Leon Signs With Cavs

Powe scored 21 points IN LA….. IN THE FINALS?

Remember that Danny? Sheldin freaking Williams? Seriously?

Danny didn’t even CONSIDER bringing him back. I’m dumbfounded and vaclemped.

Leon was our most efficient low post scorer in years. I dont know if his knees will allow him to play, but he must have been disappointed that the Celts didnt even want to take a chance on him when the Cavs were willing to risk it. If he gets to play against us, you will be sure he will give 500% to beat us. Ill laugh my bejezzus off if he helps the Cavs beat us. Sometimes Danny leaves me wondering – but of course I havent walked 20 miles in his moccassins.

but Leon decided to take this personally. Nevermind the C’s were the only team willing to take a chance on him in the draft.

I may be in the minority here, but I just can’t see Leon Powe being the X-Factor in the playoffs..
>>How’s he gonna get a shot off with the length we have up front?
>>How’s he gonna go off for 10 boards?
>>Is he really gonna want to take all those charges now that his career depends on his re-re-repaired knees?

Not to mention…
>>His game will change
>>He won’t really know the system
>>He won’t be able to earn a rotation spot easily
>>He’s gotta do “his thing” with Z and Shaq, and that Dunk-Gate guy in the way.

Tough, tough spot for ol’Leon.

Can’t wait to kick his ass in the playoffs! Go C’s!

I miss Leon already although I’m glad he got a contract somewhere. I just wish he’d signed with a team I didn’t hold such contempt for or at least joined the Suns where I could be reassured his rehab would be in excellent hands sigh.
I hope he has a great (but championship-less sorry Leon) career in Cleveland.

what’s the history of guys with twice-torn ACLs? Anyone know of any examples?

They couldn’t afford to take the chance on Leon. The Cavs only went for Leon because he was basically their last option. The Celtic owners are spending obscene amounts of money on this team this year. Extreme risk mitigation through the signing of a healthy Landlord was the prudent choice, if not the most popular one. Celtics chose to get a player than can help keep KG, Perk, and Sheed fresh for the playoffs from day one. The Celtics can’t afford to take a flyer on a guy who will likely never to return to what he was..

although, I wish him the best.

Think of the opportunity cost too. It’s huge. A 10-min a night guy like Landlord can cut KG’s minutes by a 1/3.

One would think that Powe was an all-star talent. He sucked 2 seasons ago during the playoffs. He played better last year, but became quite the blackhole on offense.

There’s nothing to regret here. Bye Powe, it was nice having you, but this year in particular we’re better without you. Shelden is a great replacement for him, we got Sheed, and kept Baby.

So can we stop crying now and go win us a ’ship?

Only time will tell if it’s a mistake. Powe may never play again or he may get back to were he was. I wish him the best and the Cavs the worst.

which wasn’t everyone here, I think it’s extremely telling that he had interest/offers from many top caliber teams. Much like his life, he creates something useful from nothing. He didn’t need to feed off other players to get his shot, and he didn’t get only the occasional rebound. Many of his points he created himself, and he forced a large number of offensive fouls on opposing star players. I’ll still root for him, b/c I thoroughly enjoyed watching him play more than several of the celtics we had the past few years.

looks like Leon took this personally. Anyway, it was bittersweet.

Still hands down to DA I hope he made the right choice.

I will never root for a jersey colored red/white/blu-ish which has letters C-L-E-V-E-L-A-N-D. Whatever happens, whether it will haunt us for years or make our hate much higher to the cavs, Lebrons suck. Goodluck Leon

This story just keeps getting worse and worse.
What the hell were they thinking not giving him the QO?

i do not like the cavs. i respect lebron for his immense ability, but really do not like how he has become a whiner and a big shot and i just don’t like him friend or foe. but now, the cavs have 2 of my ex c favorites, leon and delonte. this is painful. i even liked wally. mcdyess took a few years coming back from the 2nd acl- remember him on the knicks? don’t get too down on danny for powe- it’s not his money and you know the owners had an input. they are stuck with tony’s dead money and didn’t want more. leon is a gamble.

with the deal they gave Leon. Two years of chump change, with the second year at the Cavs’ option isn’t something that will get Powe’s agent bragging.

