His Name Is Robert Paulsen

Mike Bibby.

Sign Brevin Knight and trade for Emeka Okafor. Get it done Danny!

Who I think Danny has in mind: S&T for Rashard Lewis; Gerald Wallace; possibly, but not very likely, Varejao; and maybe even, just maybe, Fabricio Oberto.

We need big bodies on this roster. Why not get somebody like Oberto, who does a lot of little things well, just as he did in San Antonio.

Acquire one of the leftover Atl. forwards and then sign Knight.

If Theo can play and block shots maybe we should keep him.. at least until the trade deadline or something great gets offered

Key: ETO = Early Termination Option, P = Player Option, T = Team Option

Atlanta Hawks

Restricted: Esteban Batista, Royal Ivey

Unrestricted: Stanislav Medvedenko

Limited Salary Protection: None
—————————————————————————————————————

Boston Celtics

Restricted: None

Unrestricted: Michael Olowokandi

Limited Salary Protection: Ryan Gomes (no salary protection if waived before 7/1/07, thereafter full), Leon Powe (no salary protection if waived before 7/1/07, thereafter $150,000 and will increase to $200,000 if not waived on or before 10/1/07), Allan Ray (no salary protection if waived before 7/1/07, thereafter full)
—————————————————————————————————————

Charlotte Bobcats

Restricted: Alan Anderson, Walter Herrmann (T), Ryan Hollins (T)

Unrestricted: Derek Anderson, Matt Carroll, Jeff McInnis, Jake Voskuhl (P), Gerald Wallace (P)

Limited Salary Protection: Brevin Knight ($1,500,000 salary protection if waived before 7/1/07, thereafter full)
—————————————————————————————————————

Chicago Bulls

Restricted: Martynas Andriuskevicius, Andre Barrett, Andres Nocioni, Mike Sweetney

Unrestricted: Malik Allen, P.J. Brown

Limited Salary Protection: None
—————————————————————————————————————

Cleveland Cavaliers

Restricted: Dwayne Jones, Sasha Pavlovic, Anderson Varejao

Unrestricted: Ira Newble (P), Scot Pollard

Limited Salary Protection: David Wesley ($250,000 salary protection)
—————————————————————————————————————

Dallas Mavericks

Restricted: None

Unrestricted: Austin Croshere, Devean George (P), Jerry Stackhouse, Kevin Willis

Limited Salary Protection: Jose Juan Barea (no salary protection if waived on or before 8/1/07, thereafter full), Pops Mensah-Bonsu (no salary protection if waived on or before 8/31/07, thereafter full)
————————————————————————————————————

Denver Nuggets

Restricted: None

Unrestricted: Steve Blake, DerMarr Johnson, Eduardo Najera (ETO), Jamal Sampson

Limited Salary Protection: Anthony Carter (no salary protection if waived on or before 9/15/07, thereafter full), Von Wafer (no salary protection if waived on or before 9/1/07, thereafter full)
—————————————————————————————————————

Detroit Pistons

Restricted: Will Blalock (T), Amir Johnson

Unrestricted: Chauncey Billups (ETO), Dale Davis, Ronald Dupree (P), Antonio McDyess (P), Flip Murray (P), Chris Webber

Limited Salary Protection: None
————————————————————————————————————-

Golden State Warriors

Restricted: Kelenna Azubuike, Zarko Cabarkapa, Sarunas Jasikevicius (P), Mickael Pietrus, Josh Powell

Unrestricted: Matt Barnes

Limited Salary Protection: Monta Ellis ($100,000 salary protection if waived on or before 8/1/07, thereafter full)
————————————————————————————————————-

Houston Rockets

Restricted: Chuck Hayes

Unrestricted: Dikembe Mutombo, Jake Tsakalidis, Bonzi Wells (P)

Limited Salary Protection: John Lucas ($500,000 salary protection), Bob Sura ($1,000,000 salary protection)
—————————————————————————————————————

Indiana Pacers

Restricted: Maceo Baston (P), Rawle Marshall

Unrestricted: Keith McLeod

Limited Salary Protection: Darrell Armstrong (no salary protection), Orien Greene (no salary protection if waived on or before 7/1/07, thereafter full)
—————————————————————————————————————

