Delonte is back!! Where is Gloria James!

Now that Delonte West is back there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that the Celtics are going to win a championship this year (on paper). Other than being the best mother lover there is Delonte does a couple things that the Celtics desperately needed. He is a good shooter, can play some D, and played with ferocity on Rondo can match. He has a high basketball IQ and if Avery Bradley and Nate Robinson fail to be Rondo’s back up he can play some point.

A couple issues revolving around Delonte are his lack of size, and his lack of the common sense gene that often finds him in trouble. Fortunately for him, he now joins a team first, act smart veteran laden team that have a chip on their broad shoulders. He has a non guarenteed contract that if he acts up we can cut him, and is signed for (I assume) the veteran minimum.

Our bench is shaping up to be solid and hilarious with Nate as the 1, Delonte at the 2, Quisy at the 3, Baby at the 4 and Shaq at the 5. Pretty good right? This puts the Celtics over the top and I bet we can’t all wait to game 1, when LeBron takes his talents to Boston and get heckled terribly about being a douche and for having his mom be porked by one of our players.

See you in the finals Lakers.

Rondo Withdraws From USA Hoops

Rajon Rondo withdrew from team USA.

There are a couple things with this, but it’s all weird.

1st there were rumors that he was going to be cut, which is odd because a week ago he was pegged as a starter. All the speculation up until Rondo withdrew was that it was between Eric Gordan and Stephen Curry. 2nd is that he had a family issue to take care of, which is an excuse I’m not really buying into.

I don’t think his game translated well to the international game of jump shooting and free throws and able to save face he withdrew on his own terms than being “the final cut”. This is something to look into because last offseason he was pegged as being a prima donna and this is consistent with that thinking.

However, I could care less as a Celtics fan because as long as he stays healthy and is driven for the NBA season I’m down.

Paul Pierce wants to get away

Given the circumstances of the upcoming season, Paul Pierce (left) believes the Celtics need a change of pace in training camp. For years, they have worked out for a week at Salve Regina University in Rhode Island before embarking on the preseason schedule. It’s 90 minutes from Boston, a comfortable environment, and the Celtics are popular with the local community.

Pierce, however, believes that with Shaquille O’Neal, Jermaine O’Neal, Von Wafer, and Nate Robinson experiencing their first training camps in green, it may be time to seek seclusion and build chemistry.

“I think it would be good for this group to get away,’’ said Pierce. “I’m really getting tired of Newport. Really, I want to go somewhere else.

“Newport is good, but I want to go somewhere else. It would be good to get away with this type of group, when you have Jermaine and Shaq.

“When you got new guys and these types of personalities, I think it’s good for all of us to get out, be at a dinner table — me, Shaq, Kevin [Garnett], Ray [Allen], Jermaine. I think it would be good for that relationship, building that chemistry. We get away and go somewhere, that’s something we’ll definitely do.’’Boston.com

If everyone remembers, when the Celtics got KG, Ray Allen, James Posey, and Eddie House they all went away that summer to Rome and left their cell phones at home. It forced them to build chemistry and that ultimately led to a championship. I don’t know if this is wishful thinking or a last ditch effort by Pierce, but I don’t see the harm in it. We have a lot of new guys who all have been stars in their day, and getting them to gel with the team off the court may help on the court a lot. The Celtics have a really good team on paper right now, but it won’t work unless they leave their pride outside when they step on the court. I don’t know if Danny and Wyc will take the bait, but I like Pierce’s mentality.

Paul Pierce Interview

This is a little long but very interesting from an interview with Greg Dickerson of CSNNE.com :
On Doc Rivers returning:

“I really wanted him to hurry up and make the decision, because his future really depended on mine and Ray’s and people don’t understand that. I think a lot of other people’s futures depended on what Doc did, and that’s moving forward as an organization. If Doc doesn’t come back, do we start the (rebuilding) process? I mean, (Ray Allen)’s a free agent, (Kendrick Perkins) went down, I’m on the last year of my deal, so there was a lot of things that could have happened if Doc walked away. That’s why it was big for Doc to come back.”

