This is probably just a guy keeping his options open and perhaps a little bit of wishful thinking, but apparently Joel Anthony is unsure about what he'll do with his player option this offseason.
Celtics center Joel Anthony has a $3.8 million player option this summer that he is expected to exercise, but he told the Globe he was unsure of his decision. "When the season’s over, I’ll talk with my agent and look to see what we’re going to do," he said.
Guys don't turn down $3.8M unless they think they'll get at least that on the open market. Unless I'm missing something big, he's not getting that on the open market. So don't be too quick to tally up the cap savings just yet.
I suppose he might be frustrated with the losing and the rebuilding effort, especially after spending so much time with the Miami Heat. Still, I find it hard to believe that he'd take a big pay cut to go play for a winning team. But I guess you never know.
Still, it doesn't sound like he's eager to leave either.
"The team, obviously we haven't had the success that we wanted on the court but off the court it's been a great situation," Anthony said. "You don't always have that when teams are in this type of situation. That's made it a lot easier being in a good locker room with a good group of guys."
I'm not a betting man, but I wouldn't bet on him leaving the money on the table. He's most likely going to be a Celtic next year.
Depending on what they do this offseason, he could be a useful player to have around too. If Wyc gets his wish and we see "fireworks" then one of our prized young bigs could be packaged elsewhere and we'd be in need of a veteran center that knows his way around the defensive side of the court.
Of course, there's also the fact that he'd be a $3.8M expiring contract to offer up during the year to teams looking to shed salary. But the first step is Anthony picking up his player option, which I suppose is still up in the air.