Who, if anyone, will be the Celtics’ 15th man?
Gaffney has a fighting chance to make the roster.
The latest question in the ESPN Boston Celtics Summer Forecast asked us who we thought would be the Celtics’ 15th man. Here was my answer:
In a perfect world, the Celtics would pick up another wing to add insurance in case 1) anyone gets injured, 2) Marquis Daniels spends another year earning a spot in Doc Rivers’ doghouse, or 3) Von Wafer snaps on Doc and goes all Latrell Sprewell. If the C’s don’t make an acquisition, though, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tony Gaffney occupy the final spot. The wing is where the Celtics are most thin, and while Gaffney isn’t ideal (or anywhere close?), he at least fits a need.
As I said, Gaffney is far from ideal. He’s young and athletic, but he’s as raw as they come. His jumper’s broke, he’s got no handle, and basically the only thing he can do on offense is dunk the basketball. He would be my last-case resort. For those wondering what that makes Larry Hughes, he is slightly below last-case, occupying the “please don’t even think about it under any circumstances” slot. The Celtics would be better off signing me, and I was a Division Three bench-warmer in my prime and I’ve recently started to grow a nice set of love handles.
I’m begging Danny not to start the season with Gaffney as the third wing off the bench. Marquis Daniels is too fragile and Von Wafer is too big a question mark for the Celtics not to have a reliable guy behind them. But it’s going to be tough to add anyone. The veteran minimum guys all stink (except for Delonte, who’s got other issues) and the Celtics don’t have very many assets to trade.
Related posts:
Celtics Blog | Jay King | August 27, 2010
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=28uwu3t
if they were willing to lose him for Fernandez whats saying they won’t for a player with real potential…
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Um, possibly because Rudy has set the NBA record for 3-pters in a rookie season, and Bradley hasn’t stepped foot on an NBA court yet. Ya, that might give them some hesitation.
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then we get rudy for bradley+ picks then trade rudy for chandler
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or do it all at once in a 3 team trade
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Portland has no interest in another guard, the problem with Rudy is there’s already a logjam at the SG and he’s not getting the minutes he wants. There’s no way they bring in another guard in the deal.
You’d have to find a team who’d have use for Bradley, because he has to be sent out to match Wilson’s deal. You can’t do it with Gaff/Laff alone, with those two deals being un-guaranteed and waiverable, if Boston finds a team for Bradley with cap space that is interested in him, and Portland is willing to lose Rudy for just draft picks, it could happen I suppose as something like:
- Gaff/Laff + Draft picks to Portland.
- Chandler to Boston
- Bradley to “Team X” with cap space that can absorb his deal without sending players out
- Rudy to NY
I just don’t see a “team x” out there to make this happen, and I also don’t see Portland just giving up Rudy for cap space.
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If we can’t get another wing, I’d be ok with West. Bottom line is we have two unproven guys at primary back ups at both 2 (Wafer) and 3 (Daniels.) One of them is going to be the primary back up for the year, we aren’t going to be able to bring in 2 more guys. So if we can’t get a SF (Hughes is not an option, that’s just ridiculous) give me West (over Rudy for that matter too) to back up Ray and be insurance if Wafer doesn’t come through. Wafer can also play some match up at SF, so there is potential there.
So basically I see it shaking at as:
Plan A: Find a back up SF not named Larry Hughes.
Plan B: Sign West to be primary back up of Ray, platoon Wafer/Daniels in SG/SF rotations.
Plan C: Sit pat, let Gaffney take the 15th spot on the rotation and pray he develops a useful jump shot (defensively I think he can help the team right now, unfortunately, that’s about all he can do right now.)
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How about we just let camp start, the season start and then see how it plays out? We can get a wing at the trading deadline if need be but I think many of you will be surprised at the level of play from the poeple you are questioning so much in August. Ainge has a plan and so far I like it. No West, EVER!!!. I’d rather Bradley earn those minutes. Go Cs…
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dwest and lebrons mom would be great
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http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=2dogbpb
(+ nj 1st rounder to portland)
How is this Jay P
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Jarvis Hayes anyone? Come on! The guy’s a legit 6’8″ SF who shoots 41% from 3 point range!
We need a backup SF more than another SG. Bradley, Quis and VW can all play SG. Quis is the only SF behind Peirce.
I like the West idea, but again, Quis is injury prone, and he’s the only SF other than PP on the roster. We need a BIGGER wing for Lebron, Melo (Especially if he ends up in NY), KD, and even Artest.
Hayes can play decent enough D in our system, and is a decent shooter.
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Sorry, misread his FG% for 3pt%. He shoots 35% from 3. But that’s decent enough, along with 42% FG and 80% on FT’s.
I say Hayes.
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Like I said…Jarvis Hayes anyone?
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Screen got cut off up there.
Ehem…Jarvis Hayes anyone?
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Jarvis Hayes is a possibility but the fact that he fell out of NJ rotations says a lot…
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