Year End Magnus Opus

[wayray@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

- Bosh-like high-schooler LaMarcus Aldridge and Danny Ainge: It's a Love 
Connection. With Ainge definitely interested in drafting a high-schooler,
Aldridge with his quickness, offensive touch, 6-11 height, and shot-blocking
skills seems very promising. Ainge was very high on Bosh, and Aldridge has 
similar qualities.  With as many as six high-schoolers in the draft, there's a 
strong possibility Aldridge will be there, when the Celtics are drafting.

- I know the Celtics just got Ricky Davis and it's very unlikely
he'll be traded again so soon, but with Shareef
available and filling a bigger and better need for the Celtics 
than Davis does; a Davis, Mills, Jones, trade exception, and draft 
choices deal  for Rahim could be promising. Mihm, Rahim, Welsch, Pierce,
and whatever PG seems like a better lineup than what's currently 
possible.

What's in it for Atlanta?  Draft choices may have value; Davis
is an upgrade at their SF/SG position;  Mills
and trade exception brings cap relief.
Whatever the case, Shareef is definitely worthy of some offer
by Ainge. Hmmm, what about Mihm in a deal for Shareef?

- Gotta hand it to Coach Jim. The player that best matches up with Shaq on the 
Celtics roster never sees the light of day. Think of Eddy Curry and Shaq,
Jimbo, and play Perkins in the next Lakers game.  

- Chris Mihm appears to be highly coveted by other NBA teams.
That of course sets up all sorts of interesting trade possibilities,
and likely means the Celtics may have to match an offer
for him from one of the center-starved teams under the cap.
Take Utah for instance. They're going to have oodles of cap space and 
they seems soured on Greg Ostertag.  What's to stop them from offering 
Mihm a $7 or $8 million starting salary?  Nothing in fact. So, one has to 
consider the possibility that the Celtics are either going to have to overpay
to keep Mihm or perhaps overpay and deal him away in a sign and
trade. 

- Should the Celtics after gone after Eddie Griffin?  You betcha!  To at least 
prevent someone else in the division like the Nets
from signing him. Certainly, a great no lose pick-up by them.
And due to LaFrentz's injury, Baker's decline, Jones
disappearance, and McCarty's quirkyness, the Celtics 
unlike some of the other teams, could have rapidly found him playing time.  

Though there's only so many high maintenance types you can have on a 
roster before danger awaits, and currently the Celtics have two in Baker and
Davis with occasional forays into that territory by Banks. 

- And speaking of which, Banks seems to be better as of late. 
Although his stats are nothing to write home about or even email:
1.8 assists; 1.7 turnovers; 1.06 Assists/Turnover ratio; .352 shooting %;
.208 3-pt shooting.  Not exactly Paytonesque numbers.

- Trade Exception: Use the $2 mil. or lose it by the deadline. Will Ainge?
We hope so. It isn't like Trader Dan to not take advantage of such
things.  And then there's the $1.6 million exception.

- Well, it's quite clear and evident that the Celtics need to add a rebounder
to their starting lineup, and the ironic and amusing  thing is there are three of them
in Mihm, Perkins, and Hunter sitting right on the bench. Hopefully
the light bulb goes off for Coach Jim, and he starts Mihm ahead of Blount,
and frees up Perkins. Assist him in his thinking, Trader Dan.

- Maciej Lampe: Isiah is already bad-mouthing him. GMs generally don't 
denigrate the players they plan on keeping, so Lampe seems available, but he is
very raw.  Not likely you'll get much out of him this season, then again, that's nothing
new with O'Brien and rookies. Then there's the little matter of overcrowding
in the frontcourt with Mihm, Blount, Baker, Perkins, Hunter, McCarty, Yogi,
Jones, and LaFrentz in reserve. (Now of course, Isiah has backpedaled and 
claims he's just trying to "light a fire" under young Lampe. Perhaps so.)

- Any ways, Isiah says he's looking for length, so I wonder if he would 
be interested in either Jones, McCarty, or Blount?   Probably not as interested as he 
would be with Jiri, Mihm, or Perkins, but those three aren't going anywhere, unless 
an impact player is involved. 

- Any ways, any ways, look for Isiah to really clean house with Layden's players.
He'll be shipping them out faster than Ainge has with Wallace's choices.
Won't surprise me if Thomas makes Milos Vujanic available - certainly be
worthwhile for Ainge to talk to Isiah about Thomas, Lampe, and Vujanic,
and if Isiah's willing to take Vin Baker and Draft Choices/Players for McDyess, 
that  would be another avenue to explore. What type of trade could Ainge put
together to get McDyess, Lampe, and Vujanic?   Since Isiah is compelled
to have the Knicks win now, perhaps a three or four team deal could
be possible, where the Celtics draft choices bring the Knicks veteran talent from 
another club.

