Celtics 16/17 Roster and Assets
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Blake was a total beast in the playoffs two years ago, especially against the Spurs. I could see a big bounce back for him after the nightmare of last year. He needs a new situation and some health for people to re-appreciate how good he is.
I am told there is nothing to see here. The usual attempts to get a star, but nothing is close, and there's been no recent movement.
Hmmm. The play on words would definitely have been harder to orchestrate if it was Rudy Gay.
Here is the first of what I was expecting to come out in Sully. When John Lucas is working with a player on weight issues and "other obstacles" we can now have a better understanding of some of the issues Ainge had with Sully.
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2016/07/ex_coach_jared_sullinger_must_give_teams_more_reasons_to_trust_him
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2016/07/ex_coach_jared_sullinger_must_give_teams_more_reasons_to_trust_him
That is an expertly written "tap dancing around the subject" article by Steve Bulpett with a lot of winks from Lucas.
"he knows he has to confront issues of both body and mind before realizing his potential"
“I think there are more issues than just the weight,” said Lucas, whose own career was diminished by drug problems.“I think something’s going on, because he worked so much that he should have been ever further along than he was. Then when he stopped for a couple of days, his weight would go up. And he’s a guy who retains water."
Yes, I'm sure it's a "food intolerance" or "yeast intolerance" that causes him to retain so much water...
Hopefully he gets his act together.
So what is the implication here? An eating disorder? Food addiction? Compulsive overeating? I'll admit that I'm surprised Ainge let Sully walk for 1 year / $6 M. For that money, I would have been inclined to bring him back with strict instructions to do everything that Al Horford is doing, both on and off the court. But as the recent article with John Lucas suggests, the issue here is trust, and Ainge clearly doesn't trust Sullinger to maintain the necessary condition to be healthy and productive throughout the season and into the postseason. Thus, he guarantees similar money to Jerebko instead and will probably offer a comparable contract to a Humphries level pro who will accept his role, be ready when called, and keep his personal issues away from affecting the team.
Updating this- I forgot Humphries, but he's gone to the Hawks,
as pointed out up thread Vesely has opt outs, but it's a new contract so the first one is next summer, my bad.
Bourousis apparently rejected multiple NBA offers and is staying in Europe.
Leonard re-signed w/ Portland.
Reed has supposedly agreed to a deal with Miami.
Ayon re-signed with Real Madrid today.
More from Lifshatz. Seems to comport with what another Twitter guy said yesterday when he posted tweets that it was likely that a Griffin or Cousins to Boston trade would be done by the end of this week.
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I don't see being happy with what we give away to get Blake. It can't just be Bradley and Smart, and non top pick assets. Unless Doc is straight up crazy. And if we trade Smart but didn't draft Dunn, again, poor job by Danny.
I'm for trading the 2018 Nets first rounder, but with the salary cap how it is and the huge advantage of having a home grown star like Durant, Steph, Klay, hell, Blake, it too high to get with the 2017 pick swap.
I'm for trading the 2018 Nets first rounder, but with the salary cap how it is and the huge advantage of having a home grown star like Durant, Steph, Klay, hell, Blake, it too high to get with the 2017 pick swap.
Picking up the option with a significantly increased cap from when Griffin signed his deal is almost certainly a non-starter for his camp.
What kind of game does he think he's playing?
So as long as someone on Twitter guessed it correctly, he won't get in trouble for spilling the beans?
The hilarious thing is that he tried to cover ass by posting that his "source" gave him the okay to name Griffin.
So if they trade Smart for Blake Danny failed bc he didnt take Dunn? Im very confused w the absolution we are talking about these draft picks so far. Dunn is a highly developed 22 YO. He should look good in a small.sample vs summer lg.competition. lets wait a cpl years to fit Dunn for his HOF jacket and find Jaylen a job flipping burgers.
Here's why I like the idea of picking up Blake. He's that rare PF who the team's offense can run through. (See Blake in the playoffs the year Paul got hurt).
The C's don't have a proven, traditional PG on the roster.
They lost a guy in Turner who played a lot of minutes as the key ball handler/distributor.
Rozier (as NBA player) and Smart (as NBA PG) are unproven.
Thomas will log most of the minutes at PG, but he is a no traditional one who showed in the playoffs that he can also score off the catch.
