Well, We Didn’t See That One Coming

Posted by Zach Lowe on Aug 3, 2009 29378 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2009%2F08%2F03%2Fwell-we-didnt-see-that-one-coming%2FWell%2C+We+Didn%27t+See+That+One+Coming2009-08-03+19%3A49%3A50Zach+Lowehttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D2937

In all the offseason chatter, in all the dozens and dozens of posts at the dozens and dozens of basketball blogs out there, I don’t think a single person mentioned the possibility that the Celtics would sign Shelden Williams, a Dukie who has basically been a failure as an NBA player (at least considering his position as the #5 pick in the 2006 draft — go Hawks!).

From the Globe:

Forward Shelden Williams has agreed to a one-year contract with the Celtics, according to an NBA source. Williams is expected to sign a deal worth the veteran’s minimum salary of $1.306 million.

CelticsBlog points us to a Spears tweet in which Mr. Spears says this signing has NO bearing on the C’s decision regarding Big Baby. Which is interesting. Because I think we’ve all been thinking–wrongly, perhaps–that the re-signing of Big Baby would complete the C’s front court for 2009-10.

I don’t have time to post any sort of detailed analysis now, but the roster is getting very crowded. By my count (and I’m doing this very quickly off the top of my head, with more to come later when I have time), the C’s will have 13 players guaranteed money if they sign Marquis Daniels without surrendering anything in a sign-and-trade with the Pacers (i.e. they use the biannual exception on Daniels). That would leave two open spots for Glen Davis and, possibly, Lester  Hudson or another back-up PG–and teams often like to leave that 15th spot open for various reasons.

So does the Williams signing mean the C’s anticipate completing a sign-and-trade with the Pacers in which they lose one of those 13 players?