- Don't you get the feeling that Ainge is going to make one more trade?
Jones: Wasting away of his talent; McCarty: playing the best of his
career, and Blount: Cheap and a center, seem prime candidates.
Jones definitely needs to be traded as he seems lost in the O'Brien system,
that doesn't appear to be going away any time soon. And of course the need 
for a rebounder.  Ainge's recent comments on the possibility of a pre-deadline 
trade are mixed, so who knows?

- Vin Baker perhaps is baked.  Could be depression, alcohol, age, eroding skills, 
or maybe Baker's MO of  recent seasons, where he plays well for awhile, and 
either cons the masses or loses confidence and goes into a funk. Whatever the case, 
it's probably time to send him to the bench and move on to whatever player Ainge 
brings in via the next trade or the promotion of one of the reserves. 
Maybe starting Baker puts too much pressure on him and he should be held in
reserve, much like one of those relief pitchers in baseball. Vin,
when you think of it, is basically a Low Post Scoring specialist, whose other skills
have diminished to the point, that he's probably best suited for a bench role.

- There's going to be some very intriguing players in 
the upcoming draft that could be available to the Celtics, either where 
they are drafting or via a trade up. The Celtics two biggest needs are a 
big rebounding PF and a PG upgrade.

 Here are a few names and their characteristics: 

LaMarcus Aldridge - See Above.

Andrew Bogut -  Not the greatest athlete, but tremendous hands
and rebounding ability. Good PF size at 6-11.

Kris Humphries - A little undersized these days for a NBA PF. Perhaps a Power
SF. Whatever the situation, Humphries is intense, can score anywhere
on the court, and rebounds his little heart out.

Raymond Felton - Should be better than Banks. Great pure PG with quickness,
playmaking, and scoring ability.

Jameer Nelson - Just a pure PG from the word "Go", though a little small, but then so
is Banks.

Tiago Splitter - One of three Brazilians possibly chosen in the first round.
Can shoot and has excellent size.

Christian Drejer - Like a bigger Jiri. Does everything on the court except 
block shots.  That's Kirilenko's department. 

Ben Gordon - Joe Dumars type goes somewhere in the lottery. Fine shooter.

Ivan Chiriaev - Tall 7-1 Russian SG/SF with great ball-handling skills.

Ha Seung-Jin - Large 7-3, 300 pound Korean center a little on the slow
side, but possesses some of Ming's qualities.

Rafael Araujo - Brazilian center at BYU, personally scouted by Danny.
Remember that Ainge trip to Utah?  Araujo, though not the best
shot-blocker on the planet is big (6-11 or 7-0, about 275) and can rebound 
and score.

Uros Slokar - Promising Slovenian power forward playing lite
minutes for Benneton, because of Jorge Garbajosa we presume.

Damer Omerhodzik  KK Cibona's 6-10 Omerhodzik considered
one of the premiere young small forwards in Europe. 

Shaun Livingston - Big high-school PG committed to Duke, but may declare.
Compared to a young Hardaway.

Al Jefferson - Beefy high school Center viewed in similar terms as Perkins, though
a lttle smaller at 6-9, so a power forward in the Pros.

Anderson Varejao - High energy Brazilian PF with two or three years
left on his FC Barcelona contract.

Josh Smith - Another high-schooler, he's likened to McGrady.


- Free Agency:  After ripping the fans off this season, we hope  
Celtics Ownership keeps their promise and signs a Mid-Level free 
agent. Some of the more interesting ones are:

Arvydas Macijauskas - Sweet shooting 6-4 Lithuanian can play either
guard position.

Mehmet Okur -Would have to be a sign and trade.

Sarunas Jasikevicius - Good-sized creative Lithanian PG, who's not the
shooter that Macijauskas is, but a better playmaker.

Brent Barry - Vast improvement over James.    

Andres Nocioni - Athletic Argentinian SF on same Tau Ceramica team as 
Macijauskas. Considered best athlete in Europe.

Stromile Swift - Athletic PF and the Celtics need one; another sign and trade:
Mihm for Swift.

Etan Thomas - Restricted, so a sign and trade.

Carlos Arroyo - Utah has PGs a plenty.

Jorge Garbajosa - One of the toughest frontcourt defenders in Europe,
showing a nice scoring touch for Benneton. 

Kenyon Martin - New Jersey seems like they could trade him, but to
the Celtics?

Ognen Askrabic - Do everything Yugo tweener forward rumoured
to be heading to Dallas.

Vlade Divac - Why not?

James Lang - Interesting prospect available real cheap.

Rasheed Wallace - Could re-sign with whatever team the Trailblazers 
deal him off to.

Nikola Vujcic - High-scoring Croatian center playing for Maccabi. Needs
to rebound better, but one of the best big men in the Euroleague.

Ray