Bleacher Report - Articles by Justin Doubleday

Boston Celtics: Looking to Tie Loose Ends

Justin Doubleday — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:06:03 -0400

With the acquisitions of Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels, the Boston Celtics have had a very successful offseason thus far.

Wallace gives the team versatility off the bench, as he can play both the power forward and center positions. Sheed's outside shooting ability will fit in perfectly with playmakers like Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo.

He also provides Boston with the seven footer they were lacking off the bench during the past postseason (Mikey Moore does not count, as he was virtually useless in his stint with the Celtics.)

Meanwhile, Marquis Daniels may be the backup wing that Danny Ainge has been searching for ever since James Posey left Boston after the '08 championship.

Daniels is a capable scorer, an excellent ball handler, and a good defender. He is expected to primarily backup Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, but he can also play point guard in spot duty.

While adding Wallace and Daniels are likely the biggest moves the Celtics will make this offseason, there are still a few loose ends that need tying.

First, what is Boston going to do with the Glen Davis situation?

It was originally thought that "Big Baby" would cash in on his breakout postseason, and he expected to receive offers around the mid-level exception—about $5.8 million dollars per year.

But in this economy, no teams are willing to spend that kind of money on Davis, who is still an undersized power forward and a poor rebounder.

The Celtics have two feasible options with the restricted free agent Davis: They match any offer that Big Baby receives, or they can sign and then trade him.

Currently, it appears that Davis will not be offered much more than $3-4 million dollars per year. That is the probable cut-off line for how much the Celtics are willing to match.

However, the NBA is very unpredictable, and it would not be all that surprising if a team comes out of nowhere and offers the full mid-level to Davis.

Boston will have a hard time matching an offer of that magnitude, so this where the sign and trade option comes into play.

With Wallace on board, the Celtics don't necessarily need Davis or another expensive big man coming of the bench. So they could sign and then trade Davis for picks, cash, a backup point guard, or a combination of the three.

The latest sign and trade rumor has Davis going to the New Jersey Nets for the raw but talented Yi Jianlian.

This is all pure speculation, but a sign and trade is very possible in regards to Big Baby. It will be interesting to see how the Glen Davis saga works out over the next few weeks.

After dealing with Davis, the Celtics still have one big hole left in their lineup to fill: the backup point guard spot.

The Stephon Marbury experiment was closer to a disaster than a success, although he remains an option if he's willing to take the $1.9 million veteran's minimum the Celtics can offer him.

Perhaps with more time to grow into his backup role, Marbury will thrive off the Celtics bench. He showed flashes of his old self in this past postseason, but for the most part, Marbury looked lost when he was out on the floor.

Is Stephon really willing to accept the 10 minutes a night he'll likely get behind blossoming point guard Rajon Rondo for an entire season?

My gut tells me "No" and eventually "Starbury" will rear his ugly head and demand more minutes, but only time will tell.

If the Celtics do not sign Marbury or anyone else, they can pickup Gabe Pruitt's option and use him as the backup point.

Pruitt will be entering his third year in the league, and while he has shown good potential, he has not made much of a mark in the NBA thus far. He is fairly athletic, and a good defender, but he is also an inconsistent shooter and a tentative playmaker.

Pruitt has only played in a total of 62 games in his two year career, so perhaps he needs some more playing time to show what he is truly capable of in the association. But at this point, the Boston front office does not think much of Pruitt and if they do pick up his option, it will be his last chance to prove his worth in a Celtic uniform.

Both Marbury and Pruitt are big question marks, and unfortunately for the Celtics, the pickings are sparse when it comes to finding a point guard through free agency.

Rondo is young, but in order for him to perform at his best during the playoffs, his minutes should probably be kept below 35 mpg. That is why addressing the backup point guard spot is so important.

The Celtics do not need an amazing playmaker, they just need someone who can hit an open shot, make a few occasional plays for others, and play solid defense.

The last big decision Danny Ainge and crew has to make this summer has to do with the talented Rajon Rondo.

The young point guard came into his own in the 2009 playoffs, nearly averaging a triple double over 14 games and becoming the first Celtic since Larry Bird to record three triple doubles in one postseason.

Boston has the option of offering Rondo an extension this summer, or they can wait until he becomes a restricted free agent next summer. Either option involves a fair amount of risk.

If Boston decides to extend Rondo this summer, it will likely be at a fairly high price after his outstanding postseason, somewhere in the range of $10-11 million dollars per year over five years.

This may seem like a good move, but Rondo's asking price still has to do more with his potential rather than what he actually is as a player.

So, if Rondo does not get much better than he is now (I do not think that this will be the case), than Ainge would have put the Celtics in a deep hole over the next five years by offering Rondo such a large extension.

However, it could end up being an even bigger mistake if the Celtics wait until next year to negotiate a deal with their young point guard.

If Rondo plays at a similar level to the way he played in this past postseason over an entire year, he will be receiving offers close to or at a max deal next summer. The Celtics can match any offer that Rondo receives, as he is a restricted free agent in 2010, but will they be able to match a deal that approaches $20 million dollars per year?

That is what the Celtics front office has to decide in regards to Rondo.

Over the course of this offseason, Boston has turned itself back into a bonafide contender for the NBA championship.

The additions of Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels to their bench are fantastic moves, but Danny Ainge cannot rest just yet.

There are still decisions that need to be made that will greatly affect both this season (Glen Davis, backup point guard), and beyond (Rondo.)

