Celtics still interested in Kwame and Shaq, eh?
Needless to say, this isn't the Shaq the Celtics would be getting.
Okay, now that I’m sufficiently all out of emotions, on to the latest rumor. The Celtics are still interested in Shaq and Kwame Brown.
Shaquille O’Neal and Kwame Brown.
Those two haven’t shown up in the same sentence too often over the years, but they’re linked on this occasion because they both remain on the radar of the Boston Celtics.
The East champs, even after the recent signing of Jermaine O’Neal, still want one more big man after inching to the brink of a full roster with Thursday’s signing of guard Von Wafer.
The problem? The Celtics only have minimum money left. Sources say they’re having trouble getting Brown to accept those wages, so you can imagine where Shaq stands on the idea.
Word persists that Shaq still hopes to be sign-and-traded somewhere by Cleveland that will allow him to secure a salary next season above the $5.8 million mid-level exception. Our old friend Howard Beck of the New York Times did a comprehensive piece last weekend spelling out just how unlikely landing that sort of contract would appear to be. [...]
I’ve heard that Shaq, earlier this summer, was telling friends that the Spurs were the only team he’d consider playing for on a low-dollar contract.
But San Antonio, as covered previously in this cyberspace, doesn’t have the available minutes — and really hasn’t shown the inclination — to try to wedge the former local high school star into a world that still revolves around Shaq’s old rival Tim Duncan.
Atlanta? Sensible as it sounds for the Hawks to be the one team out there aggressively pursuing the 38-year-old — given Shaq’s presumed ability to both stand up to Hawks killer Dwight Howard and sell tickets in Atlanta — they just signed Jason Collins to be their No. 3 center and signed Josh Powell before Collins.
Which brings us back to Boston. I struggle to envision Shaq signing for a mere $1.35 million for next season, but the idea can’t be completely dismissed if O’Neal is serious about only signing with a team that can contend for a championship, since the Celts are still on that short list. [...]
The safer move for the Celtics is clearly signing Kwame, but I don’t think we need to remind you that Ainge — who was willing to gamble on Stephon Marbury in the second half of the 2008-09 season when so many outsiders thought he wouldn’t dare — is not afraid to take risks.
First, I’ve got to ask myself, what exactly makes signing Kwame Brown “clearly a safer move” than signing Shaq? I mean, as long as Shaq is 7’0 tall, 360 pounds and still has a pulse he’ll be a better basketball player than Kwame Freaking Brown. Am I wrong? So please, lets not pretend Kwame is somehow the safer choice, just because he has sucked his entire career while Shaq used to be a super-duper-star.
Look, I have reservations about Shaq. He’s old, fat, can’t play any semblance of defense and somehow thinks he deserves more than the mid-level exception. But if the Celtics can somehow manage to pick him up for the minimum, Danny Ainge should be arrested for theft and tossed in jail. Because while Shaq undoubtedly has his flaws, if he’s making $1.35 million in a market that fetched four years, $5 million for Darko Milicic and five years, $32 million for Drew Gooden there is no other word for it than robbery.
As for Kwame, would I pay him the minimum? I’d rather light $1.35 million on fire and then flush the ashes down the toilet. It would make more sense. I would light Kwame on fire instead of all that money, but there’s no way he’d be able to catch on fire.
Related posts:
Celtics Blog, Featured | Jay King | July 31, 2010
Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Kwame Brown, shaq, Shaquille O'Neal
If we can’t get Shaq I would take Kwame rather than have no backup to Jermaine. Kwame is ok for a backup and an occasional starter. He seems like a bust but that is only in relationship to where he was drafted. His performance is consistent with a backup center and he will give you a few very good performances a year that show why he was drafted so high in the first place.
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Only in relationship to where he was drafted? He averaged 3 points and 3 rebounds last year. He “catches” passes like he has steel plates attached to his hands. He shot 33% from the free throw line. He played less minutes per game than the corpses of Chucky Atkins and Ben Wallace. I don’t want to say he’s a bum but, well, he’s a bum.
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Giving Kwame Brown minute is an insult to any other big man that is still out there unsigned, so i largely agree with you Jay
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Hell, giving Kwame Brown minutes is an insult to us fans.
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That is why he is a backup–he can play defense and his numbers compared to Perkins, when adjusted for minutes played are not that bad:
Brown 13.8(MPG) 3.3(PPG) 3.7(RPG)
Perkins 27.6(MPG) 7.6(PPG) 7.6(RPG)
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Example #1 why statistics don’t tell the entire story.
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Are you saying he can’t play defense. Do the Celtics need him to play offense? His FG% is 50% and while his FT% is horrible he turns the ball over less than Perkins.
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He’s actually a decent defender. But trying to compare Perk’s statistics to someone else’s is useless. Most of what Perk does can’t be quantified. Brown is not the way to go. I’d rather have a guy like Earl Barron in a heartbeat.
