Powe close to Boston return? Murphy, Gadzuric, Pavlovic, Kapono also targets
Leon Powe, who isn’t the same player you remember, is close to a Boston Celtics reunion, reports ESPN’s Marc Stein. He “fully expects” Powe back in Boston, and has been told Boston is “operating under belief it’s a done deal” though other teams — the Knicks and Grizzlies, to name two — have also expressed interest in the 6’8 power forward.
With three roster spots to fill (if Chris Johnson’s ten-day contract doesn’t get extended), Powe won’t be Boston’s only addition. One name linked to the Celtics repeatedly? Troy Murphy, the left-hander who couldn’t crack New Jersey’s rotation and still hasn’t played for a single playoff team in his entire career. The Boston Herald mentioned a few other names today. Hint: they won’t make you forget Kendrick Perkins.
According to sources, the Celtics are hoping the talk of Troy Murphy being available comes true. They are said to have interest also in Dan Gadzuric, Sasha Pavlovic and Jason Kapono.
Dan Gadzuric TOTALLY limits the blow of losing Perk. Same with Sasha Pavlovic, who has been named the single worst NBA player alive by at least one knowledgeable human. And Kapono? Well, he almost averages one point a game. Anybody else wonder why the C’s traded away Semih Erden’s roster spot, if Leon Powe and Dan Gadzuric are legitimate candidates to fill that spot? Doesn’t make sense, does it? Trusting Danny Ainge right now requires a major leap of faith.
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Celtics Blog | Jay King | February 26, 2011
I heard that SE is very homesick is most likely headed back to Turkey
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I keep seeing comments where folks declare that, if you put emotion aside, the logic of Ainge’s moves is solid.
WHAT?!!
Apparently, when they say “emotion”, they mean silly things like feeling loyalty to players who have bought into the Celtic Way and have excelled. Apparently, when they use words like “emotion”, they AREN’T including such emotions as panic over our injury situation. Apparently that kind of emotion is actually ‘logical’ …
With such distinctions in mind, it’s easy to see how it’s “logical” to decide that a team which has overcome injury after injury has to suddenly revamp on the fly because of an injury to Marquise Daniels, who suddenly became – in the eyes of many – more important to our championship chances AND to our future than Kendrick Perkins, who – after all – is only one of the best defensive and rebounding centers around, one that almost any team in the league would love to have…
So now, instead of one big ‘if’ – - can we find a way to work around not having a solid backup to Paul Pierce — we are faced with a legion of ‘if’s, including one that is a lot bigger than the main ‘if’ we had before! Yes, now we have a solid backup for Pierce – assuming Green adapts well to the role – but we do NOT have a powerful/reliable center.
You know, I’m looking forward to Rondo-to-Green alley-oops as much as anyone. And if this trade allows Garnett to work closer to the basket on offense, at times, that sounds very good to me. And if Green gives our second unit more punch, that sounds good. We are all tired of seeing hard-won leads dissipate when the second unit comes in. I’m not saying that there are no arguments to be made in favor of what Ainge did. But isn’t it interesting to remember Ray Allen declaring – barely a month ago – that the Celtics were never really themselves until Perkins came back? Everybody in Boston was waiting for Perkins, for months, like the Second Coming. But suddenly now, it seems that those who want to defend this trade have found a new religion, which declares that Perk was a false idol all along, and that ‘offensive spacing’ is the key to all our hopes.
Man, I just hope Shaq finds the Fountain of Youth, because I don’t think Jeff Green and the chair-throwing-guy are putting a scare into anyone that we might have to go through to get to a championship.
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Hey Paul, i am torn over this… it bothers me because we were the best team in the league. Even better than the spurs! Now we don’t know who we are… i wonder if these guys can get over the loss of perk emotionally. I always thought that the trade deadline is too late in the season for a title contender to make a deal this big.. if we were playing as bad as last season I would understand the gamble. But why GAMBLE with a team that is doing the best in the league…
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Paul…as the person that has spoken the most about the ‘emotion’ issue let’s look at some facts. When was KP ever “one of the best defensive and rebounding centers around”? Defensive yes, rebounding a big fat NO. He averaged 5.8 boards in the Finals last yr. and is a CAREER 6.1 average rebounder. Go check his stats. He has never averaged 10 per game and that is where the ‘worst’ of good rebounding centers start. A great rebounding center would be Howard (13.9 this yr and 12.8 career) or Cowens (13.6 and closer to 15 during his best yrs). In other words a center capable of pulling down 15-20 in big games and KP just isn’t that kind of player. Center position is not the critical factor it has been in the past. Having a BIG front line though is and the Celtics still have that. It’s all about rebounding and we still have SO/JO/NK and maybe Murphy and maybe Johnson if he sticks. And if PP and RA would ever focus more on rebounding that would really benefit the team. For the complaining you have done, like me, about the Celtics playing down to teams and the weak bench well our core (HOFs & All-Star PG) is intact and the bench is much stronger. Lastly, this isn’t “new religion” for me. I have always appreciated KP’s heart, effort and play but I was never in ‘love’ with him to the point of thinking the center spot could not be upgraded. Why do you think DA went out and got Shaq and JO? It’s because of the injury to KP and the worries about his ability to come back. Well, he came back and is now injured. Now he’s gone so please let’s move forward and focus on what we have and in my mind that’s a much better team with more ability and deeper at all positions; including our center because NK is an upgrade over SE and rebounds just as good as KP. Go Cs….
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