Los Angeles Clippers

Restricted: James Singleton (T)

Unrestricted: Yaroslav Korolev, Jason Hart, Quinton Ross (T)

Limited Salary Protection: Will Conroy (no salary protection), Paul Davis ($200,000 salary protection if waived on or before 7/15/07, thereafter full), Daniel Ewing (no salary protection if waived on or before 7/1/07, thereafter full)
—————————————————————————————————————

Los Angeles Lakers

Restricted: None

Unrestricted: Aaron McKie, Chris Mihm, Smush Parker, Luke Walton, Shammond Williams

Limited Salary Protection: Ronny Turiaf (no salary protection if waived before opening day, thereafter full)
—————————————————————————————————————

Memphis Grizzlies

Restricted: Dahntay Jones, Tarence Kinsey (T; salary protection is none but will increase to $166,568 if not waived on or before opening day), Lawrence Roberts

Unrestricted: Chucky Atkins, Junior Harrington

Limited Salary Protection: Alexander Johnson (no salary protection if waived on or before 8/1/07, thereafter full)
————————————————————————————————————-

Miami Heat

Restricted: Earl Barron

Unrestricted: Michael Doleac (P), Eddie Jones, Jason Kapono, Gary Payton, James Posey

Limited Salary Protection: Alonzo Mourning (no salary protection if waived on or before 8/10/07, thereafter full), Chris Quinn (no salary protection if waived before 7/20/07, thereafter full)
—————————————————————————————————————

Milwaukee Bucks

Restricted: Charlie Bell, Ersan Ilyasova, Jared Reiner

Unrestricted: Earl Boykins (P), Ruben Patterson, Brian Skinner (T), Mo Williams

Limited Salary Protection: None
—————————————————————————————————————

Minnesota Timberwolves

Restricted: Bracey Wright

Unrestricted: None

Limited Salary Protection: Craig Smith (no salary protection if waived before 8/1/07, thereafter $100,000 and will increase to $350,000 if on opening day roster and to full on 12/1/07)
—————————————————————————————————————

New Jersey Nets

Restricted: None

Unrestricted: Vince Carter (ETO), Eddie House, Mikki Moore

Limited Salary Protection: Hassan Adams (no salary protection if waived on or before 7/15/07, thereafter full), Cliff Robinson ($500,000 salary protection if waived on or before 7/15/07, thereafter full)
—————————————————————————————————————

New Orleans Hornets

Restricted: Brandon Bass

Unrestricted: Devin Brown, Marc Jackson, Linton Johnson, Desmond Mason, Jannero Pargo (P)

Limited Salary Protection: None
—————————————————————————————————————

New York Knicks

Restricted: None

Unrestricted: Kelvin Cato, Malik Rose (ETO)

Limited Salary Protection: None
————————————————————————————————————-

Orlando Magic

Restricted: Travis Diener, Darko Milicic

Unrestricted: Keyon Dooling (P), Pat Garrity (ETO), Grant Hill, Bo Outlaw

Limited Salary Protection: James Augustine ($171,864 salary protection if waived on or before 7/30/07, thereafter full)
—————————————————————————————————————

Philadelphia 76ers

Restricted: Louis Amundson, Shavlik Randolph (P), Louis Williams (T)

Unrestricted: Alan Henderson, Joe Smith

Limited Salary Protection: Bobby Jones (no salary protection if waived on or before 7/1/07, thereafter $100,000 and will increase to $200,000 if not waived on or before 8/1/07 and to full on 10/2/07)
—————————————————————————————————————

Phoenix Suns

Restricted: Pat Burke

Unrestricted: Jumaine Jones, Sean Marks, Jalen Rose, Kurt Thomas (P)

Limited Salary Protection: None
—————————————————————————————————————

Portland Trail Blazers

Restricted: Travis Outlaw, Luke Schenscher

Unrestricted: Jamaal Magloire, Ime Udoka

Limited Salary Protection: None
—————————————————————————————————————

Sacramento Kings

Restricted: Ronnie Price, Justin Williams

Unrestricted: Mike Bibby (ETO), Vitaly Potapenko, Corliss Williamson

Limited Salary Protection: None
—————————————————————————————————————

San Antonio Spurs

Restricted: Matt Bonner, Fabricio Oberto (P)

