Pruitt Will Be Waived
by Jeff Clark on Jul 31, 2009 6:12 PM EDT
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52 comments
After spending two seasons with the Celtics, point guard Gabe Pruitt will be waived by the team tonight, according to a league source.
The Celtics had until tomorrow to pick up the option on the final year of his contract worth approximately $900,000, but declined. Pruitt, a highly skilled point guard from USC, never managed to crack Doc Rivers' rotation - in part because the C's coach often questioned Pruitt's aggressiveness.
Pruitt also upset members of management in February when he was arrested for driving under the influence in Los Angeles the night after the team signed Stephon Marbury as a back-up point guard. But Pruitt impressed coaches with a relatively strong performance in the Orlando Summer League earlier this month.
Pruitt played in just 62 games in his two seasons, averaging 2.0 points.
The decision comes as the C's face a number crunch as they attempt to clear roster space for free agent swingman Marquis Daniels. Pruitt's departure may also enhance rookie guard Lester Hudson's chance of making the team. The C's second-round draft pick is currently unsigned and recovering from finger surgery.
Update: The Globe reports:
"Several teams have expressed interest and we will see what happens in the next few days," said Sam Goldfeder, Pruitt's agent.
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Oh happy day! But this means no trade is coming.
by P2 on Jul 31, 2009 6:13 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Not Necessarily
It just means that Pruitt won’t be a part of it.
by Brickowski on Jul 31, 2009 6:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
But he was an “asset”, since the other team could just waive him and save money. Now it will be even harder to do a trade.
by P2 on Jul 31, 2009 6:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Good luck in Europe Gabe..
Maybe you’ll show up again in the NBA again someday..
by BWC on Jul 31, 2009 6:13 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Is Cleveland rumored to be interested?
They seem to be interested in everyone else.
by Bankshot on Jul 31, 2009 6:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
lol - nice
"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers" Henry V
by Jeff Clark on Jul 31, 2009 6:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Not really sure about that. His contract would have become guaranteed tomorrow. He would have actually COST a team MORE money..
by BWC on Jul 31, 2009 6:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
So they would waive him today and save his $840K.
by P2 on Jul 31, 2009 6:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Umm no,,
They still have to pay him the $840 K..
by BWC on Jul 31, 2009 6:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
My Understanding Is...
That the 840K became guaranteed if he were with the club on August 1. So no, they don’t have to pay him.
And the Celtics actually save 1.6 million, because they are over the luxury tax threshhold.
by Brickowski on Jul 31, 2009 6:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Can’t get too excited either way. Best wishes, Gabe.
by Thruthelookingglass on Jul 31, 2009 6:21 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I'm excited
Just for the fact that there was an actual Celtics transaction today. Feels like forever since a real move has been made, now maybe we can move onto bigger matters of interest?
by Silhouette on Jul 31, 2009 6:36 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I still
feel he has a shot as a backup PG in this league at only 23 but man he has to play with more fire. He seems way too tentative when I see him play.
by JBcat on Jul 31, 2009 6:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Same age as rondo, cant crack the rotation…this is why I think rondo gets way to much criticizm from some…..
by latin on Jul 31, 2009 6:55 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Indifference is my name ...
I don’t have strong feelings either way about Pruitt … I would most prefer that TA be disposed of, but on the other hand, Pruitt contributed virtually nil.
by rocknrollforyoursoul on Jul 31, 2009 6:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
GABE got a ring for doing nothing. Good job. I’m glad he’s gone,but to bad he wasn’t used in a trade.People didn’t see any value.Either did the Celtics.
by green20 on Jul 31, 2009 6:58 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
be well, gabe
i like this kid and i wish him good luck
by aeternus on Jul 31, 2009 7:17 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
And yet . . .
We still have TA.
Something’s wrong in the universe.
The horror. The horror.
by amenhotep04 on Jul 31, 2009 7:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
We knew he wasn't going to crack the rotation
…he will land in Memphis or with the Clippers
by OCsWestCeltic on Jul 31, 2009 7:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
why?
both of those teams have too much talent for gabe pruitt to get any minutes
by latin on Jul 31, 2009 7:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Good Luck to Gabe Pruitt
He did win a championship with the celtics! :’)
Dutch Celtic Pride
by Nowee on Jul 31, 2009 8:43 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
NO offense or anything, but he didn’t contribute to that Championship. They could have won it w/o him. Too bad he wasn’t as aggresive as RR. Now let’s pick up Bowen lol!!
