Posts tagged DannyAinge at FanHouse

The Boston Celtics signed Darius Miles to a non-guaranteed contract today, a mere 860 days since he last appeared in an NBA game. Does this make him officially relevant again? Not yet -- he still has to survive training camp cuts. From the Boston Globe:

"He's coming to training camp and he's going to try to prove that he can make the team," said Celtics general manager Danny Ainge. "He has come in for a couple of workouts. He'll try to make the team somehow."

That's hardly a ringing endorsement, but as Henry Abbott notes, the fact that they gave him a non-guaranteed contract rather than a simple training camp invitation suggests Miles can still play. We'll have to wait and see in the exhibition season if that's really the case.

Even if he makes the team, though, he'll have to sit out the first 10 games for apparently testing positive for Phentermine, an appettite suppressant, at some point over the last two years. Phentermine is a controlled substance, which makes it illegal to possess without a prescription, and is banned by the NBA's drug policy, which Lindsey Hunter found out the hard way in May 2007.

Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.

I'm sure the Celtics staff spent the entirety of this weekend watching tape of Jason Thompson and Sonny Weems. I'm absolutely sure of it.

Picks: #30, #60.

Needs: What's a champ need? Well, if P.J. Brown and Scot Pollard are shrugging back toward retirement, a suitable big taller than 6'9 (sorry Leon Powe, Glen Davis) might be in order. Assuming James Posey and/or Eddie House get rich, another guard could be useful.

Best case scenario: Chris Douglas-Roberts would be Heaven-sent at #30. Ryan Anderson would be a potential Omega to the bench bruiserism of Powe and Baby.

The NBA named their Executive of the Year today, and not surprisingly, the prize went to the Celtics' Danny Ainge. The Celtics were able to go from one of the worst teams in the league a season ago to the team with the most regular season wins this year, a feat that's worth recognizing to some extent. But as our headline states (sentiment courtesy of Matt Moore), Ainge was really more lucky in getting Garnett (by way of his relationship with Kevin McHale) than he was skillful in pulling off any amazing deal.

The alternatives to Ainge though aren't really that exciting either. The Lakers' Mitch Kupchak finished second, largely because he didn't acquiesce to Kobe's off-season trade demands, and because he was able to get Pau Gasol from Memphis for Kwame Brown. As great as that deal was though, Mitch wouldn't have even pursued it had Andrew Bynum not gone down with a knee injury. Still, Kupchak is the one who put together this Laker roster over several seasons, and now that it's all come together, he seems like the logical choice.

One final note on this award, and that's the fact that inexplicably, third place went to Hornets' GM Jeff Bower. Now, either the people who vote for this award are completely lazy, or they simply don't know what they're talking about. The only difference between this year's Hornets roster and the one from last season is the addition of Morris Peterson and Melvin Ely. So those guys are the reason NOLA has the Spurs down 3-2? I don't think so. Plus, Bower didn't even draft Chris Paul or Davd West, so how he can receive so much credit for the team's success this season is beyond me.

As reported yesterday, Paul Pierce was fined $25,000 for making a "menacing gesture" at the end of the Sunday's Game 3 loss. It was unclear at the time what the gesture meant, but it certainly resembled some kind of gang-sign, which is probably why the NBA decided to crack down. (Decide for yourself: it's around the 30 second mark of this video.)

After hearing about the fine, though, the Celtics are upset, claiming that hand gesture is something Pierce has been doing all season long. From the Boston Herald:

"Watch what Paul does when he's introduced. He's done it for every game," said Celtics director of basketball operations Danny Ainge. "That's not anything related to" gangs.

Before last night's game, Ainge sought out commissioner David Stern in the press room and the two engaged in an animated discussion. Ainge was clearly seen trying to demonstrate the blood, sweat and tears sign that Pierce makes when he is introduced before games.

Apparently the Celtics are also a bit miffed of the timing of the fine -- instead of happening in the morning, when it could make it's way through the news cycle and be old news come tip-off, it wasn't announced until 6pm, right when Pierce is supposed to be busy preparing for the game and getting into his game face. Also, I can't imagine Ainge is happy about Al Horford escaping Stern's attention -- after all, no matter what signs Pierce may or may not have been flashing, he was reacting to Horford's taunts in the first place.

I can't figure out what's my favorite part: John Salley's story about Larry Bird and Isiah Thomas, Danny Ainge talking about Xavier McDaniel's "little one" or me laughing at Reggie Miller's awesomely 80's haircut.

(hat-tip: MC Bias)

Most of us (including myself) have taken for granted that the Clippers would soon grant Sam Cassell his freedom to sign with another team, but that may not actually be the case. It seems Clippers owner Donald Sterling isn't inclined to give Cassell the remainder of his $6.1 million salary just to walk away.

Sterling is notoriously cheap, and if he holds firm on this, it'll likely infuriate a lot of NBA fans (particularly those in Boston). But seriously, why should he subsidize a title run by the Celtics? Professional basketball is a business, not a charity. If Danny Ainge wanted Cassell's services so bad, he could have traded for him at the deadline. Since that didn't happen, the ball is in Cassell's court.

