Celtics Offering Davis/Powe For Saras

[John Lyell]

Jasikevicius has looked good in Intl. tournaments but he looked terrible last year
   
  If Davis & Powe go,  who are our backups at the 4/5? Scalabrine? Pruitt is not a point guard, neither is Tony Allen
   
   
  

Kestas <kestas at alum.dartmouth.org> wrote:
  John Lyell wrote:
> If Pietrus is involved this is a good deal, if not Saras is not worth it. They should have went after Navarro
> 
> 
Navarro is averaging 11.3 ppg, 0.3 rpg., and 1.3 apg in the European 
Championships, while Jasikevicius is averaging 12, 3.7 rpg, and 
tournament-leading 5.7 apg, and is clearly is the best point guard in 
the tournament despite playing injured. More importantly, his team is 
the only undefeated team (6-0), easily crunching through, among others, 
France led by Tony Parker, whom he completely overshadowed with his 
playmaking and leadership.

Now, it may be the case that Saras is a great European PG, but cannot be 
so in the NBA because of his lack of athleticism. However, the PG is the 
one position in which athleticism is probably least relevant. I think, 
like most players, he just needs a chance to play and do what he does 
best. Neither Indiana nor GS was a great fit. In Indiana, he was mostly 
told to stand on the 3-point line waiting for a kickout in Carlisle's 
rigid offense and used a lot as a 2-guard, and Nellie in GS was in love 
with Baron Davis's and Monta Ellis's games. Apparently, he was told 
right after the trade that he wasn't going to play in GS, so he asked 
his agent to talk to GS about trading him to the team that wants him.

That's where things stand now - GS is looking for the right trade and 
the agent and Saras are looking for the right team. If no suitable trade 
materializes, he may go back to Europe where several top teams 
(Olympiakos in Greece and Real Madrid) apparently have offers in the 
$10M/yr. range. His preference, however, is to give the NBA one more 
shot. I hope it is with the Celtics, because I think he would be a great 
fit. Rondo and Saras are very complementary players in that Rondo's 
strengths (defense, speed, athleticism) are Saras's weaknesess, and his 
strengths (playmaking and shooting) are Rondo's weaknesses. Also, 
Garnett will cover for a lot of defensive weaknesses, while Saras 
would be great at getting Pierce, Allen and Garnett easy shots.

That said, I don't think Ainge will do it. He has said repeatedly that 
they're set at PG, with the Allens and possibly Pruitt playing backup 
PG. Plus, there's the lux tax issue.
Kestas

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