Celtics FA/Trade Rumors and News

Cellar-Door

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Okay, maybe the question is, why did we do it then?

If we toss Atlanta something, what do they care?
Both teams did it because it was easier than fully clearing the cap space and neither team cared about the hard cap since they didn't plan to get that high.

As to ATL... they'd likely ask for something because they can, and do it because something is better than nothing
 

HomeRunBaker

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Ainge clearly working the phones but nobody seems to be biting. Seems likely we pick at 14 and one of 26/30, and then trade the other for salary relief or some low value future pick.
This would make for a boring and very disappointing draft night. Those late picks simply are not very valuable.
 

BigSoxFan

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This would make for a boring and very disappointing draft night. Those late picks simply are not very valuable.
Yup. I’m fully expecting a repeat of last year. A mid round guy that we can at least dream on, a high floor/low ceiling type, and then a punt or stash.

Something like Hampton and Tillman sounds about right.
 

DannyDarwinism

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For the record, I’d fully believe that someone in the Celtics FO told Mark Murphy that nothing was afoot, but I don’t think that’s necessarily any indication of whether it’s true.
 

E5 Yaz

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He’s not random just because you don’t know who he is. Why should we trust Mark Murphy more than Brandon Robinson?
He's a freelance writer who calls himself Scoops. Why trust him anymore than Incarcerated Bob
 

DannyDarwinism

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He's a freelance writer who calls himself Scoops. Why trust him anymore than Incarcerated Bob
If your skepticism is solely due to his nickname, I’d say there’s a cultural issue there that I’m pretty wary of treading on. He currently works for MSG and he used to work for the Nets (in addition to BET and the Source) and hosts a podcast that a lot of NBA players and retired players appear on. I’m pretty sure he has legit NBA connections, and he has been right before, but he does through a lot of stuff out there that turns out to be BS.
 

E5 Yaz

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... he has been right before, but he does through a lot of stuff out there that turns out to be BS.
Which is precisely why guys like that shouldn't be given the same sort of credibility as the actual professionals at this type of reporting.
 

nighthob

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For the life of me, I don't understand why Atlanta would give up anything for Hayward when they've got the cap space to just sign him outright. I also don't exactly understand why Hayward would want to go to Atlanta, but that's at least a possibility.
Because if they dealt him they could lose Dedmon’s salary and clear space for free agent signings.
 

nighthob

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This would make for a boring and very disappointing draft night. Those late picks simply are not very valuable.
In a normal year I’d agree with you, but this draft is so roleplayer heavy that I would be up shocked if the best player got picked at 26 or 30.
 

DannyDarwinism

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Which is precisely why guys like that shouldn't be given the same sort of credibility as the actual professionals at this type of reporting.
But you didn’t know who he was, just that he had a funny name.

Point is, I don’t trust Mark Murphy’s reporting either. I don’t think he lied when he said a “league source” said there was no interest, but I don’t think that league source was intent on relaying the actual truth of the matter to Mark Murphy. I’m assuming it was someone associated with the Celtics (though why not “team source”?) and Danny Ainge is notorious for disinformation and keeping his actual intentions closely guarded, and there’s a lot of incentive to not want that out there.
 

DannyDarwinism

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Yup. I’m fully expecting a repeat of last year. A mid round guy that we can at least dream on, a high floor/low ceiling type, and then a punt or stash.

Something like Hampton and Tillman sounds about right.
Doesn’t sound boring to me! I’d be pretty amped up with those two + a stash or two.
 

E5 Yaz

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But you didn’t know who he was, just that he had a funny name.
My lfinal response on this ... no, it's not that the name was "funny." It's that anyone with an ounce of crdibility would never call himself that
 

DannyDarwinism

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My lfinal response on this ... no, it's not that the name was "funny." It's that anyone with an ounce of crdibility would never call himself that
Your final response was just as bad as all your others, but I appreciate you letting it go.
 

boca

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With the reports of them shopping Kemba, being in on Holiday and the tentative reports on Harden, can we assume that the PG position is one which the Celts want to upgrade or were these proposed moves just opportunistic based on the right players being available?
 

lovegtm

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I think it’s safe to say that the Celtics are concerned about Kemba’s knee and would like to move off the contract while keeping some production at guard.
 

RedOctober3829

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Part of Jared Weiss' article this morning in The Athletic centers on the Harden trade rumors. He thinks the best deals for Harden for Houston come from two teams: Philly(with Ben Simmons as centepiece) and Boston(Jaylen Brown).