What did you say to me paper champion?
-Mr.T
by CaliforniaGreen on Jul 31, 2009 11:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
The situation troubles me.
Maybe Ainge has to do it this way. But he appears to be cutting things pretty fine: sending off Pruitt, without first signing a backup point guard. The team will be solid in any case, assuming they keep Davis and bring in Daniels. But this point guard situation may prove significant in the end.
by no kidding on Jul 31, 2009 10:12 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Lester Hudson is waiting in the wings, so is Marbury. Don't forget Daniels can play PG too
if we sign Bowen, Daniels may be the backup PG
PG-Daniels
2G-House
WF-Bowen
PF-BBD
C – Sheed
by SCBirdman33 on Jul 31, 2009 10:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
about this lineup
Me likey!!!
What did you say to me paper champion?
-Mr.T
by CaliforniaGreen on Jul 31, 2009 11:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Shame he didn't work out
but no reason to think the coaching staff got this one wrong. He got paid a lot of money to sit the bench for two years. Hope he made the most of it and catches on somewhere.
by Sophomore on Jul 31, 2009 10:55 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Different people look for different things out of sports.
The reason I’m a fan is that I like to see things for myself. Perhaps the Celtics coaching staff is dead-on about Pruitt. But personally, I never saw enough of the guy to be sure he didn’t have it. In fact, during the limited minutes I saw him, I saw aspects of his game that intrigued me. Sure, I also saw things that caused me concern. But I wasn’t persuaded he couldn’t rise above them given consistent minutes.
It always sits wrong with me when a team I’m following brings a guy onto the roster, and then doesn’t play him enough for me to get a real feel for his game. Now I know my assessmet counts for nothing. But still, it’s the reason I watch. If I could be satisfied with just reading what Doc Rivers has to say about players, then I’d probably take no interest in the sport at all.
by no kidding on Jul 31, 2009 11:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
now time to decide on giddens and walker
if they bring in bowen..no way they kepp 5 guys at the wing…i would suspect they shift giddens over to the 3rd of 4th SG and try to dump walker/
i am still afraid we are stuck with tony allen
by celticinorlando on Jul 31, 2009 11:25 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
If we get Bowen, I hope he’s not the primary SF backup. I hope they give either Giddens (hopefully) or Walker a chance. If they don’t show anything, then we can default to Bowen.
With Baby (maybe) and Sheed in the lineup, 2 playmakers/slashers would do well. Especially when you have Eddie House too.
But knowing Doc, he’ll probably give Bowen the job right off the bat.
by BudweiserCeltic on Aug 1, 2009 8:09 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
i dont think giddens will play SF...he is too small
and bill walker needs to improve every aspect of his game in order to become a guys who is going to get 10 plus a game minutes…walker was lost last season defensively
by celticinorlando on Aug 1, 2009 8:24 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
He’s not too small. He’s 6’5 (taller than TA) and has a very good wingspan.
by BudweiserCeltic on Aug 1, 2009 8:38 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
giddens is a shooting guard. if they try to play him at SF
it will be a disaster. and tony allen isn’t a SF either. the fact danny thought tony could be PP’s back up last season was a joke. i honestly dont think any of the three are worth minutes on this team. giddens is a career D leaguer and bill walker has done zero to show that he can sustain important minutes for the c’s. and tony..we all know about tony
by celticinorlando on Aug 1, 2009 8:45 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Tony’s size was never a problem for us.
by BudweiserCeltic on Aug 1, 2009 8:48 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
with the bigger wings in the east..boston needs to go into
battle with more than giddens/walker and tony allen at the wing. that is a massive mismatch. everything i have seen has both tony AND giddens as SG. that is why we need to move one of them. you want to keep JR and walker…fine…keep them….they will be bodies in practice…but move tony allen because there is a glut at SG now. everyone talks about giddens being someone that can contribute…how is he going to get minutes being the 4th or 5th option at SG? same with bill walker. i would like to keep one of three and trade the other 2 for a player that is going to help..like a LEGIT #2 PG
by celticinorlando on Aug 1, 2009 8:54 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
What you have to understand about the importance of length, is that in order to have a mismatch the other player has to take advantage of it. From the SF position, very few can really take advantage of it. Players that can take advantage of it are ones that either play a post up game or a mid-range game. There’s barely anyone that plays that way.