This Is Eddie's House

Justin Doubleday — Thu, 22 May 2008 05:07:49 -0400

For most of the 2007-2008 season, Eddie House was the backup point guard for the Boston Celtics. Coming off the bench behind Rajon Rondo, House played well despite being more of a combo guard than a pure point.

In March, veteran Sam Cassell was brought to the Celtics after a contract buyout with the Clippers made him a free agent. Once he was able to play (he was "injured" when coming over to the Celtics), Cassell immediately took over backup point guard duties.

Eddie House's minutes were cut in half, and the only reason he played so much in March and February was because the Celtics had already clinched a playoff spot.

When the playoffs started, House was benched, playing not much more than five minutes a game, and often times much less than that. This was all despite the fact that Sam Cassell had an obvious inability to initiate the Celtic offense.

Basically, Cassell would dribble out the shot clock trying to find his own shot, rather than get his teammates involved. Of course, "getting your teammates involved" should be at the top of the list for all point guards.

Sam has hit some big shots in his career, but the fact of the matter is that all he was doing was hurting the Celtics when he entered the game.

Nonetheless, Sam I Am remained the backup as the Celtics moved past the Hawks in that improbable seven-game series.

In the first game of the Cleveland series, Sam was clutch, hitting many shots down the stretch after which you might hear ESPN's Mike Breen go "Bang!"

After the opening game, Sam disappeared.

In the following four games, Cassell went a grand total of 4-25 from the field. He became a liability on both ends of the court. His minutes soon started to dwindle.

Finally in Game 6, with Rajon Rondo struggling, Eddie House was inserted as the backup rather than Cassell. And he didn't show too many signs of rust, scoring eight points and providing a spark of energy off the bench.

Since that Game 6, House has been the backup point guard for Boston and Cassell hasn't seen any minutes at all.

The similarities and differences between Cassell and House are blatantly obvious.

What's the same about the two?

Well, they both are shooters who don't pass that well for point guards. Neither are slashers, but if you leave them open, watch out.

But the difference that makes House a much better backup than Sammy? Energy.

When Sam's shots aren't falling, he's nothing but a liability. As stated above, he isn't very good at getting his teammates involved, and he is a horrid defender.

When Eddie's shots aren't falling, he's diving on the floor for loose balls, playing defense as hard as he possibly can, and actually running the Boston offense efficiently. The energy he brought to the team, especially in Game 7 against Cleveland, was amazing.

Despite all that, I don't think we've seen the last of Old Man Sam. House is going to be the backup for the near future, and rightfully so, but Cassell has shown in his career that he has a knack for showing up at the right time.

Boston Celtics Playoff Woes: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Justin Doubleday — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:46:26 -0400

I sit here at one o'clock in the morning in front of my computer, still fuming about the latest Celtics shortcoming on the road. I felt similarly after game six between the Hawks and Celtics just a couple weeks ago.

Of course, I eventually reasoned that the Celtics would just kill the Hawks at home, as they had done the first three games in TD Banknorth Garden.

And of course they did. So why not come to that conclusion right now?

Well, it's because the Cleveland Cavaliers aren't the Atlanta Hawks. The in-experienced Hawks came in to game seven over-confident, thinking that they could easily beat the Celtics away from the safe haven of Atlanta.

Obviously, reality hit them upside the head like a baseball bat after the opening tip, and the Celtics dominated the young Hawks team the entire game on the way to a blowout win.

But Cleveland will not have that cocky type of mindset. They know they can win in Boston, but they also acknowledge that it will be tough. Plus, the Celtics aren't just dealing with Joe Johnson now, they're dealing with a force of nature.

LeBron James is the type of player who can single-handedly lead his team to a win on the road. He knows when to get his teammates involved and when he needs to score the ball himself.

James thrives in the closing minutes of close games, whereas the Celtics have lacked a go-to scorer at the end of the game. If game seven is close all the way to the end, I wouldn't be surprised if Cleveland came out on top.

The Cavs have played lockdown defense in the fourth quarter of nearly every game in this series, and LeBron is all they need in order to score points.

The Celtics, meanwhile, haven't been able to get either scores or stops when they need them. All in all, Cleveland has the mental edge, if nothing else.

As a Celtic fan, I'm very angry right now. I feel conned, like a child who was promised ice cream and ended up getting yogurt. 66 wins in the regular season, a 31-10 record on the road.

Many expected to see greatness out of the Celtics in these playoffs, but all they've witnessed is a team who is hanging on by a thread, who has fell down a notch rather than stepping it up. That's only part of the reason why I'm angry.

I'm angry at Ray Allen for deciding to disappear completely and letting Wally-frickin-Szerbiak outplay him.

I'm angry at Paul Pierce for turning into Antoine Walker on the offensive end, as he now jacks up more threes than anything else.

I'm angry at Sam Cassell for making the Celtics' offense look as ugly as his face.

I'm angry at Doc Rivers for jerking the rotation around, first trying to destroy Rajon Rondo's confidence and now working on Leon Powe's mind.

I'm angry at Rajon Rondo (my favorite player) for making me absolutely love him more than Chris Paul one game, than wonder why he's even starting the next.

I'm angry because Kevin Garnett has never and seemingly will never have teammates who can elevate their game when it counts. He has been the lone consistent player for the Celtics throughout these playoffs.

If the Celtics lose game seven, the only player I will feel bad for is KG because he's the only one playing with any heart no matter where the game takes place.