I wish Leon the best. Let’s hope he barely plays this season as he rehabs, then has a breakout 2011, playing a lot of minutes on a cellar dwelling Cleveland team, minus LeBron.

i have no problem hes not a aceltic but i rather see him in any other jersey than the cavs i cantwait to playthem in the playoffs

Leon is a person of high character. The Celtics showed less character as a franchise in letting him go. It’s not how well Leon does in Cleveland. It’s how other players view the Boston organization.

This was not Danny Ainge’s finest hour, and I predict that the callous decision to dump Powe will come back to bite the Celtics. The current management can NEVER again expect a player to show loyalty to the organization.

anybody who says shelden williams is an adequate replacement for LP should be slapped. what kind of numbers do you think Leon would have put up on this piss-poor sacramento kings? anybody remember what his averages were per 48 minutes? he rebounded at a more efficient rate than anyone in the league at one point.

No we don’t know how he’ll produce after 2 knee surgeries, but it’s clear it wouldn’t have taken much to have him back. Danny without question dropped the ball on this one.

it’s Leon. But, if there’s any TEAM I want to succeed, it’s the C’s. I hope that this was the right decision for the team. Danny wasn’t banking on Powe’s knee. That’s it. Maybe he’s right, maybe he’s wrong. We won’t know for a while. But Danny has the info from trainers and team doctors, and so far I’d say he’s doing a pretty good job running this ship. I won’t try to predict the rest of Powe’s career, or even if he’s a factor when he comes back this year, but I at least at this point in time can accept the reasoning of the decisions being made.

Powe, you’re a class act. I wish you a long and lucrative career. And I don’t care who you play for, because I don’t mind beating good teams.

Danny, you’ve been right more often than not, and regardless of the what could’ve beens with Powe, I can’t wait to watch this Celtics team this year!

1} The next time Leon goes down with a serious knee injury, which will be in the very near future…his NBA career will be over.

2} When that unfortunate event does occur…the same people blasting Ainge tonight will become suddenly silent.

Leon is a great guy, but his knees absolutely suck!

I’m really satisfied where our bench is at right now. We’re really deep in terms of big men, Baby’s back, we got Sheed, Daniels — life is good.

:-)

Mickey Mantle was washed up at 32.
Joe Namath was washed up at 27.
Gayle Sayers was washed up at 25.

Leon is 25.

Shawn Livingston is facing the same situation.

I more often than not go with loyalty and heart in these matters, but I grudgingly agree with Danny on this decision. It was a tough business decision, period. He had to decide whether to wait on a very questionable knee, or go with someone who could help them win a title this year.
I think he’s very mindful of that window of opportunity closing, and of that need for as helpful a bench as possible, and/or to have pieces he can move if necessary. Maybe Powe was low-risk/high-reward. I’m not so sure.
Powe may recover from his knee surgery. He may not. But even if Powe comes back fine, I can’t fault Danny.
Tough call.

Let is go, your talking about someone on your team who is at best your 8,9, and 10th player.

Your talking about someone who had 3 knee operations on the same knee.

You have to look at it Basketball sense and not think about feelings. What is Leon Powe going to bring to this team in 2009-2010 season. As on now we don’t know based on his injury and that he can’t contribute to this team till after January

If this was 2-4 years ago, I’d say fine. Sign the man, but this team is looking a Championship for the upcoming year.

Cleveland is taking a gamble on Leon

I like the man as everyone else in here does, but you have to look at it and ask yourself. Does signing Leon Powe right now make basketball sense for this team.

this breaks my heart since I loved Leon so much. Shelden Williams is going to sit on the bench so why couldn’t we have signed leon for the same money and wait for him to get better. I think Danny blew this just like he blew posey last year.

If it is true that the Cs countered the Cavs offer… this is a pathetically short-sighted move by the Cs.

This is exactly the deal the Cs should have offered Powe following their decline of the QO – it seemed like a no-brainer. At the time, people offered the excuses that Powe is injured, he’d take up a roster spot, yadda, yadda, yadda….

