Celtics Central

The long wait to sign Marquis Daniels is ending. Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald has it…

According to sources, the Celtics expect to sign the 6-foot-6 swingman tomorrow to a contract for the biannual exception.

Instead of being able to use the biannual exception on another player, it must be used to claim Daniels. I think both parties are disappointed.

The question is…did the Celtics have enough ammunition to make it work?

Twenty eight other teams apparently said no.

Here are the players that Danny had to work with:

1) Brian Scalabrine $3.4 (expiring)

2) Eddie House $2.8 (expiring)

3) Tony Allen $2.5 (expiring)

4) JR Giddens $1 mil

5) Bill Wallker $736,000

Besides Tony Allen, did Danny actually offer Larry anyone else?

You have to look at it this way….Indiana let Daniels walk without any compensation whatsoever. I can understand the Pacers not taking Tony Allen. He is a decent player but doesn’t fit the profile that Larry Bird is looking for. But I guess that even overtures to any of  the  other NBA teams came up short on a Tony Allen 3 way.

So…was that Danny’s best effort? Oh well, Marquis. Sorry. or…..

Did he offer Brian Scalabrine? Or was there a Tony Allen and Bill Walker auction? Rumors said that DA didn’t even want to give up JR Giddens. Or was that just a little juke to interest teams that he was never called on?

Was there a chance that Eddie House was shopped with the idea that a Salim Stoudamire, Steve Novack or Flip Murray could be brought in a vet minimum deal to replace the long ball?

Would you trade House, when you can have Daniels and House, a player that is familiar with the system and excelled in it last season?

It seems that Daniels gave up important leverage when he made that agreement. Now, maybe this is the only team he wanted to play for and that would be understandable. The Celtics are Finals (or bust) bound. The length of the wait suggested that Danny kept working on trying to get a sign and trade deal until there were no stones left unturned.

One would think that Danny tried every trick in the book to make a deal but simply came up short.

Obviously, Brian Scalabrine’s $3.4 mil would have been a nice clean swap, especially with Sheldon Williams and Glen Davis signed. Yes, I understand that Scal’s game is different from either of those two and losing him meant losing a hustle guy, some depth at big, an active defender who was hitting that open three pointer, and some major team spirit. Maybe those are reasons why Danny didn’t offer up Brian.

OTH.. Brian’s concussion history from last season would make any team think carefully about trading anyone of significance for him. But, OTH…. what about the concept of expiring contracts? Wouldn’t a team near, at or over the cap want that double relief that either would bring?

The other wild card could have been New Jersey, and that would have thrown Glen Davis in the mix on a 3 way. They have a number of mix and match players at low contract numbers and reasonable enough talent for those numbers. I would have loved to hear the possibilities being thrown around when those Net rumors were flying.

The long and short of it…. was a strange and futile negotiation phase that never came to fruition beyond its last resort – signing for one year for the Biannual Exception.

The potential drawback is that it is a one year deal, as opposed to a 2-3 deal that could have locked Daniels up if a sign and trade was effected. Assuming a S&T in the 3 million range, and a reasonably healthy year, the Celtics would have locked up Marquis for a few more years. If Daniels can’t stay healthy or doesn’t fit as well as many think he will, it could be a blessing in disguise.

We simply don’t know what was offered (and rejected) and what was not.

But, in the end, it looks like Danny got a player he wanted, and a decent one, at a very good price. Marquis Daniels will sign soon and he will strengthen this team, as long as he can stay healthy.

And Generalissimo Francisco Franco will finally stay dead.

Summer doldrums continue. NBA news is in such a drought, that it is being rationed in some parts of the country. Lists of top tens are running rampant everywhere. Stories of retired NBA players are popping up like two old friends reminiscing on the porch steps.

So, Celtics Central will change gears and take a peek into the future with…..

Five Years From Now…….Week-end Update:

World War III is Over – The world is now divided into color coded sections. Anarchists aren’t sure
which zone is theirs, prompting them to demonstrate…again.

(Question…How do anarchists make any decisions? Do they just coincidentally show up at world events?)

And now…..on to more important basketball news….

Item:

Now 28, Ramon Sessions remains a priority for the Knicks. “We like him even more now that he is seasoned.”

