The Cavs might cost us Powe and/or Davis

[vct33]

Generally speaking, most people don't realize just how bad Cleveland's interior defense is. Mikki Moore got his $18mil contract with Sacramento because Cleveland made him look like an All-Star in their 07 playoff series. I have a feeling that if we play the Cavs in the ECF, that the same thing could happen for Powe and/or Davis. They could both walk next year with nice multi-year contracts elsewhere.

[campybatman]

Actually, Moore benefited by being a teammate of Kidd in New Jersey. Kidd had that knack of making players look better than they really are (i.e. Kenyon Martin and Mikki Moore).

Ainge will resign one of them this summer. My guess is it'll be Powe. Their stocks aren't high right now. I don't believe the playoffs will change this. Remember, Scalabrine will eventually return so altogether that's four power forwards (after Garnett) that Rivers has to divide minutes between.

[klemen4]

I expect both to stay, I think baby will sign for 2+mio (Eddies, Allens contract) for 2 years. Powe could get around 3 mio for 3 years.

[celticfan42487]

My god, this isn't the same Cavs team of 5 years ago.

Lets consider ourselves honored if we can have this topic after the playoffs.

The Cavs interior defense will be better when Ben Wallace comes back and as a counter measure they play Big Ben at the PF instead of LeBron. Ben Wallace may not be able to shoot, but he's as strong as Leon, has at least as much athleticism and is as tough as anyone in the post.

[Rocky5000]

I believe on the ESPN broadcast they said the Cavs have the best interior defense in the league. In other words, last night may have been an aberration, and perhaps it has more to do with Ben Wallace being out. We can't expect every game we play against the Cavs to play out the same way.

On the question of Leon vs. Baby, I'm almost certain that only 1 will return next year, and I'm leaning towards the player we end up bringing back being Davis.

[humblebum]

Ya, small ball is really not a good look for the Cavs and I always thought that Cleveland's greatest STRENGTH was its size and strength along the frontline (and last year they had West/Wally in the backcourt vs. Williams/West which is a significantly smaller pairing). The smaller Cleveland is up front the greater the Celtics chances of winning IMO. So Ben Wallace really is an underrated loss for them in that respect, be brings toughness, savvy and brute strength. It sucks to lose a guy like that.

Still I think that Powe and Davis are both relatively valuable commodities at the moment. I've really, really been impressed with Leon lately. He just gets after it and now that there is better floor spacing on the second unit Leon is going 1 v 1 for offensive boards and in scoring situations. He's as they say HAArD ta GUAArD.

My thinking has just recently come along to thinking that the Celtics should set out to keep both players up front. The make each other better because they're in direct competition for minutes. The both bring different elements to the game and both are valuable skill sets. Hopefully this is an offseason that Danny Ainge will be able to go discount shopping if you know what I mean. I'd love to see Danny resign three of these four players: Davis, Powe, Sheed Wallace, Mikki Moore.

[canman1971]

There is no reason why Ainge won't bring both back next year. Neither has done enough to warrant too much money. They are a case of being more valuable to the Celtics than any other team, IMO. Also, it is not like Ainge to just let someone walk for nothing. So, as sign and trade is always a possibility, but my guess is they both return.

About the game last night, it was one game. The Celtics, when healthy, are the best team in the league regardless of records. They know what they are doing. A win last night is nice and somewhat of a statement, but it means no more or less than the loss to the Clippers to them.

[Zin5]

It depends on who we bring in over the summer. If we keep Moore and bring in Rasheed, I could see us losing one or even both of them easily. Otherwise, I'd like to keep both, especially for when KG winds down and retires. I don't consider either of them legit starters on a championship contender at any point in their career, but a PF rotation between the two of them with spot minutes at the C could be a very solid complementary position to a championship team.

Actually, Moore benefited by being a teammate of Kidd in New Jersey. Kidd had that knack of making players look better than they really are (i.e. Kenyon Martin and Mikki Moore).

Don't knock Martin. He may have looked a little better with Kidd, but he's still a great, underrated player. His biggest problem has been injuries derailing his career, not the lack of Kidd.

[AlCelticFan]

A win last night is nice and somewhat of a statement, but it means no more or less than the loss to the Clippers to them.

