Celtics Waive Donte Greene

by **bobheckler** Tue Sep 17, 2013 1:35 pm

What took them so long?

Ok, so now I believe we are down to 14:

1 - Rondo, Pressey
2 - AB, Lee, Mr. H-J, Brooks
3 - JG, GW, Bogans
4 - Sully, Bass, Hump
5 - KO, VF

Am I missing anybody?

Needless to say, we are ridiculously overloaded at 2. We could also stand to lose Bogans at 3. We are razor-thin at 1 and 5.

Return of Shav? He's not really a center, but he might do in a pinch.

bob

.

by **sinus007** Tue Sep 17, 2013 1:44 pm

Bob,
Thanks. You woke me up by trying to figure out who Mr. H-J is. scratch

AK

by **gyso** Tue Sep 17, 2013 4:30 pm

sinus007 wrote:Bob,
Thanks. You woke me up by trying to figure out who Mr. H-J is.

AK

Hint: Herky-Jerky?

by **bobheckler** Tue Sep 17, 2013 5:48 pm

Reports are that Donte Greene is signing with a team in China, the better paying D-league.

Good luck to him.

bob

.

by **k_j_88** Tue Sep 17, 2013 8:07 pm

Since the Celtics are thin at the 1, I'd say bring in a PG. There are plenty of 4's to split time at the 5 spot until further arrangements are made. A team without a ballhandler is a team going nowhere fast.

KJ

by **NYCelt** Tue Sep 17, 2013 8:13 pm

bobheckler wrote:

1 - Rondo, Pressey
2 - AB, Lee, Mr. H-J, Brooks
3 - JG, GW, Bogans
4 - Sully, Bass, Hump
5 - KO, VF

.

That is one amazingly weak looking roster...

Also one that is virtually certain to change, with the question being before the season or later on?

Of course, rebuilding isn't supposed to be pretty!

It's going to be an interesting year!

by **Sam** Tue Sep 17, 2013 9:27 pm

I'm still hoping for an addition to the roster before training camp, or at least before the start of the season—either a veteran free-agent PG who can be had on the cheap or a more substantial player in trade.

Sam

by **k_j_88** Tue Sep 17, 2013 11:49 pm

As long as it isn't Sebastian Telfair...

KJ

by **gyso** Wed Sep 18, 2013 6:26 am

With the release of Greene, the Celtics are now under the luxury tax level. I have read that there is just enough salary amount left under the LTL to sign a ROOKIE player ($490,180). There is not enough left to hire a player with even 1 year of service ($788,872).

That may mean that one of the rookie camp invitees could get a contract, although it would probably be a non-guaranteed one that could be dropped in January, the 10th, I think.

It does mean that players like KJ's bane, SB, would not be made an offer. Yay for that.

That all changes if Danny can make a trade that lowers our team salary and adds a missing piece or two. The fact that the Celtics are now carrying only 14 contracts means that we can take a 2 for 1 trade and keep both.

gyso

by **gyso** Thu Sep 19, 2013 7:54 am

Here is an article that talks about the Celtic cap room and the four camp invitees:

Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com wrote:Training camp begins at the end of the month for the Boston Celtics and each weekday leading up to the formal start of the 2013-14 campaign, we'll dive into our Celtics Mailbag and tackle a camp-related question:

Q: Of all the training camp invitees, do any actually stand any chance of making the roster? -- KWAPT (Brighton)

A: The Celtics currently plan to bring four camp invites to Newport for the start of camp on Oct. 1 in Chris Babb, Damen Bell-Holter, DeShawn Sims, Kammron Taylor. The good news for the invites: Boston has one available roster spot and just enough available money to keep one of them around. The bad news for the invites: They are probably going to have to dazzle to push Boston to the brink of the luxury tax line and snag that final spot.

