Celtics General Offseason Thread Pt. 10: Free Agency is in Free Flow

[ZeroTolerance]

I like watching Westbrook play... as long as it's on another team...

He's far too ball dominant and he tends to be streaky too...

[ZeroTolerance]

I feel like Ainge is going to trade Hayward and a pick for Westbrook.

I could talk myself into Kemba thriving off screens and Westbrook turning into a guard Draymond Green with a smaller scoring load, but I really fear we do this.

With Kawhi and Lebron now playing in the West, and with the Kemba trade, I guess Danny will try to make a big trade and give a chance to this team to be a contender this season.

I would not be surprised if a Westbrook trade happens.

Ohh, I think he will be traded...Would think Toronto would take a shot at him maybe?...Washington, without a doubt using Wall's contract and every pick they own..NY Knicks possibly, when they can trade some of the guys they just signed....Wouldn't put it past Sacramento either to try and make a splash?...then the ones mentioned in that article posted above.....there will be lots of seekers trying to land a centerpiece....but not us....

[Froob]

I think Miami would be better off passing and trying to woo Davis outta LA if **** hits the fan.

[MagicBagley18]

The only potential or semi realistic candidate for us in the immediate future to me is Beal. Don’t see ainge wanting Westbrook and don’t think he pivots to Blake.

Not sure we even have the assets to outbid people for Beal.

[BillTheGOAT]

RWB should go to MIA.

Riley will teach him how he can be a winner. Same for Butler.

[Froob]

The only potential or semi realistic candidate for us in the immediate future to me is Beal. Don’t see ainge wanting Westbrook and don’t think he pivots to Blake.

Not sure we even have the assets to outbid people for Beal.

I don’t think you can rule out anything after what we just saw happen, I really think until Davis re-signs, he could leave. Wouldn’t that be delicious..

[Darthlukey]

The only potential or semi realistic candidate for us in the immediate future to me is Beal. Don’t see ainge wanting Westbrook and don’t think he pivots to Blake.

Not sure we even have the assets to outbid people for Beal.

I don’t think you can rule out anything after what we just saw happen, I really think until Davis re-signs, he could leave. Wouldn’t that be delicious..

The Pels would be set for the next 15 years

[robdog_5]

I feel like If Presti doesn't want a reboot he can put something together to try to get Beal. Schroder and Patterson and a few of those Clipper picks gets it done

They'd have

RWB, Beal, Roberson, Gallo, Adams

Bench of
Shai, Ferguson, Diallo, Noel, Grant feel like they signed someone else too.

[robdog_5]

That's a playoff contender in the west. But man that conf is brutal

[aim2please]

Imagine thinking in 2019 that you can build a contender around Westbrook.

[Homerclease]

Celtics need to dump Yabu and bring in JaMychal Green for the final roster spot. Lock up Waters and Tacko on two way deals and roll with it

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

Russell Westbrook on the Celtics is a conversation I don't want to have. Now, or ever.

[aim2please]

Celtics need to dump Yabu and bring in JaMychal Green for the final roster spot. Lock up Waters and Tacko on two way deals and roll with it

C's already agreed on a two-way deal with Max Strus. No idea why though. Waters is a lock to get the other one. So that leaves Tacko in a weird spot. Do C's love him that much that they're willing to eat Yabu's deal for him? Or maybe there's a deal that opens a roster spot.

[Homerclease]

Celtics need to dump Yabu and bring in JaMychal Green for the final roster spot. Lock up Waters and Tacko on two way deals and roll with it

C's already agreed on a two-way deal with Max Strus. No idea why though. Waters is a lock to get the other one. So that leaves Tacko in a weird spot. Do C's love him that much that they're willing to eat Yabu's deal for him? Or maybe there's a deal that opens a roster spot.

They can just release Straus from his two way at any time correct? They did that with Walt Lemon last year to bring back RJ Hunter

[djFan71]

This is the first off-season where I really haven't liked what Danny did/didn't do. Before I've had nitpicks. This year, I fundamentally disagree with the direction.

We're kinda stuck in the middle. Young team with 2 older conceivable all-stars, 2 possible all stars in the making. 3 at the same position. No real tradeable salary to improve during the season. I didn't want to go the Kemba route, but I understand the thinking. What I don't get is if we went that route, why not prepare to improve the team at the deadline? There were no/low cost ways of manipulating transactions in order to add Trey D Ballast, but we didn't do any of them.

For the first time in the last few years, we're not straddling youth and contention. You can't say we're even fringe contenders. We also aren't really super-flexible to add players, which is usually an Ainge hallmark, since we don't have the salaries to allow it. Plus, you've openly declared that a Smart/Brown backcourt isn't the plan long term - after starting each of them for most of one of the previous 2 seasons. And in order to play all your best players, you have to go very small. The team will be fun to watch, could win more games in the regular season even, but ECF is the absolute ceiling. And, that is best case scenario dependent on seeding.

Our non-Kemba roster (even taking the draft and most of the signings as is) could very conceivably have been:

ETA: Forgot Hayward. Adding him back back in...

Smart/Brown/Tatum/Harkless/Ed Davis
McConnell/Langford/Igoudola/Hayward/RWIII
Edwards/Semi/Williams/Theis/Yabu
2-ways: Waters, Tacko

Cut/dump Yabu to add Poirier if you want.

Plus 2 first found picks from POR and GSW salary dumps. That is based on real trades we could have had the cap space to make, and signings at salary other teams have made.

That lineup let's you focus more on developing Brown/Tatum, but also have solid veterans up front, along with a couple young bigs. You have 2 perfect salary pieces that contenders could want in trades in Harkless at $11M, Iggy at $17M. Theis & Davis at ~$5M as well. You added 2 first round picks. And your ceiling is just as high as the Kemba-based team - if not a little higher. And your cap looks great for next summer even with Brown signing with the expirings coming off (unless you already traded them for another long term piece).

We had a chance to really reload around Brown & Tatum, but we basically punted it for a short-term retool. I'm very happy to be proven wrong here, but I just don't see anything that really set us up for contention this year, or greased the wheels for it in the future

[aim2please]

Celtics need to dump Yabu and bring in JaMychal Green for the final roster spot. Lock up Waters and Tacko on two way deals and roll with it

C's already agreed on a two-way deal with Max Strus. No idea why though. Waters is a lock to get the other one. So that leaves Tacko in a weird spot. Do C's love him that much that they're willing to eat Yabu's deal for him? Or maybe there's a deal that opens a roster spot.

They can just release Straus from his two way at any time correct? They did that with Walt Lemon last year to bring back RJ Hunter

Yes, but Lemon was waived late November/early December, not after a couple of practices.

[Homerclease]

This is the first off-season where I really haven't liked what Danny did/didn't do. Before I've had nitpicks. This year, I fundamentally disagree with the direction.

We're kinda stuck in the middle. Young team with 2 older conceivable all-stars, 2 possible all stars in the making. 3 at the same position. No real tradeable salary to improve during the season. I didn't want to go the Kemba route, but I understand the thinking. What I don't get is if we went that route, why not prepare to improve the team at the deadline? There were no/low cost ways of manipulating transactions in order to add Trey D Ballast, but we didn't do any of them.

For the first time in the last few years, we're not straddling youth and contention. You can't say we're even fringe contenders. We also aren't really super-flexible to add players, which is usually an Ainge hallmark, since we don't have the salaries to allow it. Plus, you've openly declared that a Smart/Brown backcourt isn't the plan long term - after starting