No QO for Andrew Nicholson

[PhoSita]

Nicholson played 56 games at 14.7 mpg for the Magic last year.  Put up solid per-minute numbers despite lacking a clear role.

Roughly 16 pts and 8 rebounds per 36, on 47 / 36 / 78 shooting.  Upped his 3P attempts to 5 per 36.

Here's him scoring 19 versus the Heat, roasting Whiteside a few times:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU60wc1EQ0w

Could be a solid replacement for Sullinger on a short, make-good kinda deal.  Sort of like exchanging Glen Davis for Brandon Bass.

Would you go for Nicholson at 2 years / $20 million, second year non-guaranteed, or would you prefer to re-sign Sullinger for whatever that's gonna take?  (my guess: 3 years, 36 million or more)

[MBunge]

He's 26 years old, managed to start only 36 games over four years for a horrible Orlando team and averaged 6.9 points and 3.6 rebounds last year.  Unless your goal is to give everyone a new found appreciation for Jared Sullinger, stay far away from this guy.

Mike

[Csfan1984]

He's 26 years old, managed to start only 36 games over four years for a horrible Orlando team and averaged 6.9 points and 3.6 rebounds last year.  Unless your goal is to give everyone a new found appreciation for Jared Sullinger, stay far away from this guy.

Mike

Could be depth or style of play keeping him from getting more minutes. But there may truly be something more. Sure DA knows the deal

[max215]

I was pretty surprised by this news. He's a solid backup backup plan.

[PhoSita]

He's 26 years old, managed to start only 36 games over four years for a horrible Orlando team and averaged 6.9 points and 3.6 rebounds last year.  Unless your goal is to give everyone a new found appreciation for Jared Sullinger, stay far away from this guy.

Mike

The point here is not to suggest Nicholson is a star.  He's not going to come in and knock anybody's socks off.

What he can do, though, is shoot.  Something Sullinger only does in theory. 

Also, he's likely to come a lot cheaper than Sullinger, or Ryan Anderson, or any of the other more interesting names on the market this summer.

I'd much rather bring in Nicholson for a year or two to play 20 minutes or so, even if it means heading into next year with  Jerebko as the starter, than pay big money for Sullinger or Ryan Anderson.

If we're talking stopgap options -- and I think in all likelihood we will be -- Nicholson could make a lot of sense.  He does things the Celts need and wouldn't require or expect a large role.

[danglertx]

I actually like him.  I'm not sure Orlando was using him the right way.  I'd be open to him late in free agency.  CBS has turned worse cases than him around.  Remember Crawford?

[Lucky17]

Would you go for Nicholson at 2 years / $20 million, second year non-guaranteed, or would you prefer to re-sign Sullinger for whatever that's gonna take?  (my guess: 3 years, 36 million or more)

I'd prefer to explore other options. Mirza Teletovic, perhaps. Or simply keeping Jonas as the stretch 4 option.

[PhoSita]

Would you go for Nicholson at 2 years / $20 million, second year non-guaranteed, or would you prefer to re-sign Sullinger for whatever that's gonna take?  (my guess: 3 years, 36 million or more)

I'd prefer to explore other options. Mirza Teletovic, perhaps. Or simply keeping Jonas as the stretch 4 option.

The problem is, this summer you're probably looking at shelling out big bucks and multiple years for pretty much anybody that played a significant role last year. 

I think the only way to find bargains this summer will be to target guys, like Nicholson, that were stuck in a backup role last season but have shown enough to make you think they might provide more value to the Celts.

I don't doubt that somebody is gonna offer Mirza big bucks.  Lots of teams need shooting at his size.


My position here is I'd rather have an open roster spot that we use to try out dudes from the D-League than give Sully a long term deal.  I'm done with giving time on a team that stinks at scoring to a rebounding specialist that shoots <45% from the floor.

[Lucky17]

Would you go for Nicholson at 2 years / $20 million, second year non-guaranteed, or would you prefer to re-sign Sullinger for whatever that's gonna take?  (my guess: 3 years, 36 million or more)

I'd prefer to explore other options. Mirza Teletovic, perhaps. Or simply keeping Jonas as the stretch 4 option.

The problem is, this summer you're probably looking at shelling out big bucks and multiple years for pretty much anybody that played a significant role last year. 

I think the only way to find bargains this summer will be to target guys, like Nicholson, that were stuck in a backup role last season but have shown enough to make you think they might provide more value to the Celts.

I don't doubt that somebody is gonna offer Mirza big bucks.  Lots of teams need shooting at his size.


My position here is I'd rather have an open roster spot that we use to try out dudes from the D-League than give Sully a long term deal.  I'm done with giving time on a team that stinks at scoring to a rebounding specialist that shoots <45% from the floor.

Then I just slot Jonas into the stretch 4 role. At $5 mil a year, he'll be cheaper and a better all-around contributor than Nicholson.

