6’ 5” Von Wafer, a borderline NBA player who can hit the three pointer has been added as insurance by the Boston Celtics. He will be paid the veteran’s minimum.
This move comes on a day that it is announced that former Celtic Eddie House re-signs with the Miami Heat, to the team he started his career, and played with for three years. Only Eddie’s stay with the Celtics, in a well-traveled career, lasted nearly as long.
So Eddie joins the enemy after discussions with Celtics about returning to Boston apparently did not reach fruition.
But I digress…
Von Wafer has been a ‘hanger on’ for a few years now and played a significant role with the Houston Rockets in 2008-9. He played in 63 of his 109 NBA total games that season. He shot 44% from the field and 39% from the arc while scoring 9.7 points in 19:23 minutes a game. More important, he shot 40.9% from the arc in the playoffs that season.
He has been known to have some conflicts with coaches in his abbreviated career along the way including a highly visible blow up at his coach in Houston during the playoffs.
Von Wafer played in Europe most recently.
This, at least, assures another gun off the bench to provide scoring and floor spacing in the event other negotiations (as in Rudy Fernandez or Delonte West) come up empty.
The Boston Celtics are currently in the ‘lead position’ in negotiations with the Portland Trailblazers for Rudy Fernandez, according to a source. They have been in serious discussions since yesterday.
Other teams interested include New York and Chicago, but the Celtics are apparently getting the first shot, thus allowing one to assume they are a preferred destination, either in terms of desirability for Rudy or trading pieces for the Blazers.
Check it out.
It seems as if there might be more players involved and the Celtics need another big man. This could be where the Rasheed Wallace contract ends being used to acquire 2 pieces at once.
Danny Ainge has liked 7’1″ Joel Pryzbilla in the past. He is coming off an injury, and is set to make $7.4 million (last year of contract) this season. He is the most likely candidate in my opinion. Coach McMillan said he might be ready to start playing by the exhibition season, instead of December, as previously expected. Still, Joel is coming off multiple knee surgeries, so it is uncertain how long it will be before he is fully mobile and up to full strength.
In spite of his fragility, I doubt the Blazers will do something with Greg Oden after drafting him number one. He still has huge upside potential. He is not going anywhere for an expiring Wallace contract. LeMarcus Aldridge is going nowhere. To even attempt to get Oden the Cs would have to be offering Kendrick Perkins and I don’t know what else. Don’t expect that to be happening.
What would Portland be looking for in a trade?
Well, it appears they want a first round draft pick according to this tweet from Alan Hahn in Portland’s dealings with the Knicks recently regarding Rudy…
Source tells Newsday the Knicks have nothing Blazers want to make trade for Rudy Fernandez. POR wants 1st rnder. NY can’t offer until 2014.
The Blazers and Celtics are possibly discussing a multiple player trade. That would return to the idea of getting a big man for the Celtics as well.
Stay tuned.
The Celtics don’t have one this season but could offer next year’s pick which one would assume be somewhere in the mid 20s. If a pick
As my previous post reported, Delonte West would be a person of interest for the salary cap strapped Boston Celtics. In fact, he would be something of a fortunate find.
…their interest could spread to former Celtic Delonte West, who is expected to be waived by the Minnesota Timberwolves after the club acquired him in a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers Monday.
The Celtics have re-signed Marquis Daniels at a discount to fill the need for a defensive guard/forward.
But they are looking for another three point shooter (and a big man, which of course, West is not). West has shown himself to generally be a solid performer come playoff time and that is exactly what you need on the title focused Celtics. He is also a pretty competent defender of guards.
He has made a number of clutch plays, shots, and free throws in his time with the Cavs in the playoffs. He will hustle, isn’t afraid of contact, and will hit the deck trying to recover loose balls. If they can get him for the veteran minimum, he would be a bargain.
The risk, as stated in the previous post is his state of mind, and off court behavior. Washburn adds…
West pleaded guilty to weapons charges in a strange case where he was caught carrying three guns while on a motorcycle in his native Maryland last year. He received eight months of home detention but the judge ruled he would be allowed to travel with his NBA team.