And then Ainge picked up Shelden Williams…

And then Big Baby…

And now people will argue that the Cs have too many frontcourt players. Phooey, I say!

This would have been the classic low risk, high reward deal… If Powe comes back, the Cs could leverage BBD in a trade. If it didn’t work out, the Cs could cut bait at the end of the year.

Duh…

I wish the best to Mr. Powe. He sounds like a class act… it is going to be hard to root against him.

This has angered me enough that I won’t be buying any tickets to the TB Banknorth Fleet Center Garden this year.

Powe got more free throws per fga and had a better points per fga than any Celtic player since Maxwell. A big mistake not to have resigned him.

Sorry, im probably the only one to say that, but I just cant stand the legion of celtics fans that would tear baby down to build leon up…and im not going to have to deal with that anymore.
Leon was overrated. got to the ft line, was a terrible ft shooter, one of the worst passers i have ever seen in my life bar none, he had a terrible season this year (minus maybe a month) and hes the only player fans let get away with it, because he scored 21 pts in the finals when being defended by …Luke walton.

Danny got this right, the coaching staff clearly played a part in it, not to mention we could see with our own 2 eyes doc played baby more, even in the regular season when baby was an out of shape rookie and leon had only had 1 serious knee injury, he got more minutes then leon.

good luck and so long

It’s about the organization’s loyalty to an injured player, who, before his injury, gave 110% every time he stepped on the floor, was active in the community and showed class and character every step of the way. If any organization isn’t going to stand behind a player like that, it will never stand behind anyone.

Ainge should have offered what Cleveland offered, but he should have done it first.

This is a ridiculous way of thinking about filling out a basketball roster.

Let’s all remember this reality—with a 15-man roster, the Cs will always be paying 3 players NOT TO PLAY. I don’t know why Leon couldn’t have been one of those three.

Still hoping DA sneaks in like a snake and gets Powe back (assuming it’s not official yet).

I loved him as much as everyone else here but too much of a gamble for a championship team. Keeping our bigs healthy is priority #1 this year after last year and Powe does not help that situation in any shape or form this season. One of those tough business decision but the right call. Now if this was the prior season and we had no injuries the C’s might have made a different call on this but we experienced what happens with a depleted roster last year. IMO he will not help the Cavs this year.

Calm down, Man. You’d have to be a total loser to not like Leon Powe. I loved him and the knee injury was a terrible break for him. Don’t be a dreamer Master Po. Coach Bo (who I never agree with) hit it right by calling it “Namath knees” . Leon got dealt bad cards. His draft order fell because he had bad knees. He’s now injured the left knee for a 3rd time. The odds are the 4th injury will come quicker than the 3rd did vs the 2nd. I think Danny was right. Even the 15th spot on the roster needs to have some semblance of logic to it and Leon coming back….I don’t know. Put me down as one of those guys you can Yack at if he does. What do I care? I’d be happy as hell for Leon but still agree with Danny.

It is not “guessing” to say Leon will struggle to come back from this injury. He tore his ACL for the second time. There is plenty of precedent to examine to determine that this is a very serious injury. A torn ACL was basically a career ender 20 years ago. It’s true that they’ve made advances but not to the point where an ACL tear is like a sprained ankle or something.

Have we also forgotten that Powe missed a ton of time last year due to a sprained knee? This guy’s knees are just a tragic waste but we have to move on..

He didn’t have three knee surgeries. He had two but one required two reconstructions. OK pal, you got me on a technicality. I take it back. That’s one super knee.
It’s that kind of nuttiness that we are lucky Danny doesn’t suffer from.

We’ll see you down the road Leon.

Can we stop the arguing now? No matter which side of this Powe thing you are on?

What’s done is done. None of us has a crystal ball. In fact, Williams or Rasheed or Scal or KG, Perk or anybody could suffer an injury tomorrow and not make it back until well after Leon might see the court. So be it.
The team made a decision based on the facts, medical and otherwise, presented to them at the time the decision was entered.

