Saturday Morning Notebook: Return of Nate, Waiting on Barnes, More
Posted by Zach Lowe on Jul 17, 2010
A brief Saturday morning notebook as I put off going to the gym:
• Nate Robinson is back. Read takes from Paul Flannery at WEEI.com and Chris Forsberg at ESPNBoston.com. Here’s Flannery:
Robinson is not a pure point guard, but he can handle the ball and he provides instant offense off the bench, which can be a game-changer. The key is knowing when to play the Nate card and when to pull it off the table and Rivers showed a deft touch with giving him enough opportunities to create, but not so much as to allow him to shoot his way out of the game.
Robinson also committed to playing fullcourt pressure defense on opposing point guards and that became a key to the Celtics defensive scheme. If he can do that, and make a few shots, for 15-20 minutes a night then the backup point guard situation is solved.
Look, I’m not a fan of the dumb things Nate Robinson does—the questionable shot selection, the ceaseless trash talk, the occasional technical. But the fact that Danny Ainge chose to let Tony Allen walk for $3.3 million per season while grabbing Robinson for $4 million suggests two smart things:
1) The C’s want as much payroll expiring after 2012 as possible, and TA wanted to sign through 2013. The contracts of Robinson, KG and Allen alone represent about $36 million in salary that expires after the 2012 season/possible lockout.
2) Ainge understands that this team needs scoring more than it needs defense. Our old friend Tom Thibodeau did an interview with one of the summer league announce crews on NBA.com a couple of days ago, and they asked him what type of team he envisions building in Chicago. They kept gently nudging to talk about the importance of defense and building a Celtics-style D in Chicago.
But Thibs wouldn’t go where they wanted. He kept talking about balance, about how his time in Boston showed him the importance of a team that ranks near the top of the league in both scoring efficiency and defensive efficiency.
The Celtics last season lost that balance as their offense fell out of the top 10 all the way down to 15th in points per possession and showed a dangerous vulnerability to long dry spells. Nate obviously helps in that regard. He averaged 17 points per game in 2009. You can’t hit that number in the NBA without serious talent, even if you play in an up-tempo game and shoot whenever you feel like it.
Give Nate a full training camp and season to grasp the C’s offense, and he’ll show more than he did last season. My main question: Will we see Nate get to the rim again?
In 2009, he attempted 4.1 shots per game at the rim, a number well above the league-average for point guards. He can beat his guy off the dribble whenever he wants. We didn’t see that in Boston. If we see it next season, Nate is going to be a nice asset.
• We’ll have to wait until next week to find out where Matt Barnes will be taking his talents (via the Herald):
Matt Barnes, another free agent keeping the world informed via Twitter, was on the verge of making a decision yesterday when several other teams entered the mix.
Goodwin, who also represents Barnes, said via text that the Celtics are still in the hunt, but “quite a few” other teams are also standing in line.
The problem, according to a league source, is that the Celtics, like Miami, only have a veteran’s minimum slot of approximately $1.6 million available.
Barnes is a nice player, but I think the NBA world is a bit guilty of overrating Barnes because we saw him play a lot of games on national TV where he aggressively embraced the role of “emotional leader” on a championship contender. Consider: His primary role on offense is floor-spacing shooter, and hit 32 percent of his threes last season. He’s a career 33 percent shooter from deep. Paul Pierce torched him in the playoffs.
Is Barnes better than the wing players in the minimum bin? Yes. Is he worth this mini-Matt Barnes Free Agency Watch? No.
One other note: If I’m reading this right, Barnes’ minimum salary as a 7-year vet is about $1.15 million, not $1.6 million. Barnes really has the following choices:
1) Prioritize winning a title and sign for the minimum in Boston or Miami (or, far less likely at this point, LA or Orlando);
2) Talk himself into the Bulls as a legit title contender and sign for more than the minimum, since Chicago still has some cap room;
3) Talk himself into the Hawks as a legit title contender, and sign there for a piece of the mid-level exception. (Note: The Hawks have not shown any reported interest in Barnes. Just covering the bases).
4) Prioritize money and sign wherever he wants.
• Evans Clinchy thinks the C’s might be forced to try and bring Marquis Daniels back using mini-Bird Rights. We covered this ground here.
• CelticsBlog takes its own look into the abyss of the Minimum Bin and investigates some players that might be available via trade, many of which we mentioned here.
• Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle checks in with Gerald Green, who had a few highlight dunks in summer league. Green, whom Mark Cuban once said “does not understand basketball,” wants to return to the NBA after playing last season in Russia:
“It’s tough,” Green said. “You have to swallow your pride a little bit. But you’re doing what you love to do. You maybe are not at the level that you want to be, but it’s still basketball. You can still get better. That’s what I did. I didn’t take it as a negative.
“Basketball is basketball. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the NBA, overseas or where you’re at, you just have to make the best of the situation. A lot of guys go overseas, come back. I didn’t want to sit out a year. It was a good experience to go. I’m back here now and I’m trying to stick.”
Green averaged 16.3 points in 27.6 minutes per game in Russia, hitting 49.2 percent of his shots.
It’s nice to see Gerald working, but I don’t see him getting a roster spot on any NBA team to start the season. Perhaps a 10-day later.
• Chris Bosh doesn’t want to player center, so the Heat used their Bird Rights to ink Joel Anthony to a 5-year, $18 million deal. They also signed Dexter Pittman, a rookie center.
It’s coming together down in Miami, folks. They enter the season the favorites in the Eastern Conference. It’s gonna be an interesting season.
• Rudy Fernandez has a wish list of five teams to which he’d prefer a trade, according to the NYDN’s Frank Isola: New York, New Jersey, Boston, Chicago, Miami.
The Blazers are not giving a cheap, young and useful player without getting a first-round pick in return. The C’s have no expendable basketball assets that would interest Portland, other than perhaps Avery Bradley.
Enjoy your Saturdays.
The Ticker