Bill Walker is a Celtic

[freakon0mics]

Summer league is going to be interesting with these two guys. Hopefully Walker is healthy enough to play in the summer leagues but its going to be interesting. Both have great upsides with some major downsides. One being injury prone and the other dealing with character issues. But given the right situation these guys can flourish and their in one so hopefully things turn out for the better.

[ryaningf]

No summer league this season. Just a one-week free agent mini-camp, which started today I think. But it would have been cool to see Walker and Giddens, Big Baby and Pruitt run around a bit.

[Truthiracy]

I didn't care that there was no summer league until I started thinking about Gabe tossing alley-oop passes to J.R. Giddens. Walker wouldn't have played due to surgery.

[Al n' Perk No Layups!]

I am absolutely thrilled we grabbed Walker. He's been the guy I've wanted since the beginning of the year. I think this guy will end up being a stud. I don't expect him to play much his rookie season because of lack of minutes to go around (similar to Pruitt this year). I also don't believe he will be sent to Europe.


On top of everything, Pierce is his favorite player.

[sully00]

I can't imagine that Ainge bought Walker's rights with any disillusionment about him going overseas.

At the same time Walker takes a huge risk when you factor in his knee injury. Boston only has to give him a non guaranteed contract at the league minimum to keep his rights, he actually has less negotiating power than a undrafted FA. They aren't likely to fill the 15 man roster anyhow but he becomes like Brandon Wallace last year the guy who gets cut to free up a roster spot.

At that point all the upside and potential in the world doesn't really mean a thing because you have to be able to step in and play for most teams to be bothered and to be honest that even goes in the D league.

I imagine a winter in Europe with some guaranteed cash and beats the hell out of a rehab that took a little too long and a month and a half of perdium and ending up in the same boat of waiting till training camp in '09 to make a NBA team.

That said he was one of the guys who I really wanted with the 1st round pick I think this kid is going to be a good NBA starter, he reminds me a lot of Stephon Jackson. I also think there is a chance that he is this teams default 1st round pick anyhow as we may not sign Giddens.

[buckner1976]

I can't imagine that Ainge bought Walker's rights with any disillusionment about him going overseas.

At the same time Walker takes a huge risk when you factor in his knee injury. Boston only has to give him a non guaranteed contract at the league minimum to keep his rights, he actually has less negotiating power than a undrafted FA. They aren't likely to fill the 15 man roster anyhow but he becomes like Brandon Wallace last year the guy who gets cut to free up a roster spot.

At that point all the upside and potential in the world doesn't really mean a thing because you have to be able to step in and play for most teams to be bothered and to be honest that even goes in the D league.

I imagine a winter in Europe with some guaranteed cash and beats the hell out of a rehab that took a little too long and a month and a half of perdium and ending up in the same boat of waiting till training camp in '09 to make a NBA team.

That said he was one of the guys who I really wanted with the 1st round pick I think this kid is going to be a good NBA starter, he reminds me a lot of Stephon Jackson. I also think there is a chance that he is this teams default 1st round pick anyhow as we may not sign Giddens.

i wouldnt read too far into the giddens thing yet. for one giddens is guaranteed a contract as a 1st rnd pick. i mean his contract slot is set. its not like theres a lot of haggling to be done here over money. and from what i read any issues over signing him had more to do with addressing the posey/maggette issue and how the mle is going to be used than a dispute about whether they wanted to keep him. dannys had his eye on giddens for a couple of years now and doc said he believed he could step right into some playing time because of his defense.

[sully00]

buckner1976

I don't really get your point. Obviously there is something to look into they didn't sign him to his "guaranteed contract" and he walked out of mini camp. He is a 1.8 mil dollar cap hit this season because of the tax. There is some variable in the actual amount of salary he gets but I think that if Ainge is going to blow 5.8 mil on Corey Maggette Giddens may be out on his ass.

What I am saying is perhaps Walker is the guy they really wanted and when they realized they could get him in the second round through Washington they took Giddens in the first, the player they had pegged for the second round. Now they can sign Waker for less than half of what the 30th pick is slotted to make and hope Giddens would come to camp and try and make the team without signing his deal if he doesn't and there is a financial or roster spot squeeze then they release him.

