Celtics Free Agency Grade

AINGE IS BLIND TO SHOOTING FORWARD TO RELIEVE ALLEN, PIERCE—-TEAM IS FULL OF HOLES AND NO MONEY—-TEAM IS SCREWED UP!!!

Sign Nate and get decent backups at the wing and center positions. :)

DA brought back the pieces we need to contend. With the cap situation and teams around the league overpaying for role players, our options aren’t what people make them out to be. The core is back and we still have Sheed’s contract. I, personally, couldn’t ask for more.

I’m thrilled we got our big three back, but i felt we were’nt agressive eough going after some other guys. However, it seems more to me that, this is the position we are in and DA made the best of the situation. we’re gonna have to have some solid bench play from some young inexperienced legs to give these guys rest. We’re in a touch situation that we’re gonna have to fight through.

we needed to resign ray n paul got that done n we signed JO .. yeah its a C+.. and if we sign nate it will be a B+

Resigning Ray and PP were a given. no credit deserved for something that he had absolutely had to accomplish and had all the necessary means to do so at his disposal.

JO signing is ok. the last thing we have to go on to evaluate his signing is the playoffs and he was atrocious. potentially, he could be good, but that’s potentially. if he satisfies that potential, the offers a good temporary or full season replacement for Perk and can cover both the 4 and 5 positions.

He missed out on TA which leaves a large hole at the back up wing position. Marquis is technically still available but do we want him back. the team’s finances leaves only vet min available to sign a replacement and you won’t get defense of TA’s level for that amount. Wasn’t that a great usage of the BLE. Not kicking ourselves for that move now are we?

Sheed’s contract is his lone valuable chip left to use and while he may be able to use it to fill the back up wing spot or get that extra big man we could use [JO, KG and BBD is a very short rotation to use until Perk can return and there’s no guarantee Perk will be in great playing shape by then] whichever hole he doesn’t fill is still an issue.

He missed out on resigning Shelden who was serviceable in the regular season. knock him for his playoff performance but that doesn’t change the fact he contributed in the regular season which is what we really need this year while waiting for Perk.

Nate? occasionally showed something off the bench but he’s just a backup point. that’ll help spell Rondo at times to keep him fresh late in games I suppose but Nate is a liability if used at the 2 guard due to his height. he’s not even definitely signed yet so if danny doesn’t get him, now we’re looking at a vet min replacement here as well or trying fill yet another hole on the bench with just Sheed’s contract.

In short, the bench is a mess again. we have BBD and 2 rookies (assuming Harangody makes the team which looks pretty safe right now) for sure. JO or Perk will be on the bench when Perk is ready. what else has danny added? Erden maybe? desperation there. Bringing back Scal? Seriously? The guy who’s departure we’ve anticipated for 5 years might be brought back? yikes. so many people on the site are talking up the summer leaguers as possible help for the bench. Have we reached the point of desperation that summer/D-leaguers look like plausible options for rotation spots on the roster?

At this point, Danny only deserves a D. solidify the bench with GOOD role players and he’ll deserve a better grade at that point but right now, he’s got precious little at his disposal to do so. He doesn’t necessarily need to move fast to do this as long as his patience ends up producing quality results.

My guess is there are a lot of fantasy game types grading above. The real world does have real budgets. Sometimes you lose a guy you don’t want to lose (Tony Allen) but it takes two to agree and who knows what was in the head of the other side (in Tony’s case athleticism A, mental competence D).
I wouldn’t give Danny an “A” because I think he was competing against himself for Pierce and the 4th year fully guaranteed was too much. That led to over-paying for Ray who wasn’t leaving Boston as long as you didn’t embarass him.
But responding to the Perk injury with J O’Neil was terrific.
Not re-signing Sheldon Williams, thumbs up. He was terrible in brief playoff minutes and he’s never going to be worth more minutes.
Missing on Nate would be a mistake but he seems to be on it.
I think the situation with Rasheed was set up when Rasheed signed last year and credit to Danny and Rasheed for the bargaining chip we have that no one else contemplated.
I feel good about his draft picks although Semih Erden must show more in practice than he did in Orlando because he looked like “not-ready-for-prime-time” down there.
Marquis Daniels? What’s with that?

Easy B grade, given the sheer insanity of “blowing it up” six minutes away from a title. Still mind-boggling to me that anyone would seriously contemplate such nonsense.

Bringing back Pierce and Allen – good moves. I like the O’Neal move. Somehow, I suspect we’ll forge ahead without TGTA – The Great Tony “The Turnover” Allen.

Still opportunities out there, including Sheed’s deal – not sure how anyone can conclude the deal is losing value at this point, unless they’re looking for a card to bash Ainge with.

No one is more critical of Ainge on this board historically than yours truly. And I’d be blasting away at him with both barrels if he’d blown up a team six minutes away from a title.

The moves thus far are good. The holes that remain can most assuredly be filled – even the gaping void left by TGTA. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.,

If Rajon Rondo can develop his jump shooting and free throws – we will win another title. If he can give us 15 – 18 ppg, we will be fine for the next two years (until KG’s contract runs out). If the rest of his game stays the same, yet he can be a consistent shooter (35%+ from 3, 50%+ from the field, 70%+ ft’s), we will be elite once again.

In the finals Rondo shot 5-19 from the free throw line. If he shoots 60%, chances are we win the finals – even with Ray struggling, and getting beat up on the boards.

Also, if was a decent shooter, Kobe wouldn’t be able to roam as much, playing help D. Kobe would have to guard Ray or Rondo straight up, thus opening up the offense even more.

Rondo holds the key folks….

All things being equal, the Celts really did not do anything significant to improve overall quality of the team… All things being equal… they still would lose in 7 games to LA should the finals start tomorrow… The loss of Tony Allen was huge… He was a beast against Kobe in the finals and without him Kobe busts 40+ a night on us (check the tapes)… If everyone got a C we would be ok… The problem is that other teams have made big improvements… Orlando still has it’s core squad… The Bulls will emerge next year… (Do I need to say Miami?).. NY will improve with Stoudamire… Once can only assume that the Celts office is thinking to drop competitively for 1-2 years then rebuild….