It may not be the best move for Boston roster-wise or payroll-wise, but part of me wants Brian Scalabrine to stay a Celtic forever. Couldn’t they throw the veteran’s minimum his way, just for old time’s sake? Maybe from now until, well, the end of eternity? Scal just looks so natural in Celtic green/suits on the sideline, and though his roster spot could technically be given to a more capable or promising player, this is where I’m willing to make an exception. Roster spots should always, always, always go to the most capable players...except when Brian Scalabrine is involved. He is clearly beyond logic.
According to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe’s Celtics Blog, Scal wants to stay with the Celtics, but could be running out of time. The C’s are looking to seriously overhaul their bench (as evidenced by their activity this summer), and while Scalabrine has received some offers from teams overseas, Boston doesn’t seem set on retaining him. Hard to blame them, considering the post-Miami arms race.
Still, it’s tragic that Scal is having a hard time finding a spot to cling onto with other NBA teams despite being the most accomplished diss-track artist remaining on the free agent scene. It’s hard out there for an end-of-the-bench team mascot.
Odds are that Scalabrine will end up overseas next season (likely in Europe, but who knows?), and that’s probably about right. He’s probably on-par with other roster filler, but he’s older, doesn’t have extremely marketable skills, and has had a few injury problems now and again. It looks like it could be time to wave goodbye, folks.