace James Posey. The three names that came up in rumors were Mavericks F Deaven George, Hornets F/G Bonzi Wells and Spurs G Michael Finley. I'm thinking Deaven George is our best bet, Bonzi Wells second but its a pretty close call. We don't want any 'super' vets (i.e. P.J. Brown and Sam Cassell) to come off the bench and be a role player, which is why two prime players such as George (entering his 9th season) and Wells (entering his 10th season) would be the best replacement for Posey. Michael Finley is nice, but he wouldn't replace the defensive mind that Posey has/had. Finley has an amazing offensive game for a man his age, but defense just isn't his forte. We already have plenty of offense in Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, as well as Eddie House coming off the bench. It couldn't hurt to sign Finley along with George or Wells because that way we'd have an even stronger scoring punch coming off the bench in addition to House; that may hurt the minutes of long-time Celtic G Tony Allen or first-year G J.R. Giddens, (who I for one am very excited to see play), which is why this move, if possible, or just signing Finley in general over the other two would be risky. I think Danny Ainge has one more move to make. The Celtics have $2.8 million available on their mid-level exception fund (that should be used for George or Wells), as well as the possibility of signing a player for a 1-year minimum contract (Finley, given his age and acceptance of playing a smaller role on the team these days; also, of course, if the Celtics really want or need him)

Personally, I don't think the Celtics have any legit role players besides House, which is why one more free agent signing must be made. Without a second role player, as much as I love and support the Celtics, and as much faith as I have in them, I just don't think they will be at the same level of title contention that they were at a year ago or even a month ago.