The Baltimore Sun has this quote from Sam Cassell:
Baltimore native and three-time NBA champion Sam Cassell said today he plans to become an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics after playing one more season.
Cassell, a 38-year-old guard who was part of the Celtics' title run this year, told a reporter about his plans shortly before speaking at a City Hall news conference. "This is my last year playing with the Celtics," he said. "Next week, I'll sign the contract."
After finishing the 2008-09 season, he plans to exercise an option to join the coaching staff. "I am playing this year," he said. "After that, I have the option to do coaching for them."
Celtics spokesman Brian Olive declined to comment.
Dissecting this quickly: Does that mean that Sam Cassell has a contract offer to play for the Celtics for one more year? He states "This is my last year playing with the Celtics" so it sounds that way. But with Sam you never know if he's just talking.
Furthermore, it sounds like Sam will sign a contract that has an option to become part of the coaching staff after this year. I've got no issues with that myself. The coaches don't count against the cap and he seems like a likable enough guy who apparently gets along with the players and knows the game.
There were times last year when Sam was on fire. Then there were times when our gameplan went up in smoke because of him. Hopefully if he is on the team this year, he'll think like a coach and understand that sometimes the team will need him and sometimes the team will need to develop Gabe Pruitt and the other guards more.
Regardless, if Sam is signed, we'll have a lot more stuff to talk about with the roster headed into training camp. Do the math, we have a full roster now. Adding Sam means someone will get cut or traded in a roster dump move. Unless something bigger happens, but I think Danny is somewhat limited in what he can do.
So what do you think? Is bringing Sam back the right move? What do we do with the roster?