Boston...Where 'Sheed Happens

Is Boston ready for Rasheed Wallace to bring his trademark pre-game dance to the Garden where it will put to shame Eddie House's pre-game handshakes?

According to 'Sheed's agent the 34-year-old forward is committed to signing with the Celtics, which likely means a reserve role.  The Globe is reporting that it will be a two year deal for the full Mid-Level exception roughly $5.6 million and $5.8 million.

Wallace will add much-needed depth to the Celtics frontcourt this upcoming season. Instead of having undersized power forwards such as Leon Powe or Big Baby Davis fill in at center and power forward now 'Sheed will be able to fill in for Perkins and KG. Not only will 'Sheed allow Doc to rest KG a little more than normal during the regular season, but he should also give the Celtics some flexibility with the lineup at the end of games. Much like in 2007-2008 where Posey would be on the court during crunch time 'Sheed could fill that same void.

The Celtics are now rumored to be after veteran forward Grant Hill, but all they can offer is the bi-annual exception which comes in around $1.9 million. Hill played for that same amount last season in Phoenix, and hopefully the chance of winning a title is enough to lure him to Boston. If the Celtics can sign Hill it would create one of the more talented benches in basketball adding Hill's versatility and high field goal percentage to Eddie House and 'Sheed's shooting ability from deep. You'd have to think that with House, Wallace and Hill under contract Ainge would probably not match any offers for Big Baby and would likely look to the veteran minimum with one of the Summer League invites (Robert Swift, Michael Sweetney or Chris Lofton) or look in-house until the February trade deadline. At the trade deadline Ainge will be hard-at-work shopping the expiring deals of un-talented players such as Tony Allen and Brian Scalabrine with the hopes of turning those into a solid rotational player to a team looking to shed salary in time for the free agent class of 2010.

At this point heading into the 2009-2010 season it looks as if the Cavs and the Celtics have improved their rosters, but I'm not sold on Orlando at all. Essentially they landed Vince Carter at the expense of Hedo, Courtney Lee and Gortat which is a big price to pay in depth and talent for an aging and overpaid player with a history of losing. 

I think Ainge's approach has been smart so far this offseason where he has gone after veterans who can contribute in a reserve role by adding to our starting five and not taking away any of those pieces. Plus the contracts have been just right. House is under contract for just this upcoming season, 'Sheed is allegedly signing a two year deal and the Celtics are doing everything they can to win now while also balancing future salary cap flexibility to allow them to rebuild on the fly as Allen, Pierce and KG get older. As opposed to the insane contract Posey wanted the Celtics to sign him to last offseason, 'Sheed's is much more modest and will not harm the Celtics moving forward.

One interesting note on 'Sheed...he led the NBA in technical fouls last season with 19 and 1 ejection...while Perk was 6th racking up 12 techs and an ejection as well. Plus the C's were known as some of the biggest trash talkers in the NBA and the team will only get more vocal now.