NBA Rumors: Why Signing Mickael Pietrus Makes Sense for Raptors

 Toronto  No Responses »
Dec 012012
 

The 2012-13 NBA season hasn’t gone according to plan for the Toronto Raptors, as the team sits dead last in the Atlantic Division with a 3-13 record. 

What’s even more troubling for Raptors fans is that the team is allowing the second-most points of any team in the league, and has been lit up for more than 100 points on nine occasions already. 

So, in order to inject some life into the Raptors defense, according to NBC Sports’ Brett Pollakoff, the team has reportedly signed veteran shooting guard Mickael Pietrus. 

Pietrus can occasionally put up numbers as an outside shooter, and is an above average perimeter defender. Last season in Boston he appeared in 42 games, and averaged 6.9 points and 3.1 rebounds in almost 22 minutes of action per contest.

As a role player in this league, Pietrus is somewhere firmly planted in the middle of the serviceable scale, and can be more productive on the court than many subs actively playing in the league that found themselves with guaranteed roster spots to start the season.

Now in his 10th NBA season, Pietrus has established himself as a valuable role player and was a key part of Orlando’s run to the 2009 NBA Finals. 

Since then, Pietrus has bounced around—the Raptors will be his third team in less than two years—but the French veteran does bring some much-needed defensive abilities to the table. 

This isn’t the first time Pietrus has been linked to the Raptors, as the team attempted to trade for the 30-year-old in 2009, but due to a failed physical, the deal never went through. 

Now, with the Raptors in dire need of a defensive presence, the addition of Pietrus makes sense for Bryan Colangelo‘s team, and hopefully, he’ll find the scoring touch that made him a dangerous outside shooter for the Magic just a couple of seasons ago. 

It’s a low-risk, high-reward signing by the Raptors, but it’s also an indication from Colangelo that Toronto’s management expects more from this team. 

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NBA-Raptors sign free agent swing man Pietrus (Reuters)

 Golden State  No Responses »
Nov 302012
 

Nov 30 (Reuters) – The Toronto Raptors have signed French free-agent swingman Mickael Pietrus, the National Basketball Association team said on Friday. The Atlantic Division team waived forward Dominic McGuire to make room for 30-year-old Pietrus, who averaged 6.9 points and 3.1 rebounds in 42 games last season for the Boston Celtics. Selected with the 11th overall pick by the Golden State Warriors in the 2003 NBA Draft, Pietrus spent five seasons with the Warriors before splitting his last four years between Orlando, Phoenix and Boston. …

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Report: Toronto Raptors Close to Signing Small Forward Mickael Pietrus

 Toronto  No Responses »
Nov 292012
 

According to a report by ESPN’s Marc Stein, the Toronto Raptors are supposedly close to signing small forward Mickael Pietrus:

No signing done yet, but hearing injury-hit Raptors ramping up search for new SF, with Mickael Pietrus being strongly considered anew

—Marc Stein

 

Pietrus, a former 11th overall selection by the Golden State Warriors in the 2003 NBA draft, is an elite-level defender and a pretty good three-point shooter—two facets the Raptors still severely lack.

Last season with the Celtics, Pietrus started off quickly but faded just as fast. A career 36 percent three –point shooter, Pietrus will be relied upon to fill the void Anthony Parker once had with the Raptors: a savvy veteran who defends and hits the open jumper.

If Pietrus does in fact sign with the Raptors that will likely spell the end of Dominic McGuire in a Raptors uniform. A terrible outside shooter and an overrated defender, McGuire was brought in to provide defence and toughness to a Raptors squad that needed it. Sadly for McGuire, this hole in the Raptors attack still needs to be filled.

Landry Fields out indefinitely because of elbow surgery, and the Raptors seem to be less confident he can return quickly, as Pietrus to Toronto rumors continue to swirl.