I guess that would preclude having to worry about any further incidents for the time being. I like a lot of players, I admit, but you can add Delonte West to that group. I have always been a fan of his game and quirky, somewhat ‘comedic savant’ personality.
It would be just wild, and fitting, if Delonte “wi-ahh hang-ahh!” West came back home to the Celtics and was instrumental in helping them win title #18. That would be…absolutely great. It brings a smile to my face just thinking about it. Yeah, that semi-smirk in my picture is close. I do love it.
Just looking at the Wire Hanger commercial brings back good memories.
Marc J. Spiers of Yahoo Sports just reported that combo guard Delonte West was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves along with point guard Sebastian Telfair (remember him?) by the Cleveland Cavaliers for point guard Ramon Sessions and center Ryan Hollins and a 2nd round pick.
Spiers also reports that Minnesota will give West his release so they will only have to pay him the $500,000 guaranteed portion of his $4.7 million salary, clearing cap space going forward.
With point guards Johnny Flynn and recently signed Luke Ridnour already on the roster, adding West and Telfair would be superfluous. Telfair is expected to back up Ridnour while Flynn recovers from hip surgery.
I know what you are thinking. Me too.
Could the Celtics be interested in bringing Delonte back?
He could be very valuable off the bench at either guard position.
Celtics Revolving Door?
West and Tony Allen came in to the Celtics together after being drafted 24th and 25th in 2004. As Tony exits to Memphis, is it possible that West could return?
Another Doc Rivers Challenge
In a league that has its share of eccentric personalities, Delonte ranks up there at the top. A talented artist (hobby), West has undergone treatment for depression, been arrested for possessing multiple guns, and was rumored to have had an affair with a teammate’s mother.
The players that have crossed through the Celtic organization since Doc Rivers arrived have represented some of the most challenging personalities the league has to offer. Never a direct problem to a team, Delonte’s demons are personal.
There’s No Place Like Home
Could a return to the place where his NBA career started be a good thing for Delonte…and for the Celtics? After living in the NBA Land of Oz, could Boston be his Kansas?
He is a feisty, non-stop competitor when he is on the floor and was one of the few Cavaliers that offered LeBron help in the 2008 playoffs when the Celtics locked down on LBJ.
A lot of water has gone under his bridge since he left. Still, he offers solid three point shooting (37.3% career) , is an 81.8% career free throw shooter, rebounds well (3.7 in 28 minutes – career) for a 6’3” guard, and was a fan favorite when he was here.
Delonte turned 27 years old yesterday. Competition for minutes with Nate Robinson (and to a much lesser extent with Marquis Daniels) would be the biggest hurdle, but he can add to that youth component that the Celtics need.
The Cavs defense was better when Delonte was on the floor during the year, and he appeared to play better defense against point guards than shooting guards (PER of 12.9 vs 15.4) though those stats are somewhat inconclusive.
The Cavs had a better point spread when West played point guard (+8.7 vs +6.8 at shooting guard), as their offense was much better (102.4 pts. vs 98.5 at shooting guard per 100 possession) with only a mild decline defensively (93.7 pts. vs 91.7 at shooting guard per 100 possessions).
With newly drafted Avery Bradley and Nate Robinson re-signed, bringing in West, if done, would most likely mean the end to 6’2” Oliver Lafayette.
Another question is if West would even sign for the veteran minimum (the only thing the Celtics could offer) with only $500,000 in his pocket for this season?
Former Celtic Eddie House is a more likely candidate to return at this moment, according to Julian Benbow of the Globe, but nothing has been agreed upon. It is hard to predict without more information, but I would guess that House would more likely take the vet minimum to return than West.
Zach Lowe at Celticshub.com does a nice breakdown of the statistical differences between new acquired Jermaine O’Neal and our own lovable Kendrick Perkins.
The understanding is that Jermaine will be the Celtics starting center for a good long time next season. Anywhere from January to February has been targeted as the date for a Perkins return. We also know that KP won’t be 100% for quite a while when he does return.