So add Blake and, first, he might be more valuable to use than he was to the Clippers, and second, he takes some pressure off of our unproven PGs.
The C's don't have a proven, traditional PG on the roster.
They lost a guy in Turner who played a lot of minutes as the key ball handler/distributor.
Rozier (as NBA player) and Smart (as NBA PG) are unproven.
Thomas will log most of the minutes at PG, but he is a no traditional one who showed in the playoffs that he can also score off the catch.
So add Blake and, first, he might be more valuable to use than he was to the Clippers, and second, he takes some pressure off of our unproven PGs.
Speculation on Twitter yesterday was that it would be a three-team deal involving Blake to Boston, Crowder to SAC and Gay to the Clippers, with other unspecified moving parts/picks as well. I'm all for trading for Griffin from a basketball perspective; he fits really well with what this team wants to do, and Horford is one of the few big men in the NBA that you'd pick to fit next to him. The concern is his contract; it doesn't make any sense to trade one or more of the remaining Brooklyn picks if you don't have some reasonable assurance that he'll stay beyond this season.
There's also the issue of taking in Griffin's salary. He'll make $20.1mm next year, which means that the Celtics will need to send out at least $15.1mm in salary in any deal. That could be done by trading Bradley ($8.3mm), Crowder ($6.3mm) and Young ($1.8mm), for instance, but then adding a BRK pick on top seems like a very high price for 1 year of Griffin. Maybe LAC would take their 2019 draft pick back instead.
BOS gets Griffin
SAC gets Crowder and Young
LAC gets Bradley, Gay and 2019 LAC 1st rounder
BOS lineup - Horford, Griffin, Jerebko, Smart, Thomas
BOS bench - Johnson, Olynyk, Brown, Hunter, Rozier +1
BOS bench/D-league - Mickey, Bentil, Jackson, Nader
Europe - Yabusele, Zizic
BOS would need to sign up a wing shooter for the room exception.
It saps the team of its depth and causes a severe lack of wing shooting, so I don't see this trade working out.
I would assume Amir Johnson would be involved in the deal; his $12 million salary on a one year contract makes him an easy inclusion to offset Griffin's salary. That way you keep Bradley, and the roster balances out a lot better.
That rumor makes no sense. WTF would Clippers want to downgrade from Blake to Gay?
This rumor is actually from a reputable source. Howard Beck from BR has the following. Could Russ Westbrook be a Celtic?
http://www.csnne.com/boston-celtics-russell-westbrook-most-likely-destination-oklahoma-city-thunder-nba-trade-rumors
“What I’m hearing here in Las Vegas from some GMs is that they think not only Russell Westbrook will get traded, that it’ll be sooner than later,” Beck said in a video posted Wednesday morning, “and that the most likely destination now would be the Boston Celtics.”
Westbrook averaged 23.5 points and 10.4 assists last season, in what was the most efficient year of his thus far tremendous career.
Beck cites Boston’s pile of assets as the natural reason why the Celtics
“They have the ability to put a package together for Westbrook,” Beck added, “without giving up key pieces.”
http://www.csnne.com/boston-celtics-russell-westbrook-most-likely-destination-oklahoma-city-thunder-nba-trade-rumors
“What I’m hearing here in Las Vegas from some GMs is that they think not only Russell Westbrook will get traded, that it’ll be sooner than later,” Beck said in a video posted Wednesday morning, “and that the most likely destination now would be the Boston Celtics.”
Westbrook averaged 23.5 points and 10.4 assists last season, in what was the most efficient year of his thus far tremendous career.
Beck cites Boston’s pile of assets as the natural reason why the Celtics
“They have the ability to put a package together for Westbrook,” Beck added, “without giving up key pieces.”
I read that as Beck speculating based on two separate pieces of information. 1. Westbrook is likely to be traded soon and 2. The Celtics have the best collection of assets. It doesn't seem to me that he has any info that the Cs and Thunder have discussed any parameters. Feels more like a clickbait story at this point.
Not sure what an OKC and BOS deal would look like. The fact that Westbrook is likely to at least test the waters next year makes it really hard to determine value. You can't give up both the Nets picks because of that unknown.
BRK 2017 + Smart get it done? I wouldn't think so.
BRK 2017 + Smart get it done? I wouldn't think so.
A Westbrook deal would have the same problem as a Blake deal - how much do you really give up for 1 year of the player.
