So with the trading of Telfair, we now have 1 point guard left in Rondo. It's obvious that Ainge will sign a backup with MLE. Any ideas who it will be?
Brevin Knight, Jannero Pargo, Jeff McInnis, Eddie House, Earl Boykins, or Junior Harrington. Take your pick.
The Rockets have 5 under contract and will probably be willing to trade Lucas III for a conditional 2nd rounder.
I think the best option outside of Brevin Knight would be Mike Wilks, but it looks as if he could be locked up with the Kings. I was just reading a John Hollinger article on Insider that suggested that the Celtics could persuade Brevin Knight and Ime Udoka to split the MLE, and then sign P.J. Brown to the veteran's minimum. That'd give the Celtics the following depth chart - PG - Brevin Knight / Rajon Rondo / Gabe Pruitt SG - Ray Allen / Tony Allen SF - Paul Pierce / Ime Udoka / Brandon Wallace PF - P.J. Brown / Leon Powe / Glen Davis / Brian Scalabrine C - Kevin Garnett / Kendrick Perkins They could also, as johnny33 suggested, pursue a trade with the Rockets. I would go after Alston first and only settle for Lucas III in the worst case scenario though. The Celtics have a lot of leverage because the Rockets have five point guards and need to clear that logjam before the season starts. I'm just not sure what Boston has that Houston wants, outside of maybe future picks. The lineup also needs some depth on the wing in addition to a veteran point guard. Allen and Pierce won't both play perfect, 82-game seasons, so they need to sign a guy like Dahntay Jones, Derek Anderson, or Ruben Patterson to the minimum.
^They would be better off going after Marc Jackson who can log minutes at C to guard the bigger centers like Shaq and Curry. KG would get thrown around in all that fat. Also, from a Celtics stand point, I'd go after Ruben Patterson as he can guard the offensive threats, and let Pierce and Allen focus on offense.
I think the Celtics should look into signing Dee Brown. He is someone they could get at a cheap price, and provide them with a spark off the bench (as well as compete for the starting spot). He is still young, but he showed in Utah he can produce when given playing time.
I'd look into getting PJ Brown or Chris Webber. Both will be cheap vets, looking for a winning team to latch onto. It'll be easier for them to get to the finals in the east with KG, Allen, and Pierce than going to the Mavs, Suns, etc. where its a toss up between MAvs, Spurs, Suns, maybe even Rockets now (and if you're the Mavs and have to face the Warriors you're fugged). These guys should sign for the minimum or a smaller exception. Brown would probably be the preferred choice since hes a good defender, dirty work type of guy but either would give them depth and experience. Then I'd look into acquiring a defensive SF and a veteran PG who can shoot from deep to contrast what Rondo gives the Celts. As far as defensive SFs go you have Patterson, Posey, Pietrus, Barnes, Udoka, Singleton. Patterson Posey, and Barnes are unrestricted and all looking for a fat contract. Pietrus is restricted so he can be S&T'ed and hes not getting any good offers so 4 mils a year S&T'ed over 3-4 years would probably be enough to land him. Problem is finding something on your team GS wold want, which would be draft picks or Leon Powe. Udoka and Singleton are both young, raw cheap guys who could fill the void but theres a lot of teams trying to get these guys on the cheap (including euro teams) so it may turn into a mini-bidding war to see who offers guaranteed contracts, more years, more yearly salary, etc. For PGs, you have Boykins, Knight, Pargo, Wilks available as FAs. Portland has a ton of PGs right now (Blake, Jack, Taurean Green, Rodriguez), Houston has a few too many as well (James, Francis, Alston, Lucas III). Ideally if I were Ainge I'd get PJ Brown on the cheap, sign Brevin Knight with a portion of the MLE (although hes similar to Rondo he provides veteran savvy and a great ability to drop dimes with all those scorers around him), and use whatever's left of the MLE to sign one of the aforementioned defensive SG/SFs and/or S&T for Pietrus.
Wow, just realized the Celtics have 66.1 mils committed to 9 players next season. Thats not including Big Baby and Pruitt who will add another 1.3-ish million putting them at or just a bit over the luxury tax. Signing a MLE guy for 5.5 mils/year would cost the owners 11 mils/year. They're probably not hurting financially but no owners like to pay that much luxury tax. That could take the MLE out of the equation and force them to sign only minimum contract players and/or trades. They could try to move Scalabrine but I don't think anyone would take him unless they add picks (most of which I think they've traded off) or Powe. Maybe they even try to move Perk for a cheaper reserve PF/C and sign PJ Brown to start? That way they still have a decent big man rotation of Garnett/Brown/Powe/cheap young PF/C.
