Well, I guess Kevin Love isn’t walking through that door.
Neither is LaMarcus Aldridge. Or Jimmy Butler. Or Marc Gasol. Or . . . well, you get it.
But honestly, that was all smoke and a a little talk show fodder. None of those guys were ever realistically going to come here.
You know who is, though? Amir Johnson.
Who?
You know, Amir Johnson. Big guy, played for Toronto. Good on defense.
Boom. Championship.
Boston Celtics
Well, not quite.
I actually like the signing of Johnson, but what it signifies is that the Celts aren’t quite ready for prime time, or at least not prime-time players.
Like it or not, the slow build to Banner 18 is going to have to happen one Amir Johnson at a time.
Again, I like the player. He’ll start and actually be a pretty significant upgrade over Brandon Bass at the 4 spot. And though everyone freaked about the $12 million per year, it’s actually a very shrewd move by Danny Ainge. Essentially two one-year deals, which gives the Celtics flexibility next season if they want cap space. It makes them better now and keeps possibilities open in the future.
But Johnson is, I’m afraid, as good as it’s going to get.
How good is he? Well, for what it’s worth, the 6-foot-9 Johnson was ranked somewhere between "35" and "not listed" on most people’s Top 50 Free Agents lists. (hoopshype.com had Johnson 52nd, right after Jae Crowder, whom the Celtics just re-signed, at 51.)
Fifty-second. The rest of the Top 50, it appears, are going to choose to play elsewhere. Disappointing.
But what I’m having trouble wrapping my head around is that Boston isn’t even on any of those top free agent’s ‘I’ll think about it” list. I mean, the Celtics can’t even get in a room with these guys to make a pitch.
Our insider, A. Sherrod Blakely, wrote the following about another possible free agent target earlier this week:
Has not eliminated? Stop it, you’re making me blush.
So here's a guy the Celts don’t really want or need. He's not a true “rim protector”. He possesses a limited offensive arsenal with no mid-range game to speak of. He’s going to be grossly overpaid.
And we should be encouraged by the fact that he hasn’t crossed Boston off his list yet??
(Monroe this morning chose to sign with Milwaukee.)
Wow, is that depressing.
Yeah, I get it. We’re not New York or L.A. But it’s like we’re asking these guys to come play in Baghdad.
Elsewhere . . .
-- If the Celtics aren’t going to make a big splash in free agency, I’m rooting for one thing and one thing only: For Rajon Rondo to get zilch. No, not get lowballed; I’m talking no takers whatsoever.
I mean, I want some GM to invite him into their office, sit across a table from him a la Michael Corelone, and instead of giving him a contract say, “My offer is this: Nothing.” And then make him leave.
Does this make me a bad person?
-- Remember the outrage over the deal Avery Bradley got last year (four years, $32 million)? Where are those people now? What would the number be this year? Double?
-- Just priceless listening to Sox owner John Henry try and justify the existence of Rick Porcello during WEEI’s in-game broadcast. As Porcello was getting tuned up by Toronto, Henry was asked what the Sox saw in the right-hander before signing him to a four-year, $82.5 million extension, to which Henry stammered, “We needed a starting pitcher. We needed starters and we needed innings.”
Brilliant.
A starting pitcher. That’s all they were looking for. Just a guy who, you know, throws innings and stuff.
Way to be selective.
Don’t forget, it's Henry’s organizational philosophy that got the Sox here in the first place. Paying 30-year-olds like Jon Lester top dollar? Risky. The safer play is to invest in pitchers under 30. Pitchers like Rick Porcello. That’s where the smart money is.
-- For the second time in four games, a young Red Sox outfielder lost track of how many outs there were and fired a ball towards home plate. And for the second time in four games everyone shared a good laugh over it. “Oh he just wanted to show off the hose”. Yuk Yuk Yuk.
John Farrell, I guess, didn’t find it funny. After the game the Sox manager said there’s “no excuse” for things like that.
Actually there is. Farrell is the one excusing it.
I’ve been a Farrell defender, but this was an absolute layup. Betts should have been benched then and there.
Another failed opportunity for Farrell to hold his players accountable for a pattern of unacceptable behavior.
-- As they grew up, pitchers were always the most, or among the most, athletically gifted people on the field. What happens to that athleticism once they get to the majors? What makes Robbie Ross Jr. actually flee the mound like he’s being swarmed by killer bees rather than attempt to catch an infield pop-up?
-- Soccer. The only sport whose fans get mad at you when you don’t watch and get mad at you when you do.
-- Bruins GM Don Sweeney said earlier this week that Zac Rinaldo brings energy and courage to the Bruins. Energy, fine. Courage? Maybe pick a different word to describe a cheap-shot artist like Rinaldo.
-- A lot of people are feeling better about Sweeney’s moves after Day 1 of free agency but I’m sorry . . . Milan Lucic, Carl Soderberg and Gregory Campbell > Matt Beleskey, Jimmy Hayes and Rinaldo. That’s not mentioning defenseman Dougie Hamilton, whom the Bruins cannot and will not be able to replace. Are things better than they were a couple days ago? Yeah. But there was really nowhere else to go considering the massive hole Sweeney dumped the Bruins in.
As Chief Wiggum once said as the citizens of Springfield tried to escape an actual hole they dug for themselves:
“No, no. Dig up, stupid!”
-- Is it possible that after all that’s happened to them, the Patriots have had the best last two months of all the Boston sports teams?
Wow. Now I’m really depressed.