Celtics Have Some Interest In Hughes
by Jeff Clark on Mar 3, 2010 6:04 AM EST
in Boston Celtics Rumors
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PrintCeltics hope to get shot at Michael Finley - BostonHerald.com
A Celtics source confirmed yesterday the primary target is veteran swingman Michael Finley, who was bought out of his contract by San Antonio on Monday. Finley is expected to clear waivers tonight. The team also is interested, to a lesser degree, in free agent guard Larry Hughes.
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The source added the Celtics also have lingering interest in Hughes, though they would have to wait for the former Knick’s broken finger to heal. According to a published report, Hughes’ negotiations with Charlotte broke down this week over the team’s concerns about his readiness. The current market appears to have produced less than the Celtics anticipated. According to the source, the team anticipated buyouts for New Jersey’s Tony Battie - a former Celtic - and Bobby Simmons. But both remained Nets.
We knew that some guys would be bought out after the deadline, and every year since the Big 3 arrived we've been aggressive picking those guys up. Interesting that the team is less than thrilled with this year's crop. I hope they were not counting too heavily on it. Finley was probably a pleasant surprise, but I think Battie or possibly Simmons would have been nice pickups too.
I would imagine that Hughes is the backup option if we miss out on Finley. I must say that I'm pretty un-excited about the potential of adding Larry. I doubt that the team would add both players, even though they do have 2 roster spots open.
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Yeah
With Marquis and TA already in the fold, I don’t see how Hughes could help us…Daniels can pretty much do anything Hughes can, and in most cases, he probably does it better.
eh
all of the options are “eh” pickups. nothing great. all past their primes and barely able to contribute at all. who are these guys actually going to push to the bench?
None of Finley, Hughes or Simmons are really scorers anymore and they were never as good as Quis or TA on defense. For that matter, Quis and TA are pretty efficient finishers around the basket.
Battie was never a good rebounder. Solid defender, particularly as a help defender, but those days are behind him. we really need a solid rebounder and that’s something he never was.
these guys are ok pickups if the move Scal to the inactive list but there are 11 guys on the roster right now that would be ahead of all of them on the depth chart.
Yeah I still feel we should try and add
Defense and rebounding…Haven’t looked at our options, to be honest, but if such a player is out there, he should be the guy we attempt to get.
the Bat-Man
why not get Battie? hard worker on D, he will fit right in the help-D system that Thibs runs. With Ray, Paul, Quis, TA, already in the fold, why add Finley? makes no sense. Or, just do nothing, and play Sheldon more.
Not available
pretty sure Bat Man didn’t get bought out and waived
No thanks
Finley and Hughes seem to be arhter redundant to bench players we already have. Neither one has anything to offer that Quisy and TA can’t already do. I suppose adding Fin Dog couldn’t hurt as “bad” TA insurance, but in the playoffs rosters get shortened anyways, not expanded.
Finley shoots threes, Quis and Tony shoot ariball threes. That’s the difference.
by P2 on Mar 3, 2010 8:03 AM EST up reply actions
What's with the infatuation with the three ball
We already shoot to many. This is part of the reason we routinely get less free throw attempts than other teams.
Agreed.
We need someone who can and willing to rebound and play in the post. It will open up the perimeter for Ray.
"We already shoot to(o) many."???
We are 17th in 3PT attempts.
Notably, all the ‘better’ teams (LA, CLE, etc.) have taken (and made) more 3PT attempts than we have.
Its generally good for each 5-man unit to have 2 guys on the floor who are legitimate threats to hit the three because that really helps with spacing. Example of the effect:
When Ray has the ball on the perimeter, his man has to play him tight to contest the potential shot. His man is both vulnerable to being picked off and also is less able to provide help defense when someone (Rondo/Paul/Daniels) slashes into the paint.
When TA has the ball on the perimeter, his man sags softly into the paint, waiting for the slash. Because he’s soft on man, he’s able to run past picks easily and because he’s a step out of the paint, he can provide help defense inside if needed.
Our offense is most effective when both Ray and Pierce are healthy and on the floor because they provide counter balancing space across the court – this helps everybody on the offense. When healthy and playing well our starting 5 are extremely complementary to each other when it comes to offensive spacing.
Outside of those guys, we have Sheed and now Nate as ‘legitimate’ 3PT shooters for the 2nd team. But we need Sheed in the post to be most effective. So, yeah, it WOULD help the 2nd team if we had another SF or G who could at least provide the threat of hitting the 3.
