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Celtics set to sign Jason Collins

KWAPT July 21, 2012 Celtics News, Free Agency 33 Comments

Well, it looks like the question I asked in my last post has been answered. Via ESPN Boston’s Chris Forsberg:

Sources: Celtics set to ink veteran big man Jason Collins to a one-year, veteran minimum deal. Adds 7-footer to bench.

Collins is 7-feet tall. I think that is obviously the most important part of this transaction. A solid back-up center who has plenty of experience. I personally like having one more center than Melo on the roster, even if it is Collins. Here are Collins’ stats etc. via ESPN.

shot the shot

Ainge called Armon Johnson’s agent earlier this week. Not sure if we’ll see a dooling comback.
Re-Load for 18

I honestoy don’t know much about Collins apart from what his stat sheet said. It looked like atl trused him enough to spot start him as recent as last year, but then again, we started Pavlovic this past year… But in all seriousness, is Collins a reliable defensive player? I mean I’m not expecting Perkins, but is he the liability Hollins was on D?
- Chris
  
  Certainly better than Hollins. But just a defensive beast. His only points will come from open dunks, which he’ll get with Rondo. Best part – Melo is free to develop in Maine.
  - Re-Load for 18
    
    Perfect! We really don’t need more scoring on the roster anyway with Rondo, JET, a healthy Bradley, Lee, Paul, Green, KG, and Bass all ready to put up double digits every night with Wilcox and Sully contributing substantially. We don’t need a back up C to score as long as he’s solid defensively.
  - sev
    
    Defensive beast? Wouldn’t say that just cause his defense is less awful than his offense. I’m not complaining cause the team is 10 deep, but I didn’t think Collins was even worth the vet min
RedsLoveChild

It pays to be 7`0″

How else can it be explained that Collins has carved out an 11 year NBA career, earned over $32M…while averaging 3.8 points and 2.6 rebounds?
gaia

Mr. Triple-Zero……..
Lee in Oregon

Never heard Collins & “beast” in the same sentence before, but he is nice pick-up this late, and isnt always hurt. DA still has the mini-exception left too. Right now this is the best bench we’ve has since 08.

If Jamar Smith makes the team, only 1 spot left, and I assume Dooling will be playing somewhere else, hopefully not in Miami.
Jay

If I’m not mistaken, we should all know Collins well, wasn’t he on those nets teams we faced over the early 2000 yrs in the ecf’s, or was that his twin?
- KG
  
  yup that was him…he actually did good against KG in last seasons semi finals…
Quest

What’s happening to Marquis Daniels??
Justin

Next stop re-sign Mickeal Pietrus!
- Re-Load for 18
  
  Unfortunately, we don’t have room for MP. This is a shame as most of us liked him off the bench with solid D and his corner trey. But both his positions (2&3) are crowded with Bradley, JT, Lee, Pierce, and Green likely all higher on the depth chart than he. Plus we only have a few roster spots left we need 1s and 5s, not really more 2s, 3s, and 4s.
ZachFlavored

Is this the same Jason Collins who ATL used as one of the best Dwight Howard stoppers in the league?
D Wade

another old, tired, and washed up player in Cs uniform why I’m not surprised. Good luck winning a single game against Miami next season. Another year another Paul Pierce wheelchair ride. lmfao
- Chief
  
  This coming from a guy with rashard Lewis on his team and let’s not forget eddy curry, and in all honesty ray Allen, what a loser you are
  - Alex
    
    Stop feeding the troll, dummy.
    - Chief
      
      Hey Alex it’s called a comments section and I choose to comment,troll or not I still can give the guy something to think about.
      - Jim
        
        Hi Chief.I have to agree with Alex,don’t engage with this idiot. He is an attention seeker and you only encourage him by replying.If he had any thing interesting or constructive to say I’d reply to him but he hasn’t. Fans of other teams especially Lakers fans post here ,but they are real basketball fans with interesting comments and don’t badmouth the Celtics .
    - D Wade
      
      you hurt? You just have to accept the truth that the Cs can’t match the Heat.
BillRussellTheGreatestOfThemAll

In a world where Chris Bosh is an NBA champion at the 5-spot, KG is now a bona fide full-time center. Just like his personal arch-rival TD in San Antonio. And in ’12-’13, KG is going to have a great lineup of bigs to lead into battle with: Bass, Wilcox, Sulliger, Melo and now Collins. Seriously, what team in the NBA has a deeper big man rotation going into next season than the Mighty Mighty Bostone Celtics?
- Chris
  
  That’s the impression that I get (sorry, couldn’t resist)
Reggie35RIP

Big “meh” to this signing. Yes he’s a seven footer, but what does he do with those seven feet? I’ll answer that. Not much. He’s also old.

