We started with the draft and desperately tried to move up into the lotto but had zero success, but we were pretty excited to land Frenchman Boris Diaw. He can do a little bit of everything and we beleive will grow into an important piece for us. Then came the most dreaded time of the year for us in the front office in Boston...RFA. We always seem to screw it up, and probably did this year as well. We were going to let the market dictate Stevie and decide from there whether to match or not, so we used our cap space trying to overpay two young guys we felt had room to grow. Jason Terry and Calvin Booth both signed offer sheets and we were immediately able to work out a S&T for Terry...Booth, we had great talks with the Spurs organization but at the end of the day he was too important a piece for them. Francis did not like the single offer he received and we ignored his market value and overpaid him to ensure he came back. All in all we were pretty happy with how it all worked out.
Then came Training Camp, we had mix feelings here, because everyone but Francis (and Terry with a different organization) had a great camp last year. The results came in and we are very pleased. Steven Hunter had another amazing camp and has turned himself into a bonafide starter, and he has done it all himself improving his game when he was drafted this was the common opinion on him
And that's not a knock on J2's draft preview it was spot on analysis, but Hunter has hinted that he set the bar high and used this as motivation to do just that and try to be a Zo replacement. And defensively he's almost there.Xist2Inspire wrote: #25: Celtics draft Steven Hunter
Hunter initially seems no different from the numerous other defense-only big men that litter the bottom of the FA market, but his athleticism could help him maintain a roster spot much like Jerome James of the Nets. He's far cry from a possible Zo replacement, so don't read too much into this selection at all.
John Salmons and Boozer continue their improvement and Boris did what Boris does, slightly improved everywhere. We are very excited to watch this young team grow. We aim to start with the Atlantic Division and plan on being back at the top of the Eastern Conference.
I'll know open the floor to any questions.