[m23uza1hem36]

You guy's do know cash is valuable, in this league especially but hey, Bill Walker could turn out to be a great player.

[billfromBoston]

..Giddens will be signed, I guarantee it...the team is focusing on their FA and trade options right now...

[LongTimeFan]

What trade options? I only see Scal's contract and Powe's ability as chips. Rondo & Perk are untouchable. TA is of little interest or value.

[GuyClinch]

^^^ I just hope we sign our guys. I'd like to see them play at least some in preseason..

[MyInsatiableOne]

^^^ I just hope we sign our guys. I'd like to see them play at least some in preseason..

We'll see. I think people here may be expecting a bit much, tho...

[billfromBoston]

^^^ I just hope we sign our guys. I'd like to see them play at least some in preseason..

We'll see. I think people here may be expecting a bit much, tho...

...is it expecting much to see these kids play heavy pre-season minutes? I sure don't think so....GPA aren't going to play heavy minutes like they did last year. I'd expect Wild-Bill and JR to get a chance to impress, along with Powe/Baby and Pruitt...in fact, if the team does decide to keep Walker on the roster this year, i'd think a Baby/Powe/Walker/JR/Pruitt lineup is likely to see quite a bit of pre-season run...

[armageddon]

It would make sense that our preseason would basically be our summer league.

[MyInsatiableOne]

^^^ I just hope we sign our guys. I'd like to see them play at least some in preseason..

We'll see. I think people here may be expecting a bit much, tho...

...is it expecting much to see these kids play heavy pre-season minutes? I sure don't think so....GPA aren't going to play heavy minutes like they did last year. I'd expect Wild-Bill and JR to get a chance to impress, along with Powe/Baby and Pruitt...in fact, if the team does decide to keep Walker on the roster this year, i'd think a Baby/Powe/Walker/JR/Pruitt lineup is likely to see quite a bit of pre-season run...

My point was these guys are STILL late 1st round/2nd round picks, regardless of their injury/behavior/etc situation.

I said a few years back when everyone went gaga over Ainge that there's a reason no one ever built a contender with late 1st round/2nd round picks. While Powe, Davis, Gomes, etc are nice players, to be sure, people on here still vastly overvalue them, methinks. None of those guys would crack the starting lineup on a good NBA team...probably will be the case with Giddens and Walker, which is fine, we need them to contribute off the bench anyway, but just sayin'...

[billfromBoston]

...is it expecting much to see these kids play heavy pre-season minutes? I sure don't think so....GPA aren't going to play heavy minutes like they did last year. I'd expect Wild-Bill and JR to get a chance to impress, along with Powe/Baby and Pruitt...in fact, if the team does decide to keep Walker on the roster this year, i'd think a Baby/Powe/Walker/JR/Pruitt lineup is likely to see quite a bit of pre-season run...[/quote]

My point was these guys are STILL late 1st round/2nd round picks, regardless of their injury/behavior/etc situation.

I said a few years back when everyone went gaga over Ainge that there's a reason no one ever built a contender with late 1st round/2nd round picks. While Powe, Davis, Gomes, etc are nice players, to be sure, people on here still vastly overvalue them, methinks. None of those guys would crack the starting lineup on a good NBA team...probably will be the case with Giddens and Walker, which is fine, we need them to contribute off the bench anyway, but just sayin'...[/quote]


Actually, Gomes, and Delonte West are both players that would start on some playoff teams, if you can't see that then that's fine...Tony Allen very much looked like a starter 2 seasons ago, before his injury and he was considered a 6th man type coming into this past season. Leon Powe just led the title-winning Celtics in scoring off the bench over the last 2 months of the season as a 2nd year player. Davis got minutes too-both of these players have only played 1st year minutes in their careers.

Kendrick Perkins and Rajon Rondo? Come on....your statement about the talent Ainge has gotten is off-base and the assertion that multiple 2nd and late first round picks end up moving up 10-15 spots after a 3-5 year "re-draft" analysis is conducted of every draft.

The fact is, though the averages are against selecting the right "slider", Ainge happens to be able to do just that...A team full of players with 3 years experience and less is not a good idea at all, but there is young talent on this roster that IMO exceeds their draft position-Ainge excels at that.

