Of guys with non-guaranteed deals, who will stick?

http://www.csnne.com/basketball-boston-celtics/celtics-talk/Celtics-Question-of-the-Day-Of-guys-with?blockID=776883&feedID=3352


by A. Sherrod Blakely


Everyone loves an underdog, especially in the NBA when they seemingly come out of nowhere and wow us with their hustle, heart and effort.

Guys in training camp with non-guaranteed contracts, regardless of how impeccable their college pedigree might be, fall into this category.

Even with the roster shuffling the Boston Celtics went through on Thursday which included Darko Milicic agreeing to a one-year, $1.3 million deal and Keyon Dooling retiring, the C's still have a couple roster spots open.

So who's going to get 'em?

Training camp will sort this out obviously.

But among the five players in camp with non-guaranteed contracts - Dionte Christmas; Micah Downs; Rob Kurz; Kris Joseph and Jamar Smith - there appears to be a clear-cut favorite.

That would be Dionte Christmas.

For starters, he was arguably the C's most complete player this summer which in itself earned him an invite to training camp.

Maybe just as significant as his play, was his willingness to pass on a bigger payday in Europe to instead fight for a roster spot.

The C's made it worthwhile for him by giving him a partially guaranteed contract that's worth about half of the rookie minimum salary.

But what's really helping him now is the fact that he showcase an all-around game instead sticking to what he has done best throughout his career which is score.

A close second to him among the non-guaranteed contract guys is second-round pick Kris Joseph.

For Joseph, the issue is consistency.

Throughout his four years at Syracuse University, Joseph had moments of greatness. But he never put it all together in such a way that his game was deemed dependable.

This summer, he did show that he can handle the ball a lot better than folks saw at SU, and he is more athletic than billed.

A dark horse in this race is Jamar Smith, who might actually get a closer look because of Dooling's departure and the C's need for another point guard.

Smith plays both guard positions, but looked a lot more comfortable off the ball.

Boston will also have former Notre Dame big man Rob Kurz in camp in addition to wing player Micah Downs who played collegiately at Gonzaga.

Both have overseas experience, but are considered long shots to stick with the C's beyond training camp.

But hey, the same was said last year about some dude named Greg Stiemsma … and we know how that turned out!


bob
My Note: Stating the obvious, I guess. Xmas has the best combination of experience (from playing overseas), athleticism and well-rounded game of all these players. I was surprised that they guaranteed him 1/2 a rookie salary. That's a pretty solid commitment from Danny for a player based upon a week of Orlando summer league (I believe he was offered the deal before the end of Orlando, so that he wouldn't go play for Houston in Vegas). I know we're still talking chump change in the bigger picture, but it still says something, and Xmas's commitment to making this team (showing up early and working with JET everyday) won't hurt solidify his status in Doc and Danny's mind. Remember, just before the lockout Avery Bradley went down to Florida to meet with Doc to develop a relationship with him so he (Doc) would have confidence in AB next season, and it paid off.

The lack of consistency by Joseph is something that he himself alluded to when he said this summer that he was working on shooting off of pindowns to become more consistent, that he wanted to be great at one thing. Unreliability/unpredictability is the bane of coach's existence and if Joseph can't show that he can/will do what Doc expects from him at any time then he's headed for Maine. If he has something working for him it's that our depth at 3, backing up our 35 year old starter, consists of a player coming off of life-saving cardiac surgery and that's it.


8 more days until Media Day, 9 days until two-a-days...

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I think the two guys will be Christmas and Joseph.

I was really impressed with Joseph in the summer league. He wasn't just a 3 pt shooter, had a nice pull up short range jumper. He did a lot of things right that don't show up in the boxscore. If he doesn't make the team he will make someones elses. I kind of look at him as a Ryan Gomes type player, maybe a little more athletic. I think he will be a better pro than Ryan.

Christmas on top of being a very good scorer also showed more than shooting. His assist totals for a summer league I thought was very good. He will work hard because he has stuck with it so long to make the NBA. This guy will not take anything for granted.

I agree, I think the two guys that stick will be Christmas and Joseph.

Christmas, because of his size and experience. I've read that he can play at the 1 and 2 positions and under certain circumstances, can play the 3.

Joseph, because he is out only true backup at the 3, as bob mentioned above.

Everyone else is headed down east.

gyso