Since February 24th, Boston has added power forward Troy Murphy, shooting guard Sasha Pavlovic, and now point guard Carlos Arroyo. Boston did not offer D-leaguer Chris Johnson another 10 day contract, instead using that slot for help for Rajon Rondo.
The Celtics now move forward in their quest for their 18th title and second of the Kevin Garnett Era with 6’ 2” slashing point guard Carlos Arroyo as their temporary back up point (that is not as redundant as it sounds), while Delonte West recovers.
Basketball Wars Defectors
Not really, but kind of feels that way as Arroyo was let go recently by the arch enemy Miami Heat who then added Mike Bibby, who bought out his own contract from the Wizards so he could play for the Heat. Follow?
Last season Carlos played against the Celtics for Heat in the opening round of the playoffs. Now he switches uniforms to go against his recent team.
Former Celtic Eddie House went to the dark side and signed with the Heat in the off season though reportedly getting inquiries from the Celtics after he became a free agent.
There is no truth to the rumor that this signing will precipitate a spy swap at the Florida border.
Though both players are hired shooters, House is the prototypical long distance assassin with deadly accurate aim, while Arroyo works best inside with cloak and dagger.
A 31 year old veteran of international play, Carlos has also logged an average of 10 minutes per game in 34 playoff games.
Arroyo hits the three point shot at a career average of .335%, but is shooting .438% from the arc this season. His overall shooting pct. from the field isn’t that great at .439% career but is at an improved .458% this season.
More important, he can bring the ball up under pressure, though he is considered just a decent passer at that position and can over dribble at times. He has a very good assists to turnover record at 3.1 to 1.2 (career)
His best year statistically was 2003-4 in Utah, when he averaged 12.6 points and 5 assists in 28.3 minutes per game with the Jazz.
How well did Arroyo do against the Cs in last season’s playoffs?
Not too bad, but he played only 8.7 minutes per game in the 5 game series. He shot .462% and had 11 assists to only 3 turnovers while logging a low turnover pct of 10% (averaged over 100 possessions).
He has played in the playoffs for Utah, Detroit, Orlando and Miami.
For the record, I like the signing. After missing out on a few other potentially good options through trades or buy outs that did and did not happen, it will be a sign of good luck if he ends up helping the Celtics win it all.
The fragility of Delonte West, the trade of Nate Robinson and the inexperience of rookie Avery Bradley will possibly make this signing more important than it seems. If West returns and can stay healthy, Arroyo will be little more than an after thought and injury insurance.
Hey that will be my new nickname for him, ‘Nationwide’ Arroyo. He’s on our side. For now.
So Troy Murphy is coming to the Celtics or so says Marc Stein and now other pundits.
Move over H.G. Wells, Danny won the ‘war of the words’ when he and Pat Riley both made their pitches to Troy Murphy. The earthlings won.
Boston cleared roster spots. Miami said they would, too. Miami needed help in the middle. So did the Celtics. Miami has a big three. Boston has a big four, a team concept, a team that has won a championship, gone to the Finals last season and have defeated Miami three times this season. End of debate.
A former Blue Jay shortstop turned into a pitcher and got a late inning ‘save’.
No one knows for sure what was said to Troy Murphy about playing time. Both teams could use help at center, which isn’t known as Murphy’s best position. Both teams play serious defense which isn’t what Murphy is known for. Both teams have all stars starting at power forward where Murphy would most likely want to play most of his minutes.
On top of that, Troy Murphy couldn’t get playing time on last season’s worst team. He played in just 18 meaningless games on the Nets this season. So he couldn’t even get in games this season and was asked to not even stay with the team….on yes…the worst team in the league. Never has so much effort and attention been paid to a player who has done so little in a given season.
Yet, it is time to get euphoric if you are a Celtic fan.
And I am not even completely sure why.
Is Troy Murphy this season’s PJ Brown? No. Murphy’s never sniffed a playoff minute. Brown came with a career in post season experience.
Is Danny doing a theme thing with a player name Green and an Irishman named Murphy? Ok. Ok. I’ll admit it. A player with Murphy’s resume is a definite bargain at the vet minimum.
