Chris Johnson inks ten-day contract with Boston Celtics
I’m still trying to understand the trade, but I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’ll never understand it. Not unless Shaq and Jermaine have been fooling us all along and are actually 100% healthy, in which case the trade almost makes sense. But I’m moving on, for now, until I write my “goodbye, Perk” and “goodbye, Nate” posts, which will inevitably cause me to revisit my homicidal feelings for Danny Ainge.
The Celtics also traded Marquis Daniels today, along with cash, for the Sacramento Kings’ 2017 second-round pick. Coupled with the Erden/Harangody for a second-round pick swap, the Celtics now have three roster spots open for buyout candidates. Which would be fine, if the buyout list included a solid, tough big man known for his physical presence.
Instead, there’s Troy Murphy. And Leon Powe (who, after a few knee surgeries, isn’t quite the same player Celtics fans remember). And whatever other scraps get bought out because their current teams don’t want them. Now, Murphy’s not half bad. He can shoot threes, and even rebounds well. But these Celtics are known for being a tough, physical bunch. Murphy’s not scaring anybody. He’s not going to combat Dwight Howard. He’s not going to counteract Andrew Bynum. He’s not going to send Chris Bosh into a funk. Neither is Powe. Neither is any other buyout candidate the C’s could add.
For now, at least, the Celtics have signed D-Leaguer Chris Johnson. He’s 6’11 and could use a square meal, but has impressive agility for a big man. I’d be surprised if he stays on the Celtics for more than these ten days, but, then again, I no longer have any idea what Danny Ainge is trying to accomplish.
Related posts:
- Could the Celtics trade Sheed’s expiring (I mean, retiring) contract?
- Kendrick Perkins wants to remain a Celtic after contract expires
- Mannix: James Posey reunion with Boston Celtics possible (UPDATE: No, it’s not)
- Paul Pierce might opt out of contract if Celtics decide to rebuild
- ESPN: Celtics are shopping 19th pick
Celtics Blog | Jay King | February 24, 2011
Boston Celtics, chris johnson, Kendrick Perkins, Marquis Daniels
Hey Jay, I’m confused about the trade too… but aren’t you a little excited about Green?
Like or Dislike:
1 
0
Yes. More thoughts on that tomorrow, when I can get my thoughts together. Green’s overrated, but he’ll help.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Green’s not overrated and brings better stats than KP. Get over it Jay, KP was good but not worth the money it would cost next year or for 5 years. Shaq and JO will fill the bill in the middle and the bench is now much better. Go Cs…
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Maybe if there wasn’t only 27 games left I would like the deal a little bit
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
The irony now is that while most Celtics fans are ripping their hair out and stabbing voo-doo dolls made to look like Danny Ainge, James is aggressively positive about the trade. Fascinating. (no offense James, I’m with you on this)
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
crazy how james is the voice of reason smh.. get over it guys Kp’s gone and that’s that unlike you guys I TRUST MANAGEMENT.. remember ITS ALL ABOUT 18.. WE’RE A TEAM KENDRICK PERKINS DOES NOT MAKE OR BREAK US HE HELP BUT HOW QUICKLY WE FORGET HOW MUCH HE ALSO HURTS US.. LET IT GO!!!!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
It doesn’t matter if we weren’t going to sign Perk. We had him and we were in the hunt for a championship, now. And if Ainge for some reason just HAD to decide to start rebuilding RIGHT NOW, as he seems to have done, losing Perk and gaining Green was a piss poor way to start. And isn’t it funny how most folks defending this horrible trade seem to insist that Shaq and Jermaine will take care of us. Really? Two guys who can barely string two games together anymore?
This was a panic driven day of trading. That’s ALL it was. There’s no prettier face to put on it. I hope like hell that Green turns out to be a halfway decent backup defensive 3 and someone who can give our second unit a little more offensive juice, but even if he does all that, we gave up the heart of our defense, a core guy on a championship caliber team, for what basically amounts to a backup now and POSSIBLE future starter.
Remember Danny said a while ago something to the effect that he was haunted by what happened to the 80′s Celtics, by the way that Big Three faded, leaving the team lost and talentless. Obviously he was panicking that the same thing would happen hear. He apparently swore that he, in that situation, would pull the trigger for major trades. But Danny, we are NOT in that situation. So many things are different about this situation. And what you got back in your panicky trades was less than what you gave up, maybe a lot less.
This was a day we will remember for a decade, people. And not well. What Danny did today was a huge mistake.
I hope he proves me wrong and I hope Jeff Green proves to be the piece we were missing and Shaq comes back strong, etc.. I sure hope so.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Kid has given the team some good minutes in the first half. Might be a decent enough replacement at Erden.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
BradinLA, UhOh…thanks for the comments. Frankly, I’ve actually held back my comments as the day has worn on but I love this more and more. Our bench sucked. Yes, I wish the younger players would get minutes but that is one of Doc’s flaws. Now we get a solid SF with game and playoff experience who is young, athletic and -again – has better stats than KP. Yes, they play different positions but I really believe Shaq and JO will come back strong. JO obviously needed surgery and put it off forever. Well maybe, just maybe, the surgery solved his health issues once and for all? Here’s hoping that statement comes true. Murphy is going to get bought out and likely land with the Celtics. At least that’s a rumor floating around since we have 3 spots to fill.
