Reggie Miller has called off his comeback attempt, so we won't be seeing the future Hall of Famer in Celtics green. Still, it seems incredible to me that he was even considering it. It wasn't long ago that players were refusing to be traded to the Celtics. Now all of a sudden people are name dropping Boston left and right.
Consider that Miller indicated that he would either play for the Celtics or nobody. That means he had no interest in playing for the World Champion Spurs or even his former team the Indiana Pacers. He just wanted to come here. That's saying something.
Now he'll go back to the booth and Boston turns its attention to the other free agents that have been making doe eyes at Danny.
Some thoughts on more players who have stated interest in coming to Boston after the jump.
Ruben Patterson:
"You look at those squads (Boston and Miami) -- where's the stopper? The energy guy? The defensive guy? That's me. I'm the only guy they're missing."
There's no debating his talent. The guy can play. And he's right that the C's could use an energy stopper type of guy.
However, there are some pretty big questions about his past. Patterson is a registered sex offender as the result of an accepted a plea in an attempted rape case. I'm all for giving guys a second chance, but that might be too big of a red flag for me to accept. Especially since the team has worked very hard to rid itself of attitude players (Blount) and players that can't stay out of trouble (Telfair).
While he is a good fit as an energy guy, I don't think that role is our highest priority. We don't need his points (he scored 15 a game for the Bucks last year). He plays Paul's position so there aren't a lot of minutes to go to him. I'm actually pretty optimistic that Tony Allen can get healthy and if we need a defensive 3, we can use Wallace or Manuel in a pinch. Most of all, he doesn't play point guard.
At this point in the summer, I don't really want to see anyone else signed until with have another point guard on the roster.
Sarunas Jasikevicius:
Saras is telling anyone that will listen that he wants out of Golden State and his name has been tied to the Boston Celtics.
I think he's the best option we have at point guard at this point. He hasn't had a ton of success in the States yet, but he was a proven winner overseas and one could make the arguement that he hasn't had a lot of opportunities to get minutes on the teams he's been on. Danny showed interest in him when he originally signed with Indiana, perhaps he'll wind up in Boston afterall.
I also like that he'll probably come cheap. If he gets bought out, he'll have less incentive to seek a bigger paycheck and since he's looking for a shot to prove himself, he might take one of those one year deals that Danny has been giving out this year (to maintain some flexibility for next year).
Some Other Players To Consider:
- One Knicks writer thinks Demetris Nichols could be waived by the Knicks and picked up by the Celtics.
- Mutumbo hasn't signed anywhere yet, but was mentioned as a possibility in Boston. His other options are Houston and retirement.
- Gary Payton's name seems to come up a lot, but I'm not sure there is interest from Boston. We now know there isn't any more interest from Miami.
- For a brief moment, PJ Brown was mentioned, but it appears that the Celtics don't have enough cash lying around to pick him up.
- It was reported that after the KG trade, several agents of free agents were calling the Celtics (instead of the other way around). I'm sure there are several others that haven't even been mentioned in the media yet. Did anyone hear Eddie House or Scot Pollard connected with the C's before they were signed? The next guy could be anyone.
- Here's another breakdown of remaining available players from Hoopsworld. The only name on there that really interests me is Posey. If he gets no other offers, he's just the kind of guy that might take less to sign with Boston for a year and prove his worth.
Destination Boston:
For years we had to hear the excuses. Nobody wants to play in the cold weather of Boston. Players (and columnists) were concerned about racial tensions in the city. Some didn't have any faith in what Danny Ainge was doing.
Funny how none of that matters now. Which proves a point that may have been forgotten around here. Winning cures all ills. The team hasn't even played a game yet and already they are winners. This is the new destination. Everyone wants to play for Boston.