Yet, you have to wonder just where Troy will play most of his minutes – center or power forward? Does he takes Davis’ minutes? Or not? Hard to believe they would kick Davis to the curb after the season he has been having. I don’t see that happening. Even at his height, Davis is a better defender – team and on ball. Davis is younger, quicker, a disrupter and fits the Celtics system well now.
But they do need more of what Murphy brings.
I am assuming that promises were never made, but instead situations were explained and Danny made it clear that Murphy had a chance to earn meaningful minutes on a team that needed rebounding and a stretch four. In the end, Murphy bit. Now time will tell how this plays out.
But I am optimistic. Why? See above….and more below.
The Celtics need healthy size, rebounding and could make good use of a solid three point shooting big man. He would open up the court better than Rasheed Wallace, Glen Davis and even Kevin Garnett could because of his career .39% shooting from beyond the arc. Sheed never was a great long distance shooter. Davis and Garnett do not shoot the three ball.
In such a way, in a line up short of long distance options, (Ray Allen and Paul Pierce notwithstanding) Murphy provides covering fire for an attacking Celtic team.
The Celtics have used the three point shot less this season than any other season of the Garnett Era, by far. Now Rondo has another arc bomber to kick it out to. Now the Celtics have a legit rebounder, especially at the defensive end. They have acquired much more than ‘6 more big man fouls’ to give.
Troy Murphy turns 31 on May 2nd. May his defense get better with age. We know that is the weak point in all of this. But Troy is not a Mikki Moore. He will get some respect from the refs because he can play this game. He is on a team with a set of coaches and a team of players that will minimize his flaws as they work their defensive schemes around the talent they have. More important, they will do the same offensively.
Oh yes, he has Kevin Garnett getting his back, should they be in the court at the same time. With the return of Shaq or…perish the thought…Jermaine O’Neal, Murphy fits right in – helping with the boards and rolling out with a defender attached, to the three point line. Yes, this free agent pick up makes sense.
As the TV commercial announcer says…. “Wait…there’s more…”
2 More Reasons to Like the Deal and One Reason Why Murphy Might Have Decided on Boston
1 – He arrives on a veteran minimum salary
2- He doesn’t go to Miami where he would possibly become a problem for the Celtics.
3- He’ll get shots
I really wonder how well Miami would have worked him into their offense. They are still trying to become a better balanced offense with mixed success. The Celtics trust their system and players, other than the stars, get shots – regularly – in their offense. It’s a beautiful thing. I am sure that Murphy isn’t blind to that.
Or I wonder if Danny just said to him…
“Hey listen dude. You told us you would come if I emptied a spot and got rid of potential competition for you. I did that. Now it’s your turn to be true to your word and join Gang Green. If not, and you roll with the Heat? Then you will have just given us another reason to not let Miami see the light of day.”
Whatever it was, Troy Murphy will become a Celtic and he will help that band of brothers achieve their goal.
The team needed more offense, more rebounding and another distance shooter, especially from a big. They got all three in Murphy.
Now I just hope that he can still resemble something of the player he used to be.
The Boston Celtics finished up a 4 game road trip with a 3-1 record after winning a closely contested game in Utah Monday night. They beat Utah 107-102 behind a 25 point air assault from Ray Allen and 21 more from Paul Pierce.
February 24th Trade Effects Still Fresh
That they did this while they continue to absorb a huge chemistry challenge, both on court and off court, was no little thing. To be fair, Utah is going through a bigger tumult than Boston after trading (to New Jersey) the face of the franchise for the past 6 years and one of the league’s top point guards in Deron Williams for Nets guard Devin Harris and Derrick Favors (and draft picks).
The Celtics sent a shock wave through the league when they traded away starting center Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to the OKC Thunder 2 games ago for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic. They also traded Semih Erden and Luke Harangody to Cleveland for a 2nd round draft pick. The Big Green Machine is dealing with the aftershocks now.
Besides the trade, Delonte West sprained his ankle in practice and did not play.
In light of the transitional issues both teams are dealing with, it was a great game to watch. Each team took turns ripping off runs.
After starting in the hole 10-2, Boston ripped off a 25-4 run to go up 27-14 with 2:37 left in the first period. It looked like the beginning of a rout. It would be Boston’s largest lead of the night.
