Trade/Free Agency Thread 2023-24, part 10 and Counting . . .

[GoGreen]

Garuba probably isn't any good but I won't complain if brad takes a flier on him

[Hal14]

Should the C's sign Garuba? Well, there's 2 sides to the coin..

Side A: Yes, do it. In the short term he's a sufficient 4th/5th big man to eat some reg season mins, give some front court depth. He's a good defender who can protect the paint as well as switch out on the perimeter. Offensively he is raw and limited but he's a decent catch and shoot guy from 3, he can get some offensive rebounds, some tip-ins, some put-backs, he's a pretty good passer for a big and also runs the floor pretty well in transition to get some easy baskets that way. Long term, with hard work on his part and the right development by our staff, he could be a really solid 1st big off the bench - or possibly even a starter down the road (could maybe start alongside Porzingis, if perhaps down the road we trade Rob, or if Rob simply can't stay healthy so we just bring him off the bench full-time). Low risk, high reward pickup, do it!

Side B: no thanks. He's still raw, he's still a project on both ends of the floor - especially on offense. He's gonna need minutes in order to fully develop into a legit NBA player and he's not gonna get those kind of minutes in Boston - and it likely won't happen on any team that's a contender. The Celtics are trying to win a championship. We're not getting Banner 18 by adding a raw, young development project who's been in the league for 2 yrs already and is getting bounced around from team to team. We need proven vets on this team. Guys we know we can count on to contribute. We already have 2 unproven young guys on the team who need to be developed (Walsh, Banton). Plus we have Hauser who isn't super young but only has 2 yrs of experience (and 1 of those yrs he was in the g league for pretty much the whole season). We don't need anymore young kids to develop. People complain about how inconsistent our team was last season, like we were Jekyl and Hyde. Well, guess what? The younger the players are, the more inconsistent they play. You want a more consistent team, add proven vets who are age 28+.

I can see both sides to it. Where do I stand? I'm leaning a little more towards Side B on this one..but if we sign him, I wouldn't hate it.

Well he wouldn't have issue getting PT in Maine. No way he gets more than a 2-way, if they valued him they could have traded for him into a TPE. Would be very surprised if he gets an NBA deal in Boston.

Yeah, he might have to settle for a 2-way at this point.

We'll see, but I think a team might give him a standard contract. 2-way contracts usually go to really obscure players - guys who are extremely fringe NBA players, who have no NBA experience (or at least have never had a standard NBA contract before, or have less NBA experience than Garuba has) who are signing the 2-way as a last resort to try and scratch and claw their way into the league. It's usually either guys who just got drafted in the late 2nd round, guys who just went undrafted, or random guys who went undrafted (or picked late 2nd round) 2 or 3 yrs ago and are pretty bad so the 2-way is the only contract they're able to get.

Also, 2-way contracts barely pay any money. A guy like Garuba (especially since he's from Spain and played for Real Madrid prior to being drafted) could probably make much more $ overseas so I doubt he accepts a 2-way, especially after being on a standard contract for 2 years now..and he was a 1st round pick, is still just 21 yrs old..

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Lastly, playing in the g league won't develop him as much as playing in the NBA. Obviously, the competition levels are vastly different in the 2 leagues. He needs to be playing against better competition in order to raise his game to the next level - especially considering he's already got 2 years playing in the NBA under his belt.

[Curmudgeon]

I love Garuba. This is a kid who was starting for Real Madrid at age 18. And playing 25+ minutes. He's an outstanding defender. Think Draymond Green but without Green's court vision. This is the big wing they need to give Tatum and Brown some rest.

If Stevens doesn't claim this kid it will be the worst move of the offseason by far, even worse than trading Smart.

[Hal14]

I love Garuba. This is a kid who was starting for Real Madrid at age 18. And playing 25+ minutes.

Let's not exaggerate here. Garuba never averaged 25 MPG for Real Madrid. He averaged 17 MPG for them the season before he was drafted and he averaged 15 MPG the year before that. Both seasons he started less than half of the games he played in.

And he turned 19 during his last season with Real Madrid..

Think Draymond Green but without Green's court vision.

Draymond is a comp that got thrown around quite a bit with Garuba prior to him being drafted. But at this point, it's unfair to compare a guy who has been in the league for 2 yrs but has made very little impact and has now been traded 2x and waived 1x in the same offseason to a future hall of famer, 4x NBA champion and possibly one of top 15-20 defenders in NBA history.

This is the big wing they need to give Tatum and Brown some rest.

Garuba is not a wing. His game is nothing like Tatum or Brown's. If we did sign him, he would be big man depth behind KP/Rob/Al...definitely not a guy who would be wing depth behind the Jays.

If Stevens doesn't claim this kid it will be the worst move of the offseason by far, even worse than trading Smart.

lol, you can't be serious. If Stevens doesn't sign him, it would simply mean the C's were one of the TWENTY NINE teams who all passed on him this summer.

