Think Miami makes the playoffs? (Zo)

Hemingway · Post #1 » by **Hemingway** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 10:39 pm

If not, and if Alonzo Mourning is healthy halfway through the season, I think he would be a great fit here. Maybe a trade goes down where we can move out 2 of our guys at the end of the bench and sign Zo and PJ Brown. Zo has always been one of my favorite players so I'd love to see him here. I think he would go to Miami out of loyally if they have a real shot of doing something, I don't think they will be there, do you?

Jammer · Post #2 » by **Jammer** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 11:03 pm

1. Miami will not make the playoffs.

2. Alonzo Mourning has the same agent as Darius Miles.

3. Doc Rivers offered ALonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo veteran minimum contracts within the first 24 hours of the free agent recruiting period.

4. If Miles is waived, you can forget about Mourning.

5. Dikembe Mutombo has the same agent as Sam Cassell (David Falk, who negotiated MJ's Gatorade and Nike contracts back in 1984). Mutombo is a possibility, as he has not yet signed with Houston, is thoroughly pissed that he signed for the vet minimum last summer after turning down an offer from Doc Rivers for the same, AND then Houston signed Stevie Francis for two years at $5.15 million, only to let Francis rot on the bench all year while Mutombo helped Houston achieve their 22 game winning streak with Yao out). So, Mutombo is a better shot, since I don't see him returning to Houston for a second year at minimum (Landry just signed for 3 years at $9 million), although I could see Mutombo go to another team for minimum. I think that he'll wait until the season is well underway (like PJ Brown did, last year) to make any announcements. Ditto for Alonzo Mourning. Mutombo reportedly has several businesses in Houton. So probably nothing before December 15, with a good chance it stretches into January. The curve ball would be that Houston has some of the MLE left and that even though that they're a luxury tax payer, they throw it all at Mutombo out of desperation. Still, I think that he has a bad taste since the Steve Francis signing.

6. If Mutombo or Mourning come on board, that will knock one of the BIGS off the ACTIVE 12.

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nasbahceltic · Post #3 » by **nasbahceltic** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 3:06 am

I'm really not too concerned about our big man depth as I think Ainge and Co. simply want to see what they've got in O'Bryant before moving on anyone in the market.

If O'Bryant is the real deal then we can stand pat w/ him and Perk. If O'Bryant falls off then I fully expect one of the following 3 to be sought after aggressively by Ainge and the Big 3 (like last yr w/ PJ at the all-star break):
1. PJ
2. Mutombo
3. Morning
- in that order btw

Hemingway · Post #4 » by **Hemingway** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 12:08 pm

A few comments:

1. I don't think waiving Miles would have any real impact on Mourning. Same Agent ok, but money is money and rings are rings.

2. I don't think we have a shot at Mutombo. As silly as it sounds the cold in Boston combined with the move is probably a deal breaker for Deke. Look for him to sign with the rockets again.

3. I agree that any of this really is a half way through the season type thing. I think Cassell might also not play much till half way through. Lets see what we have/give playing time to our young guys for a few months and then shape up the team/rotation to win another banner.

Post #5 » by **sully00** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 4:49 pm

While preseason is just that I have liked what I have seen from POB a lot more than what we got out of PJ Brown. We won and that helps and he had that ridiculous run late in the game against CLE but he also missed a bunch of wide open gimmes and besides taking charges and taking up space was really really slow on defense. PJ made some jumpers and was better than nothing which is what we had without him but he is old and finished. I don't care if he comes back but I just hope we don't need him.

Zo has completely lost his offensive game, he can still move a little bit as well as rebound and block shots. Conversely Mutombo never had an offensive game and he can't move very well at all but he is still huge and can block shots and rebound. As far as adding one of these guys after the All Star break weather is not going to be a huge concern it will be spring time a couple of weeks later.

It would actually be even more fun if they could open up two roster spots for the both of them, let them finish it the way they started.

campybatman · Post #6 » by **campybatman** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 5:09 pm

Not if their starting point guard is Marbury or Tinsley.

JMillott · Post #7 » by **JMillott** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 11:13 pm

I couldn't possibly hope for a better in-season signing than Alonzo Mourning for this team. He would take our defense as great as it already is to a new level.

MyInsatiableOne · Post #8 » by **MyInsatiableOne** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 8:05 pm

JMillott wrote:I couldn't possibly hope for a better in-season signing than Alonzo Mourning for this team. He would take our defense as great as it already is to a new level.

