It’s the size of the Celtics’ roster with the re-signing of Marquis Daniels.
But president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has made it clear: He wants 13 guys before the start of training camp, and likely another two before the 2010-11 season gets underway (Kendrick Perkins, after all, will still be bench-warming with a bum knee, and insurance is always good when three of your best players are 32 or older).
The question, then, is where do the Celtics go from here?
The roster as it currently stands:
PG: Rajon Rondo, $9.1 million (Anyone else hate the fact that he’ll be playing for Team USA this summer? Dude already put way too much mileage on his legs this past season, and will now be playing a in a run-and-gun, press-often system.)
SG: Ray Allen, $10 million
SF: Paul Pierce, $15.7 million, if you simply divide $61 million by four years
PF: Kevin Garnett, $18.8 million
C: Kendrick Perkins, $4.1 million
Reserves: PG Avery Bradley ($1.2 million); PG/SG Nate Robinson ($4 million); SG/SF Marquis Daniels ($2.5 million); PF Glen Davis ($3 million); PF Rasheed Wallace ($6.3 million, though he likely won’t be on the roster come October); C Jermaine O’Neal ($5.9 million); and C Semih Erden (about $500,000).
All told, those salaries put the C’s at about $81 million under contract for 12 players (the luxury-tax threshold is $70 million.)
And yet Boston still has, say, three or four spots to fill. Oliver Lafayette and Tony Gaffney will no doubt compete for spots (and they will come cheap), but the Celts need at least two proven role players, one at the wing and another in the paint. In salary cap terms, that translates to: “Who can we get with the veteran minimum and/or in a trade for Sheed’s contract?”
Let’s take the latter question first.
Wallace, first, is not yet certain to retire. Any potential trade that Ainge can facilitate would likely have to come after Sheed makes that decision final, as his most attractive asset to an acquiring team at this point is the salary cap relief he would provide.
If the 35-year-old goes that route, Shane Battier is the most intriguing trade option available. He’s a defense-first, pass-first guy with height (6-9) and a great attitude. Most importantly, his salary is less than 125 percent of Sheed’s, making him eligible to the Celtics with the trade exception.
That is, of course, if the Rockets, who are in desperate need of shedding some salary, want to let him go.
If Wallace elects not to retire, why not hang onto him? He played well in the playoffs, and the C’s will have O’Neal as a cushion, if the Sheed Experiment goes terribly awry.
As for players available at the veteran minimum (which ranges from about $800,000 to $1.4 million, depending on years in the league), those pieces haven’t quite fallen yet. Many of the potential candidates are still testing the market for better deals.
Still, the C’s need another guy at the wing and another big (assuming there’s no Sheed and no Battier).
Josh Boone is an interesting fit. The Celtics need rebounding, and the former New Jersey Net can provide plenty of that (ranked 27th in the league last year in that category). Boone is an absolute disaster on offense, but he might not need to score much when paired with Big Baby or O’Neal.
Two other options, Craig Smith (Clippers) and Kurt Thomas (Bulls), have been snatched up within the last week (get a move on, Danny!).
The field of available wingmen is a bit denser, but just two stand out as good replacements for Tony Allen.
First, there’s Rodney Carney, who shoots better than Allen (35 percent from 3-point range in his two best seasons; 83 percent from the free-throw line last year), is a bit taller and an equally freakish defender. He might be willing to take the veteran’s minimum, if no one else comes after him.
Another option is Roger Mason Jr. Remember when this guy emerged as a serious 3-point threat with the Spurs, and everyone said collectively, “Who the heck is Roger Mason?!”
Two years later, and most people have forgotten about him again. But the D.C. native is a great defender, shot 42 percent from beyond the arc in his best season and has played two years in the veteran-heavy, defensive San Antonio system — a good segue into Boston.
He might not fall to the minimum, but if he does, Ainge should keep his eyes on him.
That’d leave the Celts with the main pieces intact, and a couple of improvements at key positions — perhaps enough to push them past “Almost.”
