"Caron Butler replaces Ray Allen's productivity and the Celtics get Antawn Jamison, too? Sounds too good to be true!"
So wrote one Celtics scribe.
I was never that excited. Not about Caron Butler. Not about Antawn Jamison. I have no doubt that both players are talented. But right now Ray Allen is the second best player on the Boston Celtics, regardless of what he is shooting from 3. At the end of the game, I want Ray Allen wearin' da green. He makes a difference, and as poorly as the Celtics are playing right now, we know two things: games will be decided in the fourth quarter, and they'll be decided by playmakers.
How long does it take to integrate a player we acquire for Ray-Ray? Will the player be one who can be counted on to score game winning baskets? Maybe. But seems unlikely to me. We already have KG and Sheed, who like to impact other parts of the game and leave fourth-quarter scoring to their teammates. We need proven scorers down the stretch for the stretch run. That's Ray Allen.
So while the All-Star game is over and the regular season is about to resume, my question is this: will Danny make a move before 3 p.m. on February 18th? I say, yes, but the move will likely add more snarl than stardom.
We've got plenty of depth on the wing with Marquis Daniels and Tony Allen playing well of late. Both of them can man the point on the second unit, too, and, I might add, defend the point better than Eddie House. We also have depth at the 4-5 spots, with Rasheed Wallace, Glen Davis, Brian Scalabrine, and Shelden Williams waiting in the wings for minutes.
So what's the move I'm predicting?
This team looks and feels soft to me. They look like a giant green Pillsbury doughboy. The team talks trash, but no one cares, particularly not opponents who are streaking past them for an easy deuce. In fact, many Celtics fans would prefer they shut up until they have something to talk about. Danny can change this by adding a John Salley Bad Boy type, someone who can come in slap some balls around, make his presence felt, and infuse his teammates with some testosterone. This player may be a 4-5 or he may be a 1. But he's gotta have mean streak, whatever his name is.
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One report had Allen going to Chicago for guard Kirk Hinrich and forward Tyrus Thomas.
That deal wouldn’t be the answer. Hinrich can’t shoot as well as Allen and is due to make $9 million next season and $8 million the year after. Thomas, Glen Davis’ good friend and former LSU teammate, was suspended for a game recently for reportedly directing a profanity-laced tirade at Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro over his lack of playing time. Doc Rivers is a good friend of Del Negro, so he’ll certainly know the scoop on Thomas.
Another report had Allen going to Sacramento for Kevin Martin, a high-scoring but injury-prone shooting guard.
The 6-foot-7 Martin has averaged 20.8 points in only 20 games this season following wrist surgery. Last year, an ankle injury limited him to 51 games, but he averaged 24.6 points, and the year before a groin injury kept him to 61 games, but he averaged 23.7. Allen, on the other hand, has missed only one game this season and just one last year due to injury.
Martin shot better than 40 percent from threeland the previous two years, but he’s down to 36.4 percent this season, not much higher than Allen (33.8). Martin is due to make $11 million, $12 million and $13 million over the next three seasons, but the Kings reportedly also want the Celtics to take Andres Nocioni’s contract off their hands. Nocioni, 30, is a 6-7 swingman who averages 9 points a game and is due to earn $6.85 million next year and $6.65 million the year after. The Celtics will get a good look at Martin and Nocioni when they visit Sacramento on Tuesday night.
The rumored deal of sending Davis to Charlotte for backup point guard D.J. Augustin would be a mistake. The Celtics don’t need another short guard who can’t shoot, and Davis seems to finally be regaining his rhythm.
This dude sees thing the same way I do.
http://www.telegram.com/article/20100214/COLUMN08/2140577/0/NEWS03
Dalembert and iggy for ray allen.
One deal I would have done.
But it probably was never on the table.
The Celtics visit Sacramento Tuesday, the Lakers Thursday, Portland Friday and Denver a week from today. They’d better win at Sacramento because the Lakers are 25-4 at home, Portland is only 18-11 at home, but the Celtics will be playing their second game in two nights, and Denver is 23-5 at home.
The Celtics used to be 13-1 on the road, but they’ve dropped eight of their last 12 away from home.
The Celtics won’t return to the Garden until Feb. 23 when they take on the Knicks.
Look for march 1 to be the date the Cs either call it a season or start to build some momentum.
If the Cs get crushed on this road trip, will the raptors be less than two games out?