On the Miami Heat:

“You know it could come together right away for them, like it did when we brought our whole new team together, but it’s all about the sacrifice, it’s all about dropping the egos, and it’s all about communication. It’s going to be hard, you know why? I like to call this barbershop talk, because you go to a barbershop and all you talk about is basketball and sports and people are always saying, ‘What if Kevin, Ray, and Paul had gotten together when they were younger? They’d probably have four or five championships. But then you don’t take into (account) the fact that we were all in our primes, still trying to establish ourselves at the same time, which is what you’re seeing with Miami now. All of these guys are in their prime. Now, how much of your prime are you going to sacrifice? LeBron right now is an MVP-caliber player. Wade is also, too. And also Chris Bosh. Now, can these guys say for the rest of their careers it’s not about winning the MVP? It’s about sacrificing the individual numbers for a greater good, and that’s winning a championship. I think the great players make the adjustment. If it doesn’t work out (the first year), I think as time goes, they’ll figure it out.”

On Pierce opting out of his contract:

“I never thought for half of a second (that I would be somewhere else). Truthfully. I couldn’t even picture myself in another uniform. I never thought for a second, really. I opted out because I wanted to help the team, take less money per year, so we could restructure the team. I like the team, I wanted to bring everybody back, add some pieces, and that was my reason for opting out.”

On his future:

“I think this is going to be it for me. After these three or four years that I’m going to play, then I think that’s going to be it for the game of basketball. I put so much into this game. As far as retiring from the NBA, I think I will be done after this contract because eventually I want to go overseas and play and live for a couple of years. That’s why this is a big contract for me, knowing I’m going to retire a Boston Celtic. I want to go to either Italy or Greece for a year. I think I want to be able to bring my family over to just kind of share a different experience overseas for a couple of years, before I settle into retirement.”

I love how Pierce is so blunt and honest. He doesn’t drag shit out, just brutal honesty. It was interesting to hear his thoughts on Doc and his subtle skepticism about the Heat. Paul Pierce has gone from one of my most hated Celtics to one of my favorite Celtics, and the turnaround for me was really the 24 win season because he started deferring to his teammates instead of taking every shot (that’s probably why we only won 24 games) but whatever, I can’t wait until his number is up in the rafters.

Pierce Thinks Sheed Is Coming Back

Rasheed is retiring and has been very consistent with the thought, recently when asked by CSNNE.com about whether his NBA career was indeed wrapped up, Wallace responded, “Like Christmas.”
But then Paul Pierce also said this:
“I told him, ‘Go ahead, do all you need to do,’ ” Pierce said. ” ‘Take the kids everywhere. We’ll see you in February.’ ”

I think it’s pretty obvious Rasheed is coming back for the playoffs. He only likes to play in big time moments and I’m fine with that. If we have the option at the end of the year to bring Sheed back, why not?

Also Paul Pierce had this to say about coming back
“Everybody knew I was coming back. I didn’t need a special.”

Fuck you LeBron

A Bunch Of Teams Make A Deal

The New Orleans Hornets acquired Trevor Ariza(notes) Wednesday in a four-team, five-player trade that also sends point guard Darren Collison(notes) to the Indiana Pacers, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

The deal also sends Pacers forward Troy Murphy(notes) to the New Jersey Nets and Nets guard Courtney Lee(notes) to the Houston Rockets. In addition to landing Collison – the young point guard they’ve been searching for all offseason – the Pacers also have to take on forward James Posey(notes), who has two years and $13.5 million remaining on his contract.

Ok for you stupid perople:
Houston Rockets
Coming: Courtney Lee
Going: Trevor Ariza

New Orleans Hornets
Coming: Trevor Ariza
Going: Darren Collison and James Posey

Indiana Pacers
Coming: Darren Collison and James Posey
Going: Troy Murphy

New Jersey Nets
Coming: Troy Murphy
Going: Courtney Lee

I don’t get this deal for New Orleans or New Jersey but I think the Rockets and Pacers got off like bandits. Darren Collison averaged 12 points and 6 assists his rookie season in New Orleans and was the best player traded in this deal. It seems they were so eager to trade Posey’s contract that they undersold Collison as part of a salary dump. They need to realize that as soon as Chris Paul’s contract is up, he is skipping town and they will be left with a big hole at the PG position. Meanwhile Posey and Ariza are interchangeable (even though Posey has been dreadful in NO). The Rockets get a young guard in Courtney Lee who can start or come off the bench.