While O’Neal has played in most of the games (70, 68) each of the past two seasons, it doesn’t mean he has played them 100% healthy either (knees mostly). He even stated that he played in last season’s first round lost to the Celtics while nursing injury.
The hope is that he is the best he has been in for a while to start the season.
Zach Lowe…
• Turnovers. The Celtics are essentially trading the most turnover-prone center in the league for the least turnover-prone center in the league.
There is quite a bit more. Check it out here at Celticshub.com
Fanhouse’s Tim Potvak reports that after the door closed in Atlanta for him, Shaquille O’Neal is lobbying hard to play for the Boston Celtics.
Wow. Just wow.
In the strangest of NBA summers (as I write this, even Chris Paul is planning an escape to NY…before the season even starts), things just climbed a level higher on the strangeness scale. It doesn’t reach Tom Cruise and Kate scale or anything like that. But it does bring one’s brain cells to attention. The very thought of Shaq as a Celtic requires…some thought.
It is a veritable gold mine for a writer’s imagination. Shaq is one of the biggest personalities to ever play the game.
he’ll go down as one of the more successful players in history. He’s currently seventh in all-time scoring, has four championships, an MVP and 15 All-Star appearances. Pretty great career, even if it could have been exponentially better considering his size and athleticism.
So many story lines, so little time.
Shaq, a man of largesse in more ways than one, the namer of names, gave the Celtics’ own Paul Pierce his name of The Truth.
If he was added, he and Jermaine would be O’Neal and O’Neal, law firm for the defense, Irish-African-American shot blockers, and middle eaters extraordinaire.
It would be the Big Aristotle and the Big Baby. (Insert pre-game buffet joke here.) Both Glen Davis and Shaq are former LSU Tigers and Davis is the player Shaq affectionately refers to as ‘his illegitimate son’. At least Shaq wouldn’t have to worry about any more broken thumbs.
There would be the immediate story line of a possible Finals clash between Shaq and Kobe.
There were Tracy and Hepburn, Bogart and Becall, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid… and Shaq and Kobe.
Irony, revenge, vengeance, jealousy, drama and a juicy clash of former teammates that would eat up precious blog, newspaper and TV space as it rolled into view. Oh, the ratings, the ratings.
One of the biggest negatives for the Celtics- I couldn’t think of anything that would motivate Kobe Bryant more than that.
But there appear to be real life issues that are getting in the way of this Salvadore Dali, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds surrealistic dream.
1) 38 year old Shaq has been wanting about $8 million a year for 2 years and a significant role on any team he goes to.
2) He is nowhere near the player he was even a few years ago.
3) He is more prone to injury now.
4) He has been known to not play well in the second half of back-to-back games. (Just last season, in virtually the same amount of minutes, he scored 9.5 vs 12.8 points, shot 48.3% vs 59.7%, took 7.3 shots vs 9.1 shots, and blocked .8 vs 1.4 shots. )
5) He hasn’t been on the finishing end of a fastbreak since fax machines used thermal paper.
6) He is another larger-than-life personality (perhaps the largest) to add to Doc Rivers’ bucket of impossible or high maintenance personalities to coach. Doc’s bucket overfloweth.
In his favor:
1) The Celtics need a big man. If Shaq is anything, he is a big man. That is the one thing he actually gotten better at in recent years.
1) The Celtics need rebounding. Even in his abbreviated last season, Shaq rebounded well at 6.7 in 23 plus minutes (13 plus per game on a 48 minute prorating) . That would put him right at Kendrick Perkin’s level, who was…btw…the Celtics top rebounder and better than Jermaine O’Neal (11.7 per 48)
1) He wouldn’t be hammering Rajon Rondo on drives and clobbering Kevin Garnett inside anymore. (I couldn’t find a video of that playoff assault on KG’s noggin that wasn’t even called a foul.)
1) The Celtics still play a half court game for the most part and that is Shaq’s exclusive method of play now.
5) He actually was more productive offensively (individually) than Rasheed Wallace was last season. Shaq averaged 12 points on 56%, his worse season in 14 years, 6.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 23:23 minutes. Sheed averaged 9 points on 40.9% shooting, 4.1 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 assist in 22:30 minutes.