The Jazz returned the favor (Derrick Favors?) by tying the game at 46 all with 3:19 left on a Devin Harris driving lay-up. The biggest lead the rest of the game by either team would be 6 points.
Paul Pierce took the reins in the first half and scored 16 points for the Celtics, on 3 of 6 shooting but got to the line for 9-9 foul shooting. Pierce went cold for a while in the second half but hit a critical three pointer with 1:56 left to put Boston up 5 at 101-96. Pierce added 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal.
Ray Allen began his own excellent shooting display by lining up 3 of 4 three pointers for 9 of his 11 first half points. He finished 9 of 15 shooting with 5 three pointers made.
Nenad Krstic had 10 of his 11 points in the first half, including converting an alley oop from Rondo and got a congratulatory Rondo hand slap on his return down court. Rondo must start to see what each new player can do as the games are played because there is so little practice time now, especially on the road.
Al Jefferson who shot just 1 of 11 the last time the two teams met, scored 18 first half points and finished with 28 and 19 rebounds. He is now the focal point of the offense with Williams gone. Devin Harris had a few acrobatic drives to the hoop and finished with 19 points and 5 assists.
The Celtics played well defensively in spurts but Utah managed to penetrate the Cs interior for 54 points in the middle. I’d have to check, but I believe that could be a season high (or low – depending on how you want to look at it). New Celtic center Krstic started and played well at times but clearly is not Kendrick Perkins defensively.
With Delonte West out with a wrist injury, rookie Avery Bradley saw minutes (6) at the point and did his best to push the tempo. At one point he made a beeline for the length of the court and beat the retreating Jazz defense for a lay-up.
Rajon Rondo played an energetic 42 minutes and contributed 18 points and 11 assists as Rajon had his jumper going, granted he was left open each time. Rondo added 4 rebounds and 2 steals.
Kevin Garnett played well but had his hands full with Al Jefferson and they had words in the second half. Former Celtic ‘Big Al’ was the main trade piece in getting Garnett to Boston and since then he has never beaten his former team. After a scare tonight that record is still intact. Garnett added 16 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and a block.
Glen Davis had a tough game shooting, but played well defensively at times. Davis drew his league leading 40th charge. In spite of that, Jefferson gave Davis trouble as well. Boston won the rebound battle 42-41.
Ray Allen looked as crisp as a fresh air, line dried, linen sheet smelled last night (that is called a tortured analogy. But yes, I reveled in that one.) ‘Ray-gun’ aka The Blade, aka Smooth Shooter, made big shot after big shot to keep the Celtics in it. He hit a 2 pointer with his foot on the line to give Boston the winning points at 103-99 with 53.5 seconds left.
So the Celtics head home for a game Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns and Steve Nash. They are now 42-15, but just 6-4 over their last 10 games. They lead the Heat by a half game for home court in the East come playoff time.
Ty Corbin, the Jazz new head coach since Jerry Sloan retired, is just 1-6 since he took over.
At this moment, it is up in the air whether Troy Murphy will join the Celtics or the Heat. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports that both Danny Ainge and Pat Riley will call Troy directly to plead their respective cases.
The Celtics are also interested in other bought out players like tall defensive small forward Cory Brewer and three point shooting expert Jason Kapono.
Newly acquired 6′ 9″ Jeff Green went 2 of 6 for just 5 points and 2 boards in over 19 minutes as Doc Rivers tries to figure out how to include Green in the offense.
All stars or false stars? That will be a question that will be answered in the next few years.
Can’t keep up with it all right now. I’ll have more time on Friday for some meditations and breakdowns on who got what and who appears to have gotten the better of the deals.
The most surprising breaking news today was the Nets acquisition of Utah point guard Deron Williams for Devin Harris, Derrick Favors, and 2 first round draft picks, including this season’s Nets’ first rounder. That will, of course, be a lottery pick. Didn’t see that one coming.
Essentially Denver and Utah unload ‘top 15’ players and take steps back and reload with draft picks and a variety of talented but ‘not top 25’ players for those two rare talents – Carmelo Anthony, who went to New York, and Deron Williams, who went to the Brooklyn-bound New Jersey Nets.
Many feel that, after losing out on Anthony, the Nets made out better than the Knicks with their trade for Williams. The feeling by many is that the Knicks paid dearly, perhaps too dearly for Carmelo.