He talks so much about wanting to win; well, how much is that worth to him? The Clippers still owe him about $2 million. If he walks away from that and signs with the Celtics, he'll still make roughly $400,000, or the prorated amount of the $1.2 million veteran's minimum. Is $1.6 million worth a chance at another title? We'll find out.

Back when Boston traded for Kevin Garnett (replete with a rather fat extension), we noted the Celtics had forfeited all breathing room for three shots at a title. (And everyone involved surely thinks it was worth it.) Los Angeles has the same deal going with today's trade for Pau Gasol.

The Lakers stand to sit over the luxury tax threshold for 2008-09 by a few million dollars... with nine players locked up. Ronny Turiaf will cost about another million, and the Lakers have several second-round picks this summer to fill in the slots. But -- unless Mitch Kupchak frees up some room via trade -- every signing will cost double his salary when you add in the luxury tax.

There's one more thing: This summer, Andrew Bynum is eligible for a contract extension, which would kick in for the 2009-10 season. If L.A. does not sign him this summer, he would a restricted free agent in 2009. That fat contract (starting around $13 million/year) will negate any relief from Lamar Odom's contract expiration after 2008-09. In that summer, Kobe Bryant can also take an extension or opt out for a bigger maximum contract. So unless Kobe takes off (which allofasudden seems unlikely), this team should be paying the luxury tax and scraping to fill roster spots for three more years.

This shouldn't be a problem for Jerry Buss, and all told the depth on this roster today (Luke Walton, Jordan Farmar, Derek Fisher, Trevor Ariza, Vlad Radmanovic) is phenomenal. Also, with Bynum so young, the team is in decent shape once the primes of Kobe and Gasol have passed (especially in comparison with Boston, whose top youngsters are... Rajon Rondo and Glen Davis). When KG's done, Boston's done. When Kobe's done, L.A. will still compete. At this moment, it appears Mitch Kupchak's outmanuevered Danny Ainge (and both have destroyed the rest of the contenders).
Sorry, No Photos

Chris Webber's not the only beloved veteran floating in midseason free agency limbo. Gary Payton, says the Boston Globe's Marc J. Spears, wants to rejoin the Celtics for the extended stretch run toward glory. Shamrock Headband has a tidy take on this.

[H]onestly if there's any former player that Rajon should be modeling his game after, GP seems like an obvious candidate. ... I guess I'd give this move a cautious endorsement. The $1.2m kind of seems like a lot, but it is the veteran minimum and it'd just be a one-shot thing. The C's are already clearly going all-in on this season, and I see Payton's potential rewards outweighing his risks.

The risks, essentially, are nonexistent. Danny Ainge sounds dismissive of the idea in Spears' story, so this will likely remain 100% theory. But if the C's were to venture this direction...

Boston's at least on the verge of luxury tax territory, so it'd be up to a total cost of $2.4 million for the privilege of getting Payton a jersey. Would he produce anything concrete (beyond mentorship of Rajon Rondo and at least three nice practical jokes played on the rookies)? He hasn't been a legitimate shooting threat in three years; he creates almost nothing (shots, assists and turnovers alike) on offense at this point. As you'd expect from a man approaching 40 with this much aggressive mileage on his legs, he offered little sincere defense with Miami last year. If you sign him to actually provide backstop relief in the case of a point guard emergency, you're signing him for the wrong reasons. There have got to be better on-court options in the D-League.

The Celtics may have completed their last blockbuster of the summer but they're not yet done tweaking the roster: Danny Ainge worked out a handful of big men in hopes of finding another veteran center to stash at the end of the bench. From the Boston Globe:

Executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge confirmed yesterday that the team is working out several free agents this week at its Waltham practice facility, including ex-Celtics forward Eric Williams, center Kelvin Cato, forward-center Esteban Batista, and forward Linton Johnson III.

"These are guys that have other teams interested," Ainge said. "They're taking a look at us and we're looking at them."

The C's already have 15 contracts so a move isn't necessarily imminent, but it might be a wise move. As currently constructed, the bench has only one player taller than 6-9, and that's Scot Pollard. The team could use some height, not only for injury insurance but also to make practices a little more competitive. Williams and Johnson are only 6-8, but Cato (6-11) and Batista (6-10) are certifiable big bodies.

Cato has a longer NBA resume but Batista has more upside. He had a fantastic showing in the FIBA Americas tournament for Uruguay, averaging 20.8 points and 12.4 rebounds per game while earning high praise from opposing coaches and players alike. He's only 24 years old, and despite showing little in 13 games with the Hawks last year, he's a low-cost gamble worth taking. The only catch? He's a restricted free agent, meaning Atlanta has the right of first refusal if another team tries to sign him.

Basketbawful turned up this lovable Reebok ad from 1987. It's got Danny Ainge and the late Dennis Johnson squaring off in a game of one-on-one. The whole thing is shot like they're not really playing, or at least can't get from one place to another like NBA players do. Like it's a basketball scene in a comedy. Also, this ad is uncomfortably lurching toward the future; there are dunks, but zero swagger and a punchline based around "footwork."