Amir is a terrific big to bring off the bench. problem is, he's starting for us. we do need an upgrade, the question is, where can we get one that won't deplete the roster to the point where we've opened up other holes.
I'm good with Noel if you can get him for a reasonable price.
Noel brings D but he doesn't solve the rebounding issue and he certainly doesn't make anything better on offense -- in fact he'd make it worse.
If we're going after a philly big, I was open to getting Noel if the offense looked better than it has but basing this just off 2 games, I'm coming around to considering Okafor who's definitely a scorer and a better rebounder than Noel. His D (currently) isn't that good but I'd rely on Brad/Danny to determine if that's something he's incapable of learning while considering him as a trade prospect
Okafor is a lot of things, but in no way is he a better rebounder than Noel. Noel averaged 2.3 orbd, 5.8 drbd, and 8.1 trbd per game vs. Okafor's 2.3 orbd, 4.7 drbd, and 7.0 trbd in similar minutes (29.3 for Noel, 30.0 for Okafor). Looking at rebound percentages, Noel is again better with 8.2% orbd, 22.2% drbd, and 15.0 trbd vs. Okafor's 8.1% orbd, 17.8% drbd, and 12.8% trbd
For reference, Amir averaged 2.3 orbd, 4.1 drbd, and 6.4 trbd in 22.8 mpg (3.0 orbd, 5.4 drbd, and 8.4 trbd per 30 minutes), and 10.3% orbd, 19.6% drbd, and 14.9% trbd
Neither of them is a good rebounder, but Noel is definitely the better of the two (although still not an upgrade over Amir). Okafor would be an offensive upgrade, and Noel a defensive one, but given the assets we'd have to give up for them (and the contract issues with Noel next summer), neither of them would make much sense for the Celtics right now
Source:
http://bkref.com/tiny/HHil2