The most intriguing potential Sheed trade of all?
He's smiling just thinking about the Celtics.
CSNNE’s A. Sherrod Blakely came up with a list of three trades the Celtics could potentially execute for Rasheed’s retiring contract. I’m not gonna lie — one of them made me a little aroused.
Rasheed Wallace to Houston in exchange for Shane Battier:
Battier’s salary for 2010-2011 season: $7.35 million
Years remaining on current contract: 1
Do you know how perfect this would be? Battier’s basically a church-going, flame-throwing, corn-rows-built-into-his-head James Posey. He’s got Tony Allen’s defense except he’s 6’8″ tall, he doesn’t throw turnovers, and it doesn’t look like he’s having a seizure when he shoots jumpers. He plays the two or three, defends Kobe as well as any man alive, and provides veteran leadership and a steady hand off the bench. Basically, Shane Battier was built to come off the Celtics bench.
So then why would the Rockets give him up? Because they’re going to be swimming in luxury tax and they already have a few wingmen. Trevor Ariza and Kevin Martin ain’t going anywhere and the Rockets seem to really like Chase Budinger. And Jared Jeffries counts too, I guess. With all those wings, it’s uncertain what Battier’s role would be. And with the Rockets in the luxury tax, trading him away would save them $14 million.
Danny, if you’re listening, please make it happen. Throw in a pick if you need to. Just get Battier in Green. I need a little Shane in my life.
P.S. – I have a confession to make. I also have cornrows built into my head. I’m not even kidding. I like to call it Battier Disease.
Related posts:
Around the NBA, Celtics Blog, Featured | Jay King | July 21, 2010
Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets, Rasheed Wallace, Shane Battier
This is a no brainer if they can make it happen. I have a hard time believing the rockets wouldn’t be interested in it. With Ariza, Martin, and a solid backup in Budinger, why pay the extra on Battier’s contract. I don’t think losing him, really hurts that team all that much.
You could argue they think their in contention this year, and don’t want to lose a “Kobe stopper” since they’ll have to battle LA at some point. But is onwership willing to pony up 14 million for the chance that Yao stays healthy and they even have a shot at it? I’m not so sure. I think they’ll really look to get under that tax line, and Battier is their most expendable piece.
The one downside is it may be a 1-year short term solution, as even if Boston gets him, his contract is up next year, then what? He’ll only be 32, and probably want to sign for 3+ years at around MLE type money. Even though they’ll have has bird rights and be able to sign him, Danny probably wont be looking to lock up anyone else past 2012. Either way, that’s a question for the future, for immediate needs, he’s perfect. Everything the Celtics could possibly dream of to replace TA.
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Perfectly put. I agree with every single thing you wrote.
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This would be a wet dream scenario…
Not happening though. Houston is gearing up to make a run, and in the West with Bryant, Artest, and Carmelo being likely opponents in the playoffs…I can’t see them trying to save a few bucks on Battier. Dude’s too good.
I’m all for it if you can get it done Danny! If he pulled that off, after all the crap he’s getting, I’d be seriously impressed!
You da man Dan!
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But it’d be $14 million bucks. That’s not just a few bucks. And they have all kinds of wings. He might be the one who gets traded away.
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you def lose foot speed with battier, but he can recover with length— he would be a good match up vs kobe, and lebron—he would struggle with wade—Tony did a better job on wade cause of his fott speed—
But battier is a much better shooter—would help on the boards, is a better help defender, and contest shots better, and only has 1 year left on deal, so if his age catched up with him, we dont have to resign him in a year.
All for it bring shane in—we will lead the league in charges taken
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Battier and Big Baby would be fighting each other to see who gets to take the charges.
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battier doesn’t need footspeed as he’s always in the right position
i’m a big dook hater but battier’s game is solid
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Damn you for hating Duke. But you’re right, Battier knows how to play.
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he has lost footspeed, and that is still a part of defense but i think he would do fine for a year—
But i wouldnt mind bringing Posey back instead—and we could lock him up for the next 2 years in a trade—-with batteir you would only garuntee 1 year
You know posey can defend and hit threes on the big stage—battier has never been in that position—
I rather have posey—so we have our MLE to use on adding another player rather than replacing a hole
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(MLE going into to next year)
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Posey’s old and has lost a lot since we knew him.
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would the rockets trade any of their other wingmen instead of shane?
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You’d rather have somebody else?
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i would LOVE this. shane is a perfect fit for boston especially as he ages and needs less minutes. hes like tony allen only better and more effective. can defend lebron wade and kobe as good as anyone alive. just dont see the rockets letting him go,they think they have a decent enough team to make a deep run into the playoffs so i just dont think theyll let go of battier, regardless of how many wings they have.
still keeping my fingers crossed until we trade sheeds contract somewhere else though!
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I’m not sure. Do they really think they’re contenders this year? Because I don’t see it, especially with Yao out at least two months. And if they aren’t contenders, saving $14 million is nothing to scoff at.
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Battier is the one who gives the Rockets an identity though. He’s a leader. Will they give him up instead of Ariza and then be left with no leadership?
Attleman’s a good coach and they have Yao and Scola…but Battier brings a toughness to them that the rest don’t have.
If they trade Battier, I don’t see them contending in the playoff’s. I think they know that. I think they’ll let someone else go before Battier. Unless they feel he’s expendable.
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The Rockets are contenders. So if Yao is out 2 months they’re not contenders, but Perk will be out 4 months? What’s that make the Cs then? I think Houston will keep him just to defend Kobe & LBJ. A title is worth more than the $14M and I’m sure the owner(s) have deep enough pockets. I hate Duke too but if they let him go this would be a good move. I’d still raher keep Sheed and get Rudy. Go Cs…
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Perk is not to the Celtics what Yao is to the Rockets. Not by a long shot.
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The Rockets are not title contenders. They have no shot at a title. Zero. Even if Yao played 100 regular season games this year.
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Posey is old, but battier isnt?—wat is battier born in 1978…posey born in 1977—they have both lost a step, but it doesnt matter b/c its body postioning and the height and length—
Posey you can lock up for 2 years, battier only for 1—and we are gearing up for a 2 year run—i would go with posey—we all kno he can hit shots in the finals—battier isnt as proven
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Posey has been bad lately. You clearly haven’t seen him in New Orleans at all. It’s not about age, it’s about play.
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Posey plays nasty, Battier plays from the head.
Battier is a cerebral type of guy, Posey just trys to get under your skin.
I love both players so either would be fine. But I don’t know if Danny would reaquire Posey because that would essentially have been an admition that he was wrong for not resigning him before.
If he had just kept Posey in the first place we wouldn’t be in this bind anyways. We still would’ve had Sheed, Posey now, Nate and been able to try to resign TA while getting JO this offseason. We never would’ve used our BAE on Quis last year and had it available now. And in all likelyhood won the title last year because Posey would definitely have made the difference.
Danny was wrong. But I’m not sure he’d want to admit it.
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good points,
But I think the biggest is who gives you the best abilty to gear up the next 2 years—posey we can lock up without using our MLE next year—battier we will have to to retain him—-
every year you have to look to improve—-perkins and davis will be free agents—and we might need that MLE for a big player next year—
I think you need to have a 2 year mindset, not a 1 year
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That’s a good point about Posey, but he’s not the player Battier is. People think he’s still the same as he was in ’08, but it would be a new and different Posey we’d see next year.
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