Pondering Eddie House's Future

(Photo courtesy of CBTC)

By: Greg Payne

Perhaps it was because of his player option that he himself can exercise, or perhaps because the last two seasons have added up to his second longest stint with any team over the course of his career, but Eddie House wasn't considered top priority by much of anyone heading into this current offseason. It was practically assumed he would simply exercise his player option worth $2.86 million by June 30, and that would be that.

But today, with a story in the Boston Herald, that safety net was cut loose and now it appears all bets could very well be off. House's agent, Mark Bartelstein, spoke openly on the topic in Mark Murphy's article, with some illuminating quotes that point to House possibly testing the free agent market.

“We haven’t made a final decision,” agent Mark Bartelstein said. “He’d love to stay in Boston. He loves everything about what he has here. The fans have been great to him, and he’s been a big part of the team.

“But I think it’s safe to say that he’s outplayed his contract.”

As the priorities continue to pile up for General Manager Danny Ainge, he's certainly making a list and will undoubtedly be checking it more than twice.

On the one hand, Ainge said, “We’re hoping (House) comes back.”

On the other, he added: “I don’t know. I don’t think anything is a slam dunk. We have some things that we have to go through.

“We’re going through a unique situation with the economy right now.”

House has played in more games the past two seasons with the Celtics (159) than any other two-year stretch over the course of his nine-year NBA career. Last season, his .444 mark from three-point nation set a new Celtics' single-season record. And once Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe went down, prompting Glen Davis to vault into the starting lineup, it could very easily be argued that House served as Boston's most valuable bench commodity. With that in mind, Bartelstein's comments could easily be warranted.

“But I know this much - there’s a lot of guys who were backup players making more than Eddie who served as window dressing on their teams.”

Although it's unlikely for the Celtics and House's party to get mixed up over a war of words in this scenario, Boston could argue that House's subpar play late in the playoffs, at a time when they needed legitimate production off the bench from him, will keep him from earning a larger portion of their mid-level exception, should House not exercise his option and test free agency.

House averaged a mere four points per game over the final four games of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. While the final two losses of the season in Games Six and Seven against the Orlando Magic cannot be blamed solely on House, the fact that he scored just six points in Game Six and a mere two points in Game Seven certainly didn't help the Green's cause.

But, if House were to exercise his option and remain with the team for a little less than three-million dollars next season - with a revamped Boston bench beside him - his production could skyrocket. However, if House were to demand a healthier cut of the MLE, thus reducing Boston's chances of signing one or two key free agents, and his statistics dropped because he was the first legitimate option off the bench for the team, then he's suddenly looking like the villain in town.

The Celtics appear to want their reserve shooting guard back and House, as noted in Bartelstein's comments above, has expressed sincere interest in returning for another season, so with mutual interest between both groups, hopefully a reasonable deal that favors both sides can be agreed upon before free agency gets under way July 8.

It certainly would save Ainge a headache or two.

Stay Tuned.