1510 the Zone is now reporting that the Celtics have made a trade for Antoine Walker. The principles involved are GP, Googs and Stewart. The Wiggle's back in town?
niiiiiiiice if this is true. I loved seeing 'Toine in Boston, he doesnt look right anywhere. I feel like bustin out the wiggle myself. hahaha jk
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Please tell me this is a lie.</div> I would not share such commentary were it not on good word. There's still no official confirmation, but 50 posters swear they heard it coming over the air. The Blog is freaking out. It's a mixture of joy, vomiting, wondering how our rebounding stats could possibly go further down. Frankly, I like the wiggle.
Here it is officially: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1998923 This is going to be an interesting half season!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting hagrid:</div><div class="quote_post">I would not share such commentary were it not on good word. There's still no official confirmation, but 50 posters swear they heard it coming over the air.</div> Oh, I don't doubt they heard it, but I worked at the Zone and I know we used to get some weird 'sources'. However, its been picked up by a couple others and pretty well confirmed. So, it's official: I have no idea what goes on in Danny's head. I thought he jumped the gun and traded Toine too early and thought that he would never trade for him again with all the bashing that went back and forth. I love Antoine, but I just feel that this puts us backwards. Unless there is a side deal that Atlanta will waive Payton so we can re-claim him I don't like giving up the best point guard we have on the roster. Maybe with the open roster spots we have now we can resign Kedrick Brown, who was released by Philly, and JR Bremer and then party like its 2002 (seriously, look for them to get Ernest Brown, last guy cut from the summer leagues). I've have really mixed emotions about this. Its like getting back together with an old girlfriend. Just color me confused is all...
I just heard this at work, and I had to come home to confirm it. (I hope that they don't notice that I'm gone. ) I really really really can't believe this. I would describe my emotions as similar to when we traded for Payton. I don't know whether I like this deal or not. I'm excited that Antoine is back, but I'm sad to see Payton go. The things I'm wondering about is whether or not Antoine is just a rental or not. If he plays well, and the team plays well, will we sign him? If you look at the deal, it's almost as if that's the case. We aren't trading for an expiring contract, because that's all we traded away. So it looks like Ainge has had a change of heart, and he's considering adding Antoine to the team for years to come. It's also strange that Ainge would do Payton like this. I mean, he wanted a contender, and we give him Atlanta? He must be so upset, and I'm wondering if he'll even report. Unless there is another deal coming, it makes no sense to me why Ainge would do that to Payton. Especially because of how he handled the whole Boston situation. Perphaps the most important question is: Will Al Jefferson give up his number 8 to Toine? Man, this is going to be interesting.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">(seriously, look for them to get Ernest Brown, last guy cut from the summer leagues)</div> I made the same comment on the blog. I think he'll get a 10 day contract very soon. I didn't really think DA and AW would coexist, but I guess since it could be for as little as a half season, it's no big deal. I'm not high on leaving the PG duties in the hands of West and Banks but they've gotta learn sometime. I always liked 'Toine. Sometimes I didn't like 'Toine's game, but I always liked him. I hope he's learned from his departure and does more of a conventional PF role in terms of the time he spends in the paint. He can rebound when he wants to and we need rebounding badly. If this means Raef goes to C, then we should see better rebounding #'s.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting CeltsMan54:</div><div class="quote_post"> Unless there is a side deal that Atlanta will waive Payton so we can re-claim him</div> Damn, here was me thinking I was going to be the first one to break the news From what I was told. There was an agreement with Boston sending 3 players to Atlanta that the Hawks would buyout GP to help clear roster space. That and they know he won't want to play for them. Which means he can then sign back with Boston. He has to clear waivers first though. None of this is confirmed but it appears likely.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AllNet:</div><div class="quote_post">Damn, here was me thinking I was going to be the first one to break the news From what I was told. There was an agreement that with Boston adding a draft pick the Hawks have agreed to buyout GP. Which means he can then sign back with Boston. He has to clear waivers first though.</div> WOW! That would be huge! I hope that's the case because that would make this deal so much more appealing to me.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 44Thrilla:</div><div class="quote_post"> Perphaps the most important question is: Will Al Jefferson give up his number 8 to Toine? Man, this is going to be interesting.</div> It looks like Walker wants it from him Ont he trade though, I don't really know what to think, this almost seems like a step backwards, a way to slow Al's progress by cutting his pl;aying time and taking away from the running game. But I am excited to see Walker back
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AllNet:</div><div class="quote_post">From what I was told. There was an agreement with Boston sending 3 players to Atlanta that the Hawks would buyout GP to help clear roster space. That and they know he won't want to play for them. Which means he can then sign back with Boston. He has to clear waivers first though. None of this is confirmed but it appears likely.</div> I talked to my guy who works for the Raptors and he said that essentiallty thats why the Hawks demanded a first round pick in the deal, cause otherwise it was expiring contracts for expiring contracts. He also said they may just straight release him, so not to chance another team grabbing him. So, after going home for a couple days while this happens and getting to see his mom, as a reward be being a Hawk (even briefly) the C's are going to give Payton the extention he wants. If its true, Gary should be more than happy: couple days off and an extention. Can you imagine a lineup of Pierce, Walker and Payton? Do you realise that essentially that deal we all hated 2 years ago now boils down to Tony Delk for Raef LaFrentz and Tony Allen? And as for the number 8, I remember that the first time the Hawks came to the FleetCenter someone asked Jefferson about it and he said he had no real affection for the number... so he'd sell it to Toine. But wouldn't you much rather he take a number that adds up to 8 like... oh, I don't know....44?