Boston Celtics
The Celtics head the group of potential buyers who are ambivalent about taking on long-term salary commitments. The Celtics have been investigating potential trades for Ray Allen, but the market is so lousy with bad basketball trades that Allen's expiring $18.8 million salary probably cannot net a younger star at shooting guard to replace him for the long term. The franchises that are offering expiring deals are being offered little talent in return, but the Celtics have high standards: They can't afford to surrender Allen without receiving a younger star to help keep them in contention. Good luck with that.
Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/ian_thomsen/02/15/trade.buyers.sellers/index.html#ixzz0fdayKVRQ
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• Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavaliers are going to do something big, and this weekend they appeared to zero in on Stoudemire as their target. Not only would the Suns' forward give Cleveland an intimidating front line of Shaquille O'Neal, Stoudemire and LeBron James with 23 All-Star selections between them, but the Cavaliers would also be taking one of the top free agents off the board this summer. This could be crucial in the upcoming race to sign LeBron.
"Everybody is trying to clear cap room for a second guy so they can sign one of the top free agents along with a No. 2 guy like Amar'e," a rival general manager said. "The truth is that no one can clear enough room to get that second guy. So if Cleveland does this trade for Amar'e, then they've succeeded in doing what the other teams hoped to do: Basically, they've paired LeBron with a big free agent."
A deal with Phoenix makes even more sense if Zydrunas Ilgauskas is acquired and then waived by the Suns, which could help position them under the luxury tax while freeing the 7-foot-3 center to return to Cleveland to create matchup problems off the bench in an NBA Finals against the Lakers.
Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/ian_thomsen/02/15/trade.buyers.sellers/index.html#ixzz0fdb686Do
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the Bulls appear to be on the verge of unloading Tyrus Thomas, with the Timberwolves emerging as a potential partner.
Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/ian_thomsen/02/15/trade.buyers.sellers/index.html#ixzz0fdbDBVyo
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Every chance he gets, Danny Ainge says the Celtics have a roster that can win now when it gets healthy and they don't have to make a move. Yet the Celtics keep coming up in more and more possible trades, to the point one general manager told ESPN's Chad Ford that Ainge was "desperate."
Maybe the most desperate trade rumor yet is one between the Celtics and Golden State: Ray Allen, Kendrick Perkins, and J.R. Giddens to the Warriors for Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins.
Let me get this right: In a conference with Dwight Howard and Shaquille O'Neal, Ainge is looking to put his team over the top by trading Perkins -- the second best defensive center in the game -- and replacing him with paper mache Biedrins? Ainge may well be desperate, but he can't be that desperate. The rumor is getting a lot of play, but I can't believe Ainge is on board with that deal.
By Marcus Thompson II
mthomps2@bayareanewsgroup.com
Posted: 12/21/2009 09:31:18 PM PST
Updated: 12/22/2009 09:27:09 AM PST
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Golden State Warriors center Ronny Turiaf, left, grabs a rebound over... ( D. ROSS CAMERON )
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Warriors can see the end of their woeful injury situation, at least the worst of it.
Even though centers Andris Biedrins and Ronny Turiaf are still about a "week away or so," according to coach Don Nelson, their presence in practice the past couple of days has provided the team a sense of relief.
"It was good seeing (Biedrins) get up and run, a little contact," said guard Monta Ellis, who added that he will play tonight against the Memphis Grizzlies despite a contusion on his thigh that kept him out of practice Sunday and Monday. "That's a plus for us. That means he's on the way back. Same for Ronny. We need those two big guys. We're short-handed, and that's going to turn our team around."
Biedrins said he just needs to get a few practices under his belt. He is not expected to play tonight or Wednesday at New Orleans but said he is targeting Saturday's home game against the Phoenix Suns.
Biedrins hasn't played since Nov. 8 at Sacramento, the fifth game of the season. He was injured against the Grizzlies on Nov. 4, sat out the next game and returned against Sacramento. But he aggravated the injury against the Kings.
Biedrins' injury was diagnosed as osteitis pubis, a strain of the muscles that connect the abdomen and the quadriceps. The Warriors announced the injury would take six weeks to heal, and Monday marked the six-week point of Biedrins' absence. He said he is being extra cautious, because he
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doesn't want to deal with this injury again.
Danny Ainge told CSNNE.com that if any deals involving the Celtics were to go down, it probably wouldn't happen until a day or two prior to Thursday's 3 p.m. deadline.
i really hope we keep ray allen, i would rather him taking that last second shot that any other c.
He is a proven scorer, and a consumate proffesional.
i think we are loaded at the big and the wing, i think a backup pg would be nice, but what can we get for about the 4-5 million mark??
i wonder wether we could get our hands on steve blake???
maybe im dreaming!
I just wanna know already!
Tonight's game should be interesting.
Do we have another gear?
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