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What Troy Murphy brings to the Celtics 03.01.11 at 12:37 pm ET
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Troy Murphy could soon become a member of the Celtics. (AP)

This is about flexibility. Before team president Danny Ainge traded Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to Oklahoma City for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic, the Celtics were a team that could essentially play one way. They had size — and lots of it — but aside from playing Glen Davis at center, the Celtics had less options matching up with teams that play unconventional lineups. Like, Miami.

But Ainge wasn’t done dealing, and he also dropped Semih Erden and Luke Harangody on Cleveland and Marquis Daniels on Sacramento. That opened up three roster spots to be used on the veteran free agent market, and it appears that Ainge has landed the biggest prize in 6-foot-11 forward Troy Murphy. ESPN’s Marc Stein reported that Murphy has chosen the Celtics over the Heat — a move that can’t become official until Murphy clears the waiver wire on Wednesday.

Murphy has played just 18 games this season and seen less than 300 minutes of action after he fell out of favor in New Jersey. He’s also never been in the playoffs. But over a 10-year career, Murphy has shown the ability to step outside and make 3-pointers. He’s also a very good defensive rebounder. As an added bonus, the Celtics keep him away from the Heat.

His best season came in 2008-09 with the Pacers, when he averaged 14 points and 12 rebounds per game and shot 45 percent from behind the arc. He’s a 39 percent career shooter from 3-point range, and that ability to space the floor is highly-valued with the Celtics. Doc Rivers now has three big men who can knock down long jumpers in Murphy, Krstic and Kevin Garnett.

The question is where Murphy will fit with a team that already has Garnett and Davis absorbing the minutes at power forward, along with Green. For starters, Murphy will provide insurance and depth during the regular season. Before the deadline moves, Rivers was sometimes forced to use Harangody as a backup power forward and while the team liked his energy and toughness, he was undersized for the role.

Rivers could also use Murphy at the center spot alongside Garnett. While not his customary position, he did log some time there with the Pacers and the Celtics have used Davis in that role as an undersized center.

Assuming he can recapture his form, Murphy is a better outside shooter than Davis and a far better defensive rebounder. That’s not to say he will pass Davis in the rotation. Davis is much better defensively and he’s also proven to be an integral part of the Celtics, but Murphy gives Rivers another option, and again, that’s what all of Ainge’s maneuvering is really about. With Murphy soon to be added to the fold, the Celtics frontcourt roster looks like this:

SF: Paul Pierce, Green

PF: Garnett, Davis, Murphy

C: Krstic, Shaquille O’Neal, Jermaine O’Neal

What the Celtics lose in size, they make up for in versatility. With six weeks, and 24 games left in the regular season, the onus is on Rivers to pull all the pieces together.

Read More: Glen Davis, Kevin Garnett, Troy Murphy, Print  |  Email  |  Bark It Up!  |  Digg It
  • Devan

    I’m kinda surprised that he signed here, seeing that he would have gotten a lot more playing time in Miami. Two reasons I see for coming here.

    Celtics are a better team and have better shot at winning the championship.
    Playing for Doc Rivers.

    Glad to have him as part of the mix, and glad to have another big man away from Miami.

  • Richard

    Now for a backup point guard, and the Celts will be in reasonable shape going forward.

  • YouKnowIt

    This is a good signing for the C’s. Miami NEEDED him. He’s just a complimentary player here. I think that’s part of the reason he wants to come here. There won’t be much pressure on him. I’m really hoping he’ll knock down the jumpers, and also bang some bodies hard, and even foul out if need be. You know, make guys like Lebron, Howard, Noah, and hopefully Bynum, Odom, Smith and Gasol pay for coming inside.

    Now I hope the C’s can Add Brewer. If they can do that, we could be looking at #18 baby! GO CELTICS!!!

  • Duh.Winning.

    Paul explain to me how the C’s lost “size” in their trades. By my math they lost the 6′-11″ semih erden, the 6′-10″ Perk, and the 5′-7″ nate robinson and replaced them with the 7′ Kristic, the 6′-11″ Murphy, and the 6′-9″ Green. In reality they gained size. Cue the: “heart and soul of the team” and “brings defensive toughness” cliches right? For his career Perk averages 6 pts and 6 Rebs. I think we can make those up. Thanks for playing.
    / Winning

    • http://Enteryourwebsite... mp

      Size means nothing if you have a lower shot selecTion outside of the paint which both kristic and murry do – kobe said it best “why???”

      • http://Enteryourwebsite... mp

        Of course I meant inside the paint as opposed to outside the paint – just bought yourself a bunch of outsiDde shooters that happened to be tall and afraid of the paint – have fun playing golf Doc after the second round loss to orlando

        • http://Enteryourwebsite... mik

          i think the celtics are better now then before th trade i would love to see brewer come and we can use a back up pont gaurd to rando cause bradley is in exsperenced in playoff and d west is injured again

  • dan

    From what I understand, Murphy was real out of shape in New Jersey, which is why he clashed with coach Johnson. Im guessing he is still out of game shape and would rather get less minutes in Boston than more minutes in Miami, so he doesnt look so bad.

