Can Gerald Wallace Find A Place on the Celtics?

by **bobheckler** Mon Jul 22, 2013 11:48 am

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/gerald-wallace-place-boston-celtics-151600609.html

Can Gerald Wallace Find a Place With the Boston Celtics?
Yahoo! Contributor Network
By Mark Evans | Yahoo! Contributor Network – 18 minutes ago

COMMENTARY | As part of the blockbuster deal with the Brooklyn Nets, the Boston Celtics ended up with a handful of veterans in what was essentially a salary dump.

The three firstround draft picks were the major part of the deal for the Celtics, along with young shooting guard MarShon Brooks. To make salaries match to complete the deal, Keith Bogans, Kris Humphries and Gerald Wallace are now Celtics.

On the surface, it seems as if none of these three will fit in very well with Boston's plans. In a rebuilding effort, expensive veteran role players usually don't have much of a place. Roster spots often have better use with cheap, young talent who can be given the chance to develop.

Via HoopsHype, Gerald Wallace is set to earn over $30 million over the next three seasons. At first reaction, this seems to be way to much for a rebuilding team to pay a veteran.

However, Gerald Wallace might be able to find a quite valuable role with the Boston Celtics as Jeff Green's mentor.

Green is a player who has flashed all the tools necessary to be an extremely productive player in this league. At 6 feet 9 inches, he has the size, athleticism and versatility to be an All-Star. The problem is that he often lacks the proper level of aggression to take advantage of all of his talents, which can be quite frustrating. Late in the season, he looked to take control and attack, and he was often the best player on the floor for the Celtics.

This is exactly where Wallace can come into play.

Wallace has made a name for himself as someone who can play both forward positions and play physical defense with perimeter scorers. Despite not being the most skilled player, he is consistently one of the hardest workers on the floor who brings a constant energy to his team. His competitive spirit translates to his defensive abilities and effort rebounding.

If Green were to consistently play with these qualities, he could be a pretty special player.

Wallace's game, which is largely based on athleticism, seemed to take a significant hit last season. He looked lost offensively and couldn't find his shot. Regardless, he still played extremely hard on a Brooklyn team that seemed to coast on talent, even in the playoffs. This was never as evident as it was against the Chicago Bulls in the first round, where the Nets lost to a depleted, less talented team.

Although he'll be quite expensive, Wallace could be worth keeping if he can help bring Jeff Green's aggressiveness to another level. Green is extremely talented and would be a much better player with Wallace's toughness.

With this in mind, Danny Ainge still might be looking to move Wallace. He is expensive and he looked bad last season, but he could still have value for a competitor in need of some help on the wing. The Celtics might not be able to get much in return for him, as the length of his contract is a serious negative.

If Gerald Wallace does stay around with the Boston Celtics, however, he could have a huge impact in a unique way. Jeff Green could be a major part of the future of this team, and Wallace can help him take the next step.

bob
MY NOTE: The big knock on Jeff Green last year was his inconsistency. Some nights he'd blow our minds with his play, other nights he'd be invisible. Some of that might have been the longterm recovery issue and some of it might be that he's just too nice a guy. If Wallace can inject some animus into Jeff Green he might be worth $10M/year (at least for a half a year or until we can trade him, whichever comes first) because an angry Jeff Green, one with a chip on his shoulder, could be a force of nature.

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by **Matty** Mon Jul 22, 2013 1:06 pm

Jeff green is a real life "water boy" the coaching staff just needs to figgure out how to p**** him the ****** off the get the hell out of the way...

G-Wally could mebbe have his greatest worth to us in a few seasons when his contact is expiring, at least in my mind,

by **tjmakz** Mon Jul 22, 2013 1:09 pm

Bob,

If KG couldn't get Green to play with anger every game, I don't expect that Wallace could do it. Green has yet to find the inner fire that is in all of the great players.

Wallace could help Boston through his play, but it seems to be a stretch to expect that Wallace would be able to help Jeff find his inner fire and to be a star in the league.

by **k_j_88** Mon Jul 22, 2013 4:25 pm

This is all assuming Ainge isn't looking to move him. The fact that he has a $30 million($10 mil/year) contract means he's on the table.

KJ

by **bobheckler** Tue Jul 23, 2013 11:05 am

k_j_88 wrote:This is all assuming Ainge isn't looking to move him. The fact that he has a $30 million($10 mil/year) contract means he's on the table.

KJ

KJ,

The fact that he's breathing means he's on the table, for Trader Danny!

The fact that he has that contract means he's probably going to stay on the table too.

bob

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by **NYCelt** Tue Jul 23, 2013 4:04 pm

If we can't move Wallace due to that big contract I suppose we could do worse than having Wallace and Green at small forward. Wallace would at least give us some much needed defense and top shelf rebounding ability. Green can contribute some offense and is OK on D. Both can run, which is a plus upon Rondo's return.

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Can Gerald Wallace Find A Place on the Celtics?

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