What aggrivated me the most about this deal is why didn’t the Celtics try and trade Sheed for any of these players. Ariza, Lee, Posey/Collison would have all been great additions to the team. There is also a possibility that Posey gets waived and comes back home.

Sheed Waived

The Celtics announced Tuesday that they have waived Rasheed Wallace after agreeing to a zero buyout of his contract. This was the first step needed to remove Wallace and his salary from the Celtics cap. Wallace can now retire without having his salary number count on the books.

The team now has 14 players under contract for next season after that transaction and the signing of rookie Luke Harangody on Tuesday.

The team will only sign a player to a minimum contract, if they decide to fill the 15th roster spot. ESPN

Sheed is now officially off the team and the Celtics tried their hardest to trade his “expiring” contract but it just didn’t work out. The Sheed experiment almost worked, we knew what we were getting into when we signed him and we got exactly what we expected. A guy who only tried during the playoffs. I have a sneaking suspicion this isn’t the last of Mr. Wallace on the court in green. Expect him to take that vaunted “PJ Brown” signing when it comes to playoff time because there is always a need for Sheed.

Sheed Done

Despite the speculation otherwise, the Boston Globe reported on Monday that Wallace’s agent, Bill Strickland, said his client indeed plans to retire.

Shaq already started stirring the pot, while he said he knows Rasheed wants to come back, but I’m pretty sure Rasheed is content with hanging out on his couch.

Part of me wants him to come back so this team is just ridiculous, but since that obviously isn’t happening I’m getting concerned about him possibly retiring before we trade his “expiring” contract.

We might be hold on to it until the trade deadline, where I hope we can pick up a nice back up wing player, because I don’t really trust Von Wafer, Quisy, and Nate Robinson.

More Shaq

Shaq’s on the team awesome. I could care less about the people saying this is a bad move because whatever, we have Shaq. There is a chance Shaq could be awful, but there could also be a chance that Shaq gets re energized and finishes his career with another ring.

People will bring up the pick and roll game, people will bring up age, people will bring up how him and Rondo won’t sync up (Those people can shut it, Perk was no burner) and free throw shooting. Well fuck them, Shaq is now a roll player that will only be called on for 10-15 minutes a game at most. I’ll take that opportunity any day.

Big Shamrock Coming To Boston

CBS’ Ken Berger reports:

Shaquille O’Neal is about to take his talents to South Bay — Boston, that is. The 38-year-old, 15-time All-Star is close to agreeing to a deal with the Celtics, a person with knowledge of the agreement confirmed to CBSSports.com.

Shaq, soon to be known as the Big Shamrock — or, fill in your favorite nickname — is on the verge of accepting the veteran’s minimum starting at about $1.4 million, the person with knowledge of the deal said. The number of years was still being worked out Tuesday, but Comcast SportsNet-New England — which first reported the Shaq-to-Celtics news — said O’Neal is seeking a two-year deal. In all likelihood, the second year would be a player’s option.

I love it, I love it. Our big man army is ridiculous with Shaq, Jermaine O’Neal, Big Baby, KG and Perk when he comes back healthy. Tell me that isn’t a terrifying bunch? Shaq is signing for the veteran minimum which means we still have Sheeds contract to trade to get another wing player. Shaq’s skill have obviously diminished but he will still be a big part of this team. He will get his minutes, and he will get his points. I predict his statline be around 9 and 6. I think with this signing the Celtics have had the second best offseason in the NBA behind the Miami Heat. (yea, that’s right K, better than your Bulls) Despite the critics, who will say Shaq has lost it and had a terrible series verse the Celtics, don’t take into account Shaq will be the 8th or 9th man off the bench. Which is pretty good to me.

Banner 18 is going to happen.