Marquis Daniels agrees to 1-year deal with Celtics

Marquis Daniels, hoping for a fresh restart with the Celtics after an injury-plagued 2009-10 season, just agreed to terms with his old team on his second straight one-year contract - this time a $2.5 million deal.

The Celtics, under salary cap rules, are allowed to pay the swingman 20 percent more than last season.

The deal made great sense for both sides - the Celtics after searching in vain for a big swingman who can defend all three perimeter positions, and Daniels after spending most of the postseason on the bench.

After returning to the lineup in February following thumb surgery, Daniels never regained his form. This way, according to agent Mark Bartelstein, Daniels has a chance to remind the league of who he is.

"He’s a $5 million or $6 million player when he’s healthy," said Bartelstein. "So we’ll do this now. He loves the team. He loves playing for Doc (Rivers), and he loves the guys. And then we’ll see what happens next summer."

Read more in tomorrow’s Herald

http://bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1269665&position=0

I know that Daniels had a rough second half of the season, but when I look back at how good he was when he joined the Celtics at the beginning of last year, I am all for this signing. At least he plays defense well. He knows the system and I am sure wants to prove that he is better than we saw the last part of the season. With Tony Allen gone, it is necessary to have someone who is not afraid to defend the tougher players on the opposing teams. He did this well in October and November until he had thumb surgery.

I was a big fan of his last year. Here's hoping that he is able to give something back to the Celtics for supporting him.

Slowly but surely this team is coming together. It may not be "fantasy league" ready but it will be competitive. There is more to be done and more that can be done via trades but the important thing is that the roster will be full and it will be full of veteran help, most of whom know the system. This will not be a wasted or rebuilding year but a season filled with promise of #18

Here's hoping 'Quis can stay healthy this season. And that Sheed's contract can now be used to sign the best available player to help this team (sort of like a drafting strategy).

Sam

Sam,

I don't think Quis totally recovered from surgury to repair his left thumb. Maybe over the summer he has healed.

gyso

Marquis in college:



Marquis last year:

this makes sense...he is better than anyone else out there (that we can get) and he knows the system.

PG - Rondo, Nate, Bradley
SG - Ray Allen, ?
SF - Pierce, Daniels, Harangody (sorta tweener)
PF - KG, Davis
C - O'Neal, Erden, (Perk), (Sheed?)

That's 12, not including Sheed.

bob

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bobheckler wrote:PG - Rondo, Nate, Bradley
SG - Ray Allen, ?
SF - Pierce, Daniels, Harangody (sorta tweener)
PF - KG, Davis
C - O'Neal, Erden, (Perk), (Sheed?)

That's 12, not including Sheed.

bob

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Bob,

Just a little fine tuning;

PG; Rondo, Nate
SG; Ray, Avery
C; O'Neal, Perk (When ready), & I'm betting Erden's checking his air miles even now.
SF; Pierce, 'Quis
PF; KG, Davis, Harangody

Sorry; on vacation and the OCD is still kicking in. Or as my wife would say, I'm being overly anal again..just a little neatening up here and there...

Regards

Sam wrote:Here's hoping 'Quis can stay healthy this season. And that Sheed's contract can now be used to sign the best available player to help this team (sort of like a drafting strategy).

Sam

Sam- I think Quis staying healthy is a tall order based on past history, but I hope for your sake he bucks the trend this year. I think he's missed about 1/3 of his career games due to injury.

He was dynamite his rookie year with the Mavs, but he didn't look like the same player when I saw him on the Cs last year. He looked like a deer in headlights on offense, with no confidence at all. I'm assuming part of that is unfamiliarity with the system and part was because he was coming back form injury.

With DA letting TA go, Daniels was by far the best option vs any vet min guy out there, so I think it's the right move for the Cs, as it gives them some much-needed depth on the wing. Will be interesting to see how Daniels does this year.

Who do you want them to go after w/ Sheed's contract ? Another wing or a big ? Any specific targets yet ?

