The Marquis Daniels conundrum

To say that the Celtics were shorthanded going in to Thursdays showdown with the Lakers would be an understatement. For bigs, only Kendrick Perkins and Glen Davis were available, as Shaq, JO and Semih were unavailable to go. They were down a swingman, with no Marquis Daniels, and thin at the 2, with no Delonte West. As if injuries weren't already plaguing the Celtics enough, Nate Robinson limped off the court in the first half with a bruised knee not to return, and Paul Pierce played through a nice case of the flu. The Celtics will face Miami tomorrow with a similarly depleted roster...

But here's the upside to all of this: Shaq and Semih are projected to return soon, JO is on the mend rehabbing his knee (I'm keeping the faith and being optimistic), Delonte West could come back as early as tomorrow (but more likely, Wednesday), Nate Robinson's injury doesn't appear to be too serious, and Paul Pierce will be okay. The question mark here is Marquis Daniels. How long will he be out? Even if he is able to return, how effective will he be? There has been no word from the Celtics on any of this, probably partly because they don't know and partly because they're an organization that plays their hand close to their chest. 

The best case scenario is that Marquis is able to return within one to two months, in time to get back in to the swing of things for the play offs. While not ideal, the Celtics could make due with a lack of depth at the three by divvying those minutes out between Von Wafer and Delonte West.

But what if he can't come back? The Celtics might consider buying his contract out and letting him go. Pardon me for being such a girl here, but that would be SO sad. The Globe compiled a list of potential replacements should worst come to worst. Notables on this list include Anthony Parker, Carl Landry and Josh Howard.

No offense to Mr. Howard, but I'd rather wait for Marquis to come back, if it's at all a possibility.

In solidarity!