If Marquis Daniels is Backing Up Rajon Rondo, Who's Backing Up Paul Pierce?

(DGA Productions)


By: Greg Payne

Right now we have one open roster spot and no true backup point guard. Common sense says we fill that 15th spot with a guy who brings the ball over half court in an effort to backup Rajon Rondo and bolsters the cohesiveness of our second unit, right?

Well, the player we signed most recently - Marquis Daniels - is versatile enough to play up to three positions: the 1, the 2 or the 3. My first thought, and I'm sure many of us were thinking along these lines, was that Daniels was being brought in solely to backup Paul Pierce. Sure, he might bring the ball up occasionally, but he was here to relieve Pierce to better preserve our captain for the postseason run.

Then the reports and speculation surfaced that Daniels might actually be spending time backing up Rondo, as opposed to Pierce.

"He can handle the ball, score, defend multiple positions. I can see him playing with big lineups, being a backup point, and I could also see him playing small forward in small ball." -Danny Ainge

"I just want to come in and help. You want me to play the 1, 2, or 3, whatever it is. I'll just come in to help." - Marquis Daniels

Daniels and the recently re-signed Eddie House, according to the Celtics' brass, are the two options. The C's have tons of wing players, and these two backups supposedly have the flexibility to move to the point in a pinch.

The sky didn't fall and we're all still here, but it was still somewhat surprising and not because Daniels can't handle the job, but because it begs such an obvious question:

If Marquis Daniels is backing up Rondo, who's going to back up Paul Pierce?

Believe it or not, we do have other players on the team who could technically fill the role: Glen Davis, Brian Scalabrine, Tony Allen, Bill Walker and J.R. Giddens.

We saw flashes of promise in Walker last year and next to nothing from Giddens and we need stability and security with this job. Obviously we're assuming both improved their individual games over the course of the summer, but asking second year players to consistently back up a former Finals MVP isn't the easiest of tasks.

As for Allen, he'll probably have to prove he's both completely healthy and in the right state of mind to garner any minutes this season.

And the only issue I see with asking Davis or Scalabrine to take on the task is that both will most likely be a liability on the defensive end, as they'd find themselves up against smaller, quicker players whose games are more perimeter oriented.

With all of that in mind, the Celtics COULD go that route, but they don't necessarily have to. If they are indeed confident that Daniels and Eddie House can handle the backup point guard duties, management could focus its attention on adding one more wing player to relieve Pierce. Finding a quality backup this late in the offseason is unlikely, but with Tony Allen and Scalabrine both having expiring contracts, a potential trade could be worked out (probably closer to the deadline) to bring in some more support.

Finally, the last scenario I want to mention is the one we all thought would automatically occur when Daniels signed: He actually backs up Pierce and we sign a veteran backup point guard or Lester Hudson.

I'm a believer in this one simply because I feel that Pierce NEEDS to have legitimate support behind him. Kevin Garnett has support in Rasheed Wallace and Glen Davis, Ray Allen has relief in Eddie House, so shouldn't it be obvious that Daniels is meant to back up Pierce?

If the rumors are true that we have indeed been in touch with Dan Dickau, Tyronn Lue and Mike Taylor, those three, along with Hudson, should potentially be competing for the 15th and final spot on the roster, and if one of those backup guards makes it, Daniels should be spending the majority of his time behind Pierce and not Rondo. So for now, unless any signing occurs before training camp gets under way, we'll just have to wait for camp to answer our questions.