Item:

Celtics think they are finally close to finding a sign and trade partner for Marquis Daniels, now 33.  While Daniels now says, ‘Just use part of the MLE.” Danny says the Celtics might be losing interest altogether. Some feel that is just ‘Danny being Danny’.

Item:

This just in …Quentin Richardson was not traded today.

This makes the 7th day in a row Quentin was not traded. League officials are looking into the problem.

Item:

Following the success of the Celtics weight incentive clause for Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis, the Knicks add a height incentive clause to Nate Robinson’s contract.

If Nate can add three inches of height and hold it, he gets an additional $500,000. The incentive kicks in each season he maintains that height. Obviously, any lapse in height and the bonus is voided for that season.

Item:

There is no truth to the rumors that Marcin Gortat has been caught spiking Dwight Howard’s drinks with valium.

Now in the fifth year of his contract and averaging just 11 minutes per game, Marcin plans to test free agency next year, saying, ‘I want a chance to start…before my bald head turns grey.’

Item:

The Orlando Magic finally signed playmaker CJ Watson at age 28, giving them just 19 signed players going into camp this season – a four year low. They don’t really always have that many players. It just seems that way.

Item:

After yet another Finals collapse, Cleveland swears ‘absolutely-dootly’ that they are going to get Lebron a true all star running mate next season.

Item:

After returning to the Atlanta Hawks for three seasons and playing .500 ball only once after losing Joe Johnson to free agency, Josh Childress once again goes overseas when they low ball him on a new contract.

This time Josh will go to China to play on Yao Ming’s new ‘NBA China’ team in the new eight team league.

Item:

As a practical joke, Tyrus Thomas and Josh Smith secretly switched teams. The joke and switch are finally discovered two months and 25 games later by an alert assistant coach.

Item:

Now that Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace have retired, leaving just Kendrick Perkins as a Celtic, the league will eliminate the recently revised ‘3 technical fouls and you’re out’ rule. They will return to the previous 2 tech ejection rule.

Item:

Head Coach Tom Thibodeau’s Phoenix Suns finishes their second year as the top defensive team in the league.

And last, but not least….

Commissioner David Stern says that they will take up:
a) flopping – 6th consecutive year it will be discussed
b) moving the foul line in
c) the possibility of experimenting with a 4 point line
d) Breaking up the final 10 seconds of each quarter into thousandths of a second, thus extending the length of games another 30 minutes – minimum.

That’s our peek into the future of our cherished league.

I’m an NBA fan and so can you.

(apologies to Stephen Colbert)

Hope you’re having a great summer.

It is that time of year for Celtic fans. Hot, clammy, and no news of the Men in Green to be found under any rock.

So grab your surfboard, run some Pat Riley style Brylcreem through your hair ( ‘a little dab’ll do ya‘), and we’ll ride the internet in search of the perfect binary wave of Celtic basketball.

While Woodstock Nation got all nostalgic this week-end (including myself – I was 16 at the time, didn’t go, but knew it was a special event), I’ll take you even further back (1964 or 1966, depending on the site) to ride a reference to the semi-cultish documentary narrative of two surfers in search of the perfect wave - Endless Summer. That is what this summer now seems like, though the movie meant it in a good way.

While surfing the net in search of Celtic basketball, it is amazing where the undulating waves of technology will lead you.

How do we get from 1950′s teen heart throb, Pat Boone, his declining 1960s career, and surfers, to FoxSports’ Charlie Rosen, to Kendrick Perkins and a number of other Celtics?

Grab your board and catch the wave.

Pat Boone and Pro Basketball? – No way?……..way.

I’m not making this up. It turns out that Pat Boone loved basketball enough to buy two teams, the Hollywood Studio League team named the Cooga Moogas (Bill Cosby played on the team. I wonder if they had t-shirts made.), and then was the majority owner (honest to goodness) of an ABA team from Oakland called the Oakland Oaks. (Oldies like me will remember them.)    On top of that, the (mighty) Oaks won the ABA Championship in 1969! Way to go, Pat Boone.

There’s more. Pat also had a chance to buy into an NBA expansion named….. the Dallas Mavericks in 1981 and turned it down. To cop one of his hit R&B song covers… ain’t that a shame.

