I Love Posey!! ------------- but

[FatjohnReturns]

I loved what Posey did for the Celtics this year. He was clutch all year and he deserves a raise. Unfortunetly I dont think its wise to pay more that 3years at 4 million a year. With so much of our salary cap tied up in the big three sigining Posey to the kind of contract he wants (4 or 5 years and the full MLE) would not be good for the Celtics. We dont need contracts that are going to handicaped us salary wise especially while the big three are here. This year was great for Celtics and for Posey, we are just headed in different directions and we need to let him walk.

Lol I am gonna get hammered for this but I think Scalabrine can step up and fill some of the void if Posey leaves. He can guard the four, knock down the 3ptr, and did anyone else notice towards the end of the year it looked as though his conditioning was vastly improved. Going from sixth man to not even dressing for games can drive someone to improve. Lets hope this is the case with Scal.

Lastly the money Posey wants would be better spent resiging Eddie House, Tony Allen,Pj Browns replacement and leaving some flexibility for the future. Thanks for the great year James but If you feel that 3years 12 million is not in your best intrests you should go. Lets do whats best for the Celtics.

[CT34]

wow I agree with this guy for the most part.  The only thing I don't agree with is Scale taking Posey place.

[Bankshot]

I loved what Posey did for the Celtics this year. He was clutch all year and he deserves a raise. Unfortunetly I dont think its wise to pay more that 3years at 4 million a year. With so much of our salary cap tied up in the big three sigining Posey to the kind of contract he wants (4 or 5 years and the full MLE) would not be good for the Celtics. We dont need contracts that are going to handicaped us salary wise especially while the big three are here. This year was great for Celtics and for Posey, we are just headed in different directions and we need to let him walk.

Lol I am gonna get hammered for this but I think Scalabrine can step up and fill some of the void if Posey leaves. He can guard the four, knock down the 3ptr, and did anyone else notice towards the end of the year it looked as though his conditioning was vastly improved. Going from sixth man to not even dressing for games can drive someone to improve. Lets hope this is the case with Scal.

Lastly the money Posey wants would be better spent resiging Eddie House, Tony Allen,Pj Browns replacement and leaving some flexibility for the future. Thanks for the great year James but If you feel that 3years 12 million is not in your best intrests you should go. Lets do whats best for the Celtics.

Totally disagree with what you said about Scal.  Scal isn't even good enough to fill in for Powe, never mind Posey.

[wdleehi]

Scali is a nice step in at PF if you want just defense and keeping the other PF off the board. 


He is not Posey in terms of SF defense, hitting big 3 pointers, or drawing defenders.



Scali has his role.  13th man.






The market is taking off again.   Teams are rolling the dice and overpaying.  Celtics have to give Posey the MLE.  That's what he is worth in this market.  3 tears will be best.   But it might need to be 4 years to get him.   Just no 5 year deals. 

[FatjohnReturns]

Of course Scalabrine wont replace Posey. But he can defend the four and knock down a three ptr.
I noticed a big change in Scalabrines conditioning towards the end of the year. Brian can and will improve his game. If Posey does leave I dont see signing someone to replace him when his 25 minutes per game could be split between Powe, Tony Allen and Scalbrine. Plus they already know the defense.
Giddens, Walker, and whoever else can play limited minutes like Powe,T Allen and Scal did last year.  

[Bankshot]

Of course Scalabrine wont replace Posey. But he can defend the four and knock down a three ptr.
I noticed a big change in Scalabrines conditioning towards the end of the year. Brian can and will improve his game. If Posey does leave I dont see signing someone to replace him when his 25 minutes per game could be split between Powe, Tony Allen and Scalbrine. Plus they already know the defense.
Giddens, Walker, and whoever else can play limited minutes like Powe,T Allen and Scal did last year.   

Well if you're counting on Scal to fill in for Posey, I hope you don't expect to win another title with Scal playing a prominent role in the rotation.

[cdif911]

Of course Scalabrine wont replace Posey. But he can defend the four and knock down a three ptr.
I noticed a big change in Scalabrines conditioning towards the end of the year. Brian can and will improve his game.

its hard for a guy his age to really improve - I think with Scal what you see is what you get, even at peak condition, he's maybe a 10th man in the league right now.  Scal's biggest value is going to be his expiring contract in the 09/10 season.

