Mailman To Make A Delivery To Beantown? (Lord help me!)

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Mailman To Make A Delivery To Beantown? (Lord help me!)

Postby John-John Joe on Sat Sep 11, 2004 1:48 pm

This sounds extremely far fetched! http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_9596.shtml

Karl Malone has decided to play again this upcoming season, and he has decided where. He's just not ready to announce it yet.

Frontrunners for his services include the Lakers, Spurs, Timberwolves, and Heat.

But the Celtics are the dark horse in the race.

We all remember that Danny Ainge was the first GM to knock on the Mailman's door last offseason in the first seconds when he became a free agent and was eligible to talk to people. There were two things stopping him at the time:

(1) The Celtics were not in a position to win a championship.
(2) The Celtics could not let him wear his preferred number, 32, since it was Kevin McHale's retired number.

He chose the Lakers because they were in a position to win a championship and Magic Johnson offered to let him wear his retired 32.

Malone instead chose to wear number 11, out of respect for Magic.

The Celtics have retired more numbers than any other franchise and more than could even fit on a single roster, including the injured list.

Yet lucky #11 is still available. #10 was JoJo White and #14 was Bob Cousy, but #11 is just sitting there, waiting for a Hall of Famer to don it.

There is one player on the Celtics currently wearing #11, and his name is Marcus Banks. The same point guard who was heralded as the future point guard of the franchise yet will continue to come off the bench in his second year. The same point guard who was traded to the Lakers for Gary Payton then yanked back when Payton failed to report. Would the much-shuffled Banks be willing to choose a different number and grant Malone the smallest double-digit palindrome?

He can't take #3, his number from college days, because Dennis Johnson immortalized it. He can't take #33 for obvious reasons. He can't even take #22 because of "Easy" Ed MacAuley.

But if that's the only stumbling block, surely Banks will pick some other number. Or perhaps Malone would prefer something other than 11. In any case, if that's the only issue, there will be some kind of solution, one way or another.

The bigger stumbling block, of course, is that the Celtics do not have tremendous chances at winning a championship. That's where the speculation gets interesting.

Let's postpone it for a little while longer, though, drawing out the suspense. Could there be other reasons, however seemingly minor, for Malone to consider Boston over the more obvious contender choices above?

There are four things working in Boston's favor:

(1) They have let Malone know that they want him and would love to have him.
(2) He would be able to play as many or as few minutes as he wants.
(3) They can still pay him the MLE of about $5 million.
(4) They have Gary Payton.

The Spurs can only offer him the veteran minimum salary of about $1 million. The Heat are in approximately the same situation.

(I ought to note that there is a slight discrepancy. Some sources reported such a monstrous salary for Tom Gugliotta, north of $3 million per year, that it would have had to come from the MLE. But I just can't fathom Danny Ainge losing his MLE this year. I think he still has it and he will use it on Malone if necessary. Am I wrong? Am I right? Feel free to email me.)

Payton may not be the biggest positive in Malone's decision but he certainly would like to play with an up-tempo guard who can get the ball to him on the wing to finish on the break, and few do that as well as Payton does when he is not chained to a half-court offense.

This is idle (or idol?) speculation. Malone reportedly committed to Rudy Tomjanovich to play for the Lakers if he plays for anybody. Now that he says he will play, we will see where he lands.

Does he really want another shot at a championship where his presence is more of a tag-along than key player? If he plays for the Spurs or the Wolves, they immediately become the favorites, but they are already among the contenders. If he plays for the Heat, reuniting with Shaq, he is essentially just riding Shaq's coattails again. Is that how Malone wants to finish his career?

If he plays for the Celtics, then all they need to do (ha!) is get over the hump of Detroit and Indiana and Miami, before facing either the Spurs or the Wolves.

In a series against the Spurs or the Wolves, it would be Malone's defense of an MVP, either Tim Duncan or Kevin Garnett, that would give the Celtics a shot, and give Malone a ring he has truly earned.

Malone wants to go out on his terms. What terms could be better than bringing a championship to a legendary team that but for him wouldn't have a shot, and even with him is far from being a favorite? What about the mentoring he could give Al Jefferson, who under Malone's tutelage could eclipse even Dwight Howard? Wouldn't that be a tremendous transition to go from Hall of Fame player to future coach?

Malone will announce his decision soon. In the meantime, here comes the sigh of wishful thinking: aaaaaaaaaaaah...
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Postby VlaDiv on Sat Sep 11, 2004 1:56 pm

So unlikely. Malone will have to ride the good team if he want ring. Malone can maybe get more points on bad team though. Whatever is most important high to him, point leader all time or ring winner? I would love to see him in Green, but haha I think he will do the Spur, wolf or lakers.
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Postby Sauru on Sat Sep 11, 2004 1:56 pm

we need to get younger, not older. sure malone would help us this year, infact i think he could help us alot, but i dont think we really need him. if we can compete for a ring with him then by all means sign him, otherwise its pointless imo. then again if payton agrees to play since we land malone then we might have a chance at the finals after all, and seeing the celts back in the finals would make me so damn happy. i still wish we had tony battie, he was the heart and energy for our team. we are definetly gonna continue to regret tradeing him and eric for that bum davis.
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Postby J@3 on Sat Sep 11, 2004 2:43 pm

I'm not too sure that any player wouldn't want to play for a team because one of the main reasons is that they can't wear their jersey number
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Postby Incubus on Sat Sep 11, 2004 10:16 pm

Just give him 99 and he`s happy.
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Postby Matthew on Sat Sep 11, 2004 10:41 pm

If Malone goes to Miami, San Antonio or minnesota, he will have a chance at a ring. If he goes to Boston, he will have a shot at the all time scoring leader. It comes down to that, imo.
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Postby Incubus on Sat Sep 11, 2004 11:48 pm