That’s the one big weakness of both TA and Daniels that I wish one of them was better at. Daniels does so many things so well, but at 23.5%, he sucks from the 3PT line.
Yawn
Is Finley the best we can get off the waiver?
The SB Nation’s power ranking just put the Celtics at #12, behind OK City. Unless the big 3 makes a quick complete turn around, I don’t see adding anyone will take us far this year.
power rankings?
The single most useless piece of column-filling garbage ever created by a sports writer that thinks their opinion actually matters.
We already got Nate
And Nate is far better athis point in their respective careers
He's not even bought out
So we can’t get him either way.
I agree with EH
I agree with EH. Nothing there really excites me. Hughes is a producer but comes with baggage and is injured anyway. Finley is the best of the bunch (for what we need from a 14th man) and I’d go ahead and sign him. He won’t get meaningful minutes but would be used for a few minutes a game and asked to spread the floor as an option when we need a “big shot” and nothing more. With the game on the line and us needing a basket, if you have him, Ray and Pierce on the floor it will keep other teams “honest”. In relation to the other FA’s/waivers he’s also the best at giving us a positive veteran locker room presence. Had we not traded for Nate, I would have considered Mike James as a PG/quick offense option but that point is now moot with Nate (nice production by him last night BTW).
That still leaves us with one more open roster spot. That should be best used on a big man but their isn’t anyone out of that crop that fits the bill. Dipping into the D-league pool for a 10 day contract would be the best route (Reggie Williams produced for GS last night as an example) but that last spot is not a must fill and my feeling is the Celtics will leave that spot open for the season (unless we have some catastrophic injuries that requires us to scramble).
Need size?
They can bring in Semih Erden anytime during the regular season.
Semih’s gotten Doc’s most royal rookie treatment. He not only hasn’t played a second for the Cs, Doc wouldn’t even let him in the country.
I don’t think Larry Hughes would be content to play behind Marquis Daniels and Tony Allen. As a result, I don’t think he’s worth going after because he doesn’t deserve to play ahead of either player.
If Hughes was willing to accept this role … I would like him as a third string PG + fifth wing in the depth chart … although, he would be my second choice behind a player like Michael Finley who is also unlikely to accept such a role (fifth wing in depth chart).
I'd be happy with FInley and a big from the D league
like Dwayne JOnes. We need some speed at the 4/5 position. We’ve been getting killed on the glass lately by young guys like HIckson, Jerebka,etc. KG and Wallace are too slow to the ball and they give up position underneath. Heck, I’d even consider sweetney. We HAVE to get better at rebounding! Pierce used to be a good rebounder for us but lately his whole game has taken a hit due to injuries and right now he’s not helping on the glass. Jones can also block shots. It sounds like danny was banking on certain guys getting released when he let walker go. That was risky and as it turns out not a smart move. There had to be a way we could keep walker so dealing him definitely backfired. I’d take Hughes as a consolation prize if we can’t get finley. He’s not a pure shooter but he can hit the occasional 3 and he has good size at the guard position. THe big question is whether he can defend. If so then sign him up
I doubt we fill the roster
It seems that if the C’s see a player they like get bought out they will attempt to sign him. If they don’t I expect the roster to have 1 or 2 open roster spots.
Hughes
Hughes might still have some game in him… While he is far from his all-star form, he may still be able to contribute solid minutes in a lesser role. 12-15 minutes a game would be ideal and let him get 8-2-3 in that time, he’d be a solid bench player…
Nobody available that is worth getting excited about. Nobody capable of cracking the Celtics rotation.
Michael Finley is a decent end of roster shooter that the C’s can use if desperate for a wing who can shoot the ball. It’s not much but it might be useful at some point.
by Who on Mar 3, 2010 6:18 PM EST up reply actions
Larry Hughes- No No No No and NO
How can anybody think of bringing Larry Hughes in? Everywhere he has played, the fans have gotten absolutely sick of him. The classic website comes from his days as a Cavalier:
http://heylarryhughespleasestoptakingsomanybadshots.com/
The title says it all.
It’s bad enough that we now have Rasheed, but at least he is capable of redeeming himself.
Both players are useless to this team
Check the stats – why pay for guys who won’t see minutes?
D-League fishing makes a lot more sense to me
by nba is the worst on Mar 3, 2010 9:57 AM EST reply actions
Hoping
That Drew Golden had taken a buyout. He would had been a great addition.
by Ragetti on Mar 3, 2010 12:41 PM EST via mobile reply actions
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