Logo
The Ticker
7 hours ago

5 Questions With Josh McRoberts

I talked to Los Angeles back up big man Josh McRoberts prior to the Celtics-Lakers game Thursday night at the Garden.  Here is what the former Duke Blue Devil, who is averaging 2.9 points and 3.8 rebounds in his first year in LA, had to say. 1. How have you guys been able to deal [...]

1
9 hours ago

5-on-5: Predicting All-Star Reserves

I was a panelist on the 5-on-5 today at ESPN, choosing reserves for the Eastern and Western Conference all-star teams. I took two Celtics, as noted below. Hit the link to read the rest. 1. Which East and West point guards should be chosen as All-Star reserves? Ryan DeGama, CelticsHub: East: Deron Williams, Rajon Rondo [...]

0
2 days ago

Greg Stiemsma’s Contract To Become Fully Guaranteed

The C’s gave their 26-year-old rookie a vote of confidence before Tuesday’s game. By not waiving the seven-footer, Stiemsma’s contract will become fully guaranteed on Friday, allowing the shot blocker to breath a little bit and perhaps unpack some boxes for good in Beantown. Here’s Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston with some reaction from Stiemsma and [...]

1
2 days ago

5 Questions With Kemba Walker

I had a chance to talk with Bobcats rookie Kemba Walker prior to the Celtics game against Charlotte on Tuesday night.  Here is what the UConn star, who is averaging 12.3 points, 4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game had to say. 1. How much communication have you had with Michael Jordan this year? Walker: [...]

1
3 days ago

I Am Awesome!

Yes. This is a “pat myself on the back” post because a) I’m a jackass and b) I predicted something correctly. Back on January 8th, I predicted that the next ten games will tell us everything we need to know about this Celtics’ team. If they struggled, it was time to blow it up. If [...]

1
3 days ago

Pierce Wins Eastern Conference Player Of Week

One day before he’s scheduled to pass Larry Bird for second on the Celtics’ all-time scoring list, Paul Pierce won the Eastern Conference Player of the Week award. Pierce averaged 22 points, 6.3 assists and 5.8 rebounds in four Boston wins, playing point forward in Rajon Rondo’s absence. Pierce is only 9 points behind Bird [...]

1
Browse Archives by:

A Celtics Hub Challenge: Who Plays 2-Guard, if Not Ray?

Jeff Clark over at CelticsBlog outlined the case yesterday for trading Ray Allen. Jeff’s theory–and he makes it clear he really likes Ray–is that Allen’s trade value will never be higher than it is now, when his contract represents nearly $20 million of expiring money right when teams want their contracts to expire. Jeff also outlines some acceptable Trade Machine Deals that are mostly fair. 

I’m going to be addressing this topic in-depth in the coming days, but I wanted to get the ball rolling here by throwing out a challenge: If the Celtics decide to trade Ray Allen, who is playing the 2-guard position for this team? 

The only way this deal works is if the Celtics, either directly through the deal or through free agency or even another trade, acquire someone who can shoot three-pointers. Who’s it going to be? 

I’m not saying the Celtics need an All-World shooting guard to win the NBA title–not if they get a top-notch asset (a big man, a small forward, whatever) in this theoretical Allen deal. But I am saying they need someone besides Paul Pierce who can be on the court for 30 minutes a game and shoot three-pointers. And it would be helpful if that someone can–like Walter Ray–occasionally create his own shot in the mid-range game when teams overplay the three-point shot. 

You can’t win in the NBA right now with only one capable three-point shooter on the floor. Not with Rajon Rondo drawing defenses, and not with a team that has finished 5th and 1st in three-point shooting accuracy in the last two seasons. 

There are two main ways to get a perimeter shooter:

1) In the Allen trade, in which case it will be an older, overvalued shooter with a contract that runs beyond 2011. (Peja Stojakovic’s corpse, for instance); 

OR

2) A mid-level-exception-type player (or cheaper) the Celtics can sign during the off-season (provided the Theoretical Ray Allen Trade happens in the off-season, and, honestly, I can’t see a scenario where it goes down mid-season). 

So: Prove it to me that a Ray Allen deal is workable. Because I’m not doing it unless we somehow add a dependable three-point shooter.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>