It truly surprised me when the Indiana Pacers decided to let Marquis Daniels go due to the fact than Daniels even lowered his money so he can still sign with the Blue and Gold. The Pacers just decided to not use him. As I was observing him in free agency, many teams were deciding to take bids on him.
The team that decided to win the whole battle of Daniels? The Boston Celtics. With the signing of Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels, the Celtics surely had, in what Graham Brunell called it, a booming off-season.
Daniels received a heartwarming welcome to Boston. But even though it's still not determined that he is just signing with the C's or if a sign-and-trade deal is working out with Tony Allen and B-Scal. But whatever of how it works out, we know that Marquis Daniels will be coming to Boston.
It's very beneficial for Boston on this addition and it is possible that they can be a much better team this year than last year. In my opinion, I think the Celtics are going to be a better team this year than their 2008-09 run. But how so? I'll break it down.
You all know what this is, it's everybody's favorite type of talk: NBA Talk.
It's for sure that the Celtics finally found their swingman since James Posey, as what Lex would say (jeez, how many hyperlinks are there?). But I do have to agree anyways, the Celtics have found their swingman. Daniels can play three positions, as far as I have observed in his time in Indy: small forward, shooting guard, and point guard.
I believe he can do this with the C's, as I have heard many rumors that he will be backing up the great Paul Pierce. As with every NBA Talk article, let's take a look into the C's lineup with the recent attachment:
PG: Rajon Rando/Gabe Pruitt
SG: Ray Allen/Eddie House
SF: Paul Pierce/Marquis Daniels
PF: Kevin Garnett/Leon Powe
C: Rasheed Wallace/Kendrick Perkins
Although that's my opinion on the lineup, some other NBA fans show that Wallace may be at the power forward position with KG, which makes Kendrick Perkins the starting center. It's hard to determine which so I'll let Graham of Celtics17 and Lex of Fernsten's Follies to decide that (and many other Celtics blogs like...well, CelticsBlog.com).
It actually does bring back memories from 2007. The Celtics had a swingman in James Posey, who played one of biggest key roles in the NBA Playoffs, but sadly, left the next year. This same exact thing could possibly happen this year with their supplement of 'Quis.
Boston has can be a very tough team to beat this year. If KG manages to stay healthy for 70-plus games, I think the Celtics look to be banging on the door for tickets to play in the NBA Finals this year. Although they changed their starting rotation with one player, their team is much more different.
The Celtics will be making noise this year.
First, just take a look at the starting rotation for a second. Yeah, it looks exactly the same, except the center position now has a powerful Rasheed Wallace. We got Rajon Rondo making moves that pisses you off, Ray Allen getting his shots from behind-the-arc, we all know how Pierce rolls, Kevin Garnett making a difference with his scoring and rebounding ability, and the great defense of Sheed
But take a look at the second team as well.
Gabe Pruitt is a pretty good point guard as far as I have seen. Although Eddie House is the size of a point guard, as Celtics17 said (link above on "booming off-season) it was. But House is truly surprises me and made some commotion with in the NBA Playoffs last year with his amazing shooting. And you just have to respect Daniels' ability. He creates a spark off the bench and had his best season last year, while being a backup. He is truly at his best when he doesn't start. In the 2007-08 season, he probably made about three or four buzzer-beaters with all the shots being about 50 feet or more. He's truly just amazing and Celtics fans will not be disappointed by him. And come on, everybody knows how Kendrick Perkins and Leon Powe do, kind of like that song by The Game.
It is going to be a great season for the Green.
And with the adding of Marquis Daniels, oh yes, this will be very beneficial for the C's.