The 2007-08 Boston Celtics were appropriately tagged "The Big Three." However, shortly after the NBA free agent period began on July 1, even a casual reader of ESPN.com would be left to believe that the team would be more appropriately labeled as "The Big Four."
No, not Rajon Rondo, the lightning quick point guard who played premier on ball defense and abused Derek Fisher with his quickness in the NBA finals. And no, not Kendrick Perkins, often called the best interior defender in the league by NBA Defensive Player of the Year Kevin Garnett.
The topic of rumors and discussion was none other than James Posey—known to many fans throughout the regular season for his engulfing "man hugs" delivered to the Celtics starters prior to each game.
This is not to mitigate the accomplishments of Posey or the Celtics—they accomplished perhaps the most remarkable single season turnaround in history, regardless of sport.
Rather, the point of mentioning the attention given to Posey is to demonstrate the skewed market that has come to be known as the NBA's free agency.
After deliberation and offers from reportedly half a dozen teams, James Posey signed with the New Orleans Hornets, a team ripe with talent and desperate for the playoff experience that Posey can offer.
However, this team also offered Posey exactly what he wanted: an extra lucrative, long-term deal by way of four years and $25 million. Not bad for a guy who averaged 7.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game during this past regular season.
Posey's rise to become one of the most coveted free agents on the market was due in large part to his superb performance throughout the playoffs, highlighted by smooth three-pointers and versatile defense against stars ranging from Joe Johnson and LeBron James to Rasheed Wallace and Kobe Bryant.
It probably wasn't hurt by Jeff Van Gundy's (commentator for ABC in the finals) continuous praise of Posey, often citing him as the type of player that he would love to have or coach. In a series marked by Paul Pierce's grit and Kobe's acrobatics, Van Gundy made more than enough time to drool over Posey's intangibles.
When the free agent market opened on July 1, the Celtics faced indeed a difficult task: to resign a player who they knew would draw interest from other clubs, or, to reassess areas of need moving forward to defend their championship and reallocate their newly inherited salary cap flexibility (cap set at $58.68 million for 2008-09 season).
Posey insisted that he wanted a long-term deal worth near or most of the mid-level exception (set at $5.585 million for 2008-09 season). The Celtics, led by Danny Ainge, were ready to make a commitment.
They, however, envisioned a shorter deal that still left Posey with a huge raise from a year prior.
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