Blech! We went over this back in the summer, but a lot of us here hate Zo and don't want him. He's old, has health issues, a bad attitude, and for me personally, I've never liked the guy. No thanks.

BTW Miami is NOT going to make the playoffs, they stink, DWade is overrated, and they are headed for another stinkbomb (although not as bad as last year). Just my opinion...

JMillott · Post #9 » by **JMillott** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 8:43 pm

I'm sorry but its a no brainer between Alonzo Mourning playing 12-15 minutes a night for us in the playoffs behind Perkins instead of Glen Davis or Patrick O'Bryant. He was still averaging 13.8, 8.6 and 3.9 blocks per 36 minutes last year before the injury on 55% shooting on a terrible basketball team the most important aspect being that he would bring us the one thing our defense doesn't have in an elite shot-blocker.

bhinder11 · Post #10 » by **bhinder11** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 8:51 pm

No miami's not making the playoffs. They're just to young of a team but I also don't see Zo coming to the Celtics, Mutombo I could see in green.

Dave_From_NB · Post #11 » by **Dave_From_NB** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:01 pm

I wasn't a great fan of the rent a wreck approach with Cassell and Brown. Cassell I thought disrupted a flow which was pretty good, and I'm fairly convinced that our struggles with Atlanta and Cleveland were in part due to trying to insert two non-athletic veterans into the lineup in place of House and Powe/Davis. Brown had his positive moments with his principal advantage being height and fouls. POB by the time the playoffs roll around might be an upgrade to what Brown provided last year in play, although admitedly not in leadership. Cassell, frankly I'm not sure we wouldn't have been better without him, although if he had been kept around just in case Rondo went down, I would have been good with that rather than him impinging on Eddies time.

I'm really skeptical that Mourning, who will have been injured and out of the game a year, is going to get up to speed in time to not be disruptive to the chemistry the team will have developed. Not implying he is a negative influence, but when you're trying to insert a guy who'll surely be out-of-shape and rusty into the lineup, he'd better be a significant upgrade to what he is replacing. Assuming he has anything left after his most recent injury.

IMO, it's good to make changes to good teams, but only when you've got the whole year of them. These end of season changes I just don't think work out well - unless injuries just dictate they need to be made.

Post #12 » by **sully00** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 3:05 pm

While I wasn't overwhelmed with his play I don't think we win the championship without PJ especially getting passed CLE. While POB has the skill set he has to do it. I love Powe and Big Baby but if Perk goes down we have to have a legit center to go to.

While old and with all kinds of injury questions Zo is a HOF and could easily provide the coverage we need behind Perk. I would love for POB to be the answer but Zo would be perfect.

Hemingway · Post #13 » by **Hemingway** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 4:14 pm

Some people here really don't value Zo. I remember saying we should go for Zo a few years in the past and hearing from the board that he was done. History has proven me right. I have watched Zo from his georgetown days, he is not someone you bet against. He is the perfect compliment to KG.

I agree with Sully and think we should try and get 2 spots open for Zo and PJ. We have a lot of prospects right now, maybe a 3 for 1 trade can happen midway through the season. It might make sense for a team going into rebuild mode to give us a good player for some prospects.

Jammer · Post #14 » by **Jammer** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 11:13 pm

Hemingway wrote: maybe a 3 for 1 trade can happen midway through the season. It might make sense for a team going into rebuild mode to give us a good player for some prospects.

The problem is roster space, which is normally only available from last week of June thru first week of August. After that, rosters are usually filled up.

If there is a team with space (meaning non-guaranteed contracts, but all contracts become guaranteed on January 10);

the only 3 guys that the Celtics might want to trade,
if someone like Mourning or Mutombo came on board,
would be Scalabrine, Davis (replaced by the new center, and Semih Erdin next season),
and one of Giddens or Walker.

However, to get a team to take Scalabrine, the Celtics would probably have to
add in Giddens or Walker, and take back nothing (the rights to some 30 year old playing in Israel). Maybe a second round pick. But a pick could be stretching it.

So, I don't see any trades with Scalabrine before the draft.

However, Glen Davis could be traded to ANY (all 29) team, for cash or a pick,
which would be a way to clear a spot for Mourning or Mutombo
if they were coming on board.