http://celticshub.com/2013/02/23/wh...rn-down-a-10-day-contract-offer-from-celtics/ In a move that has gone a bit under the radar this weekend, Sportando.net, a reputable European basketball site is reporting that Tim Ohlbrecht had turned down a 10-day offer from the Boston Celtics in the past couple days. Tim Ohlbrecht received a 10-day contract offer from the Boston Celtics but the German big man elected to turn it down, his agent Tyler Glass told Sportando. Ohlbrecht is averaging 13.3ppg and 7.3rpg in D-League with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. The following situation begs the obvious question. Why would a player with no NBA experience turn down an NBA offer? It’s tough to speculate without knowing the particulars of the situation, but the decision seems rather peculiar. The likely situation is that Ohlbrecht believes he is on the verge of getting a contract offer from an NBA team for the remainder of the season. While the Celtics would undoubtedly offer the benefit of possible playing time nearly right out of the gate for the German center, due to a lack of suitable NBA big men on the Boston roster, Danny Ainge appears to be in the business right now of strictly offering free agents 10-day deals. The wise philosophy behind this approach is the goal of maintaining flexibility on the open market for the rest of the buyout market to shake out in the next couple weeks. Given the C’s tight salary cap situation with the $74 million hard cap this season, Boston won’t be able to afford to waive anyone they sign for the rest of the season and also pick up a new player in that spot. Once they commit to someone, that’s it for the rest of the way. With a full season contract offer potentially waiting in the rings (the Rockets are rumored to have interest), Ohlbrecht apparently decided to pass on the C’s 10-day opportunity. Ainge must like the center, but not enough so to commit a roster spot to the remainder of the season for the big man due to the risks I described. He wants to make sure a player is a good fit on the floor before making a final decision on them. It remains unclear whether Ohlbrecht was Boston’s first choice for a big man ahead of D.J. White, or whether the team wanted to added both players to their front line. Either way, the point is moot now. White is expected to be in uniform for Boston tomorrow night and Ainge still has another roster spot to shop with for the next couple weeks to help him fill out the rest of Boston’s depleted roster.
Pretty arrogant to turn down a ten day contract. What is it with all these guys wanting to stay down there? Must be some hot ##### in that town. http://www.nbadraft.net/players/tim-ohlbrecht
seen him play with the Vipers a couple of times while watching our rookies, he's seems very big among "nbadlers", he has a good touch around the rim and a decent mid range shot, + he rebounds and block some shots (at least at this level), would be a nice cheap pickup if rockets sign him, i hope it'll be done (+ i realize he's quite young, he'll turn 25 this year)
I think he's one of the fallback options or insurance big guys of the Rockets, that's why Morey could part with 3 big men: a backup C (Cole), a PF which sometimes fills in at C (PPat) and a SF-PF(Morris). Imagine the dangerous ground we are treading right now with no real viable back up C. P-Pat was our only real backup should Asik go down. G Smith is still sometimes too clueless for McHale to fully trust him. And Cole was ahead of him if Asik did go down.
No complilation of this year's highlights but here's one from last year. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/C01909nHSck" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
1.Alonzo Cantú is paying Tim under the table. 2. As Bimathug pointed out, one advantage HOU has being under the cap is that it can technically wait until right before its last regular season game to offer a FA a contract without having to "pro-rate" the amount-- that is, pay a guy up to $5.2 M or so for 1 game of work this year. Meanwhile, an over the cap team using an exception ( the minimum salary exception in the case of BOS) can only pay a guy for the portion of the season that he actually works. So I bet HOU has promised Tim at least a "one day call up" whose value grossly exceeds what BOS can pay him. Moreover, it is most likely going to be one of those "Greg Smith Contracts" where Tim gets paid at least the full NBA minimum this year ($476k or so, I think) for as few as one game while giving the team two more non-guaranteed years to decide on him. Ohbrecht turned down a six figure deal in Germany to play for RGV who could pay him much less by DLeague rules (an interview with him here: http://www.draftexpress.com/article/A-Fresh-Start-for-Tim-Ohlbrecht-4060) so my guess is that there was a promise by HOU to "make him whole financially.
