What do you think the Celtics should do in the offseason. Who do you think they should draft? I'm hoping they get a big man like Schortiansis or The Russian who's 7'4. I also want them to get a PG who will be able to get veeryone the ball, maybe Luke Ridnour or the Brazilian PG Barbosa. Another possibility is Gilbert Arenas, if they can sign him.
this has nothing to do with the draft, but i heard they're gonna have Walker strengthen his legs & lose weight
yea. danny ainge as talked to walker about what he expects and walker has never been more focused for an off season. expect him to come to camp in the best shape of his recent career. he won't be much better next year than he has been but still an all star
they arent going to get gilbert arenas because they have no money to sign him; they arent going to get noticeably better anytime soon, because they have baker and walkers huge salaries counting against them, and along with pierce's contract this gives them hardly any room to get a better supporting cast, which is one of the worst in the league. their best hope is to do as best they can in the next 2 years i think, then walker and baker's contract will be done, and they should have some room to do things. baker wont be back then, walker will be 2 years older and they will either trade him in maybe his last year of the contract, or sign him at a much lower rate for his next contract. their only chance is to get lucky in the draft and get a couple real good players. which they havent done lately, and then traded the ones they have drafted, but at least that should be different under danny ainge.
Boston Herald: "Danny Ainge will not be opening the Celtics' wallet for Antoine Walker this summer, despite the co-captain's desire for a contract extension."
He doesnt need an extension yet. he still has time left on his contract to prove hes worthy of an extension. people talk like hes the reason the celtics havent been winning championships. if anything hes a big reason they made playoff runs each of the last two years and almost made the finals last year. Its not like its a safe bet that his best is behind him either. were not talking about dikembe mutumbo here. antoine is only 26. The supporting cast is certainly not championship caliber but theyre underrated if u think theyre the worst in the league. Eric Williams is one of the better defenders in the league, is big and has decnt post moves. he could score a lot more if he had to. Walter McCarty is certainly no force but is one of the great character and hustle depth players in the league and can also be a deadly three point shooter when left open. JR Bremer was a steal as an undrafted rookie and once he started was putting up 13-17 points a game and hsould only get better. he could easily become a tony parker like player. They arent bad players. theyre just 4-8 guys when they probably should be 7-11 guys with the ecxeption of the up and coming young bremer. Kedrik Brown is a painfully late bloomer due to a bevcy of injuries hes suffered since being drafted but when u whatch him in the summer league and practice u know he could be a star. Hes an extremely athletic player with better ups than jason richardson and as tough defensive skills as kenyon martin. All things considered though the signiture franchise of the NBA is still a couple years or a dominant Center away from having a real chance to compete for a championship where they deserve
i think its pretty obvious ainge would like to get rid of walker and would if he could get somethin good in return, but he's probably not gonna be able to do that, so he has to hold on to him for now. it seems like walkers about 32 or something, not 26 almost 27. its kinda sad about eric williams, in like his 2nd year he averaged 18/game over the first like 4, then got hurt for the year and has never done much since. as for bremer, i like him but its no sure bet he'll get a lot better, he seems like a reserve that can come in and hit some three's, but thats about it. but we'll see this season if he can start at the point or not. as for kedrick brown, its one thing to be a 'star' in the summer league, its another to be a star in the real nba. not to mention will he ever be healthy enough to get a decent shot? the celtics might not even resign him after this year when his contract is up i think. he may be a great athlete but he's not near the defender martin is, and if he were, then he'd be starting and playing a lot when not hurt. celtics have a lot of problems, but at least for them theyre makin the playoffs lately
Tru its hard to foresee how bremer will do in the long run especially at his size but whenever you get uindrafted rookie who has a season like he had u know theres potential. u might be right about kedrik brown with his health but he definetly has the skills. and his defense is comparable to kenyon martins. hes a SF but he can gaurd PFs and Centers and this guy can fly, its fun to whatch i hope he gets back to the slam dunk comp. i do hope the celtics resign him but i could see it not happeneing if he doesnt start progressing fast. Im not convinced Ainge wants to get rid of walker. he stated right out that he was not going to make that call. Cant blame him. pepole dont like Walker but usually its not a great idea to trade the second best player and co-captain of your team. The celtics chemistry might suffer even if they got someone of toines caliber in return.
ainge isnt gonna say anything public to undermine walker or hurt his confidence, but on tv telecasts b4 he was with the celtics it was obvious ainge has doubts about walker. but walker is most likely gonna be with the c's til at least his last year of his contract and then traded to a team who either really wants him for whatever reason, or wants to have him and then get his salary room after the season. i think it would be cool if ainge could actually get vin baker to play halfway well this season, although that is extreeeeeemely unlikely
Vin Baker will never play another game. or at least wont have another good game. its not that Ainge didnt say he wanted to trade Walker. he came out publically and went on about how he had no plans to trade walker, and would NOT "make that phone call." He got some criticism for it but i think hes making the right move. Walker has a new personal trainer and regime this summer. hell come back in better shape. if theyre gonna trade him , they should wait til he drives up his value and gets selected to his fourth all star team.
i dunno, it seems like walker should come in next year in better shape, but i think he's just about maxed out his stats, unless he has a reversal in his way of playing and really really tries hard every game, which i dont think he's gonna do for the whole season. i think a change of scenery would be good for him, although i guess it doesnt really matter. he'll get his best stats with the celtics, but he's not good enough to get them to the finals, and pierce isnt good enough to get there with walker as his sidekick, they should trade walker for rasheed wallace, i could see walker playing on portland. i dont think portland would do that though, and that would be a good trade for celtics, but i havent thought out all the possible trades for walker,
id take walker over rasheed any day. but what does it matter the celtics havent won a title for 16 years and nevery will again for all i know. the franchise went down the drain cuz of cocaine. it stayed down cuz of bad luck.
i think the celtics are going to take a big man with their first pick, then someone like Troy Bell with their second selection of the 1st. i wish they had some cap room to get arenas, or at least baker came back and played half way decent
you could be right there... a lot of the quality big men will be gone at #16. But maybe some of the european big men will be there... but the risk would be higher, it could be a bust....
He's listed at 6'8, 260... that would make him an undersized big man, comparable to Malik Rose... Several draft sites are predicting he's going to the Sonics at #12 though...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting "pchotsauce":</div><div class="quote_post">Mike Sweetney is a quality big man that i doubt would go top 16...maybe top 25...</div> err no....sweetney is expected to go top 10....
