CELTICS GREEN BLOG by and for boston celtics fans: Ponder the Possibilities

by FLCeltsFan 9:09 PM

Danny said that we will be signing Davis and Pruitt this week. That will give us 15 players under contract with a payroll over $70 million. The roster looks something liks this:
PG: Rondo, Pruitt
SG: Ray Allen, House, Tony Allen, Manuel
SF: Pierce, Posey, Scal, Wallace
PF: Garnett, Powe, Davis
C: Perk, Pollard

Of the 15 players signed, only Manuel isn't guaranteed. On the depth chart, we do have players who can play more than one position. House, Tony and Ray Allen can all play the point in a pinch. Scal can play PF as well as SF. Pierce, Posey, and Pruitt can play SG. Powe can play center on a small ball lineup as with his long arms, he is bigger than his listed height. But, looking at the depth chart, We could use more help at the 1 and 5 positions. Although we have other players who could fill in at these positions, we are still weak there.

We can get that help by trading or by using the LLE or the vet minimum. We have very few assets left to trade, however. The LLE is a bi-annual exception that can be used either this year or next and is worth $1.83 million this season and will be worth $1.91 million next season. We can also sign more players using the veteran's minumum.

There are still a lot of centers and PGs who are still unrestricted free agents and as we get closer to the season, I am sure many of them would be glad to sign a minimum contract to play on the Celtics and have a chance at a ring. Here is a run down of unrestricted free agents who we may be able to sign.

Center
Calvin Booth, 6'11", 8 years experience. Averaged 3.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.0 blocks for his career. Huge wingspan, good shot blocker,runs the floor well.

PJ Brown, 6'11", 14 years experience. Averaged 8.4 points, 7.9 points,.9 blocks for his career. Very tough player, good defender, great as setting screens, hard worker. Looking for more than the vet minimum.

Kelvin Cato, 6'11", 10 years experience. Averaged 5.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.2 blocks for his career. Good leaping skills, can block shots and rebound, conditioning is a question.

Dale Davis, 6'11", 16 years experience. Averaged 6.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, .9 blocks for his career. Tough post player and good rebounder. Not an offensive threat. Still in good physical shape.

Melvin Ely, 6'10", 5 years experience. Averaged 6.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, .6 blocks for his career. Has above average physical skills, strong and runs the floor well. Has finals experience.

Dikembe Mutombo, 7'2", 16 years experience. Averaged 10.1 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.8 blocks for his career. Long arms, excellent shot blocker, slow in the open court, limited offensively, but makes a big difference on the defensive end. Wants to stay in Houston.

Michael Olowokandi, 7'0", 9 years experience. Averaged 8.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.3 blocks for his career. Has great size and good mobility, has a nice hook shot. Has underachieved his entire career. But, would make sense to bring him back for the vet minimum to give us 5-10 minutes a night. He knows the system and played well last season when he wasn't injured.

Vitaly Potapenko, 6'10", 11 years experience. Averaged 6.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, .3 blocks for his career. Good size, good hands, and decent footwork. Brings toughess on the boards.

Jamal Sampson, 6'11" 5 years experience. Averaged 2.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, .4 blocks for his career. Has potential but very raw. Has good athleticism but attitude is a problem.

Jake Tsakalidis, 7'2", 7 years experience. Averaged 4.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, .7 blocks for his career. Great size and brings an intimindating presence in the paint. Has a decent hook shot, mobility is not very good and is foul prone.

Kevin Willis, 7'0", 21 years experience. Averaged 12.1 points, 8.4 rebounds, .5 blocks for his career. Still in decent physical shape, works hard on conditioning, fierce rebounder. May not have enough left in the tank.

Point guards
Earl Boykins, 5'5", 8 years experience. Averaged 9.8 points, 1.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists, .6 steals for his career. Shortest player in the league, has amazing ball handling skills, excels under pressure but a liability on defense because of his size and gets posted up often.

Troy Hudson, 6'1", 9 years experience. Averaged 9.1 points, 1.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists for his career. A combo guard who is a better scorer than playmaker, can drive to the basket, tends to be inconsistent and injury prone.

Darrick Martin, 5'11", 12 years experience. Averaged 7.0 points, 1.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists,.7 steals for his career. Good scorer and good assist to turnover ratio.

Jeff McInnis, 6'4", 10 years experience. Averaged 9.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists for his career. Has good size, plays under control and takes care of the ball, has a good mid range shot, can be a good defender, attitude is a question mark.

Keith McLeod, 6'2", 4 year experience. Averaged 5.5 points, 1.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists for his career. Quick point guard with good first step, has a great crossover, hard worker.

Gary Payton, 6'4", 17 years experience. Averages 16.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 1.8 steals for his career. A great competitor, very saavy player but is just a shell of what he once was. May still be able to contribute some mentoring and 10-15 mpg off the bench.

Mike Wilks, 5'10", 4 years experience. Averaged 2.5 points, 1.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists for his career. Has great quickness, is a good defender, good attitude, but undersized.

There have also been a couple of point guards who have been rumored to be traded or waived. Sam Cassell is one and Sarunas Jasikevicius is another. There may be others and possibly Danny is going to wait until after training camp to see who is cut and who may be available then. There are also plenty of restricted free agents left and that may be a possibility as well. There may be restricted free agents whose teams don't have any desire to keep them and wouldn't match the minimum offer if given.

We certainly can play with the roster we have now, but it would be nice to have more depth at the center and point guard positions. As outlined here, there are plenty of possibilities, now we just wait and see which ones Danny takes.

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