CELTICS GREEN BLOG by and for boston celtics fans: Fiddlin' and Diddlin' on 7/2

by FLCeltsFan 9:55 AM

It seems odd to me that 5 days before Summer League and on the day our 3 new players are going to be introduced, the Boston papers don't have any Celtics news. Today at 11 they will be introducing Ray Allen (#20), Big Baby Davis (#11) and Gabe Pruitt (#13) as the newest members of the Celtics. I don't know if there will be coverage on FSN or NBA TV or not as it isn't on the schedule so far.

Summer League starts on Friday and there still isn't a roster posted. Doc mentioned that Big Baby, Smilin' Gabe, Rondo, Green and Powe will be on the roster. On NBA.com I found that they signed Powe, but couldn't find where they picked up Allan Ray's option, but there aren't reports about him being released, either. So we may or may not get to see Allan Ray and Ray Allen on the same team. Interesting again that there was no report in the Boston papers about the Celtics picking up Powe's option. Back to Summer League, there was a report some time ago that Albert Miralles and Sergio Sanchez from Spain will be there. A George Washington newsletter reported that former GW point guard TJ Thompson has been invited to the Celtics SL team also. More as it becomes available.

Bob Ryan has a post in his blog that pretty much puts Danny on the hot seat.

On a list of improbable, no-one-of-sound-mind-and-sober-judgment-would-ever-do-such-a-thing acts, trading the fifth pick of the NBA draft in a juicy year chock full of potential All-Stars for a 32-year old shooting guard would have ranked at the bottom. On the other hand, I rather like Big Baby.
Um, Danny, this is not what any of us had in mind. The five for a 27-year old anything of proven substance? Yeah. The five for Pau Gasol? Yeah. But the five for a banged-up 32-year old shooting guard? Waiter, give me a double. No, wait. A triple.
I'm not very happy about losing Delonte West, either. And I was also of the opinion it would be worth one more go-round with Wally. I am truly gobsmacked.

Over on CelticsBlog, Jeff has been inhabited by some alien lifeform who wants to scrap all rebuilding plans and trade half the team for KG. I personally would rather keep Big Al and go for a smaller trade to bring in a big that won't cost us our future.

I am monitoring the Yi saga in Milwaukee. Danny has said that if he had kept the pick, Yi would have been it. Yi scored 15 points and struggled in his first outing after the draft as the USA under 19 team beat the Chinese team. In the meantime, his agents are working hard to try to get the Bucks to trade him to a team with favored status.

Green Bandwagon has a tribute post to Delonte. I really am going to miss that guy. He really has a lot of heart and I am positive that the team is going to miss that this year.

In an interesting post on MetroBlog we learn that Pierce, Kobe and KG were all offered for the first pick.

"As he (Blazers' gm Kevin Pritchard) drove to Eugene to watch a play with his daughter on May 23, less than 24 hours after winning the lottery, Pritchard took a call from an Eastern Conference general manager, with whom he had past dealings.
"The executive made an offer that was moderate in shock value: A five-time All-Star and this year's lottery pick in exchange for the No. 1 pick and the Blazers' 2008 first-round pick.
The player had to have been::
Paul Pierce, the explosive small forward of the Boston Celtics. We know this because of all the players on Eastern Conference lottery teams, Pierce is the only five-time All-Star.

On the first day of free agency, there were several signings already and lots of activity. Vince Carter is staying in New Jersey, just getting a lot more money. Luke Walton is staying with the Lakers. Kapono jumps ship in Miami and signs with the Raptors. In the meantime, there are 8 teams reportedly chasing Gerald Wallace, but the Celtics aren't mentioned as being one of them. Rashard Lewis has met with Sonics team officials as well as travelled to Orlando to meet with the team there.

The Hartford Courant has an article that reminds us that the Ray Allen signing hasn't done anything to answer one of the Celtics biggest needs: defense.

And while Allen loves to score as much as Paul Pierce, the veterans could mesh - Allen throwing up jumpers, Pierce driving through the lane. With Al Jefferson emerging as a low-post scorer, these Celtics won't lack for offense.
Stopping the other team from scoring, though, is the challenge. Jefferson isn't a defensive presence and Kendrick Perkins doesn't have the physical skill to be a shot-blocker. Ryan Gomes is an undersized power forward.
Allen and Pierce aren't about to become defensive stoppers at this stage of their careers. Tony Allen could be a good defender, but he's coming off an ACL injury and it might take a year for him to get his footing.
So expect lots of offense at both ends of the parquet this season. Just don't expect many wins for the home team.
Because if Ainge is finished dealing, the Celtics are in trouble. Most assume there's another deal in the works - maybe for someone such as Andrei Kirilenko - but it's hard to figure what Ainge might do next.

The next big thing is Summer League. I can't wait to see how our new rookies do and how much progress our returning players are making. Has Rondo found his jumper? Is Powe learning the plays? Has Green improved his defense? Stay tuned for more info as it becomes available!

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