Daily Links 8/11

Does the Bennington Banner reporter know how much was offered to Reggie Miller? Has this reporter seen Miller play in pick up games? Does this reporter know for a fact that Reggie can’t play? The rest of the article is just plain ridiculous and it’s not even funny. And why does he seem to give DA credit for putting 3 of the best players in the league on one team. As for his comments on other trades does he know the reasoning behind those trades. It obviously made no sense to trade Raef’s contract for Ratliff’s. And where are all those guys DA traded for and what’s here in their place?

Ha. The Bullets blog thinks our new Big Three is akin to their top three and we’re now in their league…

Calling that Bleacher Report piece Boston Rumors is misleading. It wasn’t based on any real info at all — just the writer’s personal hopes and rambling speculation. Blah, blah, blah. What a let-down. Not worthy of a link at all.

Also, whoever Thomas Halzach is, he mustn’t watch much basketball if he’s proposing a trade of either Powe or Davis with either Perkins or Scal for … Etan Thomas? Give me a break.

Cousin It – First, I’m Thomas Halzack., also known as tenaciousT in some quarters.

Next, I didn’t title the article Rumors. The site’s editor did. And the piece does contain at least three rumors – two legitimate ones at the time it was written ( Mutombo and Sarunas) and one internet rumor (Gomes returning). So it is not misleading.

Read the article more carefully. I never propose trading any or all of those players for Etan Thomas. I merely said that Etan ‘would be helpful’ here – and I believe he would.

If things don’t pan out as hoped with Perkins or any of the younger bigs like Powe or Davis, then Thomas is an option I would consider. But that’s just me. It was never suggested that was a trade rumor. That seemed pretty clear to me. Maybe I’m wrong.

So the article has some rumors and some personal speculation in it. I’d be happy to further discuss the logic behind the speculation if you want.

Anyway, thanks for reading it, though I’m sorry you were disappointed.

Tom Halzack (tenaciousT)

tenaciousT,
My post was really obnoxious. I guess I was hoping to hear some new rumors and got upset when I saw it was a recap and commentary on older rumors. But my reaction was arrogant. Sorry.

Despite that, I disagree with you about Thomas.

Thomas or Haywood – reportedly the Wizards need to divest themselves of one big man or the other before training camp as the two have not been sending each other Christmas cards for awhile. Would either be helpful to the Celtics? I say yes on both, though I am not privvy to information on their brain types. The problems are that: a) both players are signed for multiple years at $5-6 million per annum, and b)the Wizards are unlikely to be interested in helping a conference rival unless the deal is heavily weighted in their favor. The Celtics really don’t have the pieces to make this happen. Scalabrainy and his $3 million only get them halfway there. Including Perkins in a trade would really be just a sideways move.

The same would be true with Juwan Howard, another interesting back-up option who the T-Wolves acquired from Houston for Mike James partially at the behest of Garnett. Howard, naturally, wants out of the youth program in Minnesota, but his contract is about the same numbers as the Wiz’ duo and it’s only got a year left. As with Theo Ratliff, Minnesota is probably better served letting those contracts expire and claiming the cap space unless they are overwhelmed by some needy suitor.

Cousin it – no harm done. Don’t worry about it.

If you want to bat it around a bit…

Etan Thomas is not a perfect player – but that $6 mil a year and age 29 – who is?

Lemonadesky – good points on the the Washington ‘bad boy bigs’. Of the 2, I’d prefer Thomas, mainly because I think he plays harder, plays better defense, and gets more out out his size. Haywood is kind of a stiff to me, though he finally played better in spurts last year.

You are correct. The numbers don’t really work for a trade with our current roster’s salary structure. I was thinking that maybe a Perkins (if he continues to have problems) or Scalabrine, plus a trade exception for the difference (if that is allowed here – I think it is.) might do it.

Etan Thomas rebounds well (17th in the league per 48 of players with 10 minutes or more) and blocks shots (top 15 in blocks per 48 min.) well. I think the rest of his D is decent, too, but I can’t say for sure on that team he is on.

Washington was loathe to talk to Danny about Navarro (from what I read), so I agree that an intra-division trade with them would be unlikely.

Yet, things can and do change over the course of a season. If Washington falters and we are clearly moving forward, perhaps they would reconsider as we approach the February deadline. Maybe even sooner. As you mention, those two players well known for their dislike for each other and are hurting the team’s chemistry.

Perkins’ rebound rate per 48 (11.3) falls into the Matt Bonner/Charlie Villaneuva range. Not what I would hope for from a good center. I’m in Perkins corner – to a point – but this is the year he has to show who he is, IMO. There always seems to be something holding him back from being what we all have hoped for.

While Thomas is just a suggestion of mine, his age, skills and play-off experience would be valuable to this team, IMO.

Besides, with Thomas’s poetry, Pollard’s comedy, and Glen Davis’ enthusiasm, we would have the league’s most entertaining lockeroom – bar none. LOL. If they can play basketball together too – how cool would that be?

The main point of that piece was that the Celtic braintrust should and would look for other trade options if some pieces falter. Camby is my real favorite choice, but I wanted to suggest other names.

Dale Davis comes to mind. I’m sure there are others – like Juwan Howard – mentioned by Lemonadesky.

If Wallace and Davis prove to be the real deal that would make Brian Scalabrine an afterthought…. and tradeable.

Ouch. sorry for the long post.

T