Josh Howard receiving “serious interest” from Celtics
Is Howard worth it?
I was confused at first when the C’s failed to keep Tony Allen around. But after seeing their final offer to him, a lame two-year, $5.2 million offer that never had any chance of being signed, I am more convinced than ever that Danny Ainge has some sort of backup plan.
The C’s wouldn’t have just let TA go, not when they’re only armed with minimum offers, unless Ainge is ready to get creative to bring in a backup small forward via a sign-and-trade or other such wizardry.
I guess creative is how the only way to describe having serious interest in Josh Howard, who would only be available through a sign-and-trade. (Yahoo!)
The Boston Celtics and the Chicago Bulls have shown “serious interest” in free-agent forward Josh Howard, a league source told Yahoo! Sports.
While the Bulls could have the salary-cap space to sign Howard, depending on what happens with their offer sheet to J.J. Redick, the Celtics would need a sign-and-trade to make a deal because they have already used their midlevel exception on Jermaine O’Neal.
Howard used to be very good. Hell, he was an All-Star once upon a time. But that was then, this is now. Now there are all kinds of red flags waving around Howard. 1) Not only is he a pothead, but he’s also dumb enough to admit it. 2) He took a ginormous step backwards last season (or two steps, or maybe even three). 3) He tore his ACL in Ferbuary and it’s not even 100% that he’ll be ready by training camp.
As you can see, this would be a huge-risk, big-reward type of deal. Because yeah, Howard’s a washed-up pothead with a torn ACL who despises the national anthem, but perhaps there’s a chance that last year was a fluke and he didn’t really turn from All-Star to bum quicker than you could say “marijuana.” As recently as 2008-’09, Howard averaged 18 points and 5 boards while shooting 45% from the floor. So maybe there’s hope for him yet.
But is he worth all that risk?
Related posts:
Celtics Blog, Featured | Jay King | July 12, 2010
Normally I would think that the leadership of the vets in the locker room would be enough to keep Howard in line, but he seems like the type dumb enough to ask KG to help him roll a blunt.
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Hahaha. He definitely would. Except I don’t think he’d need too much help.
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So take a guy who’s all hustle, all work, all energy, all the time, and replace him with a burnout with a bad knee, who had a god awful season last year.
Ya, makes complete sense. Ugh… why the hell didn’t we match that offer for Tony, I simply cannot believe Danny let him walk cause he didn’t want to pay one more year and another 500k, I rarely doubt Danny, he gets a free pass based on track record. But this is just absurd.
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Danny’s gotta have a plan. I can’t think he doesn’t. That offer they made him was so weak.
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I don’t know what it is, but yes, Danny’s earned the right to have us say “Let’s wait and see what he does” before we jump to conclusions.
But… I just cannot understand why they would not pay him 3 years 10million, it seems a very reasonable deal.
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They didn’t want to give him the third year. They want to be able to reload after two seasons.
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Yes because the 3-4million they’d pay him in that last year would be a crippling contract to have.
If anything, his expiring deal in the 2012 off-season would be an asset in a trade. So I don’t buy that for a second. No reason to not give him the third year.
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Maybe you’re right, but I assume it has to be the reason. Either way, their offer was a slap in the face.
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not a fan, i hate devasting knee inuries, Marvin Williams , Danny ake it happen—i hope the bulls sign Howard.
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Yup. Bulls could be damn good next year if they get Redick. Or if they get Howard and he’s halfway decent.
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I’ll actually be surprised if Orlando matches the offer to Redick, 19 million is an awful lot to pay a guy who has yet to prove he can be a reliable starter in the NBA, for a team who is already in luxury tax land.
Now for a team with cap space, it’s a great gamble to make. All signs point to Redick really being a contributor in years to come, and that 19 million even being a steal in 1-2 years.
But if Orlando spends the money, what are they going to do, start him over Carter? And you really want to have a bench with a 19 million contract? Tough sell to make to ownership who will have to pay his contract twice (once to him, once to the league due to tax.)
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They just signed Quentin Richardson. Probably means Redick will be in Chicago, which probably means Howard no longer draws their interest.
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I just thought of something and I’m so pissed I didn’t write it before.
What if on the side, the Celtics offered Howard all the weed he could ever smoke and forced him to take the veterans minimum? You think the NBA would look down on that?
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What if they just stopped playing the national anthem before games instead?
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If josh howards is danny’s backup plan, then i might have to disagree with him here. Huge risk and the fact that more then likely we have to give up sheed’s contract for him, puts us in a difficult position. With the mid-level gone, sheed’s contract gone, what left? Nobody better say Scalabrine.
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There is also the possibility that they would sign-and-trade Nate Robinson. Not saying it’s likely, but a possibility.
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If we get the Josh Howard of 2008 or earlier, then a deal for around the max mid-level will be quite a coup. He was a pretty darn good player, and to have him as a sixth man would be great.
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But the question is, would we be getting that Josh Howard? Huge risk.
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