BSH,

I believe that, at the beginning of last season, Quis showed real signs of fitting in nicely with the Celtics. He actually seemed pretty assertive in going to the hoop on offense, and I thought he was certainly adequate (not great) on the other end.

Then, he got hurt (what's new?), and the Celtics went into the Winter of their Discontinuity. When he returned, it was into that dysfunction. If the team had been playing, when he returned, as they did in May, I believe it would have been much easier for him to re-acclimate.

So far, my take is that the Celtics haven't really improved the roster all that much. They've basically replaced Perk with J.O. and have lost Tony. I believe they're going to have to depend on a lot of the second-tier individuals (and possibly KG) to step up their games (guys like Nate, Quis and Davis) in order to have a shot at improving the team half as much as some of their competitors (including the Lakers) have improved.

I'm not predicting gloom and doom for the Celtics because it can't be overlooked that they started this offseason as the best team in the conference, so they didn't have to improve as much as others did. And I do like the continuity and chemistry they ought to have in being together right from the start.

But, if there's one "X" factor that could give them actual improvement, it could be the guy whom Sheed's contract brings in trade. Four days a week, I find myself hoping for another big guy, and the other three days, I want a shooting guard.

I think they need both, regardless of which signs for the vet minimum and which gets Sheed's money. The question is which position I'd rather spend more money on and, hopefully, get better quality. By 1/4 of an inch, I'm going with the big man—specifically a banger. I just think decent big men are tougher to find than good-shooting PGs, and I'm hoping to see a much more uptempo bench this season (which would represent improvement in and of itself).

For that, the bench will need rebound help. I think it's easier to develop young wings into uptempo NBA players than to develop big guys into good NBA rebounders. Moreover, if anyone from the rookie ranks is going to help the Celtics this season, I'm betting it will be a guard or small forward. A big man e.g. Erden would be a long shot.

So I guess I'm hoping they find some defensively oriented, speedy wing with the vet minimum and spend Sheed's money on a big.

I'll leave the specific targets to Danny. I think he might possibly be better-informed than I am.

Sam

P.S. Who knows? Maybe Harangody will do for the Celtics' PF position what Dave Cowens did for their center position—just make it work by virtue of sheer will. Perhaps Davis will be spending a lot of time at center for the bench. But I don't want to expect too much, and I'd surely like to see more length in there.

Sam-

Rosie brought up Josh Boone in a other thread, and I think he's a very good idea. If you can get him at the vet min (and I would think most of these guys outside of Shaq can be gotten for the min at this point), I think he could really help the Cs rebounding, plus he can run the floor.

He's no Paul Silas, but he would be a nice addition, and would allow DA to focus on the wings w/ Sheed's contract.


Perk (post AS break), JO, Boone, Erden
KG, BBD, Boone, Harangody
PP, Daniels
Ray, Bradley
Rondo, Nate


Seems like if they went that way, depth on the wings would be a must, but I almost feel like you can get a much better wing at $6-8m than a big at that price. will be interesting to see how it plays out.

babyskyhook wrote:
Perk (post AS break), JO, Boone, Erden
KG, BBD, Boone, Harangody
PP, Daniels
Ray, Bradley
Rondo, Nate

Boone would help as someone who could play 4/5.

What they really need besides that is someone who can play 2/3. Ray needs someone desperately to take some of his minutes so he can be fresher in the playoffs, and I'd be really surprised if Doc would play Bradley significant minutes there. Plus the cupboard looks pretty bare behind Pierce at the 3. A wing who could step in at both those spots would be ideal. Considering that the above list is already 14 players, it will be interesting to see what moves they make before camp starts. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Danny attempt a trade during the season.

What's interesting is how many new faces there will be on the roster. With Perk out, they start training camp with only seven returning players. It will take time for the new personnel to learn the system and mesh with everyone, so I'd expect them to have a relatively slow start to the season. It will take some trust and leaps of faith on Doc's part to not resort to playing Ray, Pierce, and Rondo too much. He did a good job managing KG's minutes, and he needs to take the same approach with the other guys, especially Ray and Paul.