[FatjohnReturns]

So what your saying Bankshot is that the Pierce,R Allen,Garnett and supporting players cant compete for the title next year without Posey. Locking in Posey for the money he wants does more to derail future championships than playing Scal limited minutes at the four. He can defend, hits 3ptrs at about the same % as Posey and he is under contract. He can improve and not dressing for games will spur that on. Secondly Powe and T Allen(assuming he is resigned) need more playing time. I believe signing Eddie House is actually more important than signing Posey and will be alot cheaper.

[Truth Hurts]

You make some really good points, and then your credibility goes completely out the window with the ridiculous idea of Scals being our 6th man.

If you had said TAllen or Giddens, I would have let you slide.

Scals would have a hard time making a beer-league softball team.

[FatjohnReturns]

He was the sixth man at the start of last year. I said he could play 5-10 minutes per game at the 4.
What we would lose not resigning Posey when we have Powe,Scal,House and T Allen(hopefully resigned on the cheap) is not worth the full mle for four years. Besides a replacment for Pj Brown is just as essential considering Perkins lingering shoulder problems.

[Jon]

We dont need contracts that are going to handicaped us salary wise especially while the big three are here.

But the Big Three being here automatically means we're financially handicapped as they consume the entire salary cap by themselves.  Thus, as long as they're here, we will never be below the cap. 

Thus, the term "financially" handicapped all depends how Wyc feels about paying the luxury tax.  If Wyc is convinced that he can make money (or at least break even) on paying the luxury tax because of the deep playoff run and funds generated by success, then keeping Posey around at any price--so long as his contract is done when the Big Three are done--does not hurt the Celtics at all. 

The only way re-signing Posey potentially hurts the C's is if it's a) a long contract beyond the time that Ainge plans on keeping around the Big Three (keep in mind, that isn't necessarily the end of their contracts, he could extend any of them) or b) if Wyc's pocket is not infinitely deep. 

But as far as rounding out the rest of this roster, guys like Eddie House and Tony Allen are minimum guys or can be replaced by minimum guys.  Similarly, someone like the Birdman will probably come here at the LLE.  Remember, Boston is now a destination to play, this isn't 2006 anymore. 

As far as the Scalabrine idea, that's just crazy.  The guy couldn't even crack the active roster in the playoffs; there is no way he's going to take Posey's place.  He can't guard 2/3s well and he doesn't hit the three nearly well enough to be an effective weak side shooter that the C's need on the court to get spacing so defenses can't cheat off the Big Three. 

[RonJohn]

As far as the VEAL issue goes, Doc has a tendency to play vets over the young guys and he STILL could not crack the rotation. He is miserable. He should be on the sideline or throw into trade talks. That is what he is good for!

[cdif911]

Locking in Posey for the money he wants does more to derail future championships than playing Scal limited minutes at the four. He can defend, hits 3ptrs at about the same % as Posey and he is under contract. He can improve and not dressing for games will spur that on.

ok scal is a career 34.7% from 3 and shot 32.6 last year

Posey is a career 35.1% and shot 38 last year, and he shot nearly 40% in the playoffs this year, which was huge - the other important thing is repetition, Posey has shot almost 2200 3's in his career while scal has shot just over 400

even adjusting for differences in playing time you see a big discrepancy - scal's per 48 (which is my least favorite stat but I'll use it here) he would score 8, grab 7 boards and shoot 1.4 3's out of about 4.3 attempts

Per 48, JP scores 14.4, grabs 8.5 and shoots 2.8/7.4 from 3 - so essentially you get double the 3's when Posey is in the game, better scoring, similar rebounding (considering bgj is a 3, that is important)

Scal does not come close to Posey, he's a garbage time player on this team.

[FatjohnReturns]

It financially handicaps the C's because the money used on Posey(suppose he doesnt go for less than 4 years full mle) could be better used resiging Eddie House and a replacement for PJ Brown. Paying Posey what he wants guarantees we will be paying the tax for practically everyone else we sign right. Suggesting that House and T Allen could just be replaced with any  minimum level contract players seems crazy. They have spent a whole year learning TT Defense and the chemistry of a chapionship team cannot just be replaced and expected to be successfull enough to repeat.

Assuming Posey doesnt resign, playing Scal 10 minutes a night at the four can only bring his value up. No one is going to trade for Scal and we will be stuck either buying him out and having him being a very expensive bench warmer. Scal also shoots 3ptrs at almost the same pct as Posey Thanks.

[acieEarl]

Scals at his best when he is in street clothes and doing interviews. Took Doc too long to figure out he didn't have to play Scal, and when he did figure this out they were a much better team with him on the bench.