Didn't you hear Paul after the game? This was not just another game for the C's. It meant a lot to them.

[celticfan42487]

Yup, Pierce said they were fighting for homecourt.

BTW the second tiebreaker is losses to an EC opponent I believe, and if that's the case the Celts have about 4 less losses to the East then the Cavs. So even if we lose in CLE and tie them, we still have the tiebreaker.

[vct33]

I believe on the ESPN broadcast they said the Cavs have the best interior defense in the league. In other words, last night may have been an aberration, and perhaps it has more to do with Ben Wallace being out. We can't expect every game we play against the Cavs to play out the same way.

No way do they have a top interior defense. I don't care what the guys on ESPN say. They haven't watched the Cavs as much as I have. Ilgauskus is a terrible inside defender. Varejao is active and gets his hands on some balls and draws some charges but he is very ineffective as a one-on-one post defender. Even a healthy Wallace is a shadow of his former self.

[Jammer]

Leon Powe will be an RFA, so if the Celtics want him, he remains in Boston.

And with the market declining (salary cap and luxury tax expected to decrease),
don't expect a ridiculous offer thrown Leon's way by some other team.

[LongTimeFan]

http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/boxsc ... ame=CLEBOS

It is one game but I was very interested in how our backup bigs faired against their backup bigs. We did fine. Joe Smith was not that impressive and went off at about a -8 plus / minus when both he and Powe were on the floor.

I do think Powe or Davis will be traded. I'm leaning toward Davis, because he wants to be a starter. We have Powe's Bird rights, so I think we sign him to a Perkins type deal.

That said I'm impressed with how Davis is doing now that he is starting. Assuming both parties agree that he should be traded, I don't know how much value we can get for him.

[Havlicek17]

If at all possible, I'd like to keep both BBD and Powe.

If they keep playing the way they have been of late... their contracts would likely be around Perkins contract and/or Jason Maxiell's recent 4 Year $20 mil deal. Starting in the $4's and ending in the 5's.
Assuming House chooses to stay and excercises his option, and no ther substantial changes are made, then it would mean we would have a team salary in excess of $80 Mil next year. Not crazy, but it might be tough considering the economy.

If either falls off in production, or the economy forces teams to hold onto their MLE's and cap space, then they could be worth substantially less, making it more affordable to keep both.

If I were to trade a PF, I think the most valuable commodity might be Scal. He's an expiring $3.4 Mil contract in a down economy, not a new 4 or 5 year MLE range commitment.

[Hemingway]

Why not keep both? They both continue to get better. Not being KG is not a reason to let someone go. If we can keep both of them and Moore and Starbury and bring in someone like Sheed we are set. We can try to trade Giddions, Gabe and/ore Walker if Danny and Doc don't feel they will pan out and shop for steals in the draft. Maybe we can buy another Rondo in the draft.

Perk/Sheed/Baby
KG/Powe/Moore
Pierce/TA
Allen/House
Rondo/Marbs

with Scal ready to fill in for anyone who gets hurt and some young players developing... that has got to be one of the best rosters of all time and it has a very real chance of happening. We have become like the crazy trades of the trade board try to make teams become. I hope the game last night showed the leage and its doubters this.

[GuyClinch]

^^^ You don't keep both if someone decides they were worth alot - especially if it's Posey all over again. I think getting value for your cap dollar is the key to championships not holding onto sentimental favorites even if they did help your cause.

It's way to early to worry about this.

[Fencer reregistered]

The Cs' known big-man roster spots are:

KG
Perk
Scal (under contract)
Somebody taller than Davis and Powe (e.g., Brown last year, O'Bryant and then Moore this year)

If they can upgrade Moore to their confident satisfaction -- or if they judge him to be plenty good enough -- or if they trade Scal -- or if they decide the current crop of PFs is mobile enough to truly handle all the backup minutes at SF -- then Powe and Davis might both stay.

Powe and Davis also both might stay if, as this season, the Cs simply don't like their taller-than-Davis-and-Powe options at all.

But basically, 3 PFs without the height or hops to be legit centers and without the quicks to be legit SFs is one too many to be spending > minimum money on.