[bello_man09]

Pass...please ...

[PhoSita]

Would you go for Nicholson at 2 years / $20 million, second year non-guaranteed, or would you prefer to re-sign Sullinger for whatever that's gonna take?  (my guess: 3 years, 36 million or more)

I'd prefer to explore other options. Mirza Teletovic, perhaps. Or simply keeping Jonas as the stretch 4 option.

The problem is, this summer you're probably looking at shelling out big bucks and multiple years for pretty much anybody that played a significant role last year. 

I think the only way to find bargains this summer will be to target guys, like Nicholson, that were stuck in a backup role last season but have shown enough to make you think they might provide more value to the Celts.

I don't doubt that somebody is gonna offer Mirza big bucks.  Lots of teams need shooting at his size.


My position here is I'd rather have an open roster spot that we use to try out dudes from the D-League than give Sully a long term deal.  I'm done with giving time on a team that stinks at scoring to a rebounding specialist that shoots <45% from the floor.

Then I just slot Jonas into the stretch 4 role. At $5 mil a year, he'll be cheaper and a better all-around contributor than Nicholson.

I don't see it as an either/or.

As it stands, we've got Jerebko, Olynyk, Amir, and Mickey at the big spots.  Maybe Bentil, if he makes the team.  Zizic may or may not come over this year.  Olynyk will take a while to get back to 100% after having shoulder surgery this summer.  Amir is always an injury risk.  Mickey and Bentil have no experience in the NBA.

Not one of those guys can be relied upon to play more than 24 minutes a night next season.  The Celts will need to add another couple bigs / swings for the rotation.  Ideally, one guy who can shoot a bit and one guy who can do two out of the following three things: finish inside, rebound, and protect the rim.

[Who]

I don't see him as an alternative to Sully.

Nicholson is more an alternate to Jerebko. Or Micky. Or that guy Ainge drafted at #51 whose name I cannot remember. Anyway, I think the Celtics are well stocked with that type of backup big man. If Ainge is worried about the readiness of Mickey or #51, Nicholson could be an okay backup PF behind Jerebko (starting PF = Jerebko superior player) if Ainge wants Olynyk to play predominately at center (backup).

That would be pretty disappointing though. If Nicholson was the only new veteran big man this offseason. And a downgrade from Sully / T.Zeller.

[jambr380]

As others have said, JJ is the obvious choice for the back-up PF spot. He is 6'10".

I know you are strictly speaking of him as a stop-gap option, but if we are letting Sully go, then I am hoping we can do better than Nicholson. I actually like him wanted him back in the draft where we took Sully/Fab (he went just before those two), but we need some toughness on the team and Nicholson doesn't strike as the type to intimidate others in the paint.

[PhoSita]

I don't see him as an alternative to Sully.

Nicholson is more an alternate to Jerebko. Or Micky. Or that guy Ainge drafted at #51 whose name I cannot remember. Anyway, I think the Celtics are well stocked with that type of backup big man. If Ainge is worried about the readiness of Mickey or #51, Nicholson could be an okay backup PF behind Jerebko (starting PF = Jerebko superior player) if Ainge wants Olynyk to play predominately at center (backup).

That would be pretty disappointing though. If Nicholson was the only new veteran big man this offseason. And a downgrade from Sully / T.Zeller.

For me he's an upgrade on Sullinger, honestly.  Not quite as good on the boards, but this team needs spacing on offense more than it needs a ground-bound rebounder with a purely theoretical stretch game.

But yeah, I would see him as a backup, and only worth bringing in as a short term stopgap -- a superior alternative to spending big money for multiple years on a flawed starter this summer.


Sure, the Celts could simply give the minutes to Mickey / Bentil / Zizic in the case that there aren't any enticing free agents.  I'd be fine with that.  But it would probably mean the team is even weaker up front next year than they were this past season.

[MBunge]

He's 26 years old, managed to start only 36 games over four years for a horrible Orlando team and averaged 6.9 points and 3.6 rebounds last year.  Unless your goal is to give everyone a new found appreciation for Jared Sullinger, stay far away from this guy.

Mike

The point here is not to suggest Nicholson is a star.  He's not going to come in and knock anybody's socks off.

What he can do, though, is shoot.  Something Sullinger only does in theory. 

Also, he's likely to come a lot cheaper than Sullinger, or Ryan Anderson, or any of the other more interesting names on the market this summer.

The reason he's going to be cheaper is because he's nowhere near as good as those guys.

Again, Nicholson is 26 and, in four seasons, has been unable to be anything more than a 15 minute a game reserve for an awful Orlando team and has shown no significant improvement in anything since he was a rookie.

If you want to bring him in as the 14th or 15th guy on the roster, that's one thing.  To suggest him as a starter on a team that hopes to make the playoffs is nuts.

Mike