Can Danny?

The Power Forward position is an interesting one. We have one of our best prospects at the 4 and had one of our most surprising performances of the season come from Gomes at that spot, but it still is a position that most people aren't very confident in. So where do we go, if anywhere?

The Current Tenants: Raef Lafrentz, Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes
As I see it, C's fans are hoping Big Al makes this his spot for years to come, Ryan Gomes is hoping to solidify his hold on the spot after a nice spurt in the second half, and pretty much everyone wants Raef gone. Of course, Brian Scalabrine could get some minutes here but why bring his name up when we were in such a good mood?

The Free Agents
The Big Ticket Items: Ben Wallace, Chris Wilcox
The Mid-Level Luxuries: Lo Wright Tim Thomas, Keith Van Horn, Reggie Evans, Clarence Weatherspoon, Vlad Rad, Aaron Williams
The Bargain Bin Jackson Vroman, Marcus Fizer

Needless to say, the free agent market at the four spot is not looking very enticing. Wallace is the best but he's getting older while Chris Wilcox came on at the end of the season essentially making himself some money and pricing himself off of the Celtics. I've always been interested in Marcus Fizer and wouldn't mind looking at him for an emergency backup. Vlad Radmanovic is the Euro-Raef so I'd rather not even consider that. With two solid young power forwards, C/F Aaron Williams makes some sense. He's a legit C/PF who, while getting long in the tooth, is still solid defensively and a low paid hustle player. He and Lo Wright are probably the most realistic options for the Celtics in the front court free agent market.

The Trade Bait
Zach Randolph: The Ricky Davis of Power Forwards or The New Isaiah Rider? That's the question that everyone is asking after the disastrous end of the season. How much of Zach's issues were tiring of losing and how much was simply his negative nature? Did Darius Miles act as a devil on his shoulder or does he willingly ignore his better angels. And at a near max contract (schedule to clock 17 million in 2010/11) is it worth the risk? With Ricky we were trading for a reasonable mid-level with deal. If Zach fails to straighten his act out, it will be very difficult to move him. While I think Zach has a chance to turn things around, I also think that Big Al's potential is to be a better version of Randolph so I think it is better to simply roll the dice with Big Al and his ankles then Big Z and his attitude and contract.
Jermaine O'Neal: The Sports Guy Bill Simmons suggested that we jettison Gerald Green and Al Jefferson along with Raef in order to get J.O. This deal doesn't work for either team IMO. The Pacers would be taking a step backwards with a team that doesn't have years to spare. They would basically have to completely gut the entire team. As for the Celtics, they'd give up two very talented prospects for a ten year veteran who has had injury issues for the last two season. One thing people need to realize with O'Neal is that while he's only 28, he's had a lot of wear and tear on his body. For the limited games he played in the beginning of his career, he's more than made up for it with the higher impact playoff play the last few years. Basically, all of those people saying that we had to dump Antoine because he was washed up, shouldn't be pointing at dealing our youth for a guy who was selected in the same draft. While I like O'Neal (who is much better than Antoine), I believe he is heading towards Chris Webber territory: misses much of the season and is inconsistent in the playoffs, leaving you always just short at the Finals. And by the time he is at the end of his contract and earning over 20 million dollars, he'll still put up numbers but be a shadow of his former self.
Kenton Martin: Put together the main negatives of Zach Randolph and Jermaine O'Neal and you have Kenyon Martin. Injury prone, bad attitude, and a monster contract. Unless Denver turns on the blue light, I'd shop elsewhere than K-Mart.
Carlos Boozer: Come on, the man backstabbed a blind man and now he's suing Prince. How could you want this guy on our team? In all seriousness though, Boozer is overpaid and just doesn't bring enough to the table to warrant 11 million dollars for the next four years. While the initial response would be, well if we can dump Raef and just one of our young guys or our pick wouldn't it be worth it? The response to that is: only if the owners don't mind the luxury tax. With Wally and Boozer alongside a resigned Pierce, it will be very hard for the C's to resign their young talent and not bleed into the luxury tax territory. And simply put, Pierce, Wally, and Boozer aren't bringing home #17 without more help on the roster.
Troy Murphy: For a change of pace, let's talk about an overpaid power forward. While the theme may seem like it's getting old, adding a more talent yet equally overpaid power forward for Raef doesn't really solve many of our issues. While Troy is a hard worker and hasn't the injury problems of others (although he did miss most of one year due to injury), he is more flawed. Essentially, he's a younger, healthier Raef. Is he better than Raef? Yes. Would be make the Celtics that much better? No.
Stromile Swift: Stro was a mild disappointment in Houston but is only signed at the MLE. While Houston expected him to come in and take over the PF spot, he might fit better in Beantown where he would fit our supposed fast break scheme and could keep the PF spot warm while Big Al gets ready for it. Once that happens, Big Al could take the spot and Swift becomes our backup big man. Some deal including Wally for Swift and Rafer Alston might be a possibility, depending of course on Houston's feelings about Stro and Skip to My Lou.
Chris Webber: Now before you lose your marbles about how could I mention this and not want Jermaine because he might be becoming Webber, realize that I would only do this if it meant dumping Wally and Raef's contracts. While other people like Wally, I don't and I hate having his contract on our roster. Webber's contract runs out a year earlier than the Bad Knees Duo which not only makes it easier to resign our young guys but it gives us an expiring contract as a trade asset after next season. We essentially rent Webber for a year and then try to move his expiring contract next season, when we then have had a full year to see how our young guys like Allen, Green, Perkins and Jefferson are developing. Raef and Wally are great outlets for A.I. Would Philly do it? Probably not, but I'm just throwing out options so cool down.
Brian Skinner: A hard worker with a pretty short contract. We'd most likely get him in a multi-team deal but he isn't a bad guy to keep an eye on.
and of course
Kevin Garnett: I just don't see it happening. McHale is an idiot and a friend of Ainge but even then this is almost an impossibility.

Ideally, the C's would go after a two-for-one deal where we could get a player who could start this year and slide back to backup Big Al when he's ready. There are more options out there then were mentioned but those were the most likely big name guys on the market. Most of these trades depend on Raef Lafrentz, how much other teams like him and how much more we'd have to give up to get rid of him. Getting rid of Gerald Green or Big Al seems like too much in most cases.

The Draft
I repeat, Ainge wants someone who can help immediately which usually means "trade" in GM speak. Unless something crazy happens, it seems like most of the top PF's will be gone by the time we pick. The one outside option could be Rudy Gay, who might be able to play a Shawn Marion-esque power forward if he fell to us. It's unlikely but then again the kid is about the same age as Gerald Green so he still has more developing to do. The most likely options at #7 were mentioned in the Center spot piece earlier: Cedric Simmons and Sheldon Williams. A dark horse is Tiago Splitter but if there ever was a guy who doesn't equal immediate help. The Brazilian big man is under contract overseas and might not even be in the league next season, let alone being a useful member of a team. Unless Danny is convinced one of those guys is special, I really can't see us adding another PF candidate in the draft.