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It’s been a little slow since Grant Hill was snatched up by PHX without many new FA rumors.

These are not rumor, just ideas I came up with when looking at available FA’s, and thought of much less talked about ideas for players to add to our squad.

What are people’s thoughts about bringing back Wally Szczerbiak to Boston? His time here was up and down but that is like many of our former players before the Big 3. The ability to shoot doesn’t just disappear and Wally is one of the best. He was a former teammate of both Paul and KG. He would benefit Rondo immensely with his ability to spread the floor. He’s no defensive presence at all but we already have Paul and young players like JR or Bill Walker, hell even TA if we can’t unload him to do that.

Next, Joey Graham. He is an UFA and Toronto is going to have to unload players eventually. He’s quite the opposite of Wally, not a shooter, but a young, athletic body who can play some D at multiple positions.

Desmond Mason. Basically the same idea as Joey Graham but probably more affordable and also, probably more dependable being a veteran.

Sasha Pavlovic. Might be waived, given a chance in Cleveland but obviously didn’t work out the way they planned. Maybe some players just do not work well with LeBron (Wouldn't surprise me at all since he demands the ball so much). We have a different team philosophy than them and at one point, he showed a lot of potential. He also at least appears athletic enough to have some potential at D under TT.

Ime Udoka. Somewhat of a poor man’s Posey IMO. If he came for the LLE, it wouldn’t be a bad signing at all.

Morris Almond. There seems to be a lot of talk about CJ Miles, why no talk about the Jazz swingman that currently isn’t under contract right now. He’s decently athletic, can stroke the 3, doesn’t make terrible decisions from what I’ve seen from him. At a vet. min. type deal, I don’t think that’d be bad at all.

Any of these players interest you at all if they were to come for relatively cheap?

i think OKC is thinking of resigning Mason.

He is the best player on the list by far and fits our team the best IMO. However, 2 things concern me - his ACL surgery from last year and his willingness to take a CHEAP 1 year deal. I'm not sure if 1-2M$ at 1 year interests him at all. Even if say the C's game him a player option for 2010 too.

I personally like Joey Graham alot. Guy is built like a house. He's crazy strong and pretty athletic too.

The more and more I read and hear though, I'm not sure if a FA is going to be the route DA goes. I think it's going to come from a S & T.

Wally was borderline shot back when we had him, a few years ago.

Graham is Tony Allen minus a lot of the defense. Maybe a little better than that, but still.

Dez Mason kinda sucked to begin with and hit injury issues @ the age of 31 last season. In his prime he was not a three point shooter and didn't not bring offensive intangibles and was not as good a defender as Tony.

Pavlovic can defend and can hit the open shot although his offensive stats last year were relatively poor. He was statistically, in context, about as TO prone as Tony Allen last season and that notion was backed up some time back by someone on this board who claims to watch a lot of Cavs games (I forget who). On the plus side, he has length, he played rather respectably during his last contract year, he is nearing peak age (26 next season), and would be playing for a new contract. I'd take him, personally.

Udoka is a good defender poor offensive player. 32 yrs old next season, three point shot has fallen off since he gained a spot in the league. He could be a more reliable version of Bruce Bowen. Worth consideration.

Morris Almond - I assume there is a reason he is borderline out of the league.

No1CeltsFan wrote:i think OKC is thinking of resigning Mason.

He is the best player on the list by far and fits our team the best IMO. However, 2 things concern me - his ACL surgery from last year and his willingness to take a CHEAP 1 year deal. I'm not sure if 1-2M$ at 1 year interests him at all. Even if say the C's game him a player option for 2010 too.

Yeah I read the wiretap about Mason maybe re-signing with OKC after I posted this but still, if he's got anything left to help us off the bench and wants to win a ring, this is a better situation for him.

I personally like Joey Graham alot. Guy is built like a house. He's crazy strong and pretty athletic too.

I have really grown to like Graham more with time. He could be really valuable to us IMO.

threrf23 wrote:Wally was borderline shot back when we had him, a few years ago.

He was not "borderline shot" when we had him IMO. He was just expected to be more of a creator which was never his strong suit, especially later in his career. He would no longer be expected to do that. Just a set shooter. And also, if he was shot then, he must have been SOMEWHAT rejuvenated in Cleveland because when he had the ball he really gave our very own Ray Allen problems. He's no defensive gem but he's got more left in the tank than Wally.