I know wikipedia means nothing and it can be edited by anyone.. but it's still interesting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Ohlbrecht
I like how Ohlbrecht plays. If HOU indeed signed him up, that would be a good move with Smith's injury and all. We can't expect Smith to be 100% right away. Beverley, Motie and Jones would be familiar with him already so that would be good for the bench.
It's not like McHale would play him even if Morey did sign him. If Asik goes down, McHale will probably start Delfino at center.
Here is the NBAdraft.net report on him: http://www.nbadraft.net/players/tim-ohlbrecht NBA Comparison: Brad Lohaus Strengths: Versatile bigman. Seldom seen combination of size, scoring ability and athleticism ... Excellent and strong 6’11 frame with solidly muscular 240 lb body ... Very good shot blocker ... Explosive qathlete for a European player ... Runs the floor like a deer ... Deep range on his jumper ... Owns a quick first step ... Good pick and roll defender due to his good footwork and long arms ... Cerebral player. Rarely gets out of control. Solid decision maker ... Outstanding court vision for a bigman, excellent passer ... Emotional leader of his club team ... Is shooting 40% on threes so far in 09-10 and 60+% from the field ... Very good free throw-shooter (80%) ... Is leading the league in blocked shots ... Shows the ability to stretch the floor with his outside shooting accuracy ... Weaknesses: Passion for the game has been questioned. For a player with such physical gifts and excellent skills, it's a wonder he isn't a more dominant player ... Sometimes too unselfish ... Very athletic, but a little mechanical ... Ball handling could use some work, at tries to do much off the dribble ... Tries to be too versatile, does a lot of things well offensively but should concentrate on a few low post moves and perfect a go to move ... Simon Dresden 4/20/10 Strengths: The next big prospect out of Germany after Dirk Nowitzki Excellent fundamentals Very good shooting mechanics Has a nice frame, with big, strong shoulders Can put on a lot of weight Very versatile Can play any of the 2-5 positions Exceptional at running the floor An explosive leaper with quickness and athleticism Hits the three consistently when left open An athletic shot blocker with good timing Finishes well around the basket Has a nice repertoire of moves in the paint. Possesses good vision and passing skills. Weaknesses: Needs to improve on his help defense as he picks up too many senseless fouls when helping out teammates Should become more selfish and demand the ball more Inexperienced, has not played a high level of competition yet, but has been dominant at the younger levels Still very young, but will need to get a lot stronger, so maintaining his agility while adding strength will be important. Also, there's more info here (http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Tim-Ohlbrecht-536/) but it's a long piece.
Financially we can offer him the same or more with a under the table Promise. It's true for both him and whiteside, or even some other guys under the radar now. It could be as small as a promised 10 day contract. We are collecting and training decent prospects in dleague.
Now even a Chinese fansite reports that German media cites talks between Rockets and Ohlbrecht. Caveat: I don't know how accurate, and there has been no official announcement from the team. http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2180283963
T-Rob trade was 3 for 3. giving up Mook for a pick opened a roster spot. spot's going to go to either a 3rd center or a 3rd point guard with the losses of PPat, Cole and T-Doug... no noise on possible 3rd PG signings Tim Ohlbrecht rumors now a little intriguing.
It may be that they feel there's enough extra playmaking on the team (Harden, Delfino, Parsons) that they can pick up the slack at the point if either Jeremy or Beverly go down to injury. So the focus could then be on getting a backup C for injury insurance for the stretch run. I do agree with you that the empty roster spot will either go to a backup combo/pg or a backup C, since these are the positions that are thinnest and need injury insurance if the Rockets make the playoffs. I shudder to think what would happen if Asik is out for for the playoffs.
There are so many centers in Europe better than this guy that it's not even funny. Solid player though. Rockets international scouting is extremely awful.
Olbrecht already looks better than Cole Aldrich, but that's not saying much. He looks like a typical Euro center: Scores by shooting jumpers and cutting to the basket. But if he can set a good pick for Harden and Lin to get free, then that makes him a great fit for this team. :grin:
