This Darko thing is really happening

The Boston Celtics plan to enter training camp next week with a slew of new faces, with Darko Milicic being among them.

A league source confirmed to CSNNE.com that Milicic, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft, will sign a one-year deal with the Celtics next week for the veteran’s minimum.

CSNNE

Yup.  This is really happening.

This confirms the report in our Morning Dump, and while a lot of us, including myself, have had the initial reaction of dread, the reality of this situation is that it’s not that bad.

First… it’s a minimum deal.  And to reiterate Chuck’s take… it’s no risk.  You can cut the guy at any time and it will have almost no impact on the books.

Second… Paul Flannery tweeted, he’s tall.  So what’s the worst case scenario here?  They have a tall guy who sits at the end of the bench in a suit as an inactive?  Maybe you keep him active and you’ve got a tall goon with six fouls.

The best-case scenario is you’ve got a tall guy who takes advantage of some of the space created by all of the good players to grab rebounds and finish easy plays.  If Ryan Hollins can get meaningful minutes against the Miami Heat… then Darko riding the end of the pine is not THAT big of a deal.

The bottom line is, keep your expectations pretty low and you might end up being surprised by him.  As for guys he might squeeze out for that last roster spot?  I think Dionte Christmas and Jamar Smith get cut and tucked away in the D-League as insurance.

There… I think I’ve thoroughly convinced myself to be OK with this move.  If they’d done this any other way, I’d   have an issue.  But this way… this is OK.