Bulpett: Ryan Hollins Likely to Join C’s

Posted by Brian Robb on Mar 22, 2012 2808622 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2012%2F03%2F22%2Fbulpett-ryan-hollins-likely-to-join-cs%2FBulpett%3A+Ryan+Hollins+Likely+to+Join+C%27s++2012-03-22+12%3A32%3A24Brian+Robbhttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D28086

The long awaited wait for help on Boston’s front line may show some movement today, as according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald, the C’s may be on the verge of landing former Cavs center Ryan Hollins, as long as the big man clears waivers:

It looks like Ryan Hollins will be the Celtics’ new tall man to be named later.

According to a league source, who might or might not have been one of those interested in Hollins, the 7-footer is interested in joining the Celts if he clears waivers today. Let go by the Cavaliers this week, he fits the C’s clear and present need for size.

The Celts might have had the inside track on the athletic 27-year-old. It’s known he was among those who played regularly with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett during the lockout.

The UCLA product averaged just 3.7 points and 2.3 rebounds in 15.1 minutes in 24 games this season for the Cavs, who were his fourth NBA team.

Even if the C’s do get Hollins, they are apparently not through looking for help. It is expected they will sign a power forward within the next week.

The waiver item is a major caveat here, as we all saw this past week with the claiming of J.J. Hickson and Chris Johnson by teams under the cap, any young player who has shown even brief flashes of promise is at risk of being claimed. Hollins is overpaid, but on a fairly reasonable number at a prorated $2.5 million.

The Pacers are one of the teams that are rumored to be interested in Hollins, as they recently lost veteran center Jeff Foster to retirement and are also under the cap. If they like Hollins, they could claim him for depth purposes but that’d still be a decent amount of change for someone who likely won’t be a contributor for them.

All things considered, there’s no better opportunity out there right now for minutes for the seven-footer besides Boston and that’s likely what he’s hoping for as well.

As for a scouting report on the 27-year-old, we’ll wait for a move to be made for that, but know this. As far as rebounding goes, he’ll fit right in on this team, as you could argue he’s the worst rebounding center in the league. Thankfully, on the positive side, he’s a strong defender and runs the floor well, something that should serve him as well as it did Chris Wilcox alongside Rajon Rondo.