Talent on the cheap

[I love heinsohn]

The Celtics right now are at 13 players on the roster. Portland, according to TrueHoop may be looking to trim some talent off the back end:

Portland Trail Blazers
Simple arithmetic dictates that the Blazers will be trading either now or this summer. They are so attached to the 15 players on their roster that they wouldn't cut anyone to make room for a much-needed big man after Greg Oden went down. So that's 15 players they like (although Raef LaFrentz could be bought out, Taurean Green's contract is not guaranteed next year, and James Jones has a player option). Add to that three first-round draft picks of recent years stashed overseas -- Rudy Fernandez, Joel Freeland, and Petteri Koponen. This summer the team has a first-round pick, and three high-quality second-round picks. That's 22 players in the mix. If Portland doesn't trade any of them away, they'll be forced to make painful cuts at some point, while letting the competition scoop them up for free. GM Kevin Pritchard is known to be crafty, and I don't think anyone expects him to let good players fall into the hands of other teams without compensation. The only remedy is to deal now or on draft day, and at the moment, thanks to a convincing winning jag, much of the roster is more valuable than ever.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-2 ... Watch.html

Any chance that Danny makes a move for a minimum salary guy like Sergio or Taureen Green? What would the cost be?

Any chance DA could pry away Jack, Frye or James Jones if the C's find a creative way to take back D-Miles contract? I could imagine a Kandi-man sign and trade (only this year guaranteed) plus Scal/Gabe being enough, but that is a lot of money for the C's ownership to take on the next couple of seasons...

[BrokenLeftyJumper]

I really can't see it happening. Taking on the D-Miles contract would be an absolute no-go for ownership, IMO. That's almost 10mil per up until 2010 and puts the C's well into luxury tax land, I believe.

I can't see Portland doing a trade right now with the way they are playing either. Jack seems to be a leader on that team, so I kinda doubt he gets dealt. And he is a guy that is probably a better fit playing alongside Roy because he can play off the ball as well as be the PG. Sergio is a guy who seems like he needs the ball to be effective, and I think with Roy just getting better, the ball is going to be in his hands more and more, and Sergio will lose his importance to that team.

Maybe Steve Blake could be expendable on that team. I just don't see anything we could give up to get him.

[UGA Hayes]

I agree they will be an interesting team to watch from a player personnel point. It just isn't feasible to keep all that young talent together, especially when it comes time to start paying these guys.

[GuyClinch]

Any chance that Danny makes a move for a minimum salary guy like Sergio or Taureen Green? What would the cost be?

I doubt it. I think Danny has shifted gears from "high upside - low cost" to "team oriented - low potential" for the most part.. He will of course take a few fliers on guys in the draft but I don't think he will sacrifice any current winning potential to acquire a Sergio..

[threrf23]

I don't know how we'd be able to take back DMiles' contract, though I was in favor of that line of thought in the offseason. It would have to be Scal/TA/Posey I believe...nothing worth bothering with.

I like Sergio, but would the price be right?

[celticfan42487]

I think these guys wouldn't fit in with our "vet" team here. The last thing we need is KG going off on young PGs and beign pissed off that his last chances are beign wasted by "doing young" again.

[cisco]

Taurean Green stinks. He didn't look like he'd be a good NBA player when he was in college, imo, although he still could turn out to be good. The only point guard from that team I would want is Jared Jack (aside from Roy of course) and I doubt Portland wants to deal him.

[Jammer]

The Celtics could use their trade exception to accept Sergio Rodriguez or Taureen Green without having to send a player back.

The Celtics would probably offer two second round picks for Rodriguez, and one for Green.

But I really don't see either one solving their problem.

Green is not so much a ball handler as he is an Eddie House sized 3 point shooter, without the fast hands that allows Eddie House to get steals and disrupt other players dribbling or handling the ball when they stop their dribble. And House is a MUCH better shooter.

Rodriguez has his moments, but defense is not one of them. Tony Allen is a better defender, and capable of making bigger players when his head is into a game.

I don't see the Celts offering 2 second round picks for Rodriguez. He's not good enough a floor leader / ball handler to warrant giving up 2 second round picks for.

The Celts would probably stick with Pruitt as the 3rd string point guard over Rodriguez and Green.

[PopAGat]

The Celts should get Darius Miles. Seriously. I think he'd be an effective player playing alongside Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Sergio would be a nice addition also.