This is a great post …THANK YOU

Danny had the benefit of RED’S great council but he did not understand the depth of RED words. Danny won’t last long

 We are all Celtic fan’s we can agree on that. Now what every one wants is fairness RIGHT!! It has to work both ways, for players and the team. When you here players say they want money…all the money they’re worth (Stehon M.) in the past. How can we condem them when a team treats a player like Powe, like garbage. It has to work both ways. Players are not stupid…if players cannot get your loyalty thin how can you expect to get theirs?

A good business deal used to be everyone walked away feeling pleased with the result. Now the norm is if you don’t stick your finger in someone’s eye it’s not a good business deal. The celtics were founded on loyalty and then winning. Do you people think all the past Celtic players ( Cousy,KC Jones. Sam Jones Tommy H., Bill R., Jo Jo W. Hondo) were payed there true financial worth. Of course they weren’t. But they did it and from there loyalty came this steller franchise.

RED understood this but Danny — will nevr understand it.

Leon might never play again! When will this stupidity stop??

There’s no point signing Leon. He probably wont sign with anyone until February or March – and it might be us at that point. Until then, we have an older team and need the backups and roster spots.

Leon is badly, badly hurt and its going to be a loooong road back. No one should be upset we didnt resign him. We’re letting him use our facilities and doctors until he’s healthy again – and we very much left the door open. He never for a second expected us to resign him this summer given his injury.

alskor you are 100% right!

this stuff has to stop. I consider Boston fans to be smart and fair minded. but this whole town is beng ridiculous. I’m a nice guy, i can beat my friends in my backyard… danny why don’t you sign me as your 4th big? sure i’m 6’1"…. but i’m a really nice guy.

I totally understand that. Im bummed out.

What I dont get is being angry at the team or Danny for making an obvious, no brainer choice.

we absolutely, absolutely could have Leon. The point of this article isn’t to urge an offer for Leon based on sentimentality, it’s to remind people of how good Leon was for us, and I don’t know how anyone can deny that. We need bigs. Bad. We know Leon can perform for us. Yeah he’s coming back from a major injury, but guess what, guys in their mid-20’s do it ALL THE TIME in the nba.

Offer him a contract not because you feel sorry for him, offer him a contract because HE IS A GOOD PLAYER WHO CAN, AND HAS, HELPED US!

Leon was a great player for us, but his knees are a big issue. It’s been a staggering problem, which is never good, and even if he does come back strong, we can offer him a contract mid-season. I’m quite sure he’ll be available

Let’s pretend Danny does sign Powe. Fast forward a few months…everyone will be complaining about how he wasted the roster spot and could have used it on [insert player’s name here].

I have to assume that Danny is doing the right thing and probably has other ideas for the spot. We can always try to sign Powe later on if we still have a spot.

for jontookem. Sure it’s a business BUT sometimes you have to have a heart.

Bring back Leon!

I hope we keep pushing this here because there is no sound basketball reason for not giving the 15th roster spot to Leon.

he would sign for one year for short money and would be taking a roster spot of another player who also is going to be sitting in a suit at the end of the bench. I’d much rather that dude be Leon who could become a contributor by the end of the season and otherwise is a great person to have chemistry wise.

you know one thing that will definitely happen with Leon this season, he will work hard.

Everyone is taking up way too much space on this site crying about Leon Powe, move on to real news for goodness sake. Paying someone close to a million dollars just cause they’re a good person makes zero sense, what if this was your money, would you seriously want to do that?

That fact is we have a lot of priorities that come before giving away a roster spot, and as the offseason goes on I’m sure we will be monitering Leon’s progress and we can go from there. I’m more interested in winning than being a good guy, and I’m glad DA thinks the same way.

Amen. great post. It doesn’t make any sense. Why not make an offer for the minimum? to just let him walk is absurd, and makes me question where Danny’s head is? Danny deserves a ton of credit for assembling a championship team. But he then let Posey leave, and didn’t attempt to replace him; he whiffed on signing o’bryant, whiffed on missing out on anderson and matt barnes. and now, guys like leon are crucial to most winning teams.

Think with his brain…..NOT with his heart!

You think Danny didn`t agonize over this?
You think Danny enjoyed breaking the news to Leon?
You think Danny didn`t consult medical experts before deciding?

Did you see Wyc “over-rule” Danny, and insist on Leon being signed?

Do we see anyone giving credit to Danny…for being the only GM in the NBA to give Leon an opportunity to play in the NBA back in 2007?

I’m pretty sure there is a clear consensus that the wrong decision was made with Leon. I agree that we should get over because there is not much we can do, and complaining won’t help any. It MIGHT help if you Danny Ainge brown-nosers would shut the hell up with your stupid repetitive arguments. It’s the same people saying the same dumb stuff. We don’t agree with it, you do, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t shut up already as well. We do however have every right to show our unhappiness with Ainge. In addition to that, our reasons MAKE SENSE. So until you come up with better arguments no one cares what you say. Go kiss his ass somewhere else.

In this economy no team is going to give a roster spot to an injured backup.

When he’s a month away from returning, that’s another story.

Powe will likely re-sign with the Celtics when that time comes anyway.

And chances are he won’t be an impact player again until next year. So if a different team does sign him it’s not going to make a difference because it’s not going to be anymore than a one year deal.

