Celtics acquire David Lee for Gerald Wallace

[jscola85]

Why is Jerebko's cap hold so huge?  He only made $4.5M last year.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Why is Jerebko's cap hold so huge?  He only made $4.5M last year.

Cap holds are between 150% and 190% of the previous year salary.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

I thought there was a trade coming regardless, as they had nine guys in the rotation even with Young, Hunter and Rozier in the d-league. This adds a tenth guy, and he plays the same position as Sullinger. Add that to the rumors that Sullinger was the guy being offered to Charlotte, and the weight-issues, and it sounds like it might be his time.

I agree with all of this. Lee isn't close to the player he was in NY but he makes Sully expendable without while replacing his roster slot with a similar player. You can add the tone of Ainge's comments about Sully last winter to the smoke of Danny not having faith in Sully.

 

[wade boggs chicken dinner]

Good trade to get an asset that perhaps DA can do something with. At least, it will create a competition among the various 4s that might lead to a breakout season from somebody.

Can't wait until Stevens goes anti-NBA and rolls out Lee, Sullinger, KO, Amir Johnson, and Jerekbo, just for laughs.

 

[ifmanis5]

The team is now pretty much all 4's and 1.5's.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

The team is now pretty much all 4's and 1.5's.

Ainge has to move 2 players to get to 15 but man I sure hope that includes some reshuffling of the deck for roster balance purposes. I have a feeling this could be another season of 22 NBA players wearing Celtics uniforms.

 

[Devizier]

So where does Sullinger get shipped off? The Knicks? Houston? Charlotte?

 

[bowiac]

Danilo is a piece we've seen linked to the Celtics a bunch, although I don't know how to make the cap work. Maybe Bradley & Sullinger for Gallinari, though that doesn't seem like enough.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

So where does Sullinger get shipped off? The Knicks? Houston? Charlotte?

The Knicks and Charlotte would be decent fits as they need frontcourt depth however they don't really have anything I want. How desperate is Orlando for adding frontcourt size after losing O'Quinn to the Knicks? The Magic are so poised to make a leap in the next year or two and have a couple backup wings who are blocked by Oladipo and Hezonja. I'm sure they would swap Harkless for Sullinger however adding a sweetener to Sully could be worth it if the return is Fournier who broke out last season. Harkless gives us an athletic 3 off the bench to improve rotation balance....Fournier has real potential though and he's blocked in Orlando.

 

[nighthob]

Scott Skiles is coaching the Magique. I'll be shocked if Hezonja plays a thousand minutes next year. I do think that they're a good landing spot for Sully as depth, but I think that what you're getting back is draft picks.

 

[Grin&MartyBarret]

Remember last summer when half of this board preferred Sullinger to Kevin Love, and there were posters who were convinced he'd be better than Love going forward?
 
Things change fast in the NBA. 

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

Remember last summer when half of this board preferred Sullinger to Kevin Love, and there were posters who were convinced he'd be better than Love going forward?
 
Things change fast in the NBA. 

 
I think people preferred Sullinger and 3 or 4 draft picks+ to one year of Kevin Love and an assumed commitment to Rondo. Still not wrong.

 

[nighthob]

Remember last summer when half of this board preferred Sullinger to Kevin Love, and there were posters who were convinced he'd be better than Love going forward?
 
Things change fast in the NBA.

I think what people objected to was Boston's plan A, i.e. trade everything for Love, sign Carmelo as a free agent and roll with a defensively challenged team, as opposed to liking Sullinger more than Love in a vacuum.

 

[SeanBerry]

The Knicks and Charlotte would be decent fits as they need frontcourt depth however they don't really have anything I want. How desperate is Orlando for adding frontcourt size after losing O'Quinn to the Knicks? The Magic are so poised to make a leap in the next year or two and have a couple backup wings who are blocked by Oladipo and Hezonja. I'm sure they would swap Harkless for Sullinger however adding a sweetener to Sully could be worth it if the return is Fournier who broke out last season. Harkless gives us an athletic 3 off the bench to improve rotation balance....Fournier has real potential though and he's blocked in Orlando.

 
Magic just signed Jason Smith (ex of the Knicks) to a 1 year deal. Guessing they are trying open up as much room as possible for next year and O'Quinn didn't allow for that. But I don't think they are any more desperate for size then they were before.

 

[bowiac]

Remember last summer when half of this board preferred Sullinger to Kevin Love, and there were posters who were convinced he'd be better than Love going forward?
 
Things change fast in the NBA. 

To echo the other sentiments, I don't recall anyone saying this. There were people saying they didn't want to trade Sullinger & picks for Love without an assurance that Love would re-sign here.
 
I could be wrong however. Been wrong before, will be wrong again.

 

[Ed Hillel]

 I could be wrong however. Been wrong before, will be wrong again.

 
I like the way you set this up. Because if you're never wrong again, you'll be wrong about being wrong again. You can't lose.