Unrestricted: Melvin Ely, Michael Finley (P), Jacque Vaughn

Limited Salary Protection: Bruce Bowen ($2,000,000 salary protection if waived before 7/1/07, thereafter full), Robert Horry ($2,000,000 salary protection if waived before 7/1/07, thereafter full), James White (no salary protection if waived before 8/1/07, thereafter $100,000 and will increase to $200,000 if not waived before 10/1/07 and to $300,000 if on opening day roster)—————————————————————————————————————
Seattle SuperSonics

Restricted: Andre Brown

Unrestricted: Danny Fortson, Rashard Lewis, Randy Livingston, Mike Wilks

Limited Salary Protection: None

Toronto Raptors

Restricted: Uros Slokar, Pape Sow

Unrestricted: Darrick Martin, Morris Peterson

Limited Salary Protection: None
—————————————————————————————————————

Utah Jazz

Restricted: Dee Brown, C.J. Miles

Unrestricted: Rafael Araujo

Limited Salary Protection: None
—————————————————————————————————————

Washington Wizards

Restricted: Andray Blatche, Mike Hall, Jarvis Hayes, Donell Taylor

Unrestricted: Calvin Booth, Roger Mason, Michael Ruffin, DeShawn Stevenson (P)

Limited Salary Protection: None

I would love Nocioni btw.. im a fan.. he is a scrapper and can play dirty. Same goes with Najera .. all arent afraid to stir things up and get dirty..

Danny would be remiss not to pursue Brevin Knight and Darko Milicic. That would make this team pretty impressive. If Orlando matches any Milicic offer, then Jamaal Magloire or P.J. Brown would make sense on a two-year deal. If one of those two is signed and doesn’t pan out, they become a nice expiring contract.

they need to find guys who do not require the ball in their hands..

thanks, havlicekstoletheball

Get knight. frankly, they should have gone after him years ago. Then use Theo, Telfairy, and Green on a quality, young big.

They should go after Steve Blake. Most under-rated PG in the league.

Great headline, agreed.

Theo, if healthy, is very good for this team. Contributes without needing the ball.

Not wanting Bibby, especially with three prominent scorers on our team already. Not sure what we’d do with a Gerald Wallace. That guy is going to want to start. Or a lot of money. He can do neither in Boston.

Agree with all the pushes for Knight. Steve Blake would be a great two man, also — good idea GMoney.

i get the title. is it some tv program thing?

i dont get the title

Nowhere is Marcus Camby mentioned yet the rumor exists that Denver needs to shed salary.

Sign Brevin Knight if he’ll accept a role as a backup (or starter if Rondo hasn’t found a jumper yet).

Pesky d, has a jumpshot, makes plays and can hit free throws. No 3pt shot, but PP and Ray will cover that.

C’s still need size, so if Ratliff can play, let him. I’d only trade that contract for a healthy, talented big man.

What about Mcfarty? He is big, strong, down low dirty banger? I miss him.

Big and or defenders arent what were looking for and big and defender together
is aphemena. to think theo would last past the allstar break is naive and then to
depend on it is beyond me.
on a lighter note how about steve blake to compliment rondo

Let’s look on the bright side. If Danny doesn’t get any defensive player, then we’ll have the best of both worlds: a wildly entertaining, high scoring team that still loses enough games to qualify for the lottery and have a chance at a real franchise player in upcoming drafts. However, I don’t really think that will happen. I think we’ll make the playoffs and be in position to get a big-time free agent in a few years to join a then-developed core of Al, Rondo, Green, Perk, and TA. That wouldn’t be so bad either. But the idea that we need to be chamionship driven every year is kind of silly once you realize what it takes to be a champion. The best thing to do would be to lose every year until a true frachise player falls in your lap one year. And who wants to live through that every year? The truth is that teams have to alternate between going for it and being respectable for a while if they are going to keep their fans interested because “going for it” means losing until you get lucky. The only other way is to lure a big-time free agent, who by the way won’t want to come to a perpetually young, losing team (as we are witnessing this off season). We had our shot at the first route, and it didn’t work out. So, I for one will be happy with a few years of respectability that still keeps us in position to potentially take route #2 to a championship. And who knows? Maybe we get lucky and a Rasheed Wallace falls in our lap at the trading deadline like Detroit. Did anyone think they were on the championship path before that trade went down? Granted, it is the exception. But the alternative of staying young and losing until we get lucky is insufferable as a year-in-year-out strategy.