It’s ovah.
Fuggedaboudit.

What you need to do now is support your 2009-2010 Boston Celtics to the best of your ability. And if you cannot do that, I’m sorry. I liked Leon and what he represented just as much as the next guy. But I love the Boston Celtics more.
Whether Leon is in uniform, on the Cavs bench, or rehabbing in the Bay area, I’ll be happy for him but I ’m hoping for the same thing. That we kick the Cavs butts every time we play them.

..in its handling of the Powe situation.

Just keep in mind what Auerbach did with Jim Loscutoff, who also suffered a knee injury that was thought to be career ending.

Or how about 1982, when Indiana’s Landon Turner was paralyzed in a car accident just prior to the draft. As a favor to Bobby Knight (who started a fund that raised 400,000 to coverTurner’s medical expenses), Auerbach drafted him that year to bolster his spirits even though he knew Turner would never play again.

Ainge is no Auerbach.

You both better fess up to being wrong if Powe does nothing this season. Personally, I found it laughable that both of you think you know better than anyone else about what will happen with Powe’s injury. DA has made mistakes; we know that. With POB, with not giving Posey a wee bit more money, although the money he didn’t give Posey he was able to use to get guys like Wallace + Daniels + Williams (to a lesser extent, granted), and re-sign BBD. And yes, apparently DA did make a late push for Powe when his ears heard about the Cavs wanting him. He probably though he could get him at mid-season, and it didn’t work out. Oh well. Why should we blame DA for that? And WHAT, Salmons, was the point of declining the QO for Powe for some minimum level contract? I don’t think DA would’ve worried about guaranteeing Powe about 1 million.

At the end of the day though, we don’t have Powe and we may be better off for it. I hope you both admit you’re wrong if it turns out Powe doesn’t do much this season. I respect your opinions, but I also respect what DA’s done. He’s not Red, he’s human, so for crying out loud, stop trying to use that fact to downgrade him. If anyone looked at DA differently just because he didn’t sign a player who may not play for half the season, then that’s their problem. We’ll see who got the last laugh.

First of all I love and respect Leon for what he has done as a player and human being. I would dearly like to see him in a Celtic uniform today. For purposes of this statement I would prefer to leave personalities and how things were done out of this. We do not know how this was handled on a personal level behind the scenes. I would only believe what happened if Leon sat down with us in a room and told us his side directly. With that said, at the time the decision was made to not give Leon a qualifying offer the Team had many needs. Even after all the off-season moves that were made we are still saying the team has needs (talk centers around backup pg). One roster space remains. Leon’s future, physically is unsure. We have a short window of opportunity to win another championship. With this situation I don’t see how anyone could argue with what the organization did. Even with this, it was said in the media, that we did offer to match the contract Cleveland gave Leon. If the sign and trade for Marquis Daniels could have been done, maybe we’d have roster space where we could afford to take a chance on Leon. Even so, we complain that Pierce and Ray need more rest. We need players that can do that and probably more than one. The only player we will have that can most probably give Pierce a blow is Marquis Daniels. No one else on the current roster has proven they can. With all this I don’t think it would have been the responsible thing to give Leon a qualifying offer at the time we would have had to do it. Leon won’t be ready till at least mid-season. Then there’s time to get into playing shape. It’s very questionable that Leon would even be ready in time for the playoffs. I believe in Loyalty and it would have been great if we could have retained Leon. We’re making the Cav’s out to be hero’s here, but what have they really done for Leon. They’re giving him a year’s salary that is less than he’s worth if he were healthy. I haven’t seen that it is guaranteed and the team has an option for the second year. They also have roster space and are looking to sign one or two players that they don’t really need. They need an extra bus for all the guys that play under the basket so how much would Leon play for the Cav’s. So I wouldn’t be overly harsh on the Celtic organization for taking the action it took. It was the responsible thing to do, even if it may not, as some think, the loyal thing to do. I don’t see where they had a choice.

I think it’s a testament to Leon to see the interest of Celtic Fans in this matter regardless of how they feel. Whether we agree or disagree with what occurred, we all seem to agree that we love and respect Leon.