Starbury and the Celts: Can He Help?

David Berri makes a few good points here. First note that, in terms of wins produced, Rajon Rondo is the most productive player on the Celtics. His WP48 (wins produced per 48 minutes) is more than 3 times the league average, making him an elite player, and one of the most productive point guards in the NBA. Eddie House, Rondo's backup, is also, because he is an efficient scorer who does not often turn the ball over, an above average NBA player. Both Rondo and House are good because they reduce the possibility of empty offensive possessions by scoring efficiently and not giving the ball to the other team.

Stephon Marbury, by contrast, is by this measure a below average NBA player. An inefficient scorer who takes a lot of shots and turns the ball over is a player who creates a great many empty possessions, and thus hurts his team's chances of winning.

I have one issue, with Berri's post, however. I don't think the Celtics are bringing Marbury in to take minutes away from Rondo and/or House. Given how much more effective Rondo and House are than Marbury, that would be a tremendous mistake. I think that they are brining him in - he's expected to sign with the team sometime today, after he clears wavers - to replace Tony Allen.

While he is an inefficient scorer, he is able to create shots and handle the ball against pressure, two skills desperately needed on the Celtics' second unit since Allen went down. He is also big enough to guard the shooting guard position, which means that he, like Tony Allen, can play alongside House on the second unit rather than take minutes from him.

Finally, since Marbury - while a below average player at this point in his career - has some NBA-level skills and is signing at a pro-rated portion of the league minimum salary, if his performance on or off the court hurts the team, they can easily cut him.