Take 2...

ESPN Link: http://linky.com.au/53xa3

"The New York Knicks and Stephon Marbury reached a buyout agreement Tuesday afternoon that could clear the way for Marbury to sign with the Boston Celtics."

Huge news...

Celtics moving Cassell earlier helped too.

Mikki Moore just signed with the Celtics as well..

The Boston Herald and ESPN are reporting they expect Starbury to sign with Celtics very soon..

This is great news for the Celtics for several reasons. Firstly Marbury gives an instant reliable offensive threat off the bench, a point guard who can dribble and create for himself which is something we currently lack. Our bench players CAN be good but it's often hit and miss, no ones ever sure who is going to show, whether it be House, Powe, Big Baby. A few of our major weaknesses are taken care of with one player.. back up point guard, can score, handle the ball and create, gives us bench depth.

AND

The signing of Mikki Moore is very good.. why wait for Joe Smith when Moore essentially gives the same thing (if Smith becomes available, try sign him as well and waive another player). I expected this deal to come through because of us sending cash, Sam Cassell and Solomon for nothing.

Moore adds legit size to the bench and great energy. He didn't fit in at Sacramento, perhaps they expected more than what he could deliver. At Boston his role will be to give 10-15 minutes of high energy a game (barring injury) and hit the medium range jump shot which he is capable of doing. His rebounding and blocking stats are marginally better than Mark Blount, but unlike him he is capable of catching the ball so clearly he is a vastly superior talent. It's worth noting his career season was playing with New Jersey and Jason Kidd, so with a pg like Rajon Rondo he should get some good looks. Moore also played 3 games for the Celtics back in 2003.

With injuries to KG, Veal and Tony Allen, these signings will help with the minute's distribution in the short term, and come play off time give us much needed depth. Chances of a repeat just went up immensely.

Moore's main offensive strength is catching and finishing around the basket, so if Rondo (or anyone else making the extra pass) can take advantage of him cutting to the basket, he'll be good value.

He's long and athletic as well, and while he doesn't have a big body or great timing on the defensive end, he can be effective at times.

I think the signing of Marbury is a good move now for the Celtics. I was opposed to it before, but the fuss around him has died, and after not having much demand (if any) for him around the trade deadline, I think he might have finally realised that he's not as important and valueable as he thinks he is, and is probably willing now to be part of a team system, if only to just get back out on the court again.

How about the fact that he's more cancerous than Nene's former testicle?

TSI

harsh, but gold!

Never laughed at cancer before- nice one inquis!

Good point made though- it must be noted that should the starbury mole become cancerous, the celts can remove said cancer.

ie- they can cut him at any time.

Win win for the celts.

(unless he starts rockin up to celts games after being cut, working the media etc)

Here is a question though. Who would you rather have- Cassell or Starbury?

Obviously the celts made their choice- not sure i agree...

For example- when Starbury guided the nets to the lottery- it was Sam-I-Am who got them to the play-offs...

Marbury's my pick. Call me crazy if you will but I'd even start him over Rondo (IF Marbury's playing like he was last year, which weren't bad considering all that off-the-court stuff)

To me Marbury's a better penetrator (maybe not faster), as good of a passer and most importantly lot better shooter who'll open up down low especially when KG comes back.

Allen, Marbury backcourt'd be tough with Pierce, that's 3 outside threat. If he signs, I'd only hope he'll be a cancer again and screw the team up. But you'd think he's learnt the lesson!

Watch this and then tell me if you think he is a good idea.....

By the way, it just gets better the longer it goes.. some of my favourites:

- the bit about kissing his sister!
- "I WANT TO SEE THE SPIT ON YOUR MOUTH"!!!

Gold

Nice find lockstock! The guy's a complete whack job isn't he? The sister kissing bit was properly weird, although I liked when he was telling us he was going to average 10 points, 12-13 dimes, 2-3 assists and 6 rebounds.

There is no way that they are moving Rondo to the bench. He is playing awesome. He is consistantly beating whoever is guarding him off the dribble for layups. And why risk annoying their guard of the future to give starbury one year at the starting spot?

So if they sign him, they would have to get him to agree that his role is 15 mins off the bench, and that's it. He could be awesome in that role if he can pull his head in.

Yeah I say get jo smith if he is available too. Cut big baby, he's rubbish. I can't see him there long term anyway.

if Celtics do this then it's game over for them... anyone who signs him is just taking themselves out of any championship chances

TC, I knew the Celtics had a good GM when they started signing guys who could catch the ball.
What an asset!!! LOL

Agree with everything you have said. As much as I dislike Marbury the person, his first game last night against the Pacers showed just how much he can do for the Celtics bench.

If KG's injury heals up as expected, and the other Celtics stay healthy, they now have every chance of repeating - something I have been pretty dubious about for the past couple of months.

Quagmire, definitely Marbury over Cassell in 2009. Cassell showed last year in the playoffs that he was done as a good NBA player. (I have a lot of respect for his ability in his prime though - the guy was a gun for many years).

Olskool, I wouldn't cut Big Baby at the moment. He has his limitations, but he has improved a lot this season and has actually been more effective than Powe in recent months. He also has a few key assets that really help the Celtics: he has the weight to defend big opponents when Perk gets in foul trouble. He has a good mid-range jumpshot to spread the floor. He plays smart, rotating well on defence and running plays like he is supposed to on offence.

In the unlikely scenario that Joe Smith is bought out and wants to come to the Celtics I'd love to see him there, but if that happens I would cut Pruitt or perhaps Giddens (depending on whether the coaching staff thinks he will ever 'get it' or not).