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Shaq To The Boston Celtics? Oh, That's A Terrible Idea

by Andrew Sharp • Aug 3, 2010 4:28 PM EDT

The thing is, all the pieces were in place for Shaq to fade gracefully into the sunset. He'd go over to Europe and play for some Greek powerhouse, bank a cool 10 million Euros, and maybe make an appearance at All-Star Weekend in L.A. next year. You know, to screw with Kobe's party.

But then Boston has to go and reportedly offer a life preserver, and yet again, we're left pretending that Shaquille O'Neal still matters more than say, Marcin Gortat. Err... Does he even matter as much as Marcin Gortat?

Yes, but not in a good way.

Shaq is a terrible, terrible defender at this point in his career. He's also a forceful personality that'll demand to be on the court. He's also a good enough player in the low post to convince a smattering of teammates and fans that he belongs on the court. And indeed, he'll be on the court more than you think.

But again: Shaq is a terrible, terrible defender at this point in his career.

And for a team like Boston, whose calling card is playing lockdown team defense, it's a little counter-productive to have some club-footed behemoth on the court, dragging ass to and fro, then demanding the ball in the post on the other end.

Defenders will call this "Kendrick Perkins insurance," and remind you that the Celtics aren't risking much. But this is Shaq in 2010, not 2000, 2005, or even 2008. At best, Boston gains nothing. At worst, he dupes Doc Rivers into playing him in the playoffs, and it sinks the Celtics at the worst time possible.

Boston should know better than most. The Cavs tethered their hopes to Shaq, and it's part of what allowed Boston to pull off the biggest upset of the 2010 playoffs. Don't the Celtics remember that?

As someone who likes the Celtics and still has a budding mancrush on Rajon Rondo, here's to hoping someone reminds them while there's still time: SHAQ IS SO, SO WASHED UP.

(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

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Comments

Shaq is sort of becoming the modern day Robert Parish, who bounced around from team to team to team in his final years, even though he was just a shell of his former self. He was even a benchwarmer on one of the Bulls teams that won a championship, yet who can remember him playing with Michael Jordan?

Honestly, O’Neal wasn’t that bad in the playoffs last year, and I do think he can still be a productive 10 PPG guy somewhere. However, the Celtics already went out and picked up Jermaine O’Neal, who’s also finished but can at least hit an outside shot, and can score without necessarily demanding the ball, whereas Shaq has to be given the ball and then has to dribble and dribble in order to get near the basket — let alone to score.

By the time Perkins comes back, if KG and Davis are still healthy, it’ll be interesting to see who gets the final bigman slot off the bench: Jermaine or Shaquile. I’d say Jermaine, since he’ll probably disrupt Boston’s offense less than Shaq will. Either way, this team hasn’t gotten younger this offseason. Eventually, whether it’s this year or next year, they’re going to get run over by younger, quicker, more athletic teams, and getting Shaq only speeds up the process. The big three can’t last forever.

Inhistoric -- the SB Nation blog devoted to sports history.

by ZombieMonta on Aug 3, 2010 5:13 PM EDT reply actions

Not Washed Up

Shaq still gives Gasol and Bynum fits, and he was one of the main reasons the Cavs were successful when LeBron missed regular season games. He looked great in Phoenix and almost dragged a team a lot worse than the one who made the finals this year to the playoffs despite all the criticism surrounded bringing him (which obviously was not a good move but it came a couple games away from working).

by Derek Fisher Fan on Aug 4, 2010 2:53 AM EDT reply actions

He's not good but still can help a team

I still think he can help a team with his size and strength. It’s not like the Celtics are an uptempo team, in fact. Him dragging won’t be as noticeable. Probably still a risk but signing him to a vet min contract even for 2 years (only has one okay year left) won’t hurt Boston’s flexability in the long run.

by Woobly on Aug 4, 2010 2:29 PM EDT reply actions