...and if you don't think Davis/Powe/Walker/Giddens/Pruitt aren't going to get a TON of pre-season minutes, than you haven't kept careful track of how pre-season is typically played by a veteran team. The C's played the starters a ton last year in order to jump-start the chemistry process..this year they'll play it more like the Spurs...I expect Powe/Davis/Giddens to get minutes during the regular season and i'd hazard to guess that Powe will be the lead scorer off the bench to boot...other than Powe, these other kids will average 10 mpg or less each and I doubt most see more than 25-30 games of action...but in time this group will have garnered the experience of long title runs and they will be outstanding role players for re-building a title team around--you think James Posey is a big-deal this off-season? Every player in that list of youth is more talented than Posey...Posey didn't become Posey until year 6 of his career when he won with Miami..PJ Brown? A nobody until he became somebody...

[ryaningf]

Gotta agree with Bill and take it a step further. Rondo/Perk/Powe/Davis/Walker/Giddens/Pruitt/(Tony Allen?) are outstanding, championship-level role right players now. Even better, as they mature, they'll also provide the bridge to life beyond Pierce/KG/Ray Allen. Beyond 2012, when Pierce and KG will be making the transition to support-level players, Rondo/Perk and maybe Powe/Giddens/Walker will be taking over the reigns and providing the meat of our attack. Personally, I think Rondo's an All-Star in two years, and Perk possibly one by the time he's 28/29. Not taking into consideration what Powe/Giddens/Walker/(Tony Allen?) may become, all Danny has to do is find ONE more player, on the level of a Pierce/Allen/KG, and this team is set (barring injuries and other unforeseen possibilities). Maybe that ONE player is already here (Bill Walker would be my nominee if I had to guess), or maybe Danny uses Ray and Scal's expiring to pick up that player, or maybe we use next year's or 2010's MLE to find that one player (a la Detroit with Billups). I laugh when I see posters justify overpaying Posey by saying that the Big 3's window (and this team's window as well) is only a couple years. It isn't. We can take what happened in 2008 and keep it rolling if we want to. Ainge knows that and that's why he's continually looking for cheap talent (youngsters or good vets without a home who'll sign for cheap) to surround the big 3 with. Either we find someone good enough to stick with long term or we replace them with other cheaper hungrier talent in the coming seasons. We're on the cusp of a dynasty RIGHT NOW. What we can't do is panic and overpay Posey. It's DYNASTY or BUST.

[billfromBoston]

...I don't know anything about a "dynasty" but the team is certainly in position to remain highly competitive even AFTER GPA stop being the "big 3" on this Celtics team...it'll likely take more than the existent talent to get back to title contention mode, but having a solid veteran core with tons of experience together is the right way to start.

This core will be competitive and I'd imagine will be a solid playoff team while they look to add another star level player to the group. Maintaining cap flexibility and having a long-term developing core is the key to staying within striking distance of a title and that is what the team is setting up to do...

[GuyClinch]

Actually, Gomes, and Delonte West are both players that would start on some playoff teams, if you can't see that then that's fine...Tony Allen very much looked like a starter 2 seasons ago, before his injury and he was considered a 6th man type coming into this past season. Leon Powe just led the title-winning Celtics in scoring off the bench over the last 2 months of the season as a 2nd year player. Davis got minutes too-both of these players have only played 1st year minutes in their careers.

Meh. Starting means nothing.. Lots of mediocre players have started on playoff teams over the years. LOTS. This is especially true of the some of the not so great teams that just had one or two stars of recent years.

I mean look at the stiffs the world champion Spurs trotted out at center. <g> Fransico Elson? Averaged 3.5ppg ...but still started 41 games.

That being said every once in a while you hit pay dirt and draft an arenas type. It hasn't happened to the C's yet but who knows. I think for the most part Ainge picks guys who he thinks can contribute to NBA teams rather then aiming for home runs.

I think Bill Walker though - breaks this trend. I believe he is a swing for the fences kind of guy..

Pete

[MyInsatiableOne]

^^I agree with you Pete, I think he certainly has the potential to be that. But I think a lot of people on here get their hopes up way too high too soon (Gerald Green, anyone?)