Forward/Center – Boston Celtics – 6’9″, 289 lbs
Strengths
Davis has a decent skill set for a height-deprived big man. What he lacks in athleticism he makes up for with body control. For his size, he’s surprisingly quick on his feet. Has a mid-range jump shot that he can knock down pretty regularly when given the chance. He just needs to do a better job of recognizing his range. At times, he’ll be the hardest worker on the floor. Great at taking charges.
Weaknesses
His physique is the root of many of his problems. While he has a strong wide body, he’s not the rebounding force he should probably be. He also gets his shot blocked a lot because finishing around the rim rarely ends with a dunk. He can play 30 minutes a game easily if he’s conditioned, but his conditioning in the past has been spotty at best. He also has a bit of an attitude problem. At times, he embodies what it is to be a hard-working role player. And other times he seems to want to do whatever is best for Glen Davis.
What He’ll Cost
Glen is in an interesting position. As a guy who’s been a bench player his whole career, you’d think something in the $3-5 million range over 2 or 3 years should get the job done. But don’t be shocked if a team with money to burn comes out of nowhere and offers Big Baby something in the $7-8 million range and a starting job at center or power forward. Davis has shown on several occasions that he can put up numbers in a starter’s role when Kevin Garnett is hurt.
Three Potential Fits
New York Knicks
They already have a guy who brings hustle to the floor in Ronny Turiaf. And while Davis is similar to Turiaf in that aspect, he’s a much better offensive player than Turiaf. He’d be a pretty good compliment to Amare Stoudemire on the block. Both have good enough jumpers to make it a nightmare to guard their pick and roll game on both sides of the floor. NY could probably get him for the MLE and the starting center job. The question is; do the Knicks want him?
Boston Celtics
I think people underestimate how dire the Celtic’s big man situation would be if they let Glen Davis walk. As of right now, they have Kevin Garnett, with another year of miles on the tires, and Jermaine O’Neal; who’d probably see playing 60 games next year as a border-line miracle. They have the unsigned rookie, JaJuan Johnson (who I’m really high on); but that’s it. And the help that Boston can sign at the center position from the free agent pool is less than impressive. It’s basically Samuel Dalembert or bust for them. So even though most Celtics fans don’t want to admit it; re-signing Glen Davis is a huge need for Boston.
Atlanta Hawks
This is an interesting one. The Hawks like to use Al Horford as their power foward and Josh Smith as their small foward. Sometimes when they go small, the put Smith at PF and Horford at center. Either way you look at it, Atlanta is really thin in the post. Adding a player like Davis could really beef them up down low (no pun intended…actually pun intended). It would be percieved as a psychological victory for Atlanta over Boston too since the Hawks are under the impression that they’re one of the Celtics’ biggest rivals.
Prediction
Despite odd offseason comments, I’d be shocked if Glen Davis ended up somewhere besides Boston. There are two main reasons for that: 1) Boston doesn’t have a lot of options in the post and should definitely look to re-sign him. And 2) Glen is probably expecting a bigger payday than he is going to command. At the end of the day, his agent will get through to him and he’ll probably re-sign short-term with the Celtics.