Trade/Free Agency Thread, whose NINE is it anyways?? 2023-24

[Hal14]

Diallo in the lab, working on his shooting:

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?s=20

The shot looks good!

How about we look at some film?

Watch on YouTube

Impressive. Love the hustle, energy and defense
Steals, blocks, hustling for loose balls, deflections
Wreaking havoc on D. Bringing energy on both ends of the floor

Speaking of defense and hustling for loose balls:

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?s=20

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?s=20

Wouldn't hate it if we signed him to the minimum.

[31to6]

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Be our 16th man!

I mean, Brad said he was looking for a 4/3 type of guy.

At least bring him in for a workout to get a better idea of how much he has left in the tank.

I feel like he might be washed at this point, though.

Yeah, he's washed.

Stonewashed even!

Must… post… and relive …. this glory

Watch on YouTube

[165bows]

As it stands, the 9-man rotation plus Wash and Banton already looks very solid for the regular season.

White, Brogs, and PP
JT, JB, and Hauser
KP, Al, and Rob

Walsh and Banton

Cs can make changes later in the season.

Why not give Walsh and Banton some playing time early in the season?

Brissett going to play good bit more than those two I’ll wager.

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

Hopefully Vin doesn't teach him the joys of alcohol...

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[zoyathedestroya]

Why I don’t subscribe to the notion that our recent ECF losses can be reduced to variance or shooting luck. Unless people were expecting Cs were going to have all blowout wins. We had real issues unrelated to shooting variance.

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Even if you think offensive execution down the stretch was fine (it wasn’t) and we were just “unlucky” on the open shots in the clutch, well why did it bleed into our defense and couldn’t stop Miami from scoring?

[zoyathedestroya]

Mannix is the man. I listen to these guys now lol.

Watch on YouTube

[Fierce1]

As it stands, the 9-man rotation plus Wash and Banton already looks very solid for the regular season.

White, Brogs, and PP
JT, JB, and Hauser
KP, Al, and Rob

Walsh and Banton

Cs can make changes later in the season.

Why not give Walsh and Banton some playing time early in the season?

Brissett going to play good bit more than those two I’ll wager.

Yeah, I think Brissett will be the 10th or 11th man because he's the more proven player at this point in time.

But giving Walsh and Banton the opportunity to play early in the season could be beneficial for the Cs down the road.

[sam_I_am]

Mannix is the man. I listen to these guys now lol.

Watch on YouTube

If JB doesn’t sign ….. I’d be concerned about JB. He is the one who loses. Even as an expiring, Celtics can get some value for him in a trade and then they lose less to CBA. Better for Cs if he extends but he has a lot more to lose.

[ddb]

Diallo in the lab, working on his shooting:

Read on Twitter

?s=20

The shot looks good!

How about we look at some film?

Watch on YouTube

Impressive. Love the hustle, energy and defense
Steals, blocks, hustling for loose balls, deflections
Wreaking havoc on D. Bringing energy on both ends of the floor

Speaking of defense and hustling for loose balls:

Read on Twitter

?s=20

Read on Twitter

?s=20

Wouldn't hate it if we signed him to the minimum.

Diallo is a solid defensive wing. Great athlete. 6'5. More of a SG, but he can't shoot. He's essentially Javonte Green with a green light, which on the Celtics wouldn't be a good thing due the fact that there wouldn't be consistent minutes for him.

I'd rather bring back Javonte because of his familiarity to the team & city, and his friendship with Tatum. Plus, Javonte has turned himself into a respectable 3pt shooter, 37% last season. The other big reason why I'd prefer Javonte is because he's proven already that he can come in cold and find ways to contribute such as diving for loose balls, grabbing weak side offensive rebounds, and the occasional momentum turning dunk.

I'd really like Javonte back the more I think about it.

[zoyathedestroya]

Mannix is the man. I listen to these guys now lol.

Watch on YouTube

If JB doesn’t sign ….. I’d be concerned about JB. He is the one who loses. Even as an expiring, Celtics can get some value for him in a trade and then they lose less to CBA. Better for Cs if he extends but he has a lot more to lose.

