Bleacher Report - Boston Celtics

Nocioni To The Celtics? 3 Way Trade Talks Rumored

Thomas Halzack — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:23:31 -0500

There is a trade rumor coming from Marc Stein of ESPN’s True Hoop Blog that the Kings and 76ers are trying to get the Celtics interested in a three–way trade.

It would send Andres Nocioni to the Celtics with Tony Allen and Brian Scalabrine heading to Philly, while the hard-to-trade Samuel Dalembert and J.R Giddens to the Sacramento Kings. The 76ers would receive Kenny Thomas from the Kings.

According to Stein, the Celtics have been interested in Nocioni since he was traded to the Kings last season.

Over on Celticsblog.com a survey of fans suggests it is a no brainer, with those in favor at 77% as I write this.

Talent-wise, it appears to be an immediate upgrade for the Celtics. Nocioni is kind of like Ryan Gomes . Versatile offensive small forward that can play some power forward, but not as proficient on the defensive end. He also has a much bigger salary than Gomes was able to obtain.

Nocioni will get $7.5 mil this year , then $6.85 mil., then $6.6 mil., then a team option for $7.5 mil.

Here are the pluses for the Celtics

1) Andres is a solid veteran with playoff experience.

2) Slightly taller and with a stronger body than Marquis Daniels. He has only missed significant time in one year – 06-07 he missed 29 games. 80 game player for the rest of his career.

3) More outside offense (37% career three point shooter) to spread the floor.

4) That could help send Rasheed Wallace back inside more, where he really should be spending more time when the two are on the court together.

5) The Cs have been seeking offers for Tony Allen and J.R. Giddens since training camp. It allows them to move both of them for a player they can use.

6) Nocioni fits a piece they are missing…a solid back up at small forward.

7) Though not strong defensively, he is a hard nosed player. He could possibly fit the Celtics defensive schemes.

8 ) Andres is 29 years old as we speak, so he is an in-betweener that way. He’s a Goldilocks-er....not too young, not too old.

The negatives for the Cs:
1) His contract.

Now…in the aftermath of letting Posey go and Tony Allen’ s disappointing year, I said that the Celtics should have signed Posey and worried about the later years… later. The same can be said here, and Nocioni is younger than Posey. If Danny has been interested in him since last season, I wonder if that has changed at all in light of the salary commitments they added since then.

2) His defense is questionable.
82games.com has him as –4.2 in individual production (14.1 vs 18.2) . But that can be misleading. James Posey who absolutely helped the Celtics defensively in the Championship season, while better, still had a negative production number –3.0 (13.9 vs 16.8). But Posey is well known as a defensive specialist. Nocioni is not.

The Kings are slightly better defensively when Nocioni is off the court in points per possession (112.2 vs 109.1)

One message board poster suggested that Andre was responsible for shutting down Kevin Durant the last time the Kings and Thunder played. Granted Kevin shot just nine for 23 in that game, but Durant scored 37 points, his second highest total of the year. He also was 18-18 from the free throw line, though Nocioni only had three fouls. That suggests that others were guarding KD and were fouling him to stop him.

Two things
a) Nocioni gives the team 6 more fouls to use
b) Can he become a better defender in the Celtic system? Even if he doesn’t, he still has fouls to give.

A couple of questions

1) Would a chance to play for a true contender reinvigorate Andres’ game? That question was also asked with Rasheed Wallace, BTW. It should.

2) What other possibilities might be out there, say a solid defensive small forward, something the Celtics really could use?

With the cap going down and as teams drop out of playoff races, will there be an even better opportunity with a bit more patience? Dec 15th is the first date certain players can be moved.

My developing opinion…

If Danny doesn’t have his eye on any other players that might fit better and could become available later, then I would pull the trigger on this.

But understand… Nocioni is not James Posey, Bruce Bowen, Dahntay Jones, Trevor Ariza, nor any other defensive stopper.

I am of the opinion that the Celtics roster is in need of help. I suggested that, and that Danny knows that as well, in this preseason prediction article here.

The recent play of the Celtics has done nothing to change my mind. In fact, it feeds that opinion. I would prefer a younger player, as I think the Cs need some youthful athleticism.

Nocioni will 30 years old in a few weeks on November 30th.

But I also understand the desire to go "all in" to win this season. Championship opportunities are just too hard to come by – if that is your goal. Garnett will probably never quite return to pre-injury jumping ability. None of three stars are getting younger.

The only thing that changes that is if Danny Ainge already has an eye toward the longer term and realizes that he needs to bring in another top tier player this coming summer to continue to compete for multiple years beyond.

Another outlet is reporting that ESPN is incorrect and nothing is going down with Dalembert.

