Chris Sheridan at ESPN is reporting that the C's have all but fallen out of the running for Damon Stoudamire. Apparently Stoudamire is leaning towards signing with either the Spurs or the Suns, turned off by Danny Ainge's lack of enthusiasm for his services. According to Sheridan, "Ainge has expressed misgivings about tinkering with his team's chemistry."Hmm. This is a curious one. I hate to second-guess (nah, I don't), but if these misgivings are true I'm more than a little concerned. Chemistry is obviously important, but so is having a legitimate point guard with more than two years of NBA experience. If "chemistry" entails betting the farm on Rajon Rondo and table scraps then chemistry can go fuck itself. Turning down the chance to sign Stoudamire could turn out to be downright hubristic. Of course, on the flip side, Danny Ainge has been proven time and again to be an inveterate liar in situations such as these--and we mean that in the nicest possible way--so this could easily be some sort of smokescreen. You have to wonder if the C's sudden lack of interest in Stoudamire is connected to some sort of behind-the-scenes maneuvering on the Sam Cassell front, and the Cassell-to-Boston rumors haven't seemed to be going away as of late. Cassell's both a better player and a better chemistry guy than Stoudamire, so the optimist in me is keeping my fingers crossed.
3 comments:
I don't think Danny is blowing smoke here. Stoudemire is old, 5'10 and not a true point guard. He can't defend, he's a shoot first point guard, and his best days are far behind him. Sounds like a worse version of Eddie House if you ask me. Stoudemire doesn't provide you with anything you don't already have. Now Gary Payton or Sam Cassell, that's a different story. Go fetch us someone who can guard Billups Danny!
I think you'll need a Delorian and some plutonium to get Gary Payton to guard Billups.
Tommy made a good point Tuesday night during the studio show: if Stoudamire or Cassell came in here, they'd want to be "the man" at that position. When you have the talent the Celtics have, why would you want a shoot-first veteran point guard getting a big dick about himself out there?
Rondo deserves the keys. If Danny does get a point man to back him up, he'll be a defender/distributor type who we haven't spoken of yet. Mark my words.
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