Graham is Tony Allen minus a lot of the defense. Maybe a little better than that, but still.

If he can guard hybrid PF's as well as 3's, against the Cavs he can play effective minutes against LeBron when Pierce is out and can help with mismatches against Orlando.

Dez Mason kinda sucked to begin with and hit injury issues @ the age of 31 last season. In his prime he was not a three point shooter and didn't not bring offensive intangibles and was not as good a defender as Tony.

First off, I think you are over-rating Tony or at least under-rating Des Mason's prime. He was never a good shooter but he was a decent playmaker and did not make the bone-headed plays TA struggles with both offensively and defensively. He could bring some good leadership to our young wings as well.

Pavlovic can defend and can hit the open shot although his offensive stats last year were relatively poor. He was statistically, in context, about as TO prone as Tony Allen last season and that notion was backed up some time back by someone on this board who claims to watch a lot of Cavs games (I forget who). On the plus side, he has length, he played rather respectably during his last contract year, he is nearing peak age (26 next season), and would be playing for a new contract. I'd take him, personally.

I personally think Sasha needs a change of scenery, which he will get no matter what now. Getting out of LeBron's shadow should do him wonders.

Udoka is a good defender poor offensive player. 32 yrs old next season, three point shot has fallen off since he gained a spot in the league. He could be a more reliable version of Bruce Bowen. Worth consideration.

Good defense is something we can always use. He's not a good offensive player, but poor might be a little much.

Morris Almond - I assume there is a reason he is borderline out of the league.

Yeah you probably are right about this one. Also, might be unnecessary to try to develop another wing project.

bosFcelts wrote:If he can guard hybrid PF's as well as 3's, against the Cavs he can play effective minutes against LeBron when Pierce is out and can help with mismatches against Orlando.

That's true. He wouldn't excite me though, at all.

I personally think Sasha needs a change of scenery, which he will get no matter what now. Getting out of LeBron's shadow should do him wonders.

He is arguably comparable to Pietrus a year ago. Both were considered to have high upside entering the league, both have shown flashes in the past, both get knocked for inconsistent shooting and a questionable bball IQ/attitude. Pietrus, statistically, has been the slightly more capable offensive player whereas Pavlovic has been the slightly better defender. And, Pietrus, a year ago, was similar to James Posey at the same age.

threrf23 wrote:

bosFcelts wrote:If he can guard hybrid PF's as well as 3's, against the Cavs he can play effective minutes against LeBron when Pierce is out and can help with mismatches against Orlando.

That's true. He wouldn't excite me though, at all.

It may not be an exciting move, but in the grand scheme of things I think he can really help bolster our second unit. And as long as we have a decent shooting backup PG, and Ray or Paul in at the same time as him, his offensive limitations won't be noticed as much. Rondo and and Graham in at the same time would be a disaster though.

I personally think Sasha needs a change of scenery, which he will get no matter what now. Getting out of LeBron's shadow should do him wonders.

He is arguably comparable to Pietrus a year ago. Both were considered to have high upside entering the league, both have shown flashes in the past, both get knocked for inconsistent shooting and a questionable bball IQ/attitude. Pietrus, statistically, has been the slightly more capable offensive player whereas Pavlovic has been the slightly better defender. And, Pietrus, a year ago, was similar to James Posey at the same age.

That is a pretty solid comparison. People thought Pietrus was a decent signing for the Magic, nothing ground-breaking but solid. He had a very good year and was vital to Orlando's success, especially in the playoffs. And if the C's had someone of his caliber or even close to it off the bench, I would be thrilled.

Pavlovic is the only name there that interests me. He's got the type of package of athleticism, size and skill that the Celtics need at the backup SG-SF. As a guy in at the minimum he'd be well worth a look. I'm personally hoping that the Celtics can land Jamario Moon, but Pavlovic is right up there with Tim Thomas as the best available G-F UFA's... which to be honest isn't saying a whole lot.

First off no to mason and almond and uduka
yes to graham wally and sasha in that order

As sad as it is to say, there's no one on that list I'd take over TA+Scal. Sad.