6) If he accepts a bench role, he casts a wide shadow for short minutes and you need would Liquid Plummer Extra Strength to get him unclogged from the middle.
If Danny accepted him, he would be yet another player I would have to expand my thinking to accept after finding it easy to make him the bad guy all of these years.
The Celtics owned the last team Shaq played for in the playoffs and it could be said that was part of the reason why.
It has been written that the Celtics aren’t interested in him. They would know best why that is, after playing against him in last year’s playoffs. They also know best their own team chemistry issues, having had to navigate a few bumps in the road this past season.
Imminently quotable, there has been a media circus around the Big Attraction for years. Would he fit in and help, or would he be the Big Distraction on a road that needs none if they are truly going to compete for another title?
‘Someday I might have to put down a basketball and have a regular 9-to-5 like everybody else.’ – Shaq.
The question is when? In the meantime, the very idea of Shaq playing with the Celtics is mind blowing. And as Shaq said about Paul Pierce some years ago..
This time next season we will all be singing the praises of Danny Ainge for his astute re-signings of …
1) Ray Allen
2) Nate Robinson
3) Marquis Daniels
…if the Celtics gain that oh-so-close but elusive 18th banner and they are solid contributors.
Or, if the Cs fall short again….
We might be questioning why he couldn’t/didn’t get that magic piece of the puzzle to help our burgeoning senior Celtic citizens to get over the hump and instead, settled for the familiar.
If you haven’t heard the news – Boston re-signed Marquis Daniels to fill that swing defender position that so desperately needs filling.
Chris Forsburg of ESPN was the only reporter on top of the story early with an article recently pointing out how Daniels might just be the right option after all. Coincidence? Maybe he has an eight ball, or is it a crystal ball. Nice prediction in any event.
Me? I’m okay with it. With the other pickings looking flawed in one way or another, there weren’t many options out there with a better all around game than Daniels. Those that were, wouldn’t be signing for the $2.5 million that Marquis did.
This Gives Danny More Flexibility
So the biggest immediate upside to this re-signing is that Danny has his 2/3 defender now and still has Sheed’s contract up his sleeve unless…
Wallace returns to the scene of the crime, too. It is possible. The Celtics remaining need is a big man unless Rasheed is the next to return and be that big man. If you hear someone say ‘Rasheed’s back’, your first reaction will probably be… ‘What about his back?’
With vampires and werewolves gaining in popularity from the Twilight series, twilight might be the appropriate description for Rasheed’s own (barely) undead performance during the regular season. Hey, I heard Aaron Gray is available. Hey again. I know that Sheed played fairly well in the playoffs. I can still have a little fun with him.
Apparently, Daniels and his agent knew that the market for an oft-injured, though versatile swing man might not be all that good right now. They looked around and returned to the Celtics. The Celtics looked around and said ‘Ye-ah, we aren’t seeing better options for that money either.’
Marquis had started off well in his first season in Green, then endured a finger injury courtesy of a Rajon Rondo fast ball in practice, before getting it fixed. Once he returned, he wasn’t quite the same player and Tony Allen was being something he hadn’t been in a long while…consistently productive. Doc Rivers made a surprise move and Tony was in, while Marquis was out for the playoffs.
Chris Tomasson of Fanhouse appears to have broken the story first…
The Boston Celtics have reached an agreement to re-sign swingman Marquis Daniels for $2.5 million on a one-year deal, his agent, Mark Bartelstein, told FanHouse on Thursday.
“It’s a good opportunity for him,” Bartelstein said. “It’s a fresh start for him after the injury.”
Daniels will sign a one year contract in hopes of cashing in on a bigger payday next season, Mark Bartelstein, Daniels’ agent told Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald.
Too Quiet
Daniels’ quiet demeanor and his sometimes too quiet game of last season hopes to turn this season into a quiet riot on the court. He will be one of many Celtics seeking Redemption Road.
Now it’s time to look at big man options for Sheed’s contract…or is it?