Back to Endless Summer. While Pat Boone, and his trademark white buckskin shoes, were doing the calm, mellotone voice to (I swear I remember him doing the narrative, but I can’t find a single confirmation) to the laid back, idyllic movie voyage, America was already moving past the simple pleasures and simpler symbols of coolness, hot rods and surfing. The movie was the finale to a simpler, pre-mature way of looking at life.

Political, social and cultural cauldrons, already bubbling and getting hotter by the year would soon spill into the American mainstream, cracking it wide open, and splintering it into many pieces, changing us all forever. Endless Summer was the unattainable and naive dream that preceded all that.

The next wave takes us to….lists.

August heat make make you listless, but writers will never be.

My internet surfing led me to a list that had a set of lists by one of Foxsports’ lead NBA basketball writers, Charlie Rosen.

The first list was Ball Don’t Lie’s Top 10 Rotation by Kelly Dwyer, where I had an article that referenced a ranking (list!) of votes for NBA Coach of the Year. The Ball Don’t Lie list also had a list of top defenders as anointed by Charlie Rosen. When I went to Charlie’s list, I also discovered another list of tough guys and softies by Mr. Rosen.

It was a list with lists leading to more lists. If M. C. Escher was a writer, he would do something like this.

Lists draw readers like moths to a light. We can’t help it. We need to see that list, even if it is just the top ten toothpastes. We have to crest that wave. We have to know. What if my brand is number one? It’ll put a little more swagger in my giddy up. That is a number one smile you’re staring at there, buddy.

As a device, using a rating, ranking or categorizing of people, places or things, people will be automatically drawn to it. We love to put things or people  in groups with labels and/or rank them. The only other thing more powerful (besides using the word sex) in a title is to use the word ‘secret.’  We want to know secrets. Even better, we want to know secrets they don’t want you to know about.

I’m guessing that using the phrase – ‘Secret List’ -as in say….the NBAs Secret List -  in a title, is so powerful, it must be approved by some writing commission somewhere. That simple two word phrase is the most powerful writing device known to man.

Charlie Rosen can be a little over the top at times. But I’ll let you be the judge. Here are the Celtics and former Celtics on his top defenders list:

Kevin Garnett plays defense with more energy than any of his peers. Plus, his length and quickness offer so much help to his teammates that it often seems as though the Celtics have six defenders on the court.

(Nice to see he still respects the player he says is over rated in….yep…yet another list.)

Kendrick Perkins is rapidly becoming a space-eating, body-bumping defensive force in the shadow of the basket.

(First of two props for Kendrick.)

James Posey is sufficiently talented and mean-spirited to be able to put anybody’s offense in an escape-proof cage.

(Posey’s not quite that good anymore, if he ever was. But I’m a James Posey fan. Smart, clever, does things that don’t make the stats and was a great fit with the Cs.)

Rasheed Wallace can still force opponents to be continually aware of his presence whenever they’re looking to score in his neighborhood.

(Agreed.)

Delonte West is perhaps the most nasty-minded defender in the league. And that’s a compliment of huge proportions.

(One of my pre-trade favorite players/personalities. Glad to see him get some respect.)

It is interesting to see what he says about Dwight Howard’s defense…

Dwight Howard does block shots, but in his eagerness to do so, smart teams (like the Lakers) can run their offense in such a way that he’s lured out of shot-blocking position. Plus, opposing centers who are able to face up and go can usually find a driveable lane. I seem to recall that Pau Gasol ate Howard’s lunch in June.

(Rosen is right. But he changes options even for crafty players like Paul Pierce, when he is deep in that paint.)

In his other list -Tough Guys and Softies, here are the tough guy Celtics:

Tony Allen: Getting to the basket is his specialty, even at the potential cost of incurring bruises, sprains and even fractures.

Kendrick Perkins: He plays with a perpetual snarl that mirrors his body-bumping game plan.

KP gets props twice from Rosen. Ditto Posey. Ditto Delonte.

James Posey: For him, giving an inch on defense is like giving a mile.

Delonte West: In his own quiet way, West never gives up on a play and is never, ever intimidated.

Leon Powe: He’s another smallish big who believes that basketball is a collision sport.