This is spin. Theo Ratliff is ending his career in Boston. And this makes sense. Theo = Al Jefferson’s slot when he gets is new contract. Trading Theo = Trading Al.

Lewis from Seattle works nicely and it’s been talked about during Allen’s trade for sure…we’ll score 110 per nite and screw defence…lol…Lewis,PP,Allen &AL you got a serious mix of EVERYTHING scoring-wise..plus Lewis can be a longterm 3 if either PP or Ray is traded down the line..Allen’s contract will be huge in 2 summers

Ainge continues to insult everyone who has a brain with his transparent and innane comments. Who out there really takes his comment about Theo seriously? Does anyone believe that Theo will play again?

To bring up a question of some substance, can someone please inform me as to what Danny’s philosophy for competitive basketball is? Or what his philosophy for building a winning team is? Because I’d like to know and can’t find a clue in looking at the moves he has made over the course of 4 years here. Lack of identity, lack of direction, lack of results.

i got caught up in the draft speculation and boy, did that lead nowhere. the free agent speculation is a bigger black hole. danny, i hope you know what you’re doing, because you better be doing something constructive to make this team viable. we need a big, who can play d, and a backup point or vet point.theo is another old guy who is hurt.

Migit, you forgot the third option. A lot of people would just rather see Ainge keep building through the draft and develop the youth to get to the point where they make the playoffs and become relevant that way. Then wait for that free agent signing / trade you mentioned about. I can’t recall too many teams that just started out from scratch drafting in the lottery for 4 to 5 years and built anything up to championship level especially without that “special” player you mentioned. I agree with you on not wanting to hang around the lottery for years waiting for that franchise guy to fall into our laps. That is not a strategy that would be stupidity.

Danny’s never told the truth, why would he start now?

Good one Master Po.

I think we should pursue Blake or Knight as a back-up PG and Camby or Nocioni for some size/defense on the front line.

And Theo will contribute nothing this year except as trade bait for that attractive expiring contract.

Many of the above deals make little sense, starting with Rashard Lewis. Here’s what DOES make sense given the current makeup of this team:

1. Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair and a future first for Marcus Camby and Eduardo Najera. I’m a big fan of Najera. I’ll take Reggie Evans too, if that’s what Denver wants to do. Najera has a player option which he will almost certainly exercise. He also has questionable knees, which ought to make him an Ainge fave.

2. Theo Ratliff, Gomes and a future first in a sign and trade for Darko Milicic. Clifford Ray has said on several occasions that he’d love to get his hands on Milicic and turn him into a player. He thinks Milicic is being misused in Orlando.

3. I love Kirilenko but I can’t see it happening financially.

4. Ron Artest. No, I’m not kidding. The theory would be that with both Pierce and Ray Allen in the locker room, they could keep Ron under control. And his deal is reasonable and short.

5. I wouldn’t touch Brevin Knight. You can get Orien Greene for nothing, and I love Greene’s defense more than I hate his turnovers. Knight is too short, can’t shoot. But backup pgs are a dime a dozen, and who knows, maybe Pruitt will show in Summer league that he can do it.

Let me add that (1) I puked on lottery night (2) I puked on draft night, and (3) if Ainge uses Theo’s contract to acquire Mike Bibby I will puke for a third time.

Will Alan Ray be waived today? If not, his deal becomes guaranteed.

lets get back Chauncey Billups.
billups rondo
allen allen ray
pp gg gomes
big al gomes scali(sigh)
perk big baby® theo(sigh)

this would win the east hands down

With what money are the Celtics going to sign Chauncey Billups with? And that would ultimately lead to not being able to sign Big Al.