I like Andres Nocioni’s game. I understand his limitations. While not perfect for what the Celtics need, he does help. They give up some guaranteed 2010 flexibility ($7.5 mil) for help now.

We’ll have to see how this all plays out.

Edit - the latest from Gary Washburn of The Globe's Boston.com denies interest by the Celtics....

"According to two sources, there has been no discussion from the Celtics' side on this deal, and one of those two sources said the Celtics have not reached out to Sacramento about inquiring about Nocioni. The issue for Boston is the length of Nocioni's contract."

That makes sense and is the same reason why James Posey was allowed to leave.

To be fair, ESPN's Marc Stein's article said they were trying to interest the Celtics in joining the deal - not that they had accomplished that objective.

Tom Halzack is the author/creator of Celtics Central on the CTnews.com website. This article first appeared there. Tom also writes weekly for Celticsblog.com

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Allen Iverson a Boston Celtic?

Nick Gelso — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:48:11 -0500

This post is a collaberative effort provided by North Station Sports and Gino's Jungle .

No Thanks!

By Nick Gelso; NSS

This evening, fellow Celtics blogger and friend, B-Paul of Gino's Jungle , instant messaged me on Gchat. Eventually, after solving all the Celtics recent problems, we got onto the topic of Allen Iverson.

Everyone who reads NSS frequently would know that I absolutely do not care for Iverson. I never did.

If you're interested in why, check out a recent version of NSS One on One: Is their a Defense for Allen Iverson? (Just in case you still don't believe me, Here's some more proof )

Anyway, Iverson's 24,000 career points is enough to impress most sports fans. He is a terrific one-on-one player.

He even (single-handedly) carried his 76ers to the NBA Finals in 2001. He's been an NBA MVP, Rookie of the Year, All-Star MVP (twice), and he is a four-time NBA scoring champion, too.

No one can deny Iverson's great individual talents and exploits. One achievement that is missing from A.I.'s career accomplishments is an NBA title. Sure, Iverson fans may say, "many NBA greats have not won titles."

That would be true. My only rebuttal would be...

Read More From North Station Sports

Why Not?

by B-Paul; Gino's Jungle

I’m going to be quite honest with you, I used to be a big fan of Allen Iverson when he was on the Sixers, and I actually still have the DVD, The Answer , sitting on my movie shelf at home.

Nobody who watched him play in Philadelphia can argue against this guy being a TERRIFIC NBA player. AI is one of the best scorers I have seen in my 10 or so years watching the NBA.

The one issue everyone seems to have with him is his personality. People do not think he can accept a lesser role like what he has been given in Detroit and Memphis. In a way, I can understand how AI feels about his recent roles; how would you like to go from an All-Star to a bench warmer on two non-competing teams?

Of course, the guy is going to be upset; he’s sitting there watching two bad teams lose, while he has no power to do anything about it.

The question that got brought up when I was talking to Nick was whether or not Iverson could fit in the Celtics lineup, both on the court, in the locker room, and off the court.

Nick seemed very stiff on his viewpoint that he wanted nothing at all to do with Iverson in green. I, being an Iverson fan back in my younger years, started bringing up reasons why AI might fit in green.

One of the reasons why I believe Iverson could fit in green is...

Read Alternate Ending By Gino's Jungle.

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Week Three Observations

Hot Stove New York — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:44:01 -0500

1. Brandon Jennings is the real deal: In two games last week Jennings has scored 87 points with 14 assists. So far this season he is averaging 25 PTS (eigth in the NBA), 5 AST, 4 REB, and 1 STL. He also is shooting 49 percent from the field, 83 percent from the foul line, and has 17 three-pointers. In an eight-cat league his fantasy value equals the 10th overall player.

2. Marc Gasol has been playing like his brother: Gasol pulled down 16 rebounds last Saturday for the second time this season. He is averaging 14.8 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game. Also he is shooting 56 percent from the field and 78 percent from the line. He is looking like one of the biggest steals in the draft.

3. Danny Granger is showing why he was a top-four pick: The Pacers upset the Celtics last Friday and Granger was a big part of that with 29 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST, 3 STL, and six three-pointers. His rebounding has increase with Troy Murphy sidelined.

4. Chris Bosh is outscoring Lebron James and Dirk Nowitzki and out rebounding Dwight Howar d: Bosh is fourth in the NBA with 27.7 points per game. He is third in the NBA with 11.8 rebounds per game.

5. Charlie Villanueva is heating up: Charlie V has has scored 25 or more points in three of his past five games. It looks like his hamstring injury is over with and he should increase his 17 points per game.

Honorable mention: Chris Paul out with injury, Byron Scott fired, Knicks 1-8, Nets winless, Joakim Noah leads in the NBA with 12.2 rebounds per game, Kobe Bryant leads the NBA with 30.1 points per game.

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