The Celtics' Danny Ainge traveled to Los Angeles on Wednesday to take a look at Yi Jianlian in a private workout. Yi worked out for nearly two hours in a gym by himself and then spent several hours with Ainge. The same drill was repeated on Thursday with the Atlanta Hawks GM Billy Knight. On Saturday the Bulls will get a look at Yi.The feedback from the workouts has been positive. Yi looks great in that enviroment. The question is whether he has the toughness to play that way when you put nine other players on the floor. Next, Yi's camp will set back and gauge feedback. If none of those teams commit to drafting Yi, then Sacramento will likely be the next team to visit. If Boston is passing on Yi, I think that means we might see a trade coming. There's talk that the Suns -- to slash payroll -- might be willing to take the No. 5 pick, Theo Ratliff's expiring contract and Delonte West for Shawn Marion. That would make Paul Pierce happy. With the No. 5 pick, the Suns could replace Marion with Yi, Jeff Green or Al Thornton. In the Suns' system, all three of those guys could play the four. Another dark horse in the Yi sweepstakes might be Portland, which is trying to get another top 10 draft pick. As I've mentioned before, the Bulls seem like a possible trading partner, with Zach Randolph involved.
If Boston could land Marion that would be great. Marion has wanted to kind of breakaway from the shadow of Amare and Nash, and he could do that in Boston. The duo of Pierce and Marion could really make Boston playoff contenders. The only problem then would be the point guard and center positions. If Rondo and Perkins stepped up, this Boston team could be very good. But, it is just a rumor.
It wouldn't be a duo of Pierce and Marion..it would be a three headed monster in Marion-Pierce-Jefferson with a potential top 10 PG in Rondo with guys like Tony Allen, Gerald Green, Wally Szczerbiak, Veteran FA coming off the bench and end up looking like a deep team even though it really isn't.
I dont get how Boston can be so dumb. It would be so smart for them to put Pierce at the SF. It just makes sense. he has a body, can shoot and put the ball on the floor. By getting another one, your eithier limiting Pierce to inside or outside. Espcially with Marion alongside. He cant play PF because of Jefferson, and now he cant play SF because of Marion. Leaving him to the SG when we have seen Pierce better at the SF. Anyways, it does add defense, so it can be good, but Id like for them to get better upfront though.
The 5th pick, Delonte, and Theo would be a pretty good price to pay for Marion. That'd be a pretty decent team with Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Marion, Jefferson as a potential starting lineup. I wouldn't be all that disappointed in that.
I'm not sure I like Jefferson at the 5 though. Rondo/Pierce/Marion/Jefferson/Perk(if not able to upgrade).
Naw, I see Rondo/Wally/Pierce/Marion/JeffersonMuch better lineup. Wally can get alotve open shots with the three big-time players.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BluffCityBlue @ Jun 8 2007, 07:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Naw, I see Rondo/Wally/Pierce/Marion/JeffersonMuch better lineup. Wally can get alotve open shots with the three big-time players.</div>No way. He would be better off the bench giving them some instant offense. He would anchor the second unit nicely.
Its a big, good rebounding lineup. And ive seen Perk play and Yeah hes pretty nice and all, but hes hurt yall at times.Although Im not sure whats going on with Wallys health.
A couple weeks ago I had a dream where Shawn Marion was a Celtic. Why? No idea, but it's kind of ironic now that I see this. That is a pretty reasonable price for Marion, though. I'd obviously much rather have a star big man, but it is VERY unlikely that happens. I would be a little skeptical at first, if we did end up with Marion. He's a guy that really thrives in a running system, ala Phoenix Suns basketball. If he comes here, we'd have to feed Big Al in the post and Pierce really isn't a guy that runs and guns, and neither is Wally. Also, just so people won't come in and say "Well, he has Amare in Phoenix, so having Al shouldn't be a problem." They are different. Big Al is a guy that really takes it to 'em 1-on-1, while Amare just goes with the flow and gets the majority of his buckets off cuts and pick n' rolls. I wonder if Marion can still be the same player in a balanced setting.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticBalla32 @ Jun 8 2007, 07:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'> A couple weeks ago I had a dream where Shawn Marion was a Celtic.</div>I had a dream that the C's trade Antoine long before it happend. I woke up literally in tears because if you can even fathom they got less in return the the real deal which ended up happening. For some reason I think Marion would look real nice in Celtic green.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>The Celtics' Danny Ainge traveled to Los Angeles on Wednesday to take a look at Yi Jianlian in a private workout. Yi worked out for nearly two hours in a gym by himself and then spent several hours with Ainge.The same drill was repeated on Thursday with the Atlanta Hawks GM Billy Knight. On Saturday the Bulls will get a look at Yi.The feedback from the workouts has been positive. Yi looks great in that environment. The question is whether he has the toughness to play that way when you put nine other players on the floor.Next, Yi's camp will sit back and gauge feedback. If none of those teams commit to drafting Yi, then Sacramento likely will be the next team to visit.If Boston is passing on Yi, I think that means we might see a trade coming. There's talk that the Suns -- to slash payroll -- might be willing to take the No. 5 pick, Theo Ratliff's expiring contract and Delonte West for Shawn Marion. That would make Paul Pierce happy.</div>If you are boston, there is no reason to pass on this if its there for you.
If they do this they'd be better off just going small. C - JeffersonPF - MarionSF - PierceSG - AllenPG - Rondo#6 - Szcerbiak SF#7 - Gomes PF#8 - Green SG#9 - Perkins C Obviously no backup point is killer, as is the lack of credible coaching, but the team could compete. Replace Rivers with Carlisle and who knows how far they could go.