Outside

It will be interesting to see what kind of defense is installed. If it deviates much from that of Thibs, it won't be only the new guys who will have to learn it. As for offense, I hate to say it, but I don't expect a lot of change among the starters. I believe the bench will go more uptempo, and there's less learning to that kind of offense than the intricacies of a half-court offense.

Sam

Outside wrote:

babyskyhook wrote:
Perk (post AS break), JO, Boone, Erden
KG, BBD, Boone, Harangody
PP, Daniels
Ray, Bradley
Rondo, Nate

Boone would help as someone who could play 4/5.

What they really need besides that is someone who can play 2/3. Ray needs someone desperately to take some of his minutes so he can be fresher in the playoffs, and I'd be really surprised if Doc would play Bradley significant minutes there. Plus the cupboard looks pretty bare behind Pierce at the 3. A wing who could step in at both those spots would be ideal. Considering that the above list is already 14 players, it will be interesting to see what moves they make before camp starts. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Danny attempt a trade during the season.

What's interesting is how many new faces there will be on the roster. With Perk out, they start training camp with only seven returning players. It will take time for the new personnel to learn the system and mesh with everyone, so I'd expect them to have a relatively slow start to the season. It will take some trust and leaps of faith on Doc's part to not resort to playing Ray, Pierce, and Rondo too much. He did a good job managing KG's minutes, and he needs to take the same approach with the other guys, especially Ray and Paul.

Outside

Outside,

Boone (JB) is so good he counts as two players?

I will take Perk out of the position and list him below because he won't be playing much this season. I'll list Sheed as well.

Incomplete roster musings:

Starters: JO, KG, PP, RA, RR
2nd String: JB, GD, MD, AB, NR
3rd String: SE, LH

Perk (post-post AS break)
Sheed (he still counts, as of now)

There are 14 when counted this way. Outside, you were right!!

Positional depth chart:

JO 4/5
KG 4/5
PP 3
RA 2
RR 1

JB 4/5
GD 4/5
MD 2/3
AB 1/2
NR 1/2

SE 4/5
LH 3/4

KP 5
RW 4/5

When listed this way, we have 14 players who can play 24 positions.

5: 7 guys
4: 7 guys
3: 3 guys
3: 4 guys
1: 3 guys

If Sheed decides to play another season, that is a very big lineup. I imagine if Sheed stays, we wouldn't target Boone.

When it comes to small-ball, we got it covered:
GD, LH, MD, NR, RR (two dump trucks and three race cars)

Want to go big? Lets see:
JO, RW, KG, PP, AB

Of course, my small and big lineups have some severe limitations on both ends, but which extreme lineups don't?

Just having fun on a Saturday morning. When (and if) Sheed does get traded, this would change a few things, depending on what he brings. We are really needing something more at the 3 position.

One last issue, which is:

What about Scal? There is no spot for him at this time. I don't see the Celtics using the 15th roster spot for him. The C's should leave it open until the trading deadline and not carry the extra salary.

gyso

gyso wrote:Boone (JB) is so good he counts as two players?

Hmmm... 12 + 1 = 14. It looked so good the first time. Sounds like a new sitcom on the NBA channel: "Outside becomes GM for an NBA team. Hilarity ensues."

Outside wrote:

gyso wrote:Boone (JB) is so good he counts as two players?

Hmmm... 12 + 1 = 14. It looked so good the first time. Sounds like a new sitcom on the NBA channel: "Outside becomes GM for an NBA team. Hilarity ensues."

outside,

Great way for owners to circumvent the CBA and stay below the salary cap. Perfect for teams with coaches like Phil Jackson, who don't generally like to go deep into their bench anyway.

Suddenly, tweeners are the hottest properties on the free agent market.

bob

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