Brevin Knight and Steve Blake are without question the two guys that Ainge should be looking at to sign. The idealistic types of big men out there are guys like Emeka Okafor and Andrew Bynum—young and talented, but already established on BOTH ends. The Ray Allen trade is basically tacitly stating that the Celtics are committing to going for it now, so Danny needs to get really creative trying to bring in a center that will help this team compete. If that means bringing in 3-4 teams to get the desired bigman, then so be it.

Brick – We sit and complain about Danny bringing in banged up players and how stupid that is but then you suggest we bring in Marcus Camby and Najera? if he did that you’d then light him up about bringing in more hurt players. Najera is another Scalabrine. Heart but not much talent.

You’re wrong about Knight if we can get him. Good backup for Rondo. I’m not real worried about either one of them shooting the ball. The only shot they will need to hit is that 16-18 footer that gets kicked out to them if their man sags down on AL. Brevin can hit that, and towards the end Rondo was doing it better as well. I sure hope he was in the gym shooting that shot all offseason.

Ron Artest is an amazing talent that should never be considered worthy of doing the C’s laundry let alone wearing the jersey. That would be one of the biggest mistakes ever made.

Orien Greene was a nice guy but if you don’t think Knight could shoot…He shot 37% from the field last year and averaged .5 assists per game… I don’t think his defense was all that good either. I seem to recall most point guards blowing right past him because he was too big. Yes they couldn’t post him up, but he couldn’t use the mis-match on the other end.

Well Master Po, if they don’t add some defense they can forget about winning games. You pays your money and takes your choice.

Their window is short now, and as someone (maybe Mark Murphy in the Herald?) said, they’d better be careful not to get their fingers caught when it slams shut.

If you are going to add the 32 year-old Allen, you might as well go after the 33 year-old Camby. He was, after all, the DPOY.

All this talk about Ratliff being healthy is alot of crap to sell him to a team like Denver, which will have a huge luxury tax bill in 2008-2009 and which needs a cheaper short-term replacement for Camby that they can sell to their fans.

It’s interesting that for the past 3-4 years we have heard about building the team through the draft. The years that we have had the highest picks ( 5 & 7 ) we traded them, and yet we continue to invest time in late first round picks and second rounders……go figure !

the $64,000 question was and is"do we try and trade AL for KG"????…“let’s get KG w/o trading AL”..

Motown – Agreed, but not a chance in h*ll that it can happen. 2 reasons. 1- Minnesota wouldn’t do it. 2- How do we pay them all and make the trade $ work…

you trade Pierce…his value to Minny or 3 way will work,..we get KG who at 36yrsold will still be better than Pierce…Allen covers the perimeter scoring….KG is a elbow guy,AL a deep post-GREAT FIT…KG help defence and rebounding……and you still got Theo’s contract…

this Pierce"one of the greatest Celtics ever" crap is just that crap…I love PP but Danny traded him for C Paul once before or tried….this will work and we keep our best 2 youngsters-AL&Rondo

gotta go…can’t wait to read comments on my thought…be kind Brick….LOL!!!!..us oldtimers must stick together

I agree with havlicekstoletheball – I think we are targeting Bibby

I see Phoenix east:
Rondo=Nash
Allen=Bell
Pierce=Diaw
GERALD WALLACE=Marion
Jefferson=Stoudamire

Do it Danny

Well, at least Bibby will help out with the defense… :’(

Sorry Motown, Pierce is not going anywhere.

I liked your first post, Po, and was thinking along similar lines. By the way, does that mean PP was dogging it last year? Look for Big Booby to sit while Scal gets minutes, until game 74 when Doc the genius suddenly discovers the new Mr. Hot Plate.

I don’t understand the “we have to go for it now” mentality. It’s not like it’s the end of the world if allen and pierce don’t lead us to the promised land by the time they are 33-34; by that time al jeff will be 25 or 26, rondo will be 24, ta will be 28, gerald will be 24, etc. That’s still a young, promising core that will have the experience (and with the team as it is now constructed, some winning experience) and the talent to win a lot of games. That is why trading Al or Rondo in order to get a KG now is stupid, because if we do that, THEN we are back at square one in three years, and if we haven’t won a championship, we will have given away one of the best, if not the best, young power forwards in the NBA in order to appease a reactionary, shortsighted star player (Pierce) and fan base.

ratliff is crap, danny knows it and is just trying to work up a trade

i think this is the time that we need to land camby

I would like Najera or Breving Knight on this team next year if they can be had cheap, and I would LOVE Gerald Wallace, although I don’t see how that would work money-wise. Unless Wyc and Company have really opened up their wallets, I don’t see us moving Theo’s contract unless its for KG, which would be really, really stupid and shortsighted.