I realise this is a stop gap solution for one season. But Collins? Really?

If this is a replacement for steamer this is a massive downgrade. And if he’s meant to be a no offence-rebounder-shot blocker. It’s fairly obvious that’s not what we’re getting. The no offence part is right, but rebounding and shot blocking? In his last three seasons with Atlanta his highest rebound average was 2.1 and he’s a career 3.9 average rebounder. And he’s no shot blocker – 0.1-0.2 blocks per game over his last three seasons…

So why’d we get him? An elderly seven footer who never did anything in his career? Is he basically a big body to chuck in and spell the bigs for 10+ minutes a game? Better off saving the dough and the roster spot imo.

He also hasn’t played anywhere near a full season since 06/07. So essentially we’ve got ourselves another J O’neal/Shaq, but worse, who’s hardly going to play and when he does he’s going to be a total non-factor. Steamer wasn’t great, but at least he was a legitimate shot blocker and solid rebounder who could dunk the ball when he got it down low.

Hate to say it, but I’d rather have Darko… I feel dirty.
MJ

Okay People. You need to realize there’s only one reason why Danny signed this guy: Interior defense. I’ll be honest with you. This guy hardly brings a thing on offense. He’s not athletic and he’s getting old. HOWEVER, the guy is actually a pretty darn good post defender. He actually is really good at bodying up big men.

Remember how Atlanta thrashed Orlando in 2011? That was because the 2011 Hawks had Jason Collins to body up on Dwight Howard.

When it comes to guarding Howard, Bynum, Hibbert, etc., this is the guy you want. End of story.
- Reggie35RIP
  
  Fair enough. But how many games do you think we’ll get out of him?
  - MJ
    
    I think considering his injury history, I think the Celtics only use him in games in which they truly need him. Games in which there’s a powerful inside force. The Lakers come to mind, and whichever team gets Howard also comes to mind. This guy should be preserved the same way we should have preserved Shaq.
    - Reggie35RIP
      
      Unfortunately I’m not sure we’ll have that luxury. He won’t get massive minutes, but I reckon we’ll need him for a good 9-10 minutes per game. And maybe more when we play against a team with a dominant big. That’s what worries me the most – will he stay healthy long enough to do the things we signed him for?
Frank

This Dwade kid that always posts here. I think he’s 12 years old. He won’t be a Miami fan his entire life. He likes teams only when they win. He was a Laker fan 3 years ago.
- D Wade
  
  I’ve been a Miami Fan ever since. I don’t like the Lakers, I love watching the Heat beat the old tired Celtics every night while Cs fans blame and cry about officiating.
BillRussellTheGreatestOfThemAll

Jason Collins as a starting center would be a D grade at best. As a back-up center, he’d get a C grade. He won’t be the starting C (KG), he won’t be the primary reserve center (Wilcox), he’ll be the third pivot. This acquisition gets a B+ grade.
http://www.muvdigital.com Ben

Collins is a very solid defensive player. Definitely a useful guy. HOWEVER I do not like this signing because it guarantees that Fab Melo will not get any minutes this year. At this point Collins is certainly more reliable, but I would rather see Melo in there for his potential
- Chris
  
  Personally I’d've rather see Melo getting >20 minutes in Maine every game and being ready to be first C off the bench next year or, if he comes on REALLY quick, around All Star break. He needs meaningful game experience, not garbage minutes in blowouts. This won’t be a learn on the job team. Develop him and Melo could be a force in 2-3 years. Throw him in the deep end for about as much time as JJJ got last year and he’ll end up bouncing around between teams looking for size.
D Wade

This is whats so funny about Boston, they are too excited about their players at the start of the season, then they get worked up once they realize that what they have are duds.