At least, there is already a sandwich named after him in New York’s famous Carnegie Deli. Now we’ll see how well coach D’Antoni sandwiches Anthony between Chauncey Billups and Amar’e Stoudamire. Prime roast beef, baloney…or meatloaf?
Other interesting trade news was the Atlanta Hawks acquisition of Kirk Hinrich from the Washington Wizards for Mike Bibby. There were other players involved. Not a game changer, but interesting nonetheless.
It was also reported that the Nets dealt Troy Murphy to the Golden State Warriors for Brandan Wright and Dan Gadzuric. Murphy is expected to be bought out and the Boston Celtics, among many others, are interested in signing him.
In the meantime, Danny Ainge is still looking for a small forward to back up Paul Pierce. Just about every possible name has been mentioned and explored. No deal yet.
The New Orleans Hornets acquired Carl Landry for Marcus Thornton and that helps their bench.
The two biggest trades have long term implications.
That ‘eagle’ is the former ‘golden’ Nugget, Carmelo Anthony, who just became that missing piece of ‘gold’ that the Knicks needed to enter the fray for title contention. It may not happen right away and they may need to add a piece or two, but this team will become a formidable team right away and will contend in the near future – if not this season, then soon after (providing there is no lock out).
With Chauncey Billups along for the ride they have some championship leadership at point guard. Granted Billups isn’t what he used to be, but he is what a contending team needs in crunch time. Amare Stoudamire and Carmelo Anthony will make a very tough tandem to deal with.
It appears the Melo-drama will be coming to an end soon.
It has been reported everywhere that Carmelo had private talks with James Dolan, the owner of the Knicks, and Mikail Prokhorov, the Nets new flashy billionaire Russian owner.
The surprise comment was Prokhorov’s, saying that he had a ‘fantastic’ meeting with Anthony and his own GM Billy King at AllStar week-end. About a month earlier, after appearing to become disgusted with the whole process and Anthony’s reticence to talk with the Nets, Prokhorov had pulled the Nets out of the equation. He said they were no longer interested.
So it appears Anthony is mending fences in New Jersey and creating the open options he needs to increase the price either team will pay, so that Denver officials will pull the trigger on a trade to either team. It is still believed that the New York Knicks are his first choice.
If he goes to New Jersey, it is believed that Chauncey Billups will go along with him and Devin Harris will end up elsewhere, in either a 2 or 3 team trade. That would mean a core of Brook Lopez, Carmelo and Chauncey to restructure the Nets from (See how I didn’t use the word ‘rebuild’?). And I believe that was one reason why Carmelo preferred the Knicks.
If Anthony goes to the Knicks, they will have to give up some very solid players, but will have a core of Amare Stoudamire, Raymond Felton and Carmelo. That is a more formidable core trio than what the Nets project. Further, there are rumors that New Orleans Hornets’ Chris Paul would ask to be traded to New York in the future. Yikes. Now that is a really intriguing new Big Three.
If Chris Paul followed, it would mean for the first time since lock-out shortened season of 1998-99 when Jeff Van Gundy coached the team to the Finals, that the Knicks would truly be a factor in the league.
Amare’s arrival is producing the first .500 plus season for the beleaguered franchise since 2000-01. They are now playoff material. Those two acquisitions would make them title contenders.
I view Carmelo as a great individual player who never rounded out his game as completely as he needed to make his teammates better. He is not the on court leader needed to push a team to true contention level either. My own feeling is that was what was missing in Denver, a team with a solid roster otherwise.
But Chris Paul is that player and Amare has shown some of that leadership this season for the first time. So Carmelo wouldn’t have to be something he isn’t and would arguably be the perfect support player in such arrangement. That would be a fearsomely good trio.
But let’s assume that it is Raymond Felton and not Paul, who directs the New York attack. Felton has risen to the challenge and upped his own game this season as he and Stoudamire have learned to work together. Even that trio will make for some interesting competition for the rest of the league. Suddenly, with the right match up, the Knicks move from a first round playoff team to one that would go a round deeper, and possibly challenge until the Eastern conference title round.