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He looks good–I didn’t know he was available or in the Celtics radar.
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See what happens when you go on vacation? Suck-stiffs like KB come back into the mix just when you think the talk of signing him is over. So while at the shore I hope you’re having fun and we appreciate the posts but please invoke my mantra ‘Rudy & Shaq = banner 18′ and hopefully all will be good upon your return. Whoever thinks KB is any sort of answer or even worthy of a 15th seat on a bench does not know hoops. There’s a reason the word ‘bust’ is always associated with his name. Go Cs…even at the shore!
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Does Von & Kwame = banner 18?
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I guess the Celtics see something in him that poster here will not or cannot:
“Size. He’s got size and potential,” Rivers said. “He hasn’t realized that yet. But it’s there. We want to see if we can get it out of him.”
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How many teams and years does it take before ‘anyone’ realizes he isn’t worth the trouble? I’d rather the Cs give the time to SE and let him develop as he wants to get better but just needs experience and playing time. KB has had the time and opportunities and done nothing with it. So what if he has size? It’s the glaring lack of motivation, talent, and effort to get better that give him 3 strikes in my eyes. Go Cs…
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Maybe if we had him playing in the 7th game of the finals he could have done this:
or this
I would rather have Shaq, or Earl Barron as suggested by Jay, but SE is a complete unknown relative to his ability to thrive in the NBA. I would rather go with a guy who has obvious potential that Doc has stated he is willing to work with. He a decent defensive player with size, which we desperately need, and any offense we get from him is gravy.
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Or he could have done this haha…
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Of course I’d rather have Shaq and have consistently being screaming to sign him. My point was I do not want Brown and would rather SE get those minutes as I stated (as in a worst case scenario of not getting Shaq and having to choose between SE & KB). There’s a reason Brown is a bust and no ‘highlights’ from random plays is ever going to convince me otherwise. There’s an old saying “even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in awhile”. If Kwame is so f’in good and has so much ‘potential’ why is he traded so much and still without a team??? Just as Eddie Curry was to be the next Shaq, etc. There’s a reason people and it is he is a bust. Go Cs…
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And I wouldn’t underestimate the influence of player like Kevin Garnett could have on Brown.
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But he’s played with guys like Jordan and Kobe, similar strong attitudes to Garnett albeit not necessarily the same type of team player. He doesn’t like the pressure of an uber-intense teammate.
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He is not my first choice, but if it comes down to what’s available and he is it, I’d rather take him and hope for the best. He has length and if we reach the finals against LA we will need him. You can’t beat the Lakers with players that are 6’6″ and listed at 6’8″ like the ticket stub. Sure IF Perkins comes back the same player then we’d be ok without him–but that is a big IF. He will come cheap and if he sucks Doc won’t play him.
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I’d rather Sheed comes back which I am hoping for. We don’t need another Miki Moore “upgraded’ clone wasting time on the Cs bench. Go Cs…
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Come to think of it, Moore’s on the market. P.S. That was the most pessimistic thing you’ve ever said.
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So you’d rather have Kwame than Glen Davis? Or am I reading that wrong?
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I’m with you on this, Jay. If Brown can’t handle the pressure of getting steamrolled by his teammates, how are we suppose to imagine that he can gel with the team in the locker room? It’s going to take more than stats to convince me on Brown.
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And the stats that are supposed to be “convincing” are 3 points and 3 rebounds per game.
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If you’re going to use numbers be fair–
It is :
Brown 13.8(MPG) 3.3(PPG) 3.7(RPG)
Perkins 27.6(MPG) 7.6(PPG) 7.6(RPG)
Extremely close to Perkins.
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Numbers don’t tell half the story. Kwame stinks. He’s like a big man version of Tony Allen, except he’s always in Bad Tony stage.
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You can’t quantify your personal feelings about a player that are formed through the lens of your own unique life experience. You have already acknowledged he is a decent defender and at the end of the game numbers are the only things that count. His numbers are consistent with a backup center and we need one. If we can get someone better that’s great–but he would still make the team better if there was no one else available. He has games in the NBA where he has scored as many as 30 points–even a small % of that would have put the Celtics over the top in game 7.
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If Kwame Brown had been on the Celtics in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, he would have been just where he was supposed to be: At the end of the bench in street clothes.
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And my feelings aren’t personal at all. They come from watching years of basketball and being a student of the game.
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Everything is personal-no one is immune from their own life experience and core beliefs and how that influences their thinking. I would say there could be a problem in your thinking if it is inconceivable that Kwame Brown could have denied a few points through his defense and offensively contributed a few points, enough to change the outcome of the game.
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He wouldn’t have done any better than anyone on the court, methinks.
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Oh well-if they sign him we can revisit this next season. Hopefully we will get Shaq!
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