  • b-man

    Good signing. need one more addition in the backcourt, but the biggest question will be the health of Shaq and jermaine……to be seen.

  • patriotmarty12

    I think the Celtics are better now than a week ago, there is 2 more spots left,I am interested in seeing what they do next.

  • B.

    I guess they will have to rely on Pierce being point forward. I’m not sure about the options available but Bibby is gone and there’s nothing about a buy-out point guard so the options are probably scarce and unattractive. At the least, Troy Murphy could’ve taken up some minutes in a situation like last night where Baby was just playing terribly and his size really killed him there.

    Delonte West could probably learn a thing or two from Ray Allen. I don’t think he’s ever been injured in his Celtics career.

  • paul

    It’s amazing to watch as the folks trying to sell Ainge’s horrible trade try to blur the issues. All the moves Ainge has made other than The Trade are irrelevant to evaluating The Trade, and you know it. They could have been done if The Trade had not been made. The intellectual dishonesty of trying to smear all those moves into one move is stunning. Also stunning, in terms of sheer intellectual dishonesty, is the way nearly everyone was calling for Perkins so long, claiming that we’d really roll once we got Perkins back – and now, when it is convenient, suddenly everyone develops amnesia about all that. Suddenly Perk is an overpaid scrub we are well rid of. And then there’s the constantly repeated argument that we won without Perkins, so we don’t need him. That too is blatantly intellectually dishonest. We had two aging HOF type centers filling in for him. That’s clearly an indication of how much we actually needed him. Both are gone now and chances are that neither will return as a reliable starting center.

    And that’s the crux of The Trade. We ‘fixed’ our bench by ripping a hole in our starting unit. No amount of intellectual dishonesty makes that go away, If Shaq doesn’t come roaring back, we are screwed, and even so we are screwed if he doesn’t last. The Trade does give us a stronger bench, more versatility and more scorers. But it leaves us with no championship quality starting center.

  • Frank

    I think Danny’s plan is to add depth and length at every position. They are now more versatile and give teams different looks. I also think people are underestimating Kristic’s abilities. He is very active and runs the floor well. Rondo will find guys like Kristic and Murphy show may not have had the same opportunities with their previous clubs.

  • Duncan

    Paul- your audience is large and impressionable! Please use correct grammar. The Celtics don’t have “less options” they have “fewer options.” Let’s encourage the masses to use correct English. It is your responsibility as a writer!

    Thank you!

    Duncan FitzGerald
    BU Prof.

  • Pamela McGregor

    The Celtics have intellect, if nothing else. They are looking at the other teams and must decide if they have a deep bench. Last night’s game between Orlando and the Knicks illustrates how muddy the water is. The Knicks have just defeated the Heat who are almost equal to the Celtics in wins, yet the consensus is the Heat is still searching for a consistent bench. Then last night, Orlando defeated the Knicks because their bench produced. It’s too early to start making predictions. The Lakers have done nothing; a few weeks ago, it was trade Bynum, Artest!!!The Celtics are doing their homework; fans must trust their front office. The Celtics have a game tonight, I believe, against the Suns. Buckle down, play hard and maintain a margin for home field advantage. There is no gain in over-analyzing what needs to be done.Doc and his core are on the same page; Doc is never afraid to say “we stink.” The Lakers coach has the same approach. The Spurs coach has the same approach. The Heat and the Knicks coaches are very tentative in their approach; sometimes they have become apologists.

  • Doug

    Duncan – shouldn’t we encourage the masses to use “proper English”, not “correct English”?

  • Carl

    Duncan is the real idiot. Paul is partly correct in his analysis but for me since Perk will probably not be at 100%, got hurt again, and most likely was not going to sign again then obviously Ainge did the right thing.

    Nate was not helping them in my opinion. Despite Daniels injury I thought he was getting better each week and feel that was a poor a decision for I think he started to fit in and became more consistent.

  • JimB

    Well, I really like the trade and if we could get the guard the heat released to get Bibby . we will be in like flint and which we are but better. I believe his name is Arrora or somthing of the likes

  • Justin

    The Celtics are undefeated since Green and K first suited up, enough said

  • http://Enteryourwebsite... CelticToday

    Mr. Ainge need to move fast to fill one of the available spots with a PG… We need a veteran playmaker to backup Rondo. I agree that a guy like Arroyo (released by Maimi to Open space for Bibby) could fit perfect for us. I remember this man crushing our national team in the Olimpics Games playing for Puerto Rico… he has good hands, great dribble, court sense and could make 3 pointers more than average also… Let’s move…!!!

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