the two-headed dragon's back! he didn't have any future in atl, im glad he came back. i wonder what GP's thinking now? retirement maybe.
With the agreement regarding Payton, I feel a lot better for you guys. But I still pity you immensely. Unless there's something magic in the Boston water, and Walker regains his Bostonian form from a couple years ago, Antoine Walker is in my opinion one of the worst players in the NBA. Here's why (please note this is since he left Boston): Looking at stats from the lovely 82games.com, for players playing over 700 minutes so far in the NBA, Walker has the worst +/- of any player. In other words, Atlanta plays so much better without him, it makes me sick to think about it. With Walker on the floor the Hawks lose by about 12.3 points per 48 min. With him off the floor, they win by 5.4 points per 48 minutes. That's a 17.7 point differential by simply taking Walker off the floor! "Ya, but the Hawks play horrible defense anyway," someone said to me while I went over my first iteration of this rant. "That can't be all because of Antoine." "Or can it?" I replied. Let's take a look. With Walker on the court, the Hawks' opponents shot 51.2% eFG% (effective field goal percentage, taking into account the extra value of three pointers). That's 3.1% above the league average. With Walker off the court? I'm sure you already guessed. 45.2%, 1.9% below the league average. That's a difference of 6% in field goal defense, merely by removing Walker from the floor. 45.2% is only .4% above the best defensive team in the league, the Spurs. Bottom line? Walker is bad, real bad. For a power foward to shoot 41.3%? That's awful. For a power forward to shoot 42.9% while making one of the best offensive teams in the history of the game (that's last year's Dallas team) on average 7.6 points per game worse? That's horrible. Last time we saw a decent Walker? In Boston, where he played defense and helped his team somewhat. Yet he shot under 40% that season. Now except for nostaligia's sake, why would you want him?
I betcha' that Pierce is the happiest man on earth right now since they got Walker back. But I'm very interested in seeing how Danny Ainge and Walker get a long because it's very well known that these two don't really get along. So, as most of you has said, this should be very, very interesting...
Wow, this can to me a total surprise! Without Kenyon on the Nets, Boston definitly will make the playoffs and not lose if they face the them. I wonder who the PG is going to be on the Celts now.
I hate to see Payton go. IMO he has done a great job at the point guard. I'm still wondering if Doc Rivers can get Antoine to stop shooting so many three's and play more like a big man. The Celtics have enough shooters what we need is a quality big man. This is going to be a great second half of the season!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Need4Sheed:</div><div class="quote_post">Can someone tell me who is going to run the point now?</div> Marcus for the next few games before GP returns? The Celts win big on this one, although getting Toine could actually hurt the team, but with Philly snapping up Webber and NY stacking up fours, getting Walker was essential if Boston wanted to keep their lead on the Atlantic.
yeah, according to DA on TNT tonight, Payton will be bought out by this time tommorrow (I'm willing to bet that was the 'undisclosed ammount of money' that was send to Atlanta). He doesn't have to clear waivers and can sign with whoever. I guess its between Houston or re-signing with Boston.