Tbf, I haven’t seen anyone who’s said he’s unwilling or isn’t going to sign the supermax (which according to some has been offered already in some form). It is unusual though that it’s taken this long. My best guess is Stevens has other things in the pipeline (maybe Brogdon trade) that would affect the $$ this season and next couple so maybe he’s asked JB to hold off or has presented him different options.

If it’s the full supermax (not incentive-based), then I don’t know what else there is to negotiate other than the player option on the 5th year. Trade kicker won’t matter cos he’s already at the max.

[ddb]

Mannix is the man. I listen to these guys now lol.

Watch on YouTube

If JB doesn’t sign ….. I’d be concerned about JB. He is the one who loses. Even as an expiring, Celtics can get some value for him in a trade and then they lose less to CBA. Better for Cs if he extends but he has a lot more to lose.

I don't think there's anything for us to be concerned about here. If JB extends, fine. It'll likely be an extension with some creative tweaks. The Celtics aren't stupid. Or, if negotiations go sideways, there will be plenty of good trade options on the table for Brad.

26.6/6.9/3.5 at 26 years old doesn't grow on trees. We can tear him down all we want because of the massive contract he's likely to receive, but at the end of the day he's an All-NBA caliber player entering his prime. There are 29 teams that would love to have a player like JB.

I'm fine either way.

[Curmudgeon]

There are 29 teams that would love to have a player like JB.

Then he ought to fetch good value in a trade.

[Hal14]

Why I don’t subscribe to the notion that our recent ECF losses can be reduced to variance or shooting luck. Unless people were expecting Cs were going to have all blowout wins. We had real issues unrelated to shooting variance.

Read on Twitter

Even if you think offensive execution down the stretch was fine (it wasn’t) and we were just “unlucky” on the open shots in the clutch, well why did it bleed into our defense and couldn’t stop Miami from scoring?

We've had issues during clutch time over the past few years.

And in the MIami series this year, MIA got crazy lucky shooting, while we had crazy unlucky shooting (plus we had unlucky injuries).

They can both be true. Especially since some of that shooting variance took place during clutch time situations.

Hopefully the Smart for KP swap will help. Hopefully the assistant coach additions will help. Hopefully the Jays being age 26 and 27 during our next playoff run will help (they were younger in those other playoff runs. They were only 22 and 23 in the bubble..). Hopefully Mazzulla being a 2nd year HS instead of a rookie HC will help. And hopefully our shooting (and injury) luck won't be as horrible this time around.

With that being said, this (clutch time struggles, especially in the playoffs) is one reason why I have been in favor if swapping JB for someone like Dame or Trae - both have proven (at least based on the eye test) to be much better in the clutch than JB..

[ddb]

Mannix is the man. I listen to these guys now lol.

Watch on YouTube

If JB doesn’t sign ….. I’d be concerned about JB. He is the one who loses. Even as an expiring, Celtics can get some value for him in a trade and then they lose less to CBA. Better for Cs if he extends but he has a lot more to lose.

Tbf, I haven’t seen anyone who’s said he’s unwilling or isn’t going to sign the supermax (which according to some has been offered already in some form). It is unusual though that it’s taken this long. My best guess is Stevens has other things in the pipeline (maybe Brogdon trade) that would affect the $$ this season and next couple so maybe he’s asked JB to hold off or has presented him different options.

If it’s the full supermax (not incentive-based), then I don’t know what else there is to negotiate other than the player option on the 5th year. Trade kicker won’t matter cos he’s already at the max.

I'd like to comment on the Brogdon piece of this. I went through every single team in the league and had a really difficult time finding Brogdon trades that would be good for the Celtics. 6th Man of the year. Solid veteran. If our second unit starts with Brogdon & Al that's a heck of a start to the bench unit.
Out of all the teams, the Clippers & Bulls were the teams that I kept going back to.

Because of the 2nd apron, the Clippers would have to send out Mann, Covington OR Batum AND Preston to make the $$ work for Brogdon. Would they do that? And would Boston do that? For Boston you HAVE to get Mann back. Otherwise, it's a no.

Chicago has guards. But none as good as Brogdon. To make the money work it would have to be something along the lines of Brogdon/Hauser for Caruso/PWilliams. Would the Bulls deal Patrick Williams this early in his career? He's still only 21 and shot it 41% from 3 last season. And Caruso is a topflight perimeter defender. Chicago probably doesn't do this deal unless Boston got creative and added the Golden State 1st they just acquired. Maybe multiple 1st rd picks. Brogdon/Hauser/two 1st for Caruso and Williams I would seriously consider. But then Boston is giving up assets they may want to hang on to for a "seismic" trade down the line. Tough call.
Bulls could be interesting with a Brogdon-Lavine-DDR-Craig-Vuc lineup. Boston would go White-JB-JT-KP-Timelord with Caruso-Pritchard-Brissett-Williams-Horford bench. Pretty interesting lineups for both teams, but I have a feeling both teams would shy away from this idea.

Other than that, any ideas? There's not much out there. The Spurs could put something together around Tre Jones & McDermott for Brogdon. Although, I'm not sure if Brogdon makes sense for them unless they want a veteran PG to help mentor their young talent.

So, with all that said it may just make more sense to keep Brogdon for now.

[ddb]

There are 29 teams that would love to have a player like JB.

Then he ought to fetch good value in a trade.

It would have to be to an organization that felt really confident JB would re-sign next summer. As we've seen in the past, teams are willing to take that risk for a player of JB's caliber.

[zoyathedestroya]

Why I don’t subscribe to the notion that our recent ECF losses can be reduced to variance or shooting luck. Unless people were expecting Cs were going to have all blowout wins. We had real issues unrelated to shooting variance.

Read on Twitter

Even if you think offensive execution down the stretch was fine (it wasn’t) and we were just “unlucky” on the open shots in the clutch, well why did it bleed into our defense and couldn’t stop Miami from scoring?

We've had issues during clutch time over the past few years.

And in the MIami series this year, MIA got crazy lucky shooting, while we had crazy unlucky shooting (plus we had unlucky injuries).

They can both be true. Especially since some of that shooting variance took place during clutch time situations.

Hopefully the Smart for KP swap will help. Hopefully the assistant coach additions will help. Hopefully the Jays being age 26 and 27 during our next playoff run will help (they were younger in those other playoff runs. They were only 22 and 23 in the bubble..). Hopefully Mazzulla being a 2nd year HS instead of a rookie HC will help. And hopefully our shooting (and injury) luck won't be as horrible this time around.

With that being said, this (clutch time struggles, especially in the playoffs) is one reason why I have been in favor if swapping JB for someone like Dame or Trae - both have proven (at least based on the eye test) to be much better in the clutch than JB..

I hated the framing that it's merely "make or miss". We had issues that needed addressing especially in those first three games. We could've won game 2 for example regardless of shooting luck disparity if we executed better down the stretch (some of it was iffy coaching decisions tbh). Some of the issues have plagued the same core in the postseason for years under a different coach/system.

[Bill Lumbergh]

As it stands, the 9-man rotation plus Wash and Banton already looks very solid for the regular season.

White, Brogs, and PP
JT, JB, and Hauser
KP, Al, and Rob

Walsh and Banton

Cs can make changes later in the season.

Why not give Walsh and Banton some playing time early in the season?

I know I'm in the minority here, but I'm just not sold on Hauser being a good rotation player. I'd feel more comfortable with an upgrade at backup swing. Probably won't happen, but a guy can hope.

[ddb]

As it stands, the 9-man rotation plus Wash and Banton already looks very solid for the regular season.

White, Brogs, and PP
JT, JB, and Hauser
KP, Al, and Rob

Walsh and Banton

Cs can make changes later in the season.

Why not give Walsh and Banton some playing time early in the season?

I know I'm in the minority here, but I'm just not sold on Hauser being a good rotation player. I'd feel more comfortable with an upgrade at backup swing. Probably won't happen, but a guy can hope.

You might be right. But then again, Hauser at 6'8 has an elite NBA skill and at least tries on the defensive end. He could be a really solid rotation player too. Time will tell. Or he could lose all his time to Brissett and/or Walsh.

[165bows]

If JB doesn’t sign ….. I’d be concerned about JB. He is the one who loses. Even as an expiring, Celtics can get some value for him in a trade and then they lose less to CBA. Better for Cs if he extends but he has a lot more to lose.

Tbf, I haven’t seen anyone who’s said he’s unwilling or isn’t going to sign the supermax (which according to some has been offered already in some form). It is unusual though that it’s taken this long. My best guess is Stevens has other things in the pipeline (maybe Brogdon trade) that would affect the $$ this season and next couple so maybe he’s asked JB to hold off or has presented him different options.

If it’s the full supermax (not incentive-based), then I don’t know what else there is to negotiate other than the player option on the 5th year. Trade kicker won’t matter cos he’s already at the max.

I'd like to comment on the Brogdon piece of this. I went through every single team in the league and had a really difficult time finding Brogdon trades that would be good for the Celtics. 6th Man of the year. Solid veteran. If our second unit starts with Brogdon & Al that's a heck of a start to the bench unit.
Out of all the teams, the Clippers & Bulls were the teams that I kept going back to.

Because of the 2nd apron, the Clippers would have to send out Mann, Covington OR Batum AND Preston to make the $$ work for Brogdon. Would they do that? And would Boston do that? For Boston you HAVE to get Mann back. Otherwise, it's a no.

Chicago has guards. But none as good as Brogdon. To make the money work it would have to be something along the lines of Brogdon/Hauser for Caruso/PWilliams. Would the Bulls deal Patrick Williams this early in his career? He's still only 21 and shot it 41% from 3 last season. And Caruso is a topflight perimeter defender. Chicago probably doesn't do this deal unless Boston got creative and added the Golden State 1st they just acquired. Maybe multiple 1st rd picks. Brogdon/Hauser/two 1st for Caruso and Williams I would seriously consider. But then Boston is giving up assets they may want to hang on to for a "seismic" trade down the line. Tough call.
Bulls could be interesting with a Brogdon-Lavine-DDR-Craig-Vuc lineup. Boston would go White-JB-JT-KP-Timelord with Caruso-Pritchard-Brissett-Williams-Horford bench. Pretty interesting lineups for both teams, but I have a feeling both teams would shy away from this idea.

Other than that, any ideas? There's not much out there. The Spurs could put something together around Tre Jones & McDermott for Brogdon. Although, I'm not sure if Brogdon makes sense for them unless they want a veteran PG to help mentor their young talent.

So, with all that said it may just make more sense to keep Brogdon for now.

Nah, I’ve done the same exercise a few times over but it’s extremely slim pickings. At first it felt like Brogdon was inevitably out the door since the injury and well they practically traded him once. But there just isn’t a good fit. And imo he does fit well here he’s just injury prone.

I also settled on Chicago as a top option and had a complicated deal with Brogdon and other pieces for DDR/Caruso. Pretty much too tough to pull off though because of the restrictive salary rules so it’s just not realistic at this point.

I did like the White/Brown/Tatum/Al/Zinger starters with DDR/Caruso/Rob on the bench with a few other guys behind them. Really tough and deep team but wondering if maybe they just make some minors moves instead.

[Bill Lumbergh]

As it stands, the 9-man rotation plus Wash and Banton already looks very solid for the regular season.

White, Brogs, and PP
JT, JB, and Hauser
KP, Al, and Rob

Walsh and Banton

Cs can make changes later in the season.

Why not give Walsh and Banton some playing time early in the season?

I know I'm in the minority here, but I'm just not sold on Hauser being a good rotation player. I'd feel more comfortable with an upgrade at backup swing. Probably won't happen, but a guy can hope.

You might be right. But then again, Hauser at 6'8 has an elite NBA skill and at least tries on the defensive end. He could be a really solid rotation player too. Time will tell. Or he could lose all his time to Brissett and/or Walsh.

I'm very high on Walsh and his tools. Seems to have a great attitude and is seemingly a really hard worker. He might not replace Hauser this year, but seems like a fair possibility to do so the year after. Of course, I'm basing that thought on his summer league performance, so, giant grain of salt.