James Harden can say he wants to go to Brooklyn, but there are other teams out there that would be willing to make a serious sacrifice to bring in the Houston star. The Nets’ potential package would center on Caris LeVert, Spencer Dinwiddie and Jarrett Allen. LeVert and Dinwiddie are borderline All-Stars, but they are approaching their primes already. Allen is a good young prospect, but he doesn’t project to have All-Star upside. So that’s three players that basically make up a borderline playoff team, with no major draft compensation.

The smart move for Houston is to try to crack the top of next year’s draft, which has a strong group of top prospects. Get that next centerpiece with at least eight years of guaranteed control. But if that isn’t in play, there are two teams that can offer a young marquee player: Philadelphia and Boston. It’s become apparent the Celtics aren’t going to get the requisite draft value for players like Hayward and Kemba Walker to haul in a big whale like Harden when it wasn’t even enough to get them Holiday. Enter Jaylen Brown, a 24-year-old two-way wing knocking on the door of All-Star status. He’d be an ideal building block in Houston, just as he has been next to Tatum.

But then there’s Ben Simmons. Daryl Morey is the new boss in Philadelphia, and his reputation isn’t staked to making it work with Simmons. As great as Brown is, Simmons is the kind of player you could build an entire system around on both ends. Putting him in the right offensive lineups could finally unleash his MVP potential. A Simmons-to-Houston deal could work perfectly for the Sixers, as Harden could turn Joel Embiid into a destructive pick-and-roll force and finally take the pressure off Embiid to run the offense from the post. Harden running point would also take the pressure off of Tobias Harris to be a creator, and replacing Simmons with the league’s best perimeter scorer could even allow Al Horford to thrive again.
The Celtics at least have some more appetizing young players to include in such a deal compared with Philadelphia, but it’s hard to imagine anything beating a Simmons offer. Though the Rockets will push hard against this trade demand and maintain that posture until it finally yields some worthwhile offers, their deal sending Robert Covington to Portland made it pretty clear Harden is going to get moved at least by the next trade deadline.
https://theathletic.com/2204873/2020/11/17/gordon-hayward-celtics-james-harden/?source=emp_shared_article
 

bsj

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i think that Danny knows that with the talent that seems to be heading east, the celtics are likely not going to win a title with the current nucleus. In order to get there, IMO, they either need a) an elite center or if they are going to try to upgrade elsewhere, a transcendent talent that is so good, we can compensate.

I dont love Harden per se. But the dude would be that, and it would also directly impact one of our key EC competitors.

I dont know that a Kemba, Brown, Tatum, Hayward, Theis starting 5 nets even a top 4 or 5 seed next year, and I suspect Danny knows this.
 

CoffeeNerdness

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The salty Harden takes always baffle me(the people who hate his aesthetic). I think he's an amazing player to watch(outside of the floppery). Gets to the rack at will, wears teams down by relentlessly getting to the line, and kills it from beyond the arc. He's remarkable. I'm mixed on whether or not I'd like him in Boston because of the potential chemistry baggage, but purely as a player- sign me up.
 

the moops

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I dont know that a Kemba, Brown, Tatum, Hayward, Theis starting 5 nets even a top 4 or 5 seed next year, and I suspect Danny knows this.
Wait what?
-edit-

Who are the 4 teams clearly better? MIL obviously.


Maybe MIA? TOR is likely to lose VanVleet. I suppose if one of PHi or BRK get Harden, then maybe one of them?
 
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Pollard's Spartan Beard

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I dont know that a Kemba, Brown, Tatum, Hayward, Theis starting 5 nets even a top 4 or 5 seed next year, and I suspect Danny knows this.
Boy, I couldn't disagree with this take more. I could certainly see Boston finishing behind Brooklyn, Milwaukee and/or Miami, but I think that's making a lot of assumptions about the Nets, with or without Harden, and about Butler's ability to continue to play at an elite level. If Brooklyn gets Harden, that means Philly didn't, and they've already missed out on CP3. You think Philly jumps Boston? Is Toronto's aging core going to be enough to stay in front of the C's? Is Indiana making some kind of leap in this scenario? I don't see it at all.

I think you could look at Boston's roster and think that an underwhelming regular season combined with positive outcomes for some other top teams in the Eastern Conference puts them at 4 or 5, but outside of catastrophic injury to one of Brown/Tatum, or a fall from grace due to a Kyrie-esque chemistry meltdown, I don't see any realistic scenario where they fall below a 5 seed.
 

Pollard's Spartan Beard

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And like MIA, BOS would also be a better team with an improved Brown, Tatum, Hayward, Williams, etc
And for all the handwringing the Port Cellar seems to be doing about Kemba's age and injury history, it's worth remembering that Kevin Durant is coming back from a catastrophic injury, and Kyrie Irving hasn't exactly been a bastion of health recently himself. Additionally, while I'm bullish on the Heat, Jimmy Butler has a) immolated two franchises on his way out the door, b) is 31 years old and c) hasn't exactly been an iron man throughout his NBA career, with a lot of seasons under his belt where he only played 65-67 games.
 

bsj

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Well, at least we're not a bunch of homers.

