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Why the Celtics brought Big Baby back
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Baby is back, and the roster is slowly rounding into shape. Just like him. (AP Photo -
Elise Amendola)
Yesterday, the Celtics re-signed Big Baby Davis to a two-year deal, worth up to $6 mill as long as he can keep his weight down. This has been a long off-season for Davis, as his name has been included in a bunch of rumors, linking him to a return to Boston, or a venture with Detroit, San Antonio, or even New Jersey. He had his name mentioned in trade rumors, and as time went by, everyone began to wonder where exactly he was going to end up. According to Davis, he hates to pack, so the thought of having to move must have not sat with him well.
While Baby claims that the Tweeter (or Twitterer?) was a fraud pretending to be him, the rogue tweets sent to the world last week perfectly encapsulated the frustration that Big Baby had to have been feeling during these last few weeks. His first foray into free agency didn’t exactly end badly, but it didn’t end up with the best-case scenario either, at least not from a money perspective. If the waiting game wasn’t wearing him thin, it was beginning to wear the rest of us out. Except for Danny Ainge, of course.
Speaking of Danny, you have to give him credit. He basically played chicken with Baby, even boasting several times that Baby was coming back, all the while he was focusing on other off-season moves (the draft, the Sheed and Shelden signings, the Marquis Daniels deal, and the decision to not bring back Marbury). He kept his cool and waited for Baby to fall back into his lap. And that’s exactly what happened.
So, why did the Celtics bring Baby back? The reasons are four-fold:
1) To improve the depth in the frontcourt. Prior to the Baby signing, Boston has Brian Scalabrine and Shelden Williams backing up Kevin Garnett. That’s like replacing David Lee Roth with Sammy Hagar. Other than being blond, those guys are nothing alike and Sammy doesn’t belong in the same breath as DLR. And other than being tall, those three guys are nothing alike, and Garnett dwarfs those two guys in talent. Now, Shelden will mainly enter games when the D is lacking, or when Boston is getting killed on the boards. Scal will be used to add some offense and /or eat minutes. Otherwise, he’ll be in street clothes, just like the wonderful 2007-2008 season.
2) Add youth to the roster. Let’s be honest. Boston is a talented, but old team. And the Sheed signing didn’t exactly lower the average age of the team. Boston didn’t have a first round pick this year, Leon Powe is gone, and Lester Hudson, their second round pick from this year’s draft, may not make the team. Throw in Gabe Pruitt’s release, and some of the younger guys being linked to potential Marquis Daniels deals, and you end up with one of the oldest, if not the oldest, teams in the league. Baby may not be the future replacement for KG, but he can still grow and develop and aim for that possibility to become a reality.
3) Financial flexibility. Baby signed on for two years, which works for both sides. Baby clearly wants to test the market when the economy picks back up, and Boston will have a much different roster in two years than it does now. The Cs may be rebuilding, clinging to championship contender status, or sinking into mediocrity. Baby may no longer fit into their plans. They need to have options, and the length of this deal provides them with that.
4) Need for energy off the bench. This may be too similar to #2, but I felt the need to break them out as separate reasons. Maybe because I felt that they were two isolated points. Maybe simply to make this article longer. You’ll never know. Eddie House brings energy off the bench, as will Sheed (obviously), but the more energy the better. Baby clearly has love for the game, he loves to throw his large frame all over the floor, and the vets appreciate his hustle and like playing with him. His presence will be a welcomed site as long as he continues to work hard and can stay out of foul trouble most nights (hopefully someone will teach him how to set a pick this year).
At the end of the day, the Baby signing was needed. He had a solid season last year, especially when he stepped in for KG with not only those enormous shoes to fill, but also with a lot of pressure weighing on him. With his return, Cs’ fans can potentially expect some of this. And unfortunately, some of this. The Cs just need to finalize the Daniels deal, and either add a PG, SG, or SF, depending on where they want to play Eddie House and Daniels.
Running Depth Chart
PG: Rondo/Hudson
SG: Allen/House/Giddens
SF: Pierce/Walker
PF: KG/Baby/Scal/Williams
C: Perk/Sheed
On the outside looking in: Marquis Daniels (SF, SG), Bruce Bowen (SF), Stephon Marbury (PG)
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