[SuperDeluxe]

Garuba Jamaica ooh I wanna take ya

All your years are showing. (Mine too, I guess.)

[MeanGeraldGreen]

Garuba Jamaica ooh I wanna take ya

All your years are showing. (Mine too, I guess.)

Beach Boys>>>>>Beatles. And I’m a relatively young pup.

Fight me.

[Shak_Celts]

Garuba Jamaica ooh I wanna take ya

All your years are showing. (Mine too, I guess.)

Beach Boys>>>>>Beatles. And I’m a relatively young pup.

Fight me.

[MeanGeraldGreen]

All your years are showing. (Mine too, I guess.)

Beach Boys>>>>>Beatles. And I’m a relatively young pup.

Fight me.

[SuperDeluxe]

Garuba Jamaica ooh I wanna take ya

All your years are showing. (Mine too, I guess.)

Beach Boys>>>>>Beatles. And I’m a relatively young pup.

Fight me.

It must be tough to type with that straightjacket on

[ryan in Maine]

All your years are showing. (Mine too, I guess.)

Beach Boys>>>>>Beatles. And I’m a relatively young pup.

Fight me.

It must be tough to type with that straightjacket on

I'm 39, but my grandmother boinked the chubby Beach Boy in Portland in her prime and the music was ever present. And I'm not responsible for MeanGeraldGreen's rankings (but the Beach Boys' influence on future musicians is underappreciated).

[Bad-Thoma]

Garuba Jamaica ooh I wanna take ya

All your years are showing. (Mine too, I guess.)

Beach Boys>>>>>Beatles. And I’m a relatively young pup.

Fight me.

[aporel18]

Garuba should've been stashed in Europe a couple of years before going to the NBA, he was still raw in his last season for Real Madrid. But after Doncic's success, everyone wanted to follow his steps (agents and money will do that for young players).

NBA doesn't develop players, they only put muscle on their shoulders and ask big guys to shoot from 3. Watching Garuba play for Spain shows he really regressed (might also be the Rockets are bad at basketball), but if you watch him closely, you'll see the guy just makes winning plays. Celtics need tough guys who make winning plays, and who are not afraid of the moment. All those years losing in the playoffs against less talented teams have been painful, and Garuba could be great on the Leon Powe 2008's role for this team.

Celtics need talent to win, but they also need to grow some character. This kid could help.

[Hal14]

Garuba should've been stashed in Europe a couple of years before going to the NBA, he was still raw in his last season for Real Madrid. But after Doncic's success, everyone wanted to follow his steps (agents and money will do that for young players).

NBA doesn't develop players, they only put muscle on their shoulders and ask big guys to shoot from 3. Watching Garuba play for Spain shows he really regressed (might also be the Rockets are bad at basketball), but if you watch him closely, you'll see the guy just makes winning plays. Celtics need tough guys who make winning plays, and who are not afraid of the moment. All those years losing in the playoffs against less talented teams have been painful, and Garuba could be great on the Leon Powe 2008's role for this team.

Celtics need talent to win, but they also need to grow some character. This kid could help.

Good insight.

It's not just that the rockets were bad at basketball, but you ask any rockets fan and they really hated Silas as a coach, they said he was really bad at developing their young guys and they hate how how played Nix over Washington and Fernando over Garuba.

The Celtics did just take a similar flier with Banton. Banton is a guy who had 2 yrs of NBA experience under his belt, but the team he was on did not play him very much and did not do a good job of developing him. Banton has really good potential but definitely has some things to work on. The Celtics took a flier on him as an end of the bench guy who could possibly end up developing into a solid rotation player for us.

Perhaps we'll take a similar flier on Garuba. I do think that it could help Garuba's development being in a winning culture (instead of the losing culture in Houston) and it could also really help his development by being around Al, Rob and Porzingis - and going against them in practice everyday.

[ryan in Maine]

Powe circa 2008 some big shoes to fill.

Edit
This is how Powe was closing the third for us in The Finals.

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[Curmudgeon]

You are willing to offer a deal and a roster spot to Mykhailiuk but not to Garuba? Makes no sense. Garuba is twice the player, and the Celtics will be very lucky if he clears waivers and is willing to sign in Boston. He may not be, given how the Celtics completely failed to develop Yabusele.

[MeanGeraldGreen]

All your years are showing. (Mine too, I guess.)

Beach Boys>>>>>Beatles. And I’m a relatively young pup.

Fight me.

It must be tough to type with that straightjacket on

[zoyathedestroya]

Two months since trading for Porzingis and still no NBA title. Sigh.

[Dogen]

If there's a way to get Usman Garuba without giving up Tatum I'm certainly down.

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[Dogen]

Brad, give us Garuba and one of Austin Rivers or Terence Davis and let's play ball.

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

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