General Manager Bryan Colangelo nearly signed Pietrus to a contract in the 2007 offseason; instead he opted for three-point specialist Jason Kapono. End result, Kapono went down as one of Colangelo’s worst free-agent signings, and Pietrus has gone on to play playoff basketball with the Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics.

In Pietrus’ best season (2006-07), he played 72 games, averaged nearly 28 minutes a game, 4.5 rebounds and 11 points per game, shooting nearly 49 percent from the field (39 percent from three).

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Why Boston Celtics Fans Should Not Be Worried About Slow Start

 Boston  No Responses »
Nov 092012
 

After dropping their first two games by double digits to the likes of the rival Miami Heat and the pedestrian Milwaukee Bucks, the Boston Celtics followed with two nail-biting wins over the Washington Wizards, a possible fringe playoff contender.

The Celtics’ unimpressive 2-2 start has raised some eyebrows in Boston with some people wondering whether or not this team is all it was cracked to be. With all due respect, expressing concern this early in the season is fairly ridiculous.

Let’s remember that the C’s got off to a 5-9 start last year. They were also 15-17 as late as the All-Star break before turning things on. They are a veteran group that knows how to get the job done, and there is no reason to believe that we won’t see the same from them this season.

It’s also very important to note that this is a ballclub full of new faces that are still getting acclimated to one another. Not one bench player remains from the Celtics’ 2012 playoff roster. It is completely and utterly fresh, and with Courtney Lee now being the starting shooting guard, rather than either the departed Ray Allen or the injured Avery Bradley, things become that much more complicated.

Lee, in particular, has been underwhelming. He is averaging only six points per game thus far, and he has only attempted 23 shots through the first four games. The newly acquired guard must be more aggressive and look for his shot more often, as he has only tallied six points combined in the past two contests. That being said, Lee has demonstrated that he is a reliable offensive player during his first four seasons, so chances are that he will do the same this year.

The notion that Boston misses Allen is a bit faulty. After all, the C’s went 16-4 last season when Allen was out nursing an ankle injury. This is not about Allen. This is about an incredibly talented group that is still getting used to playing with one another.

Guys like Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo know the deal. They are the core of this squad, as this is now their sixth year playing together. They have seen it all, and they know how to integrate new parts. They did it last year with players like Brandon Bass, Mickael Pietrus, Keyon Dooling and the rest of the Celtics’ role players. Because of that, there is ample reason to believe that they will do it this time around with a more capable supporting cast.

On top of that, let’s not neglect the fact that Doc Rivers is a mastermind and is one of the best coaches in the business. Dissension will not exist on his watch. He will make sure to find the best and most efficient lineups possible, and he will roll with them. When Bradley returns in the middle of the season, Rivers will adjust once again. He is a tactical genius, with Gregg Popovich probably representing the only coach in the NBA who can match his smarts.

It is also imperative to mention that Pierce and Garnett are just not shooting the ball well right now. The Truth is hitting on only 35 percent of his shots, and K.G. is shooting only 45.3 percent from the floor. Given that Pierce is a career 44.7 percent shooter and Garnett converts on 49.8 percent of his attempts, the law of averages will come into play, and those numbers will improve.

The final thing that you all should be aware of is that the Wizards are no slouches. This is a team that vastly improved in the offseason, and it’s only right to assume that young guns like Kevin Seraphin, Jordan Crawford and Trevor Booker will continue to get better.

Yes, Nene Hilario and John Wall missed both of the games against Boston, but even with those two being sidelined, Washington is a pesky, talented team, and one should not be surprised to see them in the playoff hunt all year and potentially sneak into the postseason.

It’s not like the C’s struggled to beat the Charlotte Bobcats here; they beat an able Wizards team two games in a row.

Plus, playing down to the competition is the Celtics’ modus operandi. Remember last year’s seven-game series against the Philadelphia 76ers? The 76ers had no business taking Boston to seven games, and the fact that the C’s pushed the Heat to the very end of Game 7 in the next round is concrete evidence of that.

