ODDS & ENDS - CAMP INVITEES

Jamar Smith contract in focus
By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com

Jamar Smith is headed to camp with the Boston Celtics after a strong summer performance.
The salary wizards at ShamSports.com have started posting the details of the contracts inked by Celtics players this offseason. One of the more interesting of the early batch is the contract of training camp invitee Jamar Smith.

According to the site, Smith signed a two-year, minimum-salary contract. The first year is $25,000 guaranteed, becoming fully guaranteed ($473,604) if not waived on or before Nov. 15. The second year is fully non-guaranteed, becoming fully guaranteed ($788,872) if not waived by June 30, 2013.

Forsberg's reaction: Smith faces an uphill battle for a roster spot, particularly amidst news that Keyon Dooling is on his way back next season, adding yet another layer of depth to the guard position. With the partial guarantee, the Celtics essentially ensure Smith a modest payday ($25,000) and a chance to compete for a roster spot. Even if he doesn't make the regular-season roster, Smith could be a prime candidate for a spot with the now Celtics-controlled Maine Red Claws of the NBA D-League (keeping him in Boston's now streamlined system and making him an option for an emergency in-season call-up to the parent squad).

Maybe more interesting is whether Dionte Christmas, the team's other summer standout, inked a similar contract, or whether his guarantee is a little bit more (potentially giving him the inside track in the competition for a final roster spot). Christmas had some lucrative overseas offers and the Celtics may have had to guarantee a bit more in order to bring him to camp. We'll circle back once his contract details are available.

Second-round draft pick Kris Joseph's two-year deal is fully non-guaranteed, but he might have showed enough this summer to put a strong grip on a regular-season roster spot. The Celtics now have 13 guaranteed contracts with Tuesday's addition of Dooling, while Smith, Christmas, and Joseph will comprise a group of players vying for two open roster spots at camp (barring any further moves by the Celtics).

112288

112288,

I noticed that ShamSports is starting to fill in some of the new contract numbers for this season, where the other sites that I go to for this info have not.

ShamSports numbers for KG, Bass, Lee and Terry are confusing. All of those contracts are for 3 or 4 years, yet only the first year's numbers are shown.

http://www.shamsports.com/content/pages/data/salaries/celtics.jsp

gyso

I think some have speculated on numbers. I wounder if the NBA has a site? Did you try Hoops World or Hoops Hype?

112288

112288 wrote:I think some have speculated on numbers. I wounder if the NBA has a site? Did you try Hoops World or Hoops Hype?

112288

Those are two sites that I just checked this morning, I didn't see any recent changes.

1 - Rondo, Terry, Dooling
2 - Bradley, Lee, Xmas (Smith)
3 - Pierce, Green, Joseph
4 - Bass, Sully, Wilcox
5 - KG, Collins, Melo

Dooling can play SG, against smaller SGs, and sit in for Bradley while he's rehabbing. He can also shoot from 3 and knows the offense.

Xmas can play some point, if needed. He's new to the Celtics and the NBA but he has years of experience running teams in Europe.

Our ballhandling was suspect last year when Rondo was out and Ray Allen had to play point on the 2nd unit often to steady that unit. Jason Terry will handle that as well or better than Ray, since that is a more natural position for Terry. Based upon what I saw in summer league Xmas is a much better ballhandler, much better at handling pressure, penetrating and dishing, than Moore was. Throw Bradley's growing confidence and capabilities on top of that and what we've got is: Advantage - this year's team.

Sully and Wilcox are beefy PFs. If they use their bodies to box out, we won't get pushed underneath the basket as much next year as we were last year. That will create rebounding opportunities, and fast break opportunities, for Rondo and now he has some players that can run with him. Wilcox gets to play his more natural position, PF, and can play center if needed.

All our listed centers are 7-footers.

The likely 2nd unit (Terry, Lee, Green, Sully and Collins) has firepower and can defend. Collins is the weak link in that lineup, but at least 3 of them could start on some teams. With Reverend Dooling keeping them focused and in line, there are 4 veterans on that 2nd unit and a player that would have been a lottery pick (maybe even in the first 10) but for the questions about his back. Consider that Collins could also be replaced on that unit by Wilcox, that makes for a smaller but more aggressive bench.

I like this team. It has shooters, defenders and versatility. It has veterans and youth. It can run (Rondo, Bradley, Xmas, Lee, Green, Joseph) and it can pound inside (KG, Sully, Bass). It can spread the floor with its backcourt (Lee, Terry, Dooling, Xmas) and with its frontcourt (KG, Bass, Pierce, Green). Rebounding has improved with the addition of Sully and Green while only losing Sasha and Daniels, neither of which were strong rebounders. Dooling's return provides constancy and continuity to the bench. We lost Ray but we gained Terry, who is used to coming off the bench like a microwave. We lost Steamer but we gained a veteran in Collins and a potential prodigy in Melo (I keep reminding myself he first picked up a basketball when he was 15. He turned 22 in June). We lost the up-and-down offenses of Sasha, Daniels and Pietrus but gained Green and Joseph, both of whom can run and shoot. At 6'9", Jeff Green is big for a 3, bigger than the players he's replacing.

We are more athletic (using a generally accepted definition), but have we sacrificed IQ to get it? They are not mutually exclusive, of course, but one does see it happen.

Sasha and Daniels are smart players, but were rarely played. Pietrus is not. Advantage - Green, with little sacrifice for athleticism.

Steamer was a pretty smart player, all in all. So is Collins and Wilcox. Advantage - I'd have to say Steamer. Not so much because of IQ but he could stretch the floor with a mid-range shot and ran pretty well for a big man. I'm not going to lie, I would have preferred a different player than Collins, but I can see him having utility and that's all I'm looking for now. Give me 5-10 decent mpg, Jason, and I'll be ok. Wilcox can play 10-15mpg at center and Melo can play 5mpg at center in the blowouts and that will preserve KG.

Ray Allen was a very smart player. Terry is smart too. So is Lee. Ray is 37 and has experienced chronic ankle injuries over the past 2 years that kept him out of games for extended periods. Terry is 34 and Lee is in his mid-20s.

Sully is smart.

All in all, it looks to me like we got faster and maybe even smarter. That's sounds pretty good to me.

I like this team.


bob


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Bob,

Just a small addition. (Sorry if you included it but I missed it.) I believe Dooling's very possibly the closest thing we have to Bradley as a defensive disrupter.

Sam

sam wrote:Bob,

Just a small addition. (Sorry if you included it but I missed it.) I believe Dooling's very possibly the closest thing we have to Bradley as a defensive disrupter.

Sam

sam,

You're right, I didn't specifically mention Dooling's defense which is, in fact, supposed to be his strong point and not shooting 3s and running the offense like I mentioned. So our backcourt consists of: Rondo, Terry, Bradley, Lee, Dooling, Xmas. I'm going to withhold judgment on Xmas, since summer league is just summer league, but certainly the other players are either elite defenders (Rondo, Bradley) or above average defenders (Terry, Lee, Dooling).

bob

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Bob,

If anything about the Celtics can be described as a "comfortable feeling" at this juncture, your last previous comment could easily describe it. And hopefully, after Bradley returns, we can be just as comfortable about the health of the collective backcourt.

Sam