I don`t see him going to Celtics.
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Postby NNpF on Sun Sep 12, 2004 1:52 am

Well the Heat and Celtics are the only teams that he can get legitimate playing time on. With the Wolves and Spurs he is playing behind the MVP and the former MVP. They both play over 30 minutes per game and are the heart and souls of their teams. I forgot the Lakers, he will also get more time with the Lakers but less touches with Kobe around. I think he would fit in best with the Spurs but we'll have to wait and see.
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Postby Micchy_boy on Sun Sep 12, 2004 3:44 am

i think he will stay with lakers, miami conceded by signing or will sign Laettner and we knew what shaq say is always true :roll: .

if he want to chase Kareem then Boston maybe the best among all contenders, compared to other team, they O'neal, Garnett, Duncan, Bryant and Pierce. with Pierce we will get more touches compared to other team. not to mention oneal had wade, garnett had spree and cassell, brayan with odom and duncan had parker and manu.

if he want to win a ring just to piggyback ride then go to an already contenders. Wolves and Spurs. this 2 team can win ring even without malone.

if he want to have a chance to win a ring which he can say he is a important piece of that championship team, then go with Heat.

if he was true to his word and man of honor then we will stay with Lakers. i hope. he try to follow his dream and his family, even its hard to go from utah to cali supports him 100%. i think he will give more considerations on his family in making bold decisions.

he will play but still nobody knows. that's how exciting the off-season lots of drama and suspense. that's why WE LOVE THIS GAME!!!
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Postby Sauru on Sun Sep 12, 2004 9:51 am

TheCambyManVol3 wrote:If Malone goes to Miami, San Antonio or minnesota, he will have a chance at a ring. If he goes to Boston, he will have a shot at the all time scoring leader. It comes down to that, imo.


he wont be winning the all time scoreing record in boston. well i should not say that as i dont exactly know how far off he is. his chances wont be really heightened though by playing in boston. pierce wont be giveing up his attempts so malone can score. infact the celtics are a 3 point shooting team(god i hope they change this). sure malone might help them change that but the guards would have to give up thier shots to do it.

brings up the question,for me anyhow, what does he have to average this season, if he plays all 82 games, to win the scoreing title?
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Postby J@3 on Sun Sep 12, 2004 12:29 pm

About 17.8ppg
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Postby j.23 on Sun Sep 12, 2004 1:00 pm

i really can't see why he couldn't have posted a higher scoring average this year.. i've seen a lot of lakers game this year and its surprising how many open jumpshots he gets yet he misses a lot of them.. if anything he should've averaged around 16-17 last season
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Postby Andrew on Sun Sep 12, 2004 2:32 pm

Part of me wants to say that there's no way he'll end up in Celtic green, and the rest of me remembers my assertion that he wouldn't take such a huge paycut to join the Lakers. So I'll be slightly more conservative this year: anything can happen, but it seems a move to Boston in highly unlikely. Retirement or one of the frontrunners for his services seems a safer bet.
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Postby Fresh8 on Sun Sep 12, 2004 9:17 pm

hmmm... depends on Malone's thinking as I said.

He could join the Clippers if he decides to stay in Los Angeles. Then he can get his scoring title.

Karl- go to the SPurs/T-wloves/Pistons/Heat for a ring
Come to LA for a scoring title!
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Postby Matthew on Sun Sep 12, 2004 9:40 pm

He won't be starting in a clippers uniform, not unless elton brand breaks both legs and develops lepracy.
i really can't see why he couldn't have posted a higher scoring average this year.. i've seen a lot of lakers game this year and its surprising how many open jumpshots he gets yet he misses a lot of them.. if anything he should've averaged around 16-17 last season

Maybe playing half the season on one healthy leg had somthing to do with that?
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Postby Sauru on Mon Sep 13, 2004 1:49 am

iverson plays with about 184 injuries each game and you dont see him sucking up the place do you? you should be able to hit a open jumper no matter what your problems may be.
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Postby Matthew on Mon Sep 13, 2004 9:43 am

Some injuries require surgery. Malone's did, and considering it was on his knee, it makes it very difficult to make a jumpshot.
you should be able to hit a open jumper no matter what your problems may be.

Try shooting with two broken arms :lol:
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Postby J@3 on Mon Sep 13, 2004 10:00 am

Yeah but Iverson scores 25ppg with a broken hand, arm, shoulder, neck, wrist, leg, spine AND a sore thumb
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Postby Sauru on Mon Sep 13, 2004 12:06 pm

i dont think anyone would honestly argue the toughness of iverson. not many in the league that are tougher than him imo.
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Postby Matt on Mon Sep 13, 2004 2:26 pm

AI will do anything to play ball.....except attend practice
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Postby Matthew on Mon Sep 13, 2004 3:01 pm

A.I. does attend practice, its just when he has to rest injuries he doesnt take part in the contact portion of training, or at least thats what happened in 2002,and he said "practice? we talkin bout practice?".

Sauru, i know iverson is tough as nails, but malone is tough too. But somtimes, serious injuries can effect a players performance. Just becuase iverson plays through 100 minor injuries doesnt make malone less tougher becuase he cant play as effectively as he normally would, especially when that injury needs surgery to repair it.
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Postby J@3 on Mon Sep 13, 2004 10:28 pm

I agree. If Iverson was 6'8 no one would rave about whatever injuries he's got. I think these days if Iverson falls over on the court, or trips over his own feet then he's obviously got a broken toe, or he's obviously got a dislocated shoulder. People just go over the top with his injuries and it's really really annoying.
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Postby Sauru on Mon Sep 13, 2004 11:34 pm

dont get me wrong, i fully believe malone is incredibly tough. him and stockton played an entire career together and missed how many games? thats toughness right there.
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