 

[TheRooster]

I think there is something to Orlando as a trading partner.  They seem to be headed for a logjam at the wing position.  I'm also curious about Otto Porter since the Bullets are in the market for a stretch 4 and we have 14 of those.  Their backup guard position is suspect too, so they'd probably be interested in Bradley.

 

[Grin&MartyBarret]

To echo the other sentiments, I don't recall anyone saying this. There were people saying they didn't want to trade Sullinger & picks for Love without an assurance that Love would re-sign here.
 
I could be wrong however. Been wrong before, will be wrong again.

 
 

I think what people objected to was Boston's plan A, i.e. trade everything for Love, sign Carmelo as a free agent and roll with a defensively challenged team, as opposed to liking Sullinger more than Love in a vacuum.

 
 

 
I think people preferred Sullinger and 3 or 4 draft picks+ to one year of Kevin Love and an assumed commitment to Rondo. Still not wrong.

 
I just went back and looked, and you all are right for the most part. There was one person, who has since been banned and shouldn't count, who argued a couple of times that Sullinger would provide the same value as Love straight up. 
 
But most of the concern was about roster flexibility and not giving up Sullinger, Olynyk, and #6/#17 to pay Love 20 million. And of course, that was before 20 million was looking like a bargain. 

 

[nattysez]

A few interesting thoughts in here (Kawakami has been killing Lee as overrated for years):
 

[SIZE=10.5pt]We’ll all be arguing about Lee’s legacy and his contributions for years, I’m sure.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=10.5pt]None of this is bad. Clarification: I will always argue that Lee’s defense was bad; but the debate is healthy.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=10.5pt]And I must point out that Lee continued to be good-natured about it every time we saw each other, because nobody kept track of his statistics better than David Lee. Couldn’t blame him at all for that.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=10.5pt]“How’s my plus-minus now?” Lee called out to me after more than a few Warriors’ victories over the years, several times with Stephen Curry chuckling beside him.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=10.5pt]He’d never ask me that question after losses, but that’s all fair.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=10.5pt]That was the best part about covering Lee: His presence made me take a hard look at the true worth of his offensive and rebounding statistics, his defensive struggles made me search for a way to properly value his overall game, and his fans made me defend my thought-process on a regular basis.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=10.5pt]***[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=10.5pt]Really, given his defensive troubles, once Lee lost confidence in his mid-range jumper (at some point during the 2013-2014 season) he just wasn’t feasible as a starting power forward on a team with championship aspirations.[/SIZE]

 

[SIZE=10.5pt]Over time, I grew to appreciate Lee a little more—as a leader and a Curry ally–and I also saw Lacob’s view of Lee begin to change slightly, year by year.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=10.5pt]Now he’s gone to Boston, where fans, executives and analysts surely will start their own Lee debate, with increasing levels of passion, and I will watch from afar, more than a little nostalgic.[/SIZE]
 

 

 

 

[BannedbyNYYFans.com]

Lee clearly has flaws defensively but is an excellent finisher around the rim, runs the court, can pass a little and rebounds really well.  He's also a very likable teammate by all accounts so no chemistry issues to worry about.
 
Ainge traded a guy who added nothing on the court for a guy who will add something.  This also clearly opens the door for another trade, where Ainge ships out either KO or Sullinger along with a guard/picks to get the swingman we desperately need at SF.  I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess they trade Sully+Bradley plus maybe one more piece (pick or a guy like Young/Hunter) for Gallinari.

 
Good call...
 

 

[boca]

 
So they've made it official -
 
 


Boston CelticsVerified account‏@celtics

The Celtics have acquired forward/center David Lee from the Warriors in exchange for Gerald Wallace and Chris Babb: http://on.nba.com/1OLdCHt 
 
 
https://twitter.com/celtics/status/625697412712136704

 

[Eddie Jurak]

@danielrainge: Great to have Jae C and Jonas back. Coaches and teammates favorites. DLee and Amir are two excellent vets! PJones is looking for new life[emoji256][emoji256][emoji256]

 

[Eddie Jurak]

@ESPNForsberg: Like cap space, Ainge maximizes all 140 available characters with the triple shamrock emoticons. https://t.co/o6TCReLdpg

 

[the1andonly3003]

Wallace has a short stay in Cali...headed to Sixers
 
http://www.nba.com/warriors/news/warriors-acquire-jason-thompson-20150731

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Wallace has a short stay in Cali...headed to Sixers
 
http://www.nba.com/warriors/news/warriors-acquire-jason-thompson-20150731

Golden State does a little minor draft pick swapping to move Lee for (an essentially worthless) Thompson that saves the Warriors over $21m this coming season when you include the tax. Can't get much better than that for a team who needs to allocate as much of their budget to the top of their roster.

 

[jscola85]

As worthless as Thompson is, Wallace is even moreso.  I could see Thompson actually helping them a bit if Speights misses some time.  Thompson + $21M of tax savings for Wallace is a nice flip.