Have him come off the bench for 25-30 minutes a game. Have him demand a trade and when no one wants him, you can buy him out for the 21/22 season. You can't buy him out of a season he hasn't opted in to yet (22/23). And if he opts into it while demanding a trade or buy out, he's the one who will look unreasonable. How bad does he really want out? The cards are in his hands.
Porzingis is under contract for an additional year which would complicate any effort to liberate significant cap space in the summer of 2023.
Yes you can.
Oh I'm not for a Porzingis trade, just pointing out it's a different analysis than a fellow aging player like Love. The extra year adds downside, his age adds upside.
No. In order to have cap space the Celtics would have to trade Kemba for cap space and renounce Fournier (and basically every other FA).
When can Kemba opt in? If it is at the end of the 21/22 season, I can't see how he can opt in and then demand a trade/buyout. At least not until buyout season. At that point, who cares.
I asked about this a few months ago---don't think the savings work out to worry about it. At least, that was what folks posted.
Yes he can't opt in until 21/22, but if you want to buy him out this season you have to cut him, which guarantees the option.
He would be playing 25-30 minutes a game off the bench. That's probably what he'll be playing anyway. If you can't rely on him to start a majority of the games, having him come off the bench helps with continuity.
Everyone. That's why we won't hear anything from him if he's not traded. It'll be all silent like it was this year until the offseason.
The plan has to be to stay over the cap until well past that though, right? If you think Porzingis is a better gamble then Kemba, you just need to figure out how much better, and what would be the alternatives
Why? If Fournier is willing to sign for 2 years, it's easy to get well under the cap after 22/23. The team may have to make a choice on one of Smart and TL but they should have enough for a max.
But is there any chance that Fournier will sign for 2 years? That would be pretty weird for a guy his age and status. He's good enough to get more but not good enough for those godfather 1+1 deals.
If you offer him a large enough 2 year deal he might. Like if another team offers him 3-60 would be take 2-45 or 2-50 to stay in Boston? Maybe, but it makes way more sense for the Cs than 3 years would.
Is Pritchard starting in this scenario? Because if the plan is to start Smart at PG and bring Kemba off the bench then Pritchard has no role on the roster, and I'd argue that Pritchard is nowhere near ready to be a decent NBA starting point guard, if he ever is.
We are entering an offseason where Kawhi will get >$200M and a half dozen other guys will sign >$100M contracts.
Yeah, TL, JT, JB, EF and MS. There was really no role for PP last season if the team was fully healthy. At least once EF arrived. Of course we were never healthy so it didn't matter.
On a team like Boston, with two do it all wings and a center who can pass the ball and rim run, like TL, PP could be an effective starting PG. Bring the ball up, get the offense into its set, and spot up for three. Or run p/r with TL and look for his three, or throw the lob. PP will need a better floater, will need to better figure out what he can and can’t do off the drive, and will need to dramatically improve his drive and kickout game.
Not necessarily. Tatum and Brown are the only two players under contract beyond two seasons, and I could easily see Stevens tearing it down to the studs to add a third cornerstone player in the summer of 2023. I certainly wouldn’t complicate that possibility for the likes of Porzingis.
Sure if he drastically improved all the PG related skills he'd be an okay PG, but I wouldn't plan on that. In building a roster you basically have to treat him as a very small SG, that's his skill set
Well, apparently NYK is interested in Wall - https://sports.yahoo.com/report-knicks-could-interest-john-154257699.html - so maybe Wall's not off the table.
Sure, but we're talking starting pg in 5 months, not eventually. It's also pretty likely PP is never as good a point guard as current Kemba is.
Yeah he’s be one of the worst starting PG’s in the league which also means there is an even worse backup for those 15+ mpg. For a contender this isn’t even an option.
He doesn't have to opt-in. His contract has an opt-out. Unless he officially informs the team that he's opting out of the contract(he's not going to), it's guaranteed.
They don’t need more young players anyways. I’m actually happy they won’t be making that pick.
Horford gives the C's a 4/5 who can hit 3-pointers. Fills the void that Theis left.
This is the way this deal would always have to be: for someone else overpaid but who fits better this year.
Ii thought this deal was definitely on the table, I just didn't like it as an option. We'll see what Horford has left, maybe the rest will give him a bounceback.
Yeah, this wasn't you, and I don't want to name names. Just making the general point that any NBA contract is moveable, and it's dumb to shut down people thinking of ways to move them.
It also depends on what Horford’s role is expected to be. He seems like he could be content to be the 4th center (he sat out a large chuck of the end of the season despite not being injured) and then when TL inevitably gets hurt he can be the backup to TT. Would hopefully prevent him from being worn down to a nub. He likely would be more content than Kemba in a more limited role, and a good locker room veteran who can play the Udonis Haslem role.
He sat out because OKC sucks. He's not prime Al, but he's wayyy too good to be a 4th center.
This meme being back in the Port Cellar is a great side effect of the trade.
Likewise, I assume Kemba is going to be put on ice then traded in the next off-season for a first-round pick attached to an even worse contract (Porzingas? Hayward?)
