Kliq said:
While the Celtics COULD do that, you also have to take into consideration that in today's NBA, there are a dozen teams that have that same thought process. There will be one superstar available and there will be half a dozen teams tanking and trying to clear space to get him. You clear all that space, and keep telling your fans that a superstar is coming and then when you strike out what happens? You end up being the Knicks, and you sign Stoudemire to an insanely poor deal because you have to get SOMETHING from clearing all that cap space. The Celtics don't have to just have an intriguing prospect to land Durant, they have to have a more intriguing prospect than any of the other teams that are doing the same thing.
The comparison between the Patriots is ridiculous because the NFL and the NBA are completely different when it comes to free agency, and just in general, having 2 star players is way, way more impactful in basketball than in football. When I said big markets, I meant the major TV markets in America (NYC, Chicago, LA). Boston just isn't in that category.
So you're maintaining that the Knicks couldn't get anyone good and overpaid for Amar'e Stoudemire, so therefore Boston shouldn't try to sign anyone in free agency because they're not a large market team like the Knicks...
Look, real free agency only arrived in the NBA a little over twenty years ago. The Celtics then owner hired boobs like Dave Gavitt to run the team (into the ground) and spent all his time making excuses for his mismanagement. The "Woe is me! Free agents won't ever come here!" thing was one of their marketing campaigns to isolate themselves from criticism of their incompetence. They were signing free agents right along, just the wrong ones every time they had the chance.
And, yes, when you're claiming that no one would ever choose to play basketball in a "cold weather climate" it's legitimate to point out that the New England Patriots have zero problems convincing guys to not only play sports in the cold weather, but to play a fucking outdoor sport that
hurts more in the cold weather. Want to know something else? It's a fuckload easier to go play football in the warm weather cities than basketball
due to the CBA. Yet football players line up to come here and experience more pain. Why? Because they're getting paid to play for a winning team.
I hate to break it to you, but there just aren't that many max salary slots available on large market teams in warm weather climates. And, if we take a gander at the LA Clippers, a warm weather team in a major media market, they've had
less success in free agency than the Detroit fucking Pistons. I wonder why that is if no NBA player would ever choose to play in a cold weather climate?
We are not losers. We should stop talking and acting like losers. In NBA terms we
are the motherfucking Yankees. Yes, Boston had shitty ownership in the opening decade of free agency. But those days are long past.