Travel, Leisure and Recreation

Not too long ago, we saw the birth of a rivalry going on between the Celtics and the Chicago Bulls. The two franchises competed during the 1st round of the playoffs for a remarkable playoff matchup, playing 7 overtimes in seven games, and the magic was there.

It was a rivalry geared around guards. The Boston Celtics had Rajon Rondo, 23 , averaging just about a triple-double a night and leading a Boston franchise depleted by physical issues and forced to go little. The Bulls had Derrick Rose, 20, playing a crucial series in the early years of his career. A young player surrounded with experienced players, Rose played with composure out of his years.

Presently, 4 months have passed, and the two teams still maintain a rivalry revolving around point guards.

The man in question is Carlos Arroyo. The 30-year-old career bench guard played 8 seasons in the league between 2001 and 2008; he next parted ways and moved to Israel, getting a one-season gig with Maccabi Tel Aviv. Currently, after a year elsewhere, Arroyo wants to return the NBA.

The Celtics are the plausible team for Arroyo. The Celtics are now lacking a fitting bench for Rondo at the point — and after two seasons of acquiring one in the middle of the season (1st Sam Cassell in , then Stephon Marbury this previous season), they can fundamentally use a season-round guard. The team has reportedly agreed to conditions with Marquis Daniels, although Daniels is more of a swingman-type than a standard point guard. He is not quite the solution.

Arroyo is a nice fit. He’s reasonably cheap, he tries hard on both ends of the court, and he would be more than pleased as a backup on a great team. He’s done it before — he backed up Mark Jackson with the Jazz, Chauncey Billups in Detroit, in addition to Jameer Nelson in Orlando. He doesn’t need a starting gig to be content in the NBA — he will just go for minutes every way he could acquire them.

It seems that Arroyo is in discussions with the Celtics regarding becoming the most recent second-string for Rondo.

But for, that is, the Bulls steal him away first.

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