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.
And the market, as one NBA executive told CSNNE.com on Saturday, is "extremely thin."
With only the veteran's minimum to offer, it becomes even less likely that the C's will be able to find a player not currently on the roster, to help replace Green's contributions.
Some of the possibilities for the C's include former Celtic James Posey, Al Thornton and DeShawn Stevenson.
For all he did back in 2008, Posey is washed up. Al Thornton can fly, but he doesn't play defense. DeShawn Stevenson is an excellent wing defender, but a disaster offensively (check out his career shooting percentage). And let's not forget his bad attitude.
The Celtics already found their replacement for Green – it's Sasha Pavlovic:
Pavlovic was signed to a one-year deal last week and the Celtics believe he can make a significant impact if he plays more aggressively. Rivers said earlier in the week that Pavlovic’s biggest obstacle is confidence and he has spent time providing encouragement.
Green averaged 9.8 points per game last season and likely would have produced more as his comfort level with the team’s offense increased. But Rivers said the Daniels-Pavlovic duo doesn’t need to replace Green’s offensive contributions. Brandon Bass can provide a majority of the scoring for the second unit.
A Dooling-Daniels-Pavlovic-Bass-Wilcox second unit can get the job done. Whatever the young guys (Bradley, Moore, Johnson) contribute is gravy. My biggest concern is… relying on Marquis Daniels to stay healthy.
Related links: Herald – Green out for season | Volk thinks back to Lewis | ESPN Boston – What Green's loss means to Cs | Detection might have saved Green's life |
On Page 2, Jermaine O'Neal's play has everyone talking.
"If we had an MVP trophy – maybe we should have one – for camp, I think he would win it," Rivers said. "He's been phenomenal throughout camp. He's been absolutely wonderful."
"Number one, he has really bought in defensively," Rivers said. "He knows where to be all the time."
He's also a better communicator with his teammates defensively, something Rivers admits was a problem at times with the team's centers before and after the C's traded away Kendrick Perkins to Oklahoma City.
"Now he's become a talker," Rivers said. "That's one of the things, Kevin (Garnett) and Perk and Baby (Glen Davis) and all those guys had, Jermaine was new to it. We didn't have that a lot last year."
Rivers added, "Jermaine was learning it, and you heard Shaq talk before so no one could understand what the hell he was saying, the mumble. So it's good that Jermaine got it, is getting it."
CSNNE – O'Neal has a lot to prove
We saw flashes of Jermaine's defensive prowess last season. But I feel the same about Jermaine as I do about Quisy. My confidence level for both players staying healthy (randomly defined by me as playing 85% of regular season games and being available for the playoffs) is 30%.
The rest of the links:
ESPN Boston – New Blood | WEEI – Bradley, Moore make case for playing time |
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