This ain’t baseball where the Red Sox can pick up John Smoltz and stash him in the minors until he’s fully rehabbed. There are only 15 spots on an NBA team and they need someone who can actually play in practice & games, especially considering the age of this team. When Powe is ready, they will cut the 15th man running around with an unguaranteed contract. Or free up a roster spot via trade.

You are complaining about Ainge signing all these guys who weren’t that good, but at least they were capable of stepping on the court. Cassell wore a suit all year but he could have stepped on the court if they needed him to. Powe can’t do that.

Steve Francis is hurt too but I don’t see you berating the Rockets for dumping him.

Alonzo Mourning was hurt last year but I don’t see you berating Miami for not signing him as he rehabbed his injury.

Powe is not the first injured player to not get a contract, and he won’t be the last. What if his rehab doesn’t go as planned and he has to miss the entire season? Then you’ll be here complaining about how they flushed 1.6 million down the toilet.

remember when people complained non stop about sam cassell and patrick o bryant on this team, and not having a full team an entire year hurt us?

danny learned from his mistakes

Jeff, You mentioned taking calculated risks. After reading your letter, I’m now hoping that’s what Danny is doing. Taking a a calculated risk that Leon is available at a later point, once maybe once the 13th spot is filled.

Anyway, nice job!

I should have previewed before posting.

You guys have to be kidding. Give a contract to a player that may never play again? You bunch of crybabies.

If Leon is able to play again I have no doubt Danny will try to sign him. If Leon can’t paly again, I have no doubt the C’s will find a job for him. Quit your whining!

But besides loyalty, there are basketball reasons to re-sign Leon Powe.

For the Celtics fans who don’t believe Powe deserves at least a minimum contract:

1) Don’t assume he won’t recover from his knee injury. NBA players come back from multiple knee surgeries all the time. Powe, with his work ethic, should get the benefit of the doubt here.

2) NBA teams can dress only 12 players, but can carry 15 on their rosters. Do the Cs have three young players who aren’t ready to contribute right now, but have more character and promise than Leon Powe? No. Since Giddens and Walker are under contract, I can see them taking two of the spots. Assuming DA can’t make a 2-1 or 3-2 trade using one of the expiring veterans like Scal and TA, I’d keep Powe over Pruitt, and let Hudson develop in Europe.

3) Assuming the Cs sign Rasheed, Powe will be a great fourth big in the playoffs. He can get to the line better than most of the bigs in the league, and he has the knack of impacting a game the minute he checks in, something very important for a sub who gets limited minutes.

4) Loyalty and character. Powe is one of the best human beings to wear the Celtic Green in recent history. His work ethic is unassailable and his toughness and determination is inspiring. What kind of message does it send to the rest of the Celtics, as well as potential FA signees across the league, that the team won’t throw a piddling $800k (even doubled with luxtax) for a fallen soldier? (And one hurt in battle, and not on a motorcycle or snowboard?)

To be honest, I’m embarrassed to be on a site where so many of the posters don’t recognize the loyalty factor in this situation. With all due respect, and as a guy who has been following the Cs religiously since the late 60s, you make me sick.

My thanks to the OP for pointing out what should be clear to all Celtics fans. You can’t buy character, although the Celtics can hire some, for a measly (in NBA terms) $800,000.

First of all I share your embarrassment; indeed I have told several people that I was embarrassed to be a Celtics fan this week. But beyond the warm-hearted, feel-good reasons for re-signing Leon, there is a cold, calculated reason too.

The Celtics had all the negotiating leverage, they could have given him a two-year deal at the minimum, with the second year a team option. If Leon comes back for the late season and playoffs, we could get a year and a half out of him at absurdly low cost for a player of his impact. Think of it, a year and a half of Leon for less than we’ll pay Giddens this year alone.

And as far as spending other people’s money, doesn’t the insurance pay the players’ contracts when they are injured? Isn’t that why Raef LaFrentz was so valuable last year?

and can anyone answer this question for me:

Is the guy they keep at the end of the roster instead of Leon going to have the ability to score 21 points on only 7 shots in only 15 minutes in an NBA Finals fame?

I don’t want to see Powe in an Orlando, Cleveland, or San Antonio uniform this spring. For purely basketball reasons, keeping Powe at the minimum is a no brainer.

When he’s all the way back from his injury, I hope all the ‘experts" on here who wanted to abandon him will post on here and admit what disloyal muttonheads they had been. (as I will admit I was wrong if Leon doesn’t make his way back from injury).

You don’t have to admit you’re wrong about anything. I believe you’ve laid out all the risks and it should have been worth the gamble for the Celtics. If Leon didn’t make it back, then Leon would have been fairly compensated for the year for a job well done during his 4 years with the Celtics and Karma would have been restored. If Leon did come back, then the Celtics would have had a nice underpaid PF for a few seasons.

I agree make the offer to Powe and let Pruitt go because he will not crack Doc starting 12.

Also, if Powe is such a money risk what happens when players are payed but become “Unable” to play. Doesn’t the insurance pay for this type of injury? If so, no cost to Celts.

I think back into last year when management took the Bruins lead of not spending the extra dollars to grab a championship.

They screwed around with Posey….who in my opionion was the key player off the bench and late in games who never was replaced. They didn’t want to pay the luxury hit thus we saw what Starybury & Moore brought to this team in crunch time. ZERO!!!!!!

http://loscy.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/an-open-letter-to-danny-ainge-why-you-messed-up/

hopefully Leon will be added to the roster before the year is over.

Letting Leon walk now is worst than that trade for Joe Johnson I still dont think he can ever recover from that one