Unless we trade for KG, none of these moves will matter much. The track record is overwhelming. With one exception (Detroit) no champion has ever won without a clear-cut franchise player. What we’re talking about here with these trades is getting bounced in the first round of the playoffs versus the second round. That’s not worth getting worked up over.

Mind you, I don’t fault Danny for strategy. He did the right thing here in Boston. He tried to aquire pieces that would be tradeable to land a franchise guy. Then last year’s injuries gave us a chance at the lottery during a franchise-player year. Thus, we actually had the opportunity to pursue both of the two proven strategies to land a championship player. The strategy was fine – it just didn’t work out. Now it’s time to sell some tickets for a couple of years before the franchise tries again…probably with another GM and coach because of the fickle, short-sighted fan base that will demand Danny and Doc’s heads on platters for essentially not getting lucky.

If you had Gerald Wallace where would you play him? The need a good defender who is tall enough to play pf, e.g. Tayshaun Prince.

I haven’t heard anyone mention this player yet – Dikembe Mutombo – that’s right, he may be old but he is in great shape and is still a definite presence! We just need him to play 20 minutes a night and be the defensive player that he is.

Didnt realise so many recognised Najera’s value.. this is good to see.Reggie Evans has exploded for high rebound figures on multiple occasions as well.. none of these guys require to touch the ball.. The problem is does Ainge think that Scal fills that role already..

The writing is on the wall in my opinion .. Bibby sounds like a target , i know he isnt a FA but taking into consideration where the Kings stand , i bet he is definately on that hitlist.

havlicekstoletheball- Najera is MARGINALLY better than Scalabrine. Same exact player except Scal shoots the 3 better. If he was our free agent pick up instead of Scal we would have a blog full of mexican food jokes instead of italian food jokes on here. If we could trade him straight across for Scal then I agree, but he is definitely not an upgrade by much at all! He only has earned the same 19 min per game that Scal did…

I disagree all Scal does IS shoot the 3 .. thats not what the difference is . I go back to my trusty hotzone pictures .

Here is Scals shot chart for last year :http://s14.photobucket.com/albums/a319/Castaway420/?action=view&current=Scal.gif

Does that strike you as a man that likes to play inside .. he averaged 0.4 offensive rebounds a game.. you know what that means , he didnt even average at least one chance at a second chance shot for one of his teammates the whole season.

Now lets take Najera : http://s14.photobucket.com/albums/a319/Castaway420/?action=view&current=najera0607.gif

See the difference ? Najera averages at least 2 offensive rebounds a game.In almost the same amount of minutes.

For posterity lets use Reggie evans as well : http://s14.photobucket.com/albums/a319/Castaway420/?action=view&current=evans0607.gif

Reggie averages 2.5 offensive rebounds a game .. These are guys who like to play inside and grab these rebounds..

Argh this is scals shotchart : http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a319/Castaway420/Scal.gif

p.s jeff i miss the edit feature.

One more for time because i suck at this :

Najera : http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a319/Castaway420/najera0607.gif

Evans : http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a319/Castaway420/evans0607.gif

Still trying to figure out why the Celtic’s went for Gabe Pruit at #32. Literature on him has contradictions. One source says that he functioned as a PG in high school as well as in college. Sources admit that although he played the point, he was in effect a SG since scoring was a necessity on his teams. Thus he is not, nor has he ever been, a pass-first PG despite prior experience at that position.

When we need a true PG because we have enough offensive firepower, why draft a “shooter” at #32? Gabe has three point range and is 6’3" in stocking feet making him a big at the PG position. Gabe was probably drafted as a Delonte “clone” in that he can play BOTH the PG and SG positions. He may be a better face-up defender than Delonte and “may” flourish in the dual role more than Delonte did. Neither player has yet to show “instinctive” passing ability nor the ability to break defenses down to the benefit of his teammates.