Not only that, but it’s early, and if recent history has taught us anything, the Celtics tend to go through the motions during the regular season, and they tend to give it their all only when they absolutely have to.

So to put it simply, don’t worry Celtics fans. This team will be just fine.

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Final Offseason Grade for the Boston Celtics

 Boston  No Responses »
Oct 242012
 

It’s safe to say that the Boston Celtics offseason is finally over. Then again, we thought it was over about a month ago before the Celtics signed Darko Milicic. We also thought it was over last week, but then Boston went out and signed Leandro Barbosa. But now, the Cs appear to have filled any possible holes and have trimmed the roster to 15, so unless GM Danny Ainge has any other tricks up his sleeve, it looks like it’s done.

So, with that, what is the final offseason grade for the Celtics?

It is an “A.” It seems inappropriate for it to be any less.

A banged up Boston team took the Miami Heat to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals this past year. Albeit, Chris Bosh was not available for part of the series, but nonetheless, even when Bosh did return, the Cs played the eventual champions tougher than any other ballclub did. The Celtics then entered an offseason full of questions.

Would Kevin Garnett retire? Would Ray Allen return? Would Paul Pierce potentially be trade bait?

Well, once Garnett decided he was going to come back, the message was clear in Boston: The Cs were going to reload rather than rebuild.

The rest of the offseason was an absolute coup for the Celtics, as they did things that no one thought they could possibly do given the NBA’s salary cap restrictions. First, they used their MLE on Jason Terry. That wasn’t really a big deal. But then they finagled a sign-and-trade with the Houston Rockets to acquire Courtney Lee. They re-signed all three of Brandon Bass, Jeff Green and Chris Wilcox. They went out and got Milicic for the veteran’s minimum and then somehow convinced Barbosa to come over despite the glut of guards Boston has.

Not only that, but the Cs picked up Jared Sullinger, Fab Melo, and Kris Joseph in the draft.

To keep things organized, let’s go through each area the Celtics needed to address over the summer and examine how they went about doing so.

 

Size and rebounding

Boston was absolutely horrific on the glass last season, and other than Garnett, the team didn’t really have any interior intimidators. As good of a shot blocker as Greg Stiemsma was, he hardly struck fear into the hearts of opposing wings when they drove the lane.

The first thing the Cs did to fix this problem was draft Sullinger and Melo. While the seven-foot Melo might need some time in the D-League to develop, Sullinger certainly won’t.

Sully looked incredible in preseason, averaging 10.9 points and seven rebounds over 26.1 minutes per game, shooting 56.1 percent from the field in the process. He effectively used his 6’9″, 260 lb. frame early and often to get positioning and to bull his way around in the paint. The Ohio State product looks to be an absolute steal at No. 21 for the Celtics.

Boston then re-signed Wilcox, a player who was doing great things for the team before going down with a heart ailment in March that would require surgery. The 6’10″ big man does not only bring size, but he can run the floor, as well.

The Cs also added centers Jason Collins and Milicic, two brutes who play extremely physically and will certainly be used to defend the likes of Andrew Bynum, Dwight Howard and the other talented centers in the league. Don’t underestimate the importance of these two. They could mean all the difference in how fresh K.G. is come playoff time.

Ainge did an incredible job of going out and acquiring affordable talent for the frontcourt. The Celtics have gone from being relatively soft inside to now just being downright mean.

 

Replacing Ray Allen

Allen bolted for Miami this offseason, opening what some thought would be a gaping wound in Boston. Well, not so much, as not only did the Celtics sign Terry prior to Allen leaving, but they made the sign-and-trade deal for Lee and later went out and got Barbosa. Not just that, but Avery Bradley is making his way back from surgery on both of his shoulders.

The Cs now have what is arguably the deepest guard rotation in the NBA with the likes of Rajon Rondo, Lee, Terry, Bradley and Barbosa. It’s pretty clear that Ainge did a more than adequate job in filling Ray’s shoes with the moves he made this offseason.

 

Bench scoring

While guys like Keyon Dooling and Mickael Pietrus did an admirable job in bringing energy off the bench this past postseason, they are not guys that you want to be your primary options off the pine. Ainge and the rest of Boston’s front office knew this and addressed it fully.

Instead of Dooling, Pietrus, Stiemsma and Ryan Hollins being the main guys off the bench, the Celtics will now have Terry, Lee (when Bradley gets healthy), Green, Sullinger, Wilcox, Barbosa, Milicic, Collins, Melo and Joseph. Talk about doing a 180.

Now as mentioned, Melo might spend some time in the D-League and Joseph’s playing time will likely be scarce, but the rest of those reserve options must be making Doc Rivers salivate. This isn’t just “depth”; this is a bench that can beat some starting lineups.

One of the things that killed Boston against the Heat in the playoffs this past year was a lack of consistent production off the pine. The Cs should have no such problems this season.

 

Athleticism

Despite having the likes of Garnett, Rondo and Pierce in the starting lineup last season, the Celtics still struggled to score and were very prone to droughts. Why? Because they were rather one-dimensional offensively, relying far too heavily on the halfcourt set to generate points.

Now, with the infusion of younger blood and athleticism into the lineup, Boston is well-equipped to get out and score in transition. Rondo is at his best when he is able to make plays in the open floor, and now he has plenty of teammates at his disposal who can help maximize his talents in that regard.

We already saw some of this in the preseason with the likes of Terry, Lee and Green. That’s only a taste of what we are likely to experience over the course of 82 games and then the playoffs.

 

The Celtics had four areas that they really needed to patch up this offseason, and somehow, they were able to remedy each and every weak spot. Outside of 2007 when Ainge traded for Garnett and Allen, this is probably the best offseason he has had as Boston’s GM. He brought in a wealth of talent at affordable rates that should help the team win this year, and he also started to form a solid core for the future.

There is absolutely no way anyone should give the Cs anything less than an “A” for their efforts this past summer (and autumn). They had things they needed to do to seriously contend for a title again, and they did them.

Ainge has also positioned himself to make a midseason trade with all of the talent he has accumulated. When Bradley returns, the Celtics are going to have five guards. Let’s say Ainge decides to make a run at Josh Smith around the deadline. He can now stand to give up someone like Lee or Bradley to bring Smith aboard.

You can’t help but marvel at Ainge and the rest of the Cs’ front office right now. What they were able to do this offseason exceeded even the most optimistic individual’s expectations.

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NBA Rumors: Latest Buzz Surrounding Boston Celtics

 Boston  No Responses »
Jul 272012
 

The Boston Celtics are just about done making moves in preparation for the next NBA season, but that doesn’t mean that the rumor mill has stopped churning in Beantown. 

What has it spit out lately?

 

Avery Bradley Might Be Out For a While

There’s a solid chance that last year’s breakout shooting guard might not be ready for training camp this offseason as he recovers from surgery on both shoulders. In fact, there’s a possibility that Avery Bradley misses a significant amount of action during the regular season.

Boston general manager Danny Ainge is unsure whether Bradley will be able to return in even a month, as told to A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com: 

“We know there’s a possibility that Avery won’t be able to play the first month of the season,” Danny Ainge, Boston’s president of basketball operations, told CSNNE.com. “So we have to be prepared for that. You never know how these things play out; will it be a month? Or two months? I don’t think it’ll be much longer than that, or he could be back sooner. You try to build a roster where you can get by with any injury, that can sustain you through a short period of time.”

The Celtics should allow Bradley to fully heal before letting him step back on the court. Because Ainge did indeed build his roster to mitigate the effect of injuries, the shooting guard position is still going to be strong for Boston. 

New acquisitions Jason Terry and Courtney Lee are more than capable of picking up the slack left behind by Bradley’s shoulders. In fact, they may push him to the bench for the foreseeable future, even when the defensive ace is healthy. 

 

Mickael Pietrus is as Good as Gone

Even though Mickael Pietrus initially seemed likely to return to the Celtics, it’s becoming increasingly clear that he’ll be playing ball elsewhere for the 2012-13 season and beyond. 

According to Pietrus’ agent—as relayed by the Boston Herald‘s Mark Murphy—the Celtics have yet to contact their former small forward:

“We haven’t heard from (the Celtics), so we’ll move on,” Pietrus’ agent Bill McKandless said. “I’m not surprised. If we hear from them, Mike will be thrilled, and if not then I guess that’s life in the big city.”

Boston seems as though its going to choose not to use the bi-annual exception after adding Jason Collins and Jamar Smith, who was brought up off the summer league roster with a non-guaranteed contract. 

That means that the Celtics won’t be looking at either Pietrus or any other remaining free agents. 

 

Opening Matchup with Miami Heat

Now that the NBA schedule for the 2012-13 season has been officially released, Boston fans can start gearing up for a big showdown with the Miami Heat to open the campaign. 

The game at South Beach will be the latest chapter in what’s becoming one of the NBA’s premier rivalries. 

Now that Ray Allen has jumped shipped and signed with the Miami Heat, more fuel is getting added to the fire. Emotions will be running high when the sharpshooter makes his Miami debut against the team he helped win a championship. 

Allen wrote the following in the USA Today (via Scott Gleeson): 

Dear Celtics fans,

For the past five years, my family and I took great pride in calling Boston home. We have loved living in this city, being members of the Celtics family and being part of your community. These memories will be cherished forever.

From my heart, THANK YOU Boston for this incredible journey.

So, will C’s fans take Allen’s gratitude as heartfelt or not? Will they forgive him when he plays against their team? 

We’ll find out on October 30, but the game is only getting more and more appealing. 

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Boston Celtics Will Be the Deepest Team in the NBA

 Boston  No Responses »
Jul 242012
 

The 2012 Celtics were decimated by injuries. The 2013 Celtics are going to be the league’s deepest team.

Considering this: Most teams go five or six deep with either solid NBA-caliber players or rookies that they expect to contribute. The best teams usually have seven or eight of those guys. By my count, Boston currently has 10, and that number goes up to 11 if Mickael Pietrus re-signs.

They go two deep at every position. One of the best 1s in the league, Rajon Rondo, is backed up by one of the league’s best sixth men, Jason Terry.

One of the league’s best defensive 2s (Avery Bradley) will split time with another of the league’s best defensive 2s. (Courtney Lee). 

Hall of Famer Paul Pierce will man the 3, backed up by the new $36 million man Jeff Green. As a point of reference, no player on Charlotte’s entire roster is owed that much, and Boston is so deep that it is giving it to its seventh man. 

Boston’s front line is just as deep. Brandon Bass is back to play at the 4 and will be relieved by Jared Sullinger, one of my favorite players in the entire draft. I don’t care what injury issues he has, if you can take a guy at No. 21 when he would have gone in the top-three a year earlier, it’s a great move.

Kevin Garnett revitalized his career at the 5 last year. He’s backed up by perhaps the only question mark in Boston’s second unit, Fab Melo. Melo is a fantastic defender, but he was held out of the NCAA tournament because of academic issues.

Last I checked, NBA players don’t need to know calculus. The Celtics should have no problem keeping him in line.

That isn’t even including guys like Pietrus and the newly re-signed Keyon Dooling and Chris Wilcox. If the Celtics go into the playoffs with everyone healthy, they’ll have 13 legitimate rotation-caliber players. 

Not to keep piling on Charlotte (they do a pretty good job of that themselves), but I’m fairly certain Boston’s second unit could beat the Bobcats in a seven-game series by themselves. In fact, I’m fairly certain that that series would go no more than five games. 

Ray Allen may be gone, but the Celtics have nothing to worry about. They are absolutely loaded top to bottom. They may not be the best team in the league, but they are by far the deepest. 

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