There are no Celtics on the softies list but here are a few interesting takes:

Vince Carter: Watch how many fadeaway junk-shots he takes when approaching a crowd of hostile big men.

Kevin Martin: If he was just a mite tougher, he’d be a truly elite player.

Michael Beasley: He would rather put up a flipper than try to dunk over or through a nasty big man.

So, that’s it.  A fair amount of Celtics were mentioned. Rosen obviously likes D. West, Kendrick Perkins and James Posey. No Rajon Rondo as a top defender. No Kevin Garnett as tough guy. Maybe it’s all those point guards he tries to intimidate.

As our internet surfing adventure rolls to shore, we hit the beach and wait for a list of the top ten reasons they don’t want you to know about why Marquis Daniels is taking so long to sign.

What’s that? Which list should Pat Boone be on? That’s easy. Early on he was a softie and every mother’s choice for their daughter. But as he got older, he was definitely tough guy material.

Pat went heavy metal, upsetting many of his core fans and scoring some points of his own for the we-won’t-go-gentle-into-that-goodnight aging gang.

Endless summer is winding down. Soon the longest pro season in sports, the eternal NBA season, will finally begin.

Reviewing the Danny Ainge Video Interview with Gary Tanguay on Comcast this past week.

Danny was speaking right after Glen Davis signed his two year contract ($6.3 mil. over two year with $500,000 weight clauses reported to be included) to stay with the Celtics.

The subject was mostly about Glen, but Gary and Danny also recapped the rest of the summer signings. Danny….

Everyone knew we liked Baby and he’s a part of our future and he’s a member of our team now that can contribute, and I think everybody assumed that we would match any restricted offer up to a price that we thought was fair. So, people were really going to overpay to get Big Baby, in their minds, and um, that just didn’t happen for him.

GT: But if someone had offered a mid level, that would have been too high to match, correct?

We certainly don’t want to play our hand on that. I think there’s a lot of depends (make your own baby diaper jokes here) going into the summer, but I can’t say for certain that we wouldn’t match. (emphasis mine) But it was something that we would have had to have thought long and hard about.

Gotta love Danny and the gamblers’ doublespeak that comes out of his mouth. All earlier signals were that MLE offers most likely would not be met. Confusion in the enemy’s mind (other clubs) is a good thing.

Pascal says, ‘You always admire what you really don’t understand.’ I admire Danny Ainge.

Responding to a question about Glen possibly thinking he was worth more..

He was worth more under certain circumstances.

Danny then compared it to Jonathan Papelbon being a free agent, where he would be worth ‘tens of millions of dollars’.

The system is set up for the teams to kind of protect their players for the first four years of their contracts.

And it is here that I owe a printed correction and something of an apology to Jeff Goodman of WEEI for saying that I believed he had it wrong when he said that Glen would be restricted again next season, if he signed the one year qualifying offer. That was correct after all. Davis would a Restricted Free Agent again next season, his 4th in the league.

Danny went on to say that he is very happy to be adding Rasheed Wallace, Marquis Daniels and re-signing Glen, saying that he’s ‘thrilled, and we have a great team going into this year.’

Talking about back up point he says that….

Marquis can play some point……….Eddie is our back up point right now. And that 5th, kind of that 5th or 6th guard position is still up in the air.

That was Monday. Nothing has changed since then. It has been that kind of week.

When playfully asked about Danny’s new found gray hair (Danny had a hear attack a few months ago, and it seems to have aged him a bit) he answered with a smile…

I’m telling ya, I want the players to know that I’ve earned everyone of these gray hairs, but mostly KG and Big Baby. Big Baby’s negotiations this summer.

There was more banter about whether Danny’s hair was natural, blah, blah, etc. end of spot. So, Eddie House is still the back up point guard. Not Marquis at this ‘point’.  Nothing really revealing in the interview and it is a slow news time for the Celtics at the moment.

In other news…. Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead. He will remain dead and in the news until everything with Marquis Daniels is finally settled. All remains quiet on the Indiana front

Perhaps the unending quietness belies continuing probes with other teams to find a player to finally get a sign and trade done with Indiana for Marquis. In fact, that would be the only reason something hasn’t been finalized by now, right? The summer isn’t over and rosters are still filling out.

Stay patient, Celtic fans.

