GO FOR 2

Photo Courtesy of Keith Allison (Flickr - Creative Commons Licensed)

Grant Hill decided on Friday that he will remain with the Phoenix Suns, as he signed a two-year deal which will very likely keep him in the desert for the rest of his career – he will almost be 39 at the end of this new contract. Hill will be paid $3 million over the first year of the deal, and will have a player option for the second year. Its not a bad deal for someone of Hill’s age, given that he isn’t the kind of player that will be posting 40 minutes a game anymore – but the terms of the deal aren’t what makes this surprising. Hill is at the very end of his career, and he had the chance to join multiple teams which could contend for a title next year, while Phoenix very clearly cannot.

The Knicks (who admittedly are not a contender) had offered Hill a full midlevel exception, which would pay him at least $2 million more in the first year. That deal would have been all about the money though, because it doesn’t look like the Knicks will be seriously competing any time soon (Don’t dare mention the 2010 free agency thing – the salary cap just went down and the Knicks already paid a hefty luxury tax this season, they aren’t going to have the kind of room for big signings that people thought they would a year ago). So Hill wasn’t interested in more money, but the fact that he didn’t go to a contender is still a huge mystery.

The Boston Celtics were prepared to offer Hill just under $2 million, a little less than the Suns did. But Hill would have been playing minutes with Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Rasheed Wallace – who all have at least 4 All-Star appearances. The Celtics are a guaranteed force in the East, and fresh off the signing of ‘Sheed they moved back to the top of my standings ahead of Cleveland and Orlando.

The Denver Nuggets, who pushed the Lakers hard in the Western Conference Finals last season were also rumored to be interested in Hill. While the Nuggets have a full load of interior defenders with Nene and Chris Anderson, they could have used another forward who can score (Hill’s career average is still over 18 points per game). While the West is even more competetive than the East, the Nuggets showed great fight last season and would have been even stronger with Hill in the lineup.

So that’s two contenders who were interested in Hill, and there may have been even more out there. Why would Hill stay with Phoenix, a team he knows CAN’T win a championship in the next two years. Hill is going on 37 as we speak, and has had a career defined by injuries (he played 18 games in his first 2 season combined in Orlando). Hill won’t last into his 40s and he knows it, so why not go after a championship while he has a chance? Maybe Hill is just so secure that he doesn’t feel like he needs a championship to define his career. Maybe he understands that even with a late championship run he probably doesn’t have a hall of fame career.

The only person who knows the answer is Grant Hill.

The Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers and all-stars Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett apparently all visited Detriot Piston’s free agent forward Rasheed Wallace, hoping to add another piece to compete in the growingly competetive East. There’s only one interesting issue here…the Celtics were already one of the most competetive teams in the East.

Photo Courtesy of Keith Allison (Flickr - Creative Commons Licensed)

A healthy Celtics’ roster, as is, appears to be a lock for the playoffs next season – and based on their performances over the last two years, they also have a good shot at reaching the finals. Consider the fact that the Celtics only had Kevin Garnett for 57 games last season, he didn’t play in the playoffs, and the Celtics still went into the second round. You can point to the fact that the Celtics played quite well in the regular season without Garnett, but they weren’t playing playoff-caliber teams during that entire stretch. It was also the regular season, in the playoffs having the experience of a veteran player like Garnett pays increased dividends. It’s also worth noting that Celtics’ point guard Rajon Rondo has improved greatly each of his first three years, and jumped up to over 8 assists a game last year, if he keeps improving then the Celtics have an ideal backcourt with Rondo handling the ball and Allen able to provide great offense.

The big question for the Celtics was simply whether their roster, which is rather advanced in age (read: geezers) could stay healthy for 82 games and the playoffs. Now if you add Rasheed Wallace to the mix, you take a championship caliber roster (remember, they crushed the Lakers with this roster two years ago) and you add an experienced, versatile big man. Wallace averaged over 12 points and 7 rebounds a game last season for the crumbling Pistons, but he also adds a huge amount of versatility. Wallace averaged over a block a game, but still shot over 35% from beyond the arc…making him difficult to guard for forwards. The fact that Wallace can score from everywhere on the floor also helps open things up for Garnett inside, and for Pierce and Allen out on the arc or inside. Rasheed also brings even more veteran experience, and will be working hard to add another title at the end of his career – and you can’t put a value on desperation.

Even with Wallace, you can’t just give the division to Detriot. Cleveland made a big move by adding Shaq, and is really pushing to add Ron Artest, a great scorer and one of the best defenders in the NBA. Still, you can’t deny that the Celtics – if they can stay healthy – are going to be tough on both sides of the ball and have a real chance to mess up what could be  ’The Chosen One’s’ last shot at a title in Cleveland.