sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3492206

The one other team that made a lot of sense for Posey. Too much money... but you can understand it.

Danny Ainge was playing too much hardball, in my opinion. Their window to keep winning is maybe two/three or so more years. They need to pull out all the stops now. They are going to have to do a massive rebuild whether Posey was onboard or not.

I think it was a mistake to let him go. Great move for the Hornets though.

Here is the front page thread on Celticsblog:

Posey to New Orleans

College Wolf wrote:
Really? But he got 4 years & 25 million, right?

Because this is what you said last week:

\"If I were the Front Office, I'd offer eith of these as a \"max offer\":

3 years, $18 million
4 years, $20 million


If he refuses both... well then that's on him.\"

I can hear a darius miles signing tiptoeing nearer and nearer

BonK wrote:

What now? Everything I am reading is that Ainge wouldn't give him four years. How do you know Posey wouldn't have taken 4 years, $20 million from Boston? We don't know that he wouldn't accept it or if anything like that was offered.

Overpaid.

But if you're comparing it to Turiaf at 4 years, $17 million or Diop at 5 years, $32 million, it's a steal.

That's a big blow for Boston. Posey was money for them down the stretch. The scales may have just been tipped to New Orleans for the title.

I just don't think Boston would have won it all without Posey and he's going to be tough to replace. He's the type of role player who's worth his weight in gold.

DeROK wrote:

I dunno about that... but I do agree that he's a huge loss for Boston. I wonder how Ainge will respond?

Although I'm bummed for the Celtics, this is a perfect move from the NOLA. Not only did they already have a great starting lineup, now they have Posey as their 6th man, and 2 great defenders & intangible guys off the bench (Posey & JWright). I would guess that at the end of games, Posey will be in at SG for Mo Pete. That's a big, quality, clutch lineup (Paul, Posey, Peja, DWest, Tyson) they can put out there at the end of games. I like.

CWPretty difficult question. First of all, he could try to solve the loss from within. For their aging core of KG, Pierce and Jesus, they still have a very young supporting cast, especially now that Posey is already gone and both P.J. and Sammy aren't likely to return. Maybe they'll hope that somebody from the bench will step up his game to fill the void left by Posey. I could imagine they'd especially hope for Tony Allen to do so.

On the other hand, I could hardly imagine that this would be Ainge's only plan for a solution. Although we could probably debate HOW important Posey's play was for the C's and if he isn't a little bit on the old-side already as well, I assume we all agree that his loss is something the Celtic's FO certainly won't brush off. So I expect them to sign someone else as well.

Hmmm ... if I were Ainge, I would try to get back on NO and try to sign Bonzi Wells. Much like Posey, he can play multiple positions, can be a pesky defender and relentless scorer. He is a little bit smaller than Posey, but I remember him being bulkier and stronger. I mentioned in another post already, that Posey was signed to fill his position on the Hornets, so I guess they won't match an offer. He has always had attitude and motivational problems, but maybe the chance of winning a ring and KG's presence can do wonders for him. I think he's even older than Posey, but he certainly has a lot less milage on him. I would say he would be the most fitting replacement for Posey.

And as much as I would hate it as a full-time-solution, why not hire Darius Miles as an insurance policy if Wells feels more like pouting than playing. I'm sure he could be signed for the veteran's minimun, maybe even a non-guaranteed contract, since he is still paid by the Blazers and won't get many chances for his desired comeback. I have already named in another \"posey-related thread\", that many \"ifs\" needed to fall in place to make this work out, but it is thinkable.

So my idea would be signing Wells to something slightly below the MLE and Miles for the vet's minimum and you basically get two guys who theoretically can play the positions 1-4 in the hope that at least one works out.

But the question remains if it is a good idea to reunite two members of the ugly Portland Jailblazers era on your team, KG or no KG ...

from SI.com (associated press)
what? No, seriously ... WHAT??? The last time I looked, O'Bryant was a C ... Posey has always been a G/F swingman, so ... huh?




If anything, I could imagine they brought him in to brace for a likely retirement of P.J. Brown ...

Sanyarin wrote:
Bonzi is an interesting option. He is like Posey in that he's worth twice as much if not more in the playoffs than in the regular season. I din't recall him standing out much this last year though.

I think the positivity the Celtics have can be used to bring the best out of a guy who has had trouble with maturity in the past. I'd be very careful not to get too overconfident in that and bring in more than one guy with a suspect rep.

Bonzi, JR Smith, and Darius Miles should all be considered but I would worry if they chose two from that grab bag.

I'd look very hard to see if JR Smith can be had. He was one of the few Nuggets who accounted themselves well in the Playoffs (18.3 ppg). He seems like a guy who under the right tutelage could be a good defender and be in the main scoring rotation when Pierce and Allen get hurt (or when out-of-nowhere Allen forgets how to play for two months ).

Smith seems like a guy who if he was on a bad team with shots available he could turn into a shoot-a-holic going for 28 ppg. Hopefully he gets to a good team before he goes to the darkside.

pants wrote:

Definitely, good call Pants. It's just that he never has had anyone to mentor him and take him under his wing. And George Karl certainly wasn't the right coach for him either. I think he could absolutely EXPLODE in this league if he goes to a team with:

1) A \"player's coach\" who understands his team, and whom the players respect and like.
2) A winning, veteran laden team... that has players that all get along and enjoy each other's company.


So basically, yes, I'm talking about the Celtics. If he gets his head on straight and has guys like The Boston Three Party to mentor him, watch out, because he could become an absolute stud.

Taken from FanNation.com Rocky Mountain News
Obviously, he could be had ... at a price. But if you offered him only $ 3.5 mil and the opportunity to play for a ring, he'll surely be onterested to get out of the mediocrity the Nugs seem to be destined to. And the Nugs on the other hand seem intent to cut costs, soooo...