Anima

Who replaces Payton after he leaves or retires? Do you hand the ball over to West & Banks? Do you go after some in the free agent market? Or do you draft another PG?

Bad Bartons

I think you give Delonte West the starting role with Banks backing him up.

Still it would not hurt to get a vet for a couple of years.

I think the Celtics should try to extend Payton for two more years. I understand that he is getting old but he would make a good player / coach type off the bench.

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LX

Delonte West. Banks is a good defender but I don't like him at the point til he learns how to pass the ball better, and develop a more effective shot.

And as far as Gary Payton goes, I'd rather see him walk after the season. I'm already sick of his non-defense playing lazy arse.

Premier

Marcus Banks should start. He gives you great defense, good penetration ability, and he is a better passer than Delonte West. He just can't shoot. I think we should sign a veteran point guard for part of our MLE, just not one who will take away minutes from our two young guys, like Payton.

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aquaitious

I agree, and a small side comment, I do like it when a bad shooter shoots 40% from 3.

TONYALLEN42

i think west is more of a starter and can get those early 3's in the beginning of the game. but i like it alor when theyre both out there because the are both excellent hussle players!!

whiterhino

I actually see hope for Delonte and Marcus where I didn't before BUT I don't think they are ready yet or will be next year. I think they are going to be like Chauncey Billups...slower to be ready to be the starter....I'm actually happy with Gary Payton and wouldn't mind keeping him for 2 more years and would expect that in year 2 he may move to the bench in favor of Marcus or Delonte

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agoo101284

How about Ricky Davis? And yes, a part of the reason why I am saying this is that I started the "Ricky Davis at PG" thread a while back.

But in all seriousness, Davis has been one of the best and most consistent play makers we've had all season. There are a few people who have voiced concerns over his willingness to accept a second year on the bench, me not being one of them. Perhaps point guard is a good place for him. I could see us resigning Walker and starting LaFrentz, Walker, Pierce, Allen, and Davis next year. We could then draft a backup SF (Hakim Warrick please!!!) and use West as a bench 2 and have Banks backing up at the point.

whiterhino

It would be unusual for him to make that transition, but he is a good ball handler. The thing with that is we'd lose a lot of his offense though, the PG is the playmaker and it would probably take Ricky out of his shooting game somewhat.

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aquaitious

Not really, I mean you can still see Ricky passing the ball even when he plays SG or SF. Maybe at the end of games we'd put in a PG so that he can get in a better position. But as far as I'm concerned, I believe that he can do it. Plus he'll have Walker on his side if anything goes wrong.

TONYALLEN42

i think that ricky is one of the best 6th men in the game at this time. so i think that we should keep him there. our team just keeps getting better and better and with all these young guys they need to get some starting time. but what would be really good was if west and banks split up the times starting there. like west will start one day and banks would start the other.

Petey

I think they should try to sign Earl Watson this offseason.

-Petey

Premier

Why? Watson will easily command the MLE, which Wyc would be reluctant to offer. Plus, this would stunt West and Banks' growth as Watson would recieve 25+ minutes per game. I would rather have our two point guards gain experience with each getting 24 MPG. If we were to sign a point guard, I would take Antonio Daniels.

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aquaitious

He is, but he's not going to play 6th man for the rest of his career. This guy can be a starter on any team in the league, and he's comming off the bench for (at that time) Jiri Welsch and now Tony Allen.

While I love Tony he's nowhere near Ricky's level, but he does give us a guy who can defend and play alongside Toine, Reaf, Payton and Pierce as he doesn't command a lot of shots.



Celts, that's interesting and yes I wouldn't mind seeing Daniels here...as a backup of course, I would hate it to be another Mike James/Cucky Atkins experience.