You heard it here first--Celtics are a 6 seed now.
I didnt say that. I said that staying generally flat as a 3 seed when others are making moves to improve MAY make it hard to stay in the top 4 or 5. I think people expect Tatum and Brown to grow exponentially every single year and that somehow compensates. It may, but I dont know that for a fact.
 

bankshot1

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I may be a life-long Green-teamer wearing emerald shades, BUT if Gordo and Kemba weren't hobbled against Miami, they win that series.

I don't know about the Lakers, but

water under the bridge.

The Celts need a decent PG who can pass and penetrate and play decent D and a big mostly to play D , board and not get confused on the PnR and they will be a tough out in any 7-game series..They will be fine.
 

Jimbodandy

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I didnt say that. I said that staying generally flat as a 3 seed when others are making moves to improve MAY make it hard to stay in the top 4 or 5. I think people expect Tatum and Brown to grow exponentially every single year and that somehow compensates. It may, but I dont know that for a fact.
Draft is tonight, with other roster churn to occur in the next day or two. Then we'll know what we have or haven't done to improve the team.

Yeah Brown and Tatum are still ascending, but who knows how much air is left in the balloon. Fair point. Just saying that it's hard for me to panic after watching this team go to the conference finals basically every year with this nucleus.
 

Pollard's Spartan Beard

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I didnt say that. I said that staying generally flat as a 3 seed when others are making moves to improve MAY make it hard to stay in the top 4 or 5.
So far, isn't it more accurate to say we have others making a move? Milwaukee undeniably got better. What else has changed?

Brooklyn with KD will undeniably be better than last year. But I think it's far from a given that the dynamic between Durant, Irving and the rest of that roster will be tenable. Additionally, I think we'll see a lot of load management for their two stars, meaning they're likely to be a dangerous matchup in the playoffs, but their record during the regular season might not reflect that.

And I think the argument that it may be hard to stay in the top 4 or 5 is true, but only in the sense that it's always hard for any top team to sustain that level of success year after year in the regular season. There's nothing about Milwaukee's additions that has me feeling like the sky is falling for the Celtics right now. Toronto is losing Gasol, and staring down the barrel of potentially losing Van Vleet to an offer from another team. I'm not particularly alarmed by a Lowry/Siakam duo going forward.

I just don't see it.
 
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ifmanis5

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I get the feeling that Kemba's bad bubble performance scared them the way IT's injury scared them. If they can move him for an upgrade I think they will. If they have to throw in Gordon and picks they will do that too. Plus, now that the potential high Memphis/Sacto picks didn't pan out they have a lot of assets to bundle. It makes sense for a big move here, it just sucks that this particular draft isn't great.
 

benhogan

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I didnt say that. I said that staying generally flat as a 3 seed when others are making moves to improve MAY make it hard to stay in the top 4 or 5. I think people expect Tatum and Brown to grow exponentially every single year and that somehow compensates. It may, but I dont know that for a fact.
the playoff roster doesn't need to be set by tomorrow

trust Danny & Co will make the moves, during the next 6months, to put them closer to the next Championship
 

bsj

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the playoff roster doesn't need to be set by tomorrow
I understand. And I am not closing the door on a title, not will Danny if it doesnt work out. But I do believe he wants to upgrade signficantly with a high end veteran or an elite rookie (which is a now thing) which is why he is being so active here.
 

benhogan

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I understand. And I am not closing the door on a title, not will Danny if it doesnt work out. But I do believe he wants to upgrade signficantly with a high end veteran or an elite rookie (which is a now thing) which is why he is being so active here.
with all the volatility over the next 24hrs, adding time value to the Hayward option was smart

the NBA hooked the Celtics up with a flat and ascending cap. Danny has plenty of flexibility to improve around the Jays
 

Marbleheader

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This team is not winning a title without a top 10 player. It just doesn't happen in the NBA. Tatum is a top 25 guy and would make an excellent #2. Danny should be doing everything in his power to land an elite talent. Anything short of that, we're looking at another 'nice season' where it's clear they are not a real contender for a title.
 

benhogan

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This team is not winning a title without a top 10 player. It just doesn't happen in the NBA. Tatum is a top 25 guy and would make an excellent #2. Danny should be doing everything in his power to land an elite talent. Anything short of that, we're looking at another 'nice season' where it's clear they are not a real contender for a title.
how are you ranking players?

because if you're taking into account where players were at the end of last season and defense, Tatum is on the cusp