I don’t know what the old record is, but I am sure that being traded four times and being on five different teams in one season is a record.

Doing it all in one summer is simply impressive. To have that kind of talent, that so many teams would want you is just…..special.

Adrian Wojnarowski on Yahoosports….

The Minnesota Timberwolves traded Richardson to the Heat for forward Mark Blount, two league sources told Yahoo! Sports on Thursday night.

I kid, of course. But Quentin will make players like Drew Gooden, Kevin Ollie, Eddie House, and other NBA vagabonds feel like deeply planted oak trees – unmovable, stable, and positively secure.

Someone is gaining on them, and he accomplished it in a turbo superburst this off season.

Does this put him near the career record? Naaaah.

While Kevin Ollie is actually close to the career record, that one is held by these three players, all with 12 teams over a career: Chucky Brown, Tony Massenburg, and Jimmy Jackson.

Normally, an oft-traded player can take the positive road that many teams want him, instead of the other way around. Certainly, that has been the case for Eddie House each year. And he would be right. But 5 teams in one off season? I don’t know how you rationalize that experience. He started with New York, then went to Memphis, the LA Clippers, and then Minnesota.

Q’s final summer stop is Miami. This is Richardson’s 8th team in his career.

Adrian Wojnarowski has the news and says that Miami actually wants him. The Heat traded the highly desired Mark Blount for him as proof. Mark Blount. Now, that may be true, but you simply have to laugh at the unspoken significance of that trade. The Heat gave up a player they never wanted in the first place, with a well known self-centered attitude, and who rarely played. What arm twisting or sleight of hand did Minny do to pry Mark from their grasp?

Adrian on Yahoosports.com…….

This time, Richardson has found a home for his expiring $9.35 million contract. Heat president Pat Riley wants him to bring scoring punch off the bench, and the team plans to give him significant minutes this season.

Richardson is a career 39% shooter. I believe that he did have some injuries last early last season, but that apparently didn’t affect his shooting. He can hit the three ball (35.4% career).

Mark Blount, of Celtic infamy, and one reason why Danny might be using the Brain Doctor in deciding who to give long term contracts to, goes back to the Timberwolves. The Celtics traded him with Ricky Davis primarily for Wally Szczerbiak and Michael Olowakandi in January 2006.

Blount has an expiring contract for $7.9 million.

Beware of falling objects. Those may be NBA players hitting the ground.

With a down economy, half of the NBA’s teams losing money, bail out style loans being extended from NBA friendly financial institutions, a reduced salary cap expected for 2010, a luxury tax penalty threshold decrease expected for next season and many teams wanting to stay lean for the better free agents coming available next off season (2010) have created a perfect storm for this year’s class of NBA sellers of talent, meaning the players.

Add to that, some tough negotiations coming forth from the NBA owners with the Players Union on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement for the following year, and financial reality has hit a league smack in the face that made untold bad financial deals while signing players in the past. The throwing away of money on bad contracts in this league is legendary.

Before someone starts thinking I’m against those hard working players, I’m not. I’ll add that much worse has been occurring in corporate America with numbers that make these players look like dime store robbers. White collar executives are getting bonuses for failure that would make the players’ agents turn red with embarrassment, if not green with envy.

But two wrongs don’t make a right. They make everything cost more than they should for Joe Working Class. And I write about the NBA, I’m not in the business section.

So, this summer has been a revelation of sorts. Call it the start of a market correction that will last for a few years, at least, hopefully.

With the possible exception of a handful of early signers such as Marcin Gortat, Paul Millsap, Ben Gordon, Trevor Ariza, Charlie Villanueva, Chris Anderson, and perhaps Hedo Turkoglu, no other players would be considered over paid this off season. It could be argued that the Detroit Pistons, flush with Allen Iverson money and other expiring contracts, might have overpaid for their talent injection of Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva. Time will tell.

In fact, some big names like Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury are looking at far deeper salary cuts than what forced a starving Latrell Sprewell into retirement. That is, when they actually sign with someone.

There will be a shift to what could be called ‘underpaid’, a somewhat unusual definition for many free agents. That is somewhat of a first for the NBA in recent memory. Yes, rookie contracts are skewed in favor of the signing NBA teams. Kevin Garnett’s enormous rookie contract was one of the catalysts to change the parameters for new comers to the league. After that initial contract, market forces would be to the players’ advantage, and they were….until now.