After waiving the nonguaranteed contract of Donte Greene on Tuesday, the Celtics currently have 14 guaranteed contracts totaling approximately $71.2 million. The luxury tax line, which a transitioning Boston squad would prefer to stay under, is $71.748 million for the 2013-14 season. Boston can seemingly sneak a first-year, minimum contract ($490,180) under the line, but it leaves virtually no wiggle room. Now, keep in mind that Boston could sign any veteran to a nonguaranteed deal and waive them before the early January deadline when contracts become guaranteed and likely have enough savings to carry that extra body for the start of the season. This, too, would seemingly work against the invites if Boston elected to add, say, a veteran point guard to provide depth if Rajon Rondo is still rehabbing from ACL surgery.

At first blush, there's not a Greg Stiemsma on this invite list, a D-League/overseas overachiever that's got the physical build that might encourage a team to roll the dice. But here's the great thing about training camp: These guys are going to get plenty of reps and a chance to impress. And with the alternative being a low-paycheck stay in Maine, or a trek back overseas, these four will have ample motivation to showcase their talents for Boston (and the rest of the league).

One of the more intriguing guy on the list to me is Babb, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound rock of a two-guard. If it wasn't for the crowded field at that position, you wonder if he'd have a better shot at sticking. His stat line doesn't jump off the page from his senior season at Iowa State (9.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists), but those numbers don't tell the whole story. According to Synergy Sports data, Babb averaged 1.018 points per play, ranking in the 89th percentile (that included shooting 38.2 percent beyond the 3-point stripe) among all Division 1 hoopsters. Babb thrived in transition and seemed to pick his spots well, offensively. He's got the size to defend NBA bodies at three positions and, while his advanced defensive numbers were not flashy (he allowed 0.756 points per play last season, ranking in the 67th percentile), he was regarded as one of the nation's top collegiate defenders.

Bell-Holter, a 6-foot-9 forward out of Oral Roberts, has an intriguing story as an Alaska native who grew up rooting for Kevin Garnett and the Celtics. He averaged 15.5 points and 9.4 rebounds during his senior season and his advanced stats reflect positively. Bell-Holter averaged 1.004 points per play last season, ranking him in the 87th percentile among all Division 1 players. Defensively, he allowed a mere 0.698 points per play, which ranked in the 80th percentile.

Sims, a 6-foot-8 forward, brings a bit of familiarity after previously camping with Boston and having two tenures with the Maine Red Claws. He's gotten plenty of overseas experience and, at age 25, the Michigan product is trying to kick down that NBA door. Taylor is a 29-year-old guard who has spent time in the D-League and overseas (his personal website notes stops in Spain, France, Budapest, Cyprus, Colombia and Ukraine). He adds depth at point guard position with Rondo rehabbing.

Teams can send some of their final camp cuts through to the D-League, which could open doors to keep some of these young players (or anyone the team adds to the camp roster later) in the system. And at least one of these guys ought to make a strong case to stick around with grit and hustle during camp

The Celtics have about $548,000 left over, so a rookie contract just fits. Of the four camp-invitees, Taylor is the only point guard. He is 29 and has been around the world. I can see him hanging around until Rondo comes back. Hopefully a trade happens that will remove a little more salary so that the Celtics can get someone a little more NBA ready to start the season.

gyso

by **sinus007** Thu Sep 19, 2013 10:33 am

Hi,
Re: PG. I liked Pressey and wonder if he can be tried if not a starting PG (before RR's return) at least the solid (15-20min) backup. This, of course, is based on the assumption that all his mistakes in summer league games are the result of lack of chemistry and his rookie-ness. Also, I liked that he showed some progress even during those few games.
I never saw Taylor played, so it's a very one-sided opinion.

AK

by **bobheckler** Thu Sep 19, 2013 11:09 am

k_j_88 wrote:As long as it isn't Sebastian Telfair...

KJ

Amen, brother, amen.

bob

by **Sam** Thu Sep 19, 2013 11:14 am

Sinus,

Good point about Pressey's progress during the Summer League. If he can continue that trend, we might have something.

Sam

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