A decent sized strong player with long arms is good enough for the position. The important part is to stop dribble drive penetration (which they can do) and be able to contest shots (which they can do with their long arms).
Their length is not a problem. With most SF playing a perimeter faceup game, a 6’5 player is good enough.
by BudweiserCeltic on Aug 1, 2009 9:05 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
It's the very few exceptions that the Celtics need to worry about.
You certainly have a point. But what’s good enough in the regular season can be proved insufficient in the playoffs. In them, the Celtics will face some very tall players out on the perimeter (Odom, Lewis, LeBron, Turkoglu, Deng). It’s against them that a few extra inches may matter a great deal. That’s why I favored getting the quickest, longest guy available, even if he had little or no offense to contribute. (Perhaps especially if he had nothing to contribute. That’d be the only way the Celtics could afford him.) And that’s why I wanted to know more about Hakim Warrick’s ability to move his feet.
by no kidding on Aug 1, 2009 9:56 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Odom rarely plays SF.
Lewis rarely plays SF.
LeBron doesn’t post up. What’s important with him more than anything is strength and speed. Not the ideal defender, but it’s better than having someone with length and be thin.
Turkoglu doesn’t post up.
Deng… he’s one player that can take a lot of advantage with his height.
by BudweiserCeltic on Aug 1, 2009 10:14 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I think Lewis will be playing a lot more small forward next season for Orlando.
by Who on Aug 1, 2009 10:37 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I agree, but it would be mostly when he’s in the starting unit in order to get Bass some minutes. Otherwise, Bass will play from the bench, and Lewis will be back to his usual role.
Also, playing Lewis as a SF will make him more of a permieter player than he already is, which will be to the benefit of many. He’s a matchup problem as a PF for most teams.
by BudweiserCeltic on Aug 1, 2009 10:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Budweiser, we’re mostly in agreement, so I don’t want to be overly contentious about this. Still, in the playoffs, opposing teams will seek to take advantage of match-ups. Where the Celtics are weak is that: one, House is too short to defend taller shooting guards (which is why I wanted to keep Pruitt, who could’ve switched with him); and two, Daniels is pretty short to back up Pierce.
I agree, Odom, Lewis and others may rarely play the 3 spot. But if I’m coaching them, they would a lot against the Celtics and Daniels. As for LeBron and Turkoglu not posting up, what I’m concerned with is them starting out by the arc, and then getting by their defender for mid-range shots or to pass off.
On the other thread, I think Afflatus made the important observation that maybe the answer will be to juggle over Garnett for spot duty.
by no kidding on Aug 1, 2009 10:55 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I would argue that from all the positions on the floor, the one that I think is less important to have lengthy player defending is the SF position.
The other part of it is that moving certain players to different positions alters their role on offense.
Of Lewis and Odom playing SF, Odom is the more scary one because he has good handle. Lewis I don’t care much for as a SF, we still have Scal in there. And yeah yeah, Scal wasn’t good against him during the playoffs. The difference this time around is that if Scal is playing SF, he has Garnett, Perk, and/or Sheed protecting the basket behid Scal. So Scal doesn’t have to be too worried about Lewis penetrating and just worry about contesting shots and funneling defensively.
by BudweiserCeltic on Aug 1, 2009 11:15 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
some day
pruitt might come back to haunt us… not out of the realm of possibility
by MS12 on Aug 1, 2009 9:18 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Good Luck Pruitt
Have fun watchin us win the chip without ya!
by jfarias on Aug 1, 2009 3:28 PM EDT via mobile reply actions 0 recs
lester hudson
the celtics might have waived pruitt, to save some money and a roster spot for lester hudson. maybe they saw sumthing in lester hudson and think he can be a good back up pg, at least i hope so, casue i dont really see any moves for a backup pg any time soon. he did average 27 ponts a game in college, he can deffinetly score the ball, and iv heard his defense is him best asset
by celtics94 on Aug 2, 2009 2:04 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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