As it stands now, they will play Chicago in the first round. That is a dangerous team expected to challenge Miami and Boston for the right to represent the east in the finals. Could a Carmelo Anthony Knicks team beat such a formidable defensive combine? I wouldn’t predict that, but I wouldn’t rule it out either.
The Knicks are currently 5.5 games behind the Atlanta Hawks. I wouldn’t expect them to catch the Hawks, but it is possible. In that case, the Magic become their first round opponent as things stand now. That is another very tough playoff tested team. But they are playoff tested and ‘not approved’. A first round exit might be possible and that would expect to send Dwight Howard in search of his own greener pastures (Boston? Paul Pierce recently said Dwight would look good in green.)
Needless to say, it is an interesting situation. That is has dragged on too long and even reached ‘media fatigue’ with the story is evident. But it wraps up soon and while the answer is still unknown, expect New York to get the Melo-man.
In that case, put the Knicks back on the basketball map. Many New York fans think they already are. The rest of the NBA fans would then join in agreement. Coach Mike D’Antoni will start looking like a smart coach again. It’s funny how good players do that for coaches.
Like trading baseball cards when we were little, and participating in fantasy sports leagues in more recent years, boys and grown men love making, discussing, and imagining player trades.
As the trade deadline approaches, the Celtics said they would see what is out there. With Marquis Daniels out indefinitely, they have a hole at small forward to fill.
Peter May lists a number of potential player prospects for the Celtics.
I wanted to comment on each and offer a few words on some of his other perspectives.
First, it was good to see him go in some new directions as far as player possibilities. Second it was interesting to see him name who might go in trades.
Nate Robinson is listed as a possible trade option. Rightly so. Nate has fit in as best he can, but the fit is tenuous at best at this point. I was a believer that you had to let Nate be Nate to get the most out of him. Surprisingly, even with Doc always conscious of conforming to his system, he has allowed Robinson that freedom, more or less. Robinson has fit in better than last season and knows some offensive plays and tries to run them…some of the time.
But Nate still has a quick trigger and often shoots way too early in the clock. If the shots were going in, it would be tolerable. But they aren’t often enough. I’m aware that the Cs look for quick open shots as they attack in transition. But I have a hard time believing that his quick threes with no one underneath to rebound are what Doc had in mind.
Driving or waiting for other early options to develop would seem to be better choices. That said, Robinson’s big value is that he can score points in a hurry. The problem is that he seems to be in too much of a hurry and isn’t scoring them at a very efficient rate since he arrived. His point explosions are rare and too far in between them. He hasn’t appeared to be real comfortable in the Celtics’ system. Maybe he is thinking too much about what he should be doing, instead of just reacting naturally.
His shooting pct is 5 points and 10% lower than in NY. I’m still a believer that he can help in the playoffs. But he is solid trade bait as well. There are other places where he might reach his potential easier.
May suggests that Glen Davis is clearly in the Celtics future, thus implying that they won’t consider trading him. Though his teammates, Danny and Doc all like Davis, I wouldn’t completely rule out a trade. Should the right deal come along for the right talent, I think they would consider dealing Davis. It would have to be someone good though. Davis has made a solid place for himself these past few seasons and he keeps getting better.
The other side of that is…Glen is in the final year of his contract. As a 6th man of the year candidate and I’m sure he will want to cash in for a bigger payday, even with all the talk of reducing salaries and a possible lockout, Davis will command more than he is currently earning. I would guess that mid level type money is reasonable and someone will be willing to offer him that amount.
The players Peter mentions?
There are actually some quality names (in my opinion) out there.
Josh Childress – I like him and I think the Celtic players both respect and like him. At least they liked the player he was when he played for the Hawks that gave the Cs fits in the playoffs three years ago. Pierce mentioned him as one of the players on that team that helped them win. He is a scrappy, garbage-type player and scores without plays run for him. His is long and athletic. Though thin framed, he attacks the offensive boards well and defends well. As May mentions, his contract is the problem (4 more years at roughly $27 mil). I’m not sure Phoenix was the right team for him to make his NBA comeback with. But I would be surprised to see the Celtics add him.
Richard Hamilton – I already addressed him in the previous post. Like him. He helps this team, especially the second unit, if they can get him. Again, the remaining expensive contract is the biggest issue.
