Your Morning Dump… Speculation about Posey, Childress

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

Josh Childress, Phoenix: The Suns signed him to a five-year, $33.5 million deal last year and already are regretting the move. He has appeared in two games, logging 29 minutes, since Jan. 12. He is quite available. From a purely basketball standpoint, to trade Robinson and Daniels for Childress is a no-brainer for the Celtics. Childress is a pretty good perimeter defender. He's only 27. He does have some offensive skills. The Suns would probably do this in a heartbeat. For the Celtics, the big issue here is the four years beyond this one, which could be the deal-breaker. They already face re-signing Perkins and Davis. But the team is going to need to rebuild after the lockout and, under current rules, the Celtics do need 12 to 15 players on the roster. But the feeling may be that Childress isn't worth anything close to what he's due to receive and that there is too much money owed down the road. Another possibility would be to offer Jermaine O'Neal, even-up, for Childress. The Suns still save money here as well; he'd be on their payroll for one more year. The Celtics lose a big man, but how much can they expect from JO this year?

James Posey, Indiana: Big Game James has all but disappeared on the Indiana bench since Jim O'Brien was sacked, logging four minutes in the past 10 games. No one in Boston needs to be reminded of Posey's penchant for coming up big or for his locker room presence. He also knows the system. But he turned 34 in January and there was a sense in Boston after the 2008 title that Posey, then a free agent, might have already played his best basketball. Why would the Celtics revisit this one if they drew the line on a deal three years ago? (They wouldn't go out four years. New Orleans did. And Posey's contract took on another $670,000 via trade kicker when he was dealt to the Pacers.) Like the Childress deal, this one would require both Daniels and Robinson and would save the Pacers some $3 million. (Or, Jermaine O'Neal could be packaged back to Indy, saving the Pacers almost $1.4 million next year.) Either of those scenarios would go over well in cash-strapped Indiana. But the Celtics would be taking on Posey's contract, worth more than $7 million. If they think Posey has anything left this season, it might be worth a gamble. There's another $7 million due next year, but some of that could get wiped away by a lockout. (Same is true for Childress.)

ESPN Boston – What's out there for Cs?

Some intriguing options provided by Peter May. I prefer the older Posey over Childress mainly because of the contract. Fewer years and money.

I'm not ready to pull the trigger on Nate Robinson. Yes, he's struggled but I have a feeling it will click at some point this season. Plus, he's needed as insurance for Delonte West.

What are your thoughts about trading Jermaine O'Neal? Seems like a no-brainer, but I'd like to have both Jermaine and Shaq (as insurance for one another) in the playoffs. If you dump JO and Shaq isn't available, suddenly size isn't the Celtics strength.

Related link: CSNNE – 5 options for the Celtics

On Page 2, will the Celtics All-Stars have any friends in LA?

While Rivers joked about his approach to coaching these players, he isn’t overly concerned once the game starts.

“I’m going to tell them to get it on,” he smiled. “Hey, let’s get some action going in the locker room. I think what we’re going to do is just have everybody have separate seats in the locker room and face the lockers and not look at each other.

“It’ll be when they get in there and I think it’s all good. Listen, back in the days there was a lot of animosity with each other, and then they got on the floor and they loved each other, and the next day they didn’t like each other again. So that’s just the beast.”

Rivers is taking a lighthearted approach to coaching the Eastern Conference team. When it comes to preparation, he laughed that he is going to leave it up to assistant coach Lawrence Frank.

“Actually, as a matter of fact, I told Lawrence he’s planning the practice," Rivers said. “We’re running his plans. The ones that don’t work are his. The ones that work are mine.”