Gaffney and Lafayette probably the odd men out
After the Delonte West signing, the Boston Celtics now have 17 players under contract. It doesn’t take Will Hunting to realize that two players will have to be released in order to reach the 15-player limit allotted by the NBA.
Oddly enough, Von Wafer’s contract is reportedly fully guaranteed. So is Semih Erden’s. The three players without fully guaranteed contracts (if I’m not mistaken) are Tony Gaffney, Oliver Lafayette and now Delonte West (according to the Boston Herald). Since West figures to make the team, even though he’ll be suspended for the first ten games, one would have to believe both Gaffney and Lafayette will be released.
Danny Ainge told reporters, “They’ll have the chance to compete. We’ll keep the best players.” But Gaffney and Lafayette aren’t just two of the three Celtics with non-guaranteed contracts; they’re also the two least-established players.
For Lafayette, news that he will probably be cut shouldn’t come as a shock. The writing has been on the wall since Avery Bradley was drafted and Nate Robinson re-signed.
But for Gaffney, the life-long Celtics fan who realized his dream when the Celtics offered him a contract, the West signing likely ended some legitimate, if thin, hopes of being the C’s 15th man. Now, Gaffney will almost definitely be cut and his Celtics career, the fulfillment of a long-shot dream, will probably end before he was able to dress for even a single game.
It sucks sometimes that the NBA is a business, huh?
Related posts:
Celtics Blog | Jay King | September 2, 2010
Boston Celtics, Danny Ainge, Delonte West, Oliver Lafayette, Semih Erden, Tony Gaffney, Von Wafer
What sucks is DA’s hard-on for West. This seemingly negates the VW signing and Bradley drafting which I think is a terrible consequence. I’ll take VW any day over West and would like to see Bradley developed since he was DA’s ‘love’ just a few months ago. We still need a wing with SIZE (6’6″+) to spell PP and MD. What sucks is having players dropped by other teams (there is a reason West was dropped) then become a love child of the Cs. Go Cs…
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Not to be a dick or anything, but West has been better than Wafer every single year of their careers. And yeah, size is a concern, but when the game gets close Paul Pierce will be in the lineup every time. The reason West was dropped was that the Wolves didn’t want his salary, not because of his skills. They saved more than $4 million by waiving him.
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I understand Minnesota dropping him as they have too many guards, but Cleveland dropped him and they need players. So why? So he has been better than Wafer. Maybe it’s because he got the opportunity that did not lend itself to Wafer’s situation because better guards were in place. Remember, the Cs sucked major when West was with them so he got his opportunity on a lottery team. Bottom line is I don;t really care for his game and now VE, Bradley, and yes even Gaffney all suffer because of the perceived love DA has for West. I hope the competition is training camp shows DA made a mistake on this one. Go Cs…
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I am completely against you on this one. Not only is West better than the guys you mentioned, but he’s now the C’s best guard on the bench.
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Time will tell. I lived wiuth a friend who was bi-polar for a year and learned that all it takes is one day/time off the meds and disaster can strike. I hope it doesn’t for his sake. My money is on VW and Bradley. Go Cs…
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So let’s get him a personal assistant to make sure he takes his meds. Every day.
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I’ll be the dick
James some times you say some stupid things, and this is one of them.
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Thanks Nate for letting me have my own opinion. I agree with yours about yourself. Go Cs…
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