New York 5 and 10?

Good gracious, even the money printing New York Treasury Knicks, under their new leader Donnie Walsh, are playing the fiscal conservative game for the first time in a long while. Stop the sanity. There is no truth to the rumor that they are thinking of  changing their name to the New York Knick-els….. and Dimes. But you might have a hard time convincing their two free agents of that.

Talented big man David Lee and diminutive fire starter Nate Robinson are still waiting for contracts and it looks like both will accept one year deals if they have to….and like it.  In New York, that is about as normal as an honest Three Card Monty game.

Utah had three players (Boozer, Korver, Okur) all look around and decide to quickly pick up the option on their final year salaries, realizing that….. They aren’t getting any better deal anywhere else.

Throughout the league, signings have been within the realm of logical, and some talented players are still waiting, including point guards Ramon Sessions, Raymond Felton, and Jamal Tinsley.

Celtics Play It Prudently

Did I say prudently? Wyc Grousbeck will have opened his checkbook for about $84 million this season after signing Marquis Daniels and Glen Davis, tieing him with the Jazz for second highest payroll in the league. Only current NBA Champion Los Angeles is higher.

With Rasheed Wallace signing for $5.8 million (3 year deal with 10% increases), Shelden Williams happy to get the veteran’s minimum of  slightly under $1 million,  Marquis Daniels about to settle for the Biannual Exception of $1.9 million (length of deal unknown), and Glen Davis about to get $3 million (second year at $3.3 mil), Danny Ainge has helped strengthen his club while keeping salary expenses down as much as could possibly be expected.

The Celtics still need a back up point guard and there are a ton of them unsigned, though some would not be available for the minimum salary.

Let’s say the Celtics bought out Tony Allen. Are there two players in this list you would want on the Celtics’ roster?

I don’t know how many will be available at bargain prices, but my guess is….a lot. The NBA’s annual Summer Clearance Sale has begun. All prices marked down. Cash and Carry.

Still out in the cold:

Centers

Aaron Gray

Johan Petro

Jason Collins

Jarron Collins

Melvin Ely

Robert Swift

Adonal Foyle

Jake Voskuhl

Power Forwards

David Lee (R)

Mikki Moore – remember him?

Joe Smith- remember when Celtic fans wanted him?

Juwan Howard

Brian Skinner

Sean Marks

Stromile Swift

Cedric Simmons

Small Forwards

Ime Udoka

Leinas Klizas (R) – signing with Olympiacos in Europe

Rob Kurz

Joey Graham

Steve Novak (R)

Rodney Carney

Ryan Bowen

Othello Hunter

Point Guards

Jason Williams

Tyronn Lue

Brevin Knight

C.J. Watson (R)

Anthony Carter

Jason Hart

Ramon Sessions (R)

Nate Robinson (R)

Raymond Felton (R)

Jamaal Tinsley

Damon Jones

Stephon Marbury

Jacques Vaughn

Shooting Guards

Keith Bogans

Fred Jones

Von Wafer

Wally Szerbiak

Bobby Jackson

Luther Head

Gerald Green

Desmond Mason

Flip Murray

Rashad McCants

Jerry Stackhouse

Juan Dixon

They are on from 8-10 pm Sunday night. Tonight! Here is the link and lead in….

Celtics Stuff Live broadcasts from 8-10pm EST on Sunday night.  Joining us for the first time will be Sam Amico, Editor of ProBasketballNews.com and Author of A Basketball Summer which featured an inside look at old friend Chris Wallace and the drafting process.  The Celtics offseason may be winding down with Glen Davis and Marquis Daniels poised to sign contracts in the next week and Shelden Williams having been a surprise addition to the roster.  If you have a question for the show or our guest, you can leave us a voicemail at 1-866-751-9649 or send us an e-mail.  See you Sunday night!

Check them out. Always a good show.

According to Adrian Wajnarowski of Yahoo! Sports….

Glen “Big Baby” Davis is close to signing a two-year contract to stay with the Boston Celtics, a league source told Yahoo! Sports on Friday night.

The deal is expected to be signed early next week.