This has to be clickbait. Not only is the BRK pick virtually untradeable with both sides having to agree on its value when its value is unknown......but now you have the contract situation of Westbrook which only adds to the unknown.
Wasn't there some uncertainty over whether or not KG would sign an extension here? I think trading for a star is just so difficult that when you're a team that is one star away from being a serious contender and you get the chance, and your best intelligence is that the player would least consider re-signing, you go for it. In this case, you sniff the agent out and if he doesn't say "NO WAY", you gamble that Westbrook will like the culture, playing for Stevens, and the fact that the C's wold be able to offer more $ than anyone else.
OKC has to be exploring options though, right? They have to be confident that there is at least a very good chance that Westbrook is gone after next year.
The KG deal did not happen until he agreed to an extension. I believe the uncertainty part was on draft night when they originally tried to trade for him but he wouldn't agree at that point.
One benefit of a Blake deal is they could ask him to pick up his option as part of the trade. Westbrook doesn't have that option.
I can't envision a scenario where Boston trades for Westbrook unless he somehow agrees ahead of time to an extension (which he will never do).
It's well known around the league that Westbrook is bolting for the Lakers after this season so it would be ridiculous for Ainge to give up our best assets for a one-year rental.
It's well known around the league that Westbrook is bolting for the Lakers after this season so it would be ridiculous for Ainge to give up our best assets for a one-year rental.
Every rumor about a star player "about to be traded" will include the Celtics, because of the assets. Heck, if I'm Westbrook's agents, I'm setting up the C's as a false alternative in an attempt to nudge the Lakers into being more aggressive in offering a trade to OKC
Plus, there's the fact that BOS already has a lot of guards. However, Westbrook only makes $17.8mm next year, and OKC will want young players and draft picks, of which BOS has plenty (and is likely why a three-way deal with LAC and OKC wouldn't work).
The Celtics will need to send out at least $12.8mm in salary in any deal. That could be done by trading Smart ($3.6mm), Jerebko ($5.0mm), Olynyk ($3.1mm) and Young ($1.8mm), for instance, but then adding the 2018 BRK pick (rather than the 2017 pick).
BOS lineup - Johnson, Horford, Crowder, Westbrook, Thomas
BOS bench - Zeller (re-signed), Brown, Bradley, Rozier +1
BOS bench/D-league - Mickey, Bentil, Hunter, Jackson, Nader
Europe - Yabusele, Zizic
As everyone has noted, I think you'd have to have an agreement with Westbrook to max him out before you make the trade.
Yep, and the Celtics could benefit from the rumor being out there if potential trading partners think their window with the Celtics is about to close.
Exactly.
Westbrook's camp has already come out and said that they will not consider an extension as they want to hit the FA market.
This has been rumored, y es, but two years ago everyone knew that Kevin Love was going to the Lakers
I hadn't thought about it working in reverse, but that makes sense as well. Somewhere along the line, someone is going to get some of the C's trading chips
Someone would have to buy this as truth. One thing I recognized being in Vegas this week is how everyone seems to understand the pulse of the league. You need one square peg that doesn't fit in with the rest of the holes to make a deal like this. Ainge found it in Billy King but I'm pretty sure Presti isn't that guy out in no man's land as to what the market is.
Except everyone knows OKC will eventually pull the trigger on a deal. The price will drop every day from opening night to the trade deadline.
They didn't say test. The quote I saw was they wanted to hit FA and were not signing an extension.
EDIT: It came from Aldridge......I thought it was from Westbrook's camp. You can't always trust those damn "league sources."
"Told emphatically by league source there's no chance Russell Westbrook will do a renegotiation/extension of his contract (one yr remaining)," Aldridge tweeted.
"That does not mean there's no chance W'Brook could re-sign in OKC in '17," Aldridge said in another tweet. "It just makes no sense financially to do renegotiation/extension."
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From Rotoworld: Cody Taylor tweet:
Abdel Nader has not agreed to go to the D-League, a source confirmed. Celtics will decide after Summer League to which direction they'll go.
None of the draft picks have signed, which means they can still be traded. Once signed, when can they be traded? Is it December?
Abdel Nader has not agreed to go to the D-League, a source confirmed. Celtics will decide after Summer League to which direction they'll go.
None of the draft picks have signed, which means they can still be traded. Once signed, when can they be traded? Is it December?