Celts might be close to getting Nate Robinson

[DougHeil]

who cares about this trade, didnt u guys hear we got Jamison. Good night boston.

lol yeah. Lateral trades don't really get it. I hated House..... not that he was a bad guy/player, but the fact he was a damn good streak shooter who could get hot for a quarter and beat you. Nate?..... not scary.

[Absinthe]

It's a great trade for Boston. Eddie House is a streak shooter and Nate Robinson is a guard that will consistently drive the lane for lay ups. One of Boston's biggest problems this year is their inability to score during stretches. I'd much rather have Nate out there than House, especially since House isn't going to do anything but chuck up threes anyway.

[BA_CavsFan]

Has anyone posted this yet? I think this is good news for the Cavs, if Rondo doesn't want Nate:

LOS ANGELES -- Celtics newly acquired guard Nate Robinson was a hot pregame topic before the Lakers and Celtics squared off Thursday.

There were more question marks than praise on obtaining the services of the former Knicks guard and three-time Slam Dunk champion.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers didn't feel the team needed a shake-up after posting a 10-10 record in the last 20 games.

"I would've been fine if we hadn't ... we'll see whether that's the right decision or not," said Rivers. "I like this team, I've said it over and over again. I didn't think we needed to make changes."

Asked Rajon Rondo about his thoughts on the trade, he first declined, seemingly frustrated.

"I don't know, I don't know," said Rondo on whether the team needed to make a trade. "I hope it's for the best. Eddie House can drop 20, 30 [points off the bench] too. But [the players] don't make decision, we just play the game."

As for his relationship with Robinson: "We compete. We don't really see each other, we speak, but I try to kill him every time I play him and I'm sure that's probably his mentality."

He did say that Robinson brings "energy and he can definitely score the ball in a million different ways. He's a good defender."

For the Knicks, Robinson averaged 13.2 points in 24 minutes. House averaged 7.2 in 16 minutes.

Rivers did speak on the phone with Robinson, who at the earliest will report in Friday.

"It went well. He was sucking up for [playing time]," said Rivers laughing. "He asked very good questions about defense, his role. I can't wait to get him and get to work with him.

"I just want him to be a scorer. I want him looking at the basket. I don't want him thinking about X-2-Z play. I want him to look at the rim and that's why we're bringing him in here."

Ray Allen didn't feel a trade was necessary.

"I didn't think we were bad," said Allen on the bench production. "We were good."

As for his thoughts on Robinson: "We have to incorporate Nate as quickly as we can," Allen said. "He's a young player in the league, a very up-tempo player, great defender on the ball and he can shoot the ball.

"I think he's played great this year the times we've played him and he's yet to play his best basketball. I think it's a positive for us."

Lakers coach Phil Jackson was a bit perplexed by the trade.

"I really don't know about that," he said. "I have a great respect for House's game. I don't know what you can improve on that credible shooting skill that he has. House really has a strike factor in his game that can really disturb a team."

As far as the other trades that went down, Jackson touched on all but one: Cleveland's acquisition of Antawn Jamison:

"I don't pay attention to that stuff," Jackson said.

Asked four minutes later, Jackson waived off the question again before finally relenting.

"I don't know what that does for them to tell you the truth," he said. "They're going to get [Zydrunas] Ilgauskas back and that's going to be one of those scenarios we see in the NBA where you ship a player out and you get another player and then a player retires and then he comes back in 30 days. I don't know what that does for the league, it's a weird situation. But Jamison is a scorer. I think they'll start him and he's someone that needs to start to be effective in their lineup and then that makes them rather small at the four."

[Absinthe]

They're professionals. They might not like the trade, but they'll deal with it. I think he's wrong though. I can't recall the last time House had 30+ points off the bench. Nate scored 41 off the bench and that was with him sitting for four weeks. Nate is a much better player than House. They might like House (the person) better, but Nate is the better player and will help them win more.

Ray Allen also missed the point. No one said that the Celts were bad. Allen said that they were "good". That's the problem. Good is not good enough. Good is not good enough against teams like Atlanta, Orlando, and Cleveland. If you can get better talent then you do it.

[SuperSurge]

I like Rondo's attitude... Dude hates everybody... But, he is a Celtic, so *&^% off Rondo...

[Rick Astley]

The perfect guy for the perfect team. What a perfect fit.

[Cavatt]

Has anyone posted this yet? I think this is good news for the Cavs, if Rondo doesn't want Nate:

I was a little surprised here at the team's reaction. They must have really liked House. Rondo seems like a sort of loose cannon in terms of what he says to the media.

[Coyote]

Maybe this will be the nail in the coffin that Starbury was supposed to be, in terms of chemistry.

I will now begin praying for a fist fight between Nate and Rondo.