Post#63 » by Havlicek17 » Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:39 pm
The Celtics organization has been paying luxury tax, but not to the extreme you are suggesting. In fact, the luxury tax treshold is going down, so all of the long term players salaries ($18-19Mil) you would have to take on, would count as double against the spend. If we keep Ray, he will likely re-sign for $8 to $12 Mil.
So you are saying that not only would we be fortunate enough to land a Joe Johnson - Al Horford deal with Ray and a draft pick or two, but we'd also be willing to eat $14 Mil to $20 Mil a year in additional costs. Oh and Horford is on his rookie deal...
The Celtics have taken advantage of the NBA loan program. Do you really think they are in a position to spend like that? I don't.
That brings me back to my original point. We will not trade Ray. We will use his expiring to sign Rondo and keep the starters intact, then use the bench player expirings and the bench players and draft picks we do have, to upgrade key positions and save $14 Mil to $20 Mil a year versus what you are suggesting.