Danny said he wanted him back all along.

The team has been investing a lot of time and energy in developing Glen over his two years with the Celtics. Remember, he was getting playing time very early in his rookie season. Many thought, including myself, that Leon Powe would get the early minutes in that rookie season for Glen, and that Glen would get a chance later as he learned the NBA and the Celtics system. It wasn’t the case. Doc preferred Glen from early on.

Then this past season Glen was made the starter when KG went down for the count. He rewarded the Celtics by overcoming an early season slump to shoot 49% from February on and 49% again in the playoffs, while averaging 15.8 pts. per game in the second season, and hitting a buzzer beating game winner.

Adrian added this…

Davis tried to get several teams to offer him the mid-level exception, but a depressed financial market made it hard for that to happen. A handful of teams – including Detroit, New Orleans and New Jersey – discussed sign-and-trade scenarios with the Celtics, but Boston general manager Danny Ainge never wanted to lose him.

Glen will not be getting the same amount of minutes as last season. I’m sure he knows that. But he has a chance to continue learning the game from some of the top big men in it. Rasheed and Kevin are two premiere bigs with very high basketball IQs.

After concentrating on developing his outside shot, making clutch shots, setting picks, and using his girth admirably to defend the league’s best centers, Glen needs to work on his defensive rotations and rebounding to round out a complete game. Developing his little jump hook and a few other moves around the hoop should continue as well.

While Glen will never be a shot blocker, he has shown an ability to pick his spots and getting a few blocks with surprise and timing.  He  has demonstrated exceptionally quick hands, even picking off point guards more than a few times last season.

Assuming this will become reality, Glen’s reduced minutes this season will mean more energy and more activity in less time. Floor burns and peril for first row attenders will be in order for a diving, crashing Glen Davis as he scraps to steal or save the ball.

Davis has some doubters to convince, including all the teams that didn’t think he was worth anywhere near the MLE amount. Some of his growth will depend on what Doc Rivers asks of him in his role this season. Some of it will be his own desire to excel. Some of it will be determined by the minutes played.

Weight issues were among the reasons mentioned that other teams were unwilling to extend Davis a long term contract for serious money. That is understandable. Glen has admitted to playing at about 310 -320 lbs last season. He has been working out this off season utilizing foot fighting as part of his regiment. Whatever works.

Glen’s challenges this season will also be positives, in that, with reduced minutes, he can go all out in the time he is on the court, without worrying about fouls and pacing himself as much. A similar situation for Joel Pryzbilla in Portland worked wonders for his output until he started to play additional minutes. He was averaging an enormous amount of rebounds and shooting a ridiculuous 80% for about half the season last year.

Pryzbilla’s role and skills are are far different, but the idea is the same. With Leon Powe gone, we will have to see how Doc wants to use Glen this year.

With his first multi-million dollar contract under his belt (terms were not mentioned), Glen will have financial security, and can focus on doing what ever is necessary to help the Celtics return to the Finals. A long, drawn out Celtic summer drama will be ending soon.

Edit note:  According to the Boston Herald, Davis will sign a two year contract (it may have a player option for a third year), which will allow the earliest UNrestricted free agency possible…..

By signing for two years, Davis can be an unrestricted free agent at the soonest possible time. (Players must be in the league four years before they can shed the restricted yoke.)

Marbury Out

And Adrian Wajnarowski adds that the Celtics are no longer interested in Stephon Marbury. One must wonder if it was his Summer of Self Love media experiments that helped close the door.

Marquis Daniels Close to Signing

The Boston Herald says….

The Celtics also want to wrap up business with free agent swingman Marquis Daniels by the end of the week……

The Celtics have not found a third team to help facilitate a sign-and-trade arrangement with the Pacers, meaning that Daniels will most likely sign for the $1.9 million biannual exception.

That would bring another much-too-long-standing drama to an end, though not as Marquis would have liked it, I’m sure.

Who will be the 15th Celtic?

So far, that would mean that the Celtics added Rasheed Wallace, Marquis Daniels, Shelden Williams, and re-signed Glen Davis in this off season. That would mean 14 roster spots taken. Second round draft pick Lester Hudson is recovering from a broken finger, and could take that 15th roster spot, if the Celtics don’t find another back up point guard.