I know when the Boston Celtics announced they had signed Stephon Marbury for the remainder of the season, a lot of eyebrows were raised.

Sure, you had your reasons to feel that way. I mean, this was "Starbury," wasn't it? The guy who supposedly quit on the New York Knicks. The guy who only cares about his personal statistics, rather than the team's success. This was the guy who never got it done in the postseason, when it counted most.

A lot of people failed to realized, however, that this was the definition of a "no risk/high reward" situation.

The Celtics got Marbury for a prorated $1.2 million or so. Which means he cost them a few hundred thousand dollars. In the NBA, that is chump change.

Everyone worried how Rajon Rondo would react. Funny how soon they forgot about Sam Cassell coming in last year. How Rondo was supposed to fold then, under the pressure of Cassell on the bench behind him. That didn't happen then and it hasn't happened this year, either.

They were concerned how he and Kevin Garnett would mesh, since they didn't exactly leave Minnesota on good terms. Ironically enough, Marbury and KG literally didn't spend one second on the court together, due to KG's injury.

People were worried about his supposed massive ego and how it would effect the locker room. People failed to realize that this isn't the Knicks or the young T-Wolves team he was part of back in the day. This is a veteran, championship locker room. Containing three Hall of Famers, a hard nose ex player for a coach, in Doc Rivers and front office that wouldn't stand for any of his nonsense.

That was what was supposed to happen. This is what has happened:

• Marbury has been an absolutely perfect team mate.
• He's constantly up on the bench, rooting on his teammates. He's in Rondo's ear all the time lending a helping hand.
• How about the defense he's played? I don't know about you, but I never knew how solid he was defensively. He was the only player during the Bulls series that actually stayed with Ben Gordon for certain stretches.
• Sure, he hasn't shot the ball well, but who would after missing over a year and a half of professional basketball? I don't think many players would. However, he is finally starting to get more aggressive and go to the hoop like his old self.
• His passing is so much better than I thought. I knew he averaged seven assists per game for his career, but I never knew exactly how good he was at passing. At the end of the season, he was a HUGE part of the reason why Eddie House was knocking down every three pointer in sight. Marbury was giving him the ball, off his screens, in perfect positioning.

The number one reason why the Boston Celtics should re-sign him is because, Marbury's options are slim to none. Quite possibly, only one team. The Boston Celtics.

Why shouldn't the we take a chance on him for the Veteran Minimum of 1.2$ Million? The league pays for one third of that type of contract anyways. Not too mention it doesn't even go against the team's luxury tax.

Think about it.

He would have a full off season and training camp with the team. All of that time would be spent getting himself back into top basketball shape and back to his old form. For the Veteran Minimum of 1.2$ million, the Celtics could get a guy who could average 12-to-14 points and 3-to-5 assists per game. I would go as high as 3.5$ Million per year personally. The upside is worth way more than that!

I know a lot of people didn't want the Celtics to bring him in, but respect him or not, you must admit he has been an upstanding member of this team. He has everything to gain and everything to lose. The Celtics not only should take advantage of that, but they NEED too.

If they don't some other team could hit the jackpot by signing him.