Herein lies the key to Gabe. He’s a quicker, more athletic version of Delonte and has the ability to get his shot off. The hope is that he can be GROOMED to become an effective PG by an experienced (veteran) PG and thus the reason we are seeking one in free agency.

Delonte may have more upside but he failed to improve last year. The guess and hope is that we’ll get lucky with Gabe and that he’ll have more upside (but not more heart) than Delonte. Gabe was rated the 5th best PG in this draft (Draft Express) and all four of the higher rated PGs had already been drafted. He brings an exciting talent and an UNDERDEVELOPED basketball IQ.

It sounds like the Celtic’s didn’t have great scouting on Gabe but his bio says that he is an excellent two-way player (offensive and defensive) with quick hands and even quicker feet, yet primarily sought as a “shooter” with range.

Murphy’s article is what we call a “media placement.” In the old days, we called it a “Big Nothing.”

Here’s how it works:

1) Ainge wants to get something of value for Ratliff’s contract. The contract has value in itself, but he can broaden his range of trade partners if there’s a team that not only wants the expiring contract, but could maybe use a backup center this year, so Ainge wants to create the perception that Ratliff isn’t an unmitigated pile of crap. Like he’s healthy and motivated. So, he looks thru his Rolodex under “Sucker Lazy Beat Reporters.” Then, he calls Mark Murphy and says, “Hey, Murph, you should see Ratliff. He looks 10 years younger. The surgery worked out great. I think he’s actually going to play this year, be a real contributor.”

2) Murphy knows this is crap, but he wants a story to pitch to his editor, and he doesn’t want to do any actual work. So he writes the story.

3) Ainge is happy because he believes there might be a GM stupid enough to believe Ratliff is healthy who wants a washed-up undersized center. He got his media placement—like getting a paper to print a press release verbatim for him.

4) Murphy is hapy because he got to take a day off, essentially.

Why is it called a “Big Nothing?” Because there really is no story. It’s just fluff. Hot air. But if you write it well enough and put it in a paper that some people believe has credibility, it seems like something. Before you know it, fans are on a blog saying, “Hey, what if Ratliff really is healthy?”

Please don’t fall for it.

(Lesson courtesy of the Northeastern U. journalism department)

havlicekstoletheball-Those are great links. I am not disagreeing with you that Najera likes to get his activity around the basket where Scal does it from the outside. The net result though is not much different. Both of these guys can come in and give a solid defensive effort against bigger and better PF types. Both players only get a handful of minutes. Both players only put up 3-4 shots a game so what does it really matter. Both players put up a fight but neither is really worthy of minutes on a good team. That is why Dallas shipped him out and NJ let Scal go. I said I agreed that Najera was a little better, but either way you have a guy that should be your 12th man.

Concur with EJPLAYA, Najera is the same type of roll player as Scal and we still have Poe and Big Baby to give some minutes to.

Ratliff is a desirable commodity whether he plays or doesn’t play. If he can play he offers the possibility of a good inside defender. If he can’t play then insurance pays most of his salary and what owner wouldn’t be pleased to save around 8 million while he gets a necessary expiring contract?

I don’t think that Gomes or Perk will be made available for a Camby trade. Bassy may go or Scal or some other player but Perk is part of this team’s core and Camby would be a short term rental only. Besides, Camby is injury prone and us without Perk (in the event Camby is injured) would compound our inside lack of size. Gomes may well be our 6th man….too valuable to give away.

Ratliff’s expiring contract…for a team in danger of a large “luxury tax”… has even more value than Ratliff’s contract amount since luxury tax is a twofold multiple of the amount over the spending limit…. A heavy penalty for exceeding spending limits!

I was trying to find my post where i mentioned to propose the #5 for Ray Allen a month ago so i can gloat but i cant find it..

Im sticking to this Bibby thing as well..i bet they target him as well..

http://www.celticsblog.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=776&Itemid=33#jc_writeComment

Last post :P

You were dead on with that one. Sure glad we gave up the trade we did vs. the one you threw out there. GG has more upside than DWest and Wally is less valuable than next years pick.