Paul…I have to disagree with you this time about KP being the “heart of our defense”. KG is the defensive leader and its heart and it’s TEAM defense that makes the Celtics the toughest in the league. Why couldn’t KP with all his talent ever average 10 boards a game? If he had better offensive skills and rebounded at 10 a game then yes it was a bad move. But he doesn’t and now he also has health issues and there is no way he deserves $10M a year. DA is working to get banner #18 and not so much for the future. I love your analysis posts but I think the only ‘panic’ today is from fans not understanding that sometimes you need change to get even better. Give it a month and I believe you’ll be happier and see what I see. I love our bench now that we have two young 6’9 (roughly) SFs that can score, rebound and defend. Go Cs…
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
They are about to lose to Denver, throwing a game away that should have been won if not for the trade (The C’s are mentally not there tonight, plus they have no bench at all). Just two nights ago, they played like champs against the Warriors.
Ainge just took all the air out of the tires.
AND PLEASE EVERYONE — STOP SAYING THAT THE O’NEALS ARE GOING TO CARRY THIS TEAM. Shaq can’t even stay out of foul trouble on the days when he can physically play more than 20 mins; and Jermaine is a ghost of his old self. The guy is finished. Please everyone—-get real!!
That’s as delusional as the people counting on Sheed to come back. God forbid.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Chris…Celtics would have been without KP and MD tonight. NR has been sucking and you think Harangody would have gotten any minutes? Come on. The Cs lost because RR decided to take the night off. I did not see the game but the stats tell me this as we only had 4 fast break points and RR took only 2 FTs. That tells me he wasn’t pushing the ball. Killed on the boards too which NR and LH wouldn’t have changed. Denver was at full strength will all their new players and it looks like we just caved in the 4th qtr. And yes I’m counting on the O’Neals. There’s no evidence yet that they aren’t coming back at full strength and still 2 months of regular season left before anyone needs to f’in panic or say this team is DOA. They’re not. And what’s wrong with wanting ‘Sheed back? Oh well, maybe I am delusional. Back to my puffing!!! Go Cs…
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
lol, sorry James, but I’m really getting a kick out of you being on the other end of the debate now. You sound me talking to you a few weeks ago.
But seriously, Danny’s no moron. After the All Star break he and Doc were able to assess the team’s success thus far and it’s obvious that they saw two things (James tell me if you agree):
A) We’re as good this year without Perk as we were WITH Perk last year and we’re not going through that apocalyptic post-Christmas drag. A lot of this has more to do with the health and miraculous resurgence of the BIG 3. I’ve always said that if Perkins was healthy in game 7 we woulda won. Know what else? If any one of the BIG 3 were healthier in that game we woulda won in that case too. I don’t care what anyone says, Perk is not nearly as necessary as any one of the core guys.
B) The C’s have two major problems because of old legs: ability to rebound, and ability to score late in games.
The Celtics’ problems have nothing to do with defense. The defense has been fine this year. Keeping Perk could NEVER address the aforementioned issues. That’s the real issue with keeping Perk.
If the O’Neals can get healthy and Danny can sign some more big men, the rest of the league better take notice because the Celtics just improved without losing their core. Heat, Lakers, Spurs… watch out. I know everyone thinks the O’Neals are done and won’t be able to contribute in the playoffs but I’m telling you that Doc and Danny wouldn’t shake this thing up if there wasn’t a different and better road to take. It’s why they didn’t blow anything up last year when things looked grim, there was no better road. Obviously, they have a plan.
I’d be willing to bet a lot of money that the thing that made Danny finally pull the trigger and make the trades had everything to do with the maybe something we just don’t know yet about the O’Neals actually being in pretty good shape and getting rested for the playoffs.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
James and Brad: I hope you guys are right. I really do. I hope you can tell me in June “Ha, ha, Chris you are a frigging idiot.”
I would like nothing more. I will even put a duntz (I don’t know how to spell duntz so you may be right) but I’ll put on a duntz hat and I’ll be dancing around because the C’s just won the championship.
But come on. SHAQ CAN”T GO 5 MINS without picking up a foul. And Jermaine is crippled. He just had surgery for Christ sakes. SURGERY guys. Minor surgery or not, he’s not going to be in top form by the playoffs. He’ll be lucky if he can walk without a limp.
I have more faith in this Chris Johnson guy they just picked up than the O Neals. he actually looked good tonight.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
BradinLA… I agree 100% with your analysis. KP played only 12 games and is injured again. We’re better with Shaq, JO, NK and Murphy if he comes. And I totally agree about DA knowing better the health of those injured. He made the right moves and we did get substantially better yesterday.
Chris H… you are not an idiot. Nothing wrong with emotions but I tend to analyze things to the nth degree as that is my calling in life. Sometimes it’s a bitch but it serves me well. I’ve also watched 50 yrs of Celtic glory (and then some not so great years – ugh) so I’ve seen a lot and think, rightly or wrongly, that I understand talent (such as Portland being dumb to draft Oden over Durant). But I get emotional too at times and fall in love with players as all fans do. But this team needed a wake-up call and major shake-up. I’ll miss KP but I also wished he had been better offensively and had rebounded 10 per game but it never happened. I am excited for the new talent and additional guys DA is bringing and the prospects for getting banner #18 in June. Go Cs…
Like or Dislike:
0 
0