Atlantic Division - Boston Celtics

Definitely back next year – 9 players

- Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen – The big 3 are locked for a total of $176 million. Allen for 2 more years, Pierce for 3, and Garnett for 4. Make no mistake this is a steep price to pay. But if they can bring a title to Boston, it would be worth it just in merchandising revenue alone.

- Kendrick Perkins – 3 yrs & $12.7 million – If he plays for the next 3 years like he played this year, this money will be well spent.

- Brian Scalabrine – 2 yrs & $6.6 million – He hasn’t shown to be worth this kind of scratch, so it’s unlikely they’ll be able to dump it on another team in a trade. He shows up on time and works hard, and they have no other choice but to pay it, so there’s no sense in complaining about it.

- Rajon Rondo – 2 yrs & $4.3 million – The second year is a team option, which they will certainly pick up. Then he becomes a restricted free agent. Basically, and unfortunately for Rondo, the team owns his ass for the next two years at a bargain price, and there’s nothing he can do about it. It’s a bummer, but that’s the way the rookie scale works.

- Leon Powe & Glen Davis – These two are in a similar situation. They proved to be very useful back-ups while making very little money this year. They’re both under contract for next year, and both for under $1 million. It would probably behoove the team to get both of them signed to longer term, more lucrative deals before next season ends. They could probably both be had right now for 3 or 4 year deals worth $3 or $4 million per year. The Celtics will probably wait until next season starts before they negotiate seriously with either one of them, particularly Davis because they’ll want to see what kind of shape he shows up camp in, knowing his past weight problems.

- Gabe Pruitt – 1 yr & $712K with a team option for a second year – He didn’t play much this year. He has another season to prove himself. If he doesn’t, they’ll probably scratch the last year of his contract and release him.

Might be back next year

- James Posey – Has a player option for $3.5 million for next season. He could turn it down and become an un-restricted free agent. He had a good season as the Celts’ 6^th man, and is in a pretty good position to bargain with other teams and get a long term deal; which means he’s in a good position to re-negotiate right now with the Celtics. $3.5 million is nothing to sneeze at. But, honestly, what he did this year was probably worth a little more. The Celtics should re-negotiate with him right now, and lock him in for another 2 or 3 years for about $5 million per, and hope nobody beats them to him with a better offer

- Tony Allen – He’s a restricted free agent this off-season. The Celtics’ qualifying offer is $2.74 million. The Celtics will probably let him put his name out there and entertain offers from other teams, matching any that he accepts if it’s not for too much. He’s a useful player and they’d like to keep him. However, if some team makes him an offer that equates to starter’s money, they’ll probably decline and let him walk. He’ll get some offers. The only question is how big.

- Eddie House – He’s an un-restricted free agent after this year. He was underpaid this year at $1.5 million. The guy can flat out shoot and plays a valuable role that’s worth at least twice that much. Methinks he’s about to get a raise. The Celtics could very well lose him. Again, as with Posey and Allen, they’ll be careful not to overpay him. But at the same time, he does deserve a raise.

- Scot Pollard, PJ Brown, & Sam Cassell – These 3 old timers are un-restricted free agents. My guess is Brown retires and stays there this time. Nobody signs Pollard, and he retires. The Celtics offer Cassell the veteran’s minimum to come back for another season, and he takes it.

Overall state of affairs – They have 9 players who are definitely back next year, and a couple free agent issues to deal with. The big 3 are expensive which limits how generous they can be with role players. They’d like to keep the team intact, but may lose guys like Posey, Tony Allen, and House. In which case, they’ll have to find someone to fill those roles, and hopefully at a bargain price. The best case scenario for them is to get those 3 re-signed for as cheap as possible, bring Cassell back for cheap, and get two new rookies here to fill out the rest of the roster.

Tags: Boston Celtics, Brian Scalabrine, Gabe Pruitt, Glen Davis, james Posey, Kendrick Perkins, Kevin Garnett, Leon Powe, Paul Pierce, PJ Brown, Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Sam Cassell, Scot Pollard, Tony Allen

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