When you have a guy on your roster whose primary role is to build locker room chemistry, offer moral support to teammates and delight fans by appearing in 30-point blowouts, that guy's probably not worth upwards of $3 million a year to your franchise.
So it makes sense that Brian Scalabrine isn't on his way back to Boston any time soon.
Scal is now 32 and has wrapped up the five-year contract he signed with Danny Ainge and the Celtics back in August 2005, and it doesn't look like Ainge has any plan to bring him back now. The Celtics have signed a whopping 11 players this summer to new contracts, and Scal's not one of them. If it looks like he's unwanted, it's probably because he's unwanted.
The redheaded nine-year veteran spent the first month of his offseason campaigning through the media for a new contract in Boston, telling anyone who'd listen that his five years in the Hub had been great and he loved the organization. Those comments fell on largely deaf ears, as Ainge and the Celtics continued to go about building without him.
Then, for weeks on end, there was silence. Then in August, a rumor popped up about Scal playing in Europe. Then that fizzled out; then more silence.
The latest rumor, though, is that Scal still has a future in the NBA, and he'd be playing for a familiar face. The Chicago Bulls, who earlier this summer hired former Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau to be their next head coach, have emerged as a possible landing spot for Scalabrine.
The Bulls have been at the forefront of rumors surrounding Denver superstar Carmelo Anthony, and Portland swingman Rudy Fernandez has also been the subject of Bulls trade chatter for weeks now. But if those grandiose plans fall through, and the Bulls find themselves on the market for a bench swingman this preseason, then Scal Doggy Dogg becomes an option. Here's the scoop from Sam Smith, beat writer from bulls.com:
Scalabrine is a guy the Bulls have talked with a lot this summer and especially with Thibodeau I can see him as possible depending on what goes on regarding Fernandez. … The job, for now unless it’s Fernandez, is a 12th or 13th man who might play a day a week. You need a good team guy willing to root a lot and Scalabrine would be that. If they can’t get Fernandez, I’d take a shot at him if the price is right, though for now I’d guess the Bulls add someone from training camp as a non-guaranteed guy to hold space for a trade.
The Bulls find themselves in the same place that the Celtics and most everyone else in the NBA does this time of year: They're putting the finishing touches on their roster, looking for one or two more guys to round things out.
Scal would be a good fit as a bench guy in Chicago. He'd be a solid presence in the locker room, a good confidant to Thibodeau on the Bulls' bench, and when he does play, his outside shooting will help space the floor for the dribble penetration of Derrick Rose. It's hard to do better than that with your 13th man.
Scalabrine has spent nine years in the NBA, four in New Jersey and the last five in Beantown. He's played 474 career games and scored 1,542 career points.
He's had a good run, but there's no reason it should end here. Every Bostonian with a heart should be rooting for Scal to find work again.