Troy Murphy – May has sources that say Murphy isn’t a good fit and wouldn’t have a role in Boston because of all the big men there. I don’t understand why that would be so. He rebounds and his three point shooting stretches the defense. Those are both skills that the Celtics would make good use of. It is his defense that would be the big problem. More important, he does not address the small forward depth problems.
James Posey – A personal favorite, the question is how much does Posey have left of the game he left Boston with? The second question is the money he has left, which is the reason why Danny let him go in the first place. If it could be worked out, he could have some definite value here. I believe the Celtics are a good fit for Posey and vice-a-versa. The question is…can you go home again…and would it be the same?
When I talked with James last season and things weren’t going particularly well for the Hornets, I asked him if he would ever mind playing for the Celtics again. He said he would definitely consider it. He likes Doc Rivers quite a bit. He liked his teammates. For no particular reason, my feeling is that the Celtics will not revisit Posey. But I could be wrong.
Ramon Sessions – that is adding a new name. I’m not sure why Peter included him, but Sessions would be another attempt at getting something out of the second unit scoring point guard. I guess they would swap Nate for Ramon. Again, he does not address the small forward issue.
That was it for players in that article.
Raja Bell was a player of interest for the Celtics before he signed with the Jazz. His contract runs 2 more years at $6.7 mil total. With injuries, he has slowed down as well, but would still be a good fit with the Celtics, I believe.
Josh Howard is playing again and it has been reported that the Celtics like him. He is making $3 mil this season and is a free agent after that. He has missed a heck of a lot of time. How healthy is he and could he get in shape in time to help?
Again, I have no knowledge that any of these players are currently in the Celtics radar. But they could get be ‘gettable’ and they would all help the Celtics to varying degrees.
I’ll trade you a Don Mattingly for a Reggie Jackson.
Danny may be doing some real trading soon. Small forward help is clearly needed.
Checking out Celticsblog.com this a.m. I see that it is rumored that the Celtics will make a trade deadline move in Ken Berger’s column. Anthony Parker is one of the suspected players of interest.
By coincidence, Parker’s Cavaliers just beat the Lakers and Parker guarded Kobe Bryant, outscoring him (18 to 17 and helping hold Kobe to another Kobe-esque 8-24 shooting), as well. Anthony Parker is the kind of all purpose guard/sf that could help the Celtics. Steady, though not spectacular, he would be a good fit.
Though not overly quick, he plays pretty good defense, and can shoot the three ball very well (41.3% career and 39.8$ this season. That means you have to keep a defender on him on the outside and that spreads both the offense and defense.
In some ways he is a different version of say…Delonte West. Does multiple things well, though not outstanding in one single aspect. Yet I would say a 41% career three point shooter is that one thing that stands out. That is very efficient.
Parker’s contract is $2.85 million and he is in the final year. That is a good thing for the team that has him. I’m sure he would be happy to be freed from Cleveland’s devastating season. By coincidence, Marquis Daniels makes $2.47 million and is only for this season. I think with the (25%?) buffer, a straight up trade could occur if the Celtics think Daniels is done for the year and if the Cavs would be willing to accommodate. I am just thinking out loud here.
The other player of interest (to me) is Tayshaun Prince and it is also reported this morning that he would be open to a trade. He and Piston’s coach Jon Kuester have been at odds at times in this rocky Pistons season. He is tall defender that could give Kobe, LeBron and Carmelo fits.
It has also been reported that the Celtics have interest in Tayshaun’s teammate Rip Hamilton as a shooter off the bench. Both players are playoff veterans and former NBA champions from the Pistons’ heyday a few seasons back. I would be good with either player.
Having Rip on the same team with former UConn Husky Ray would be a hoot, though they have a strange competition going on between themselves. There doesn’t seem to be much love lost between them on or off the court, though I have no reason why. I am sure any trade for Rip would change that dynamic, at least in a professional way as they are both solid professionals in how they conduct themselves.
Anyway, any of those three players would be a positive for this club in my opinion, though Rip would bring the most questions defensively speaking. He is also the most gifted offensively and would require the most attention on that end of the court. Remember, this Celtic club has trouble scoring from time to time, especially on the second unit. Rip would give them a frontline scorer for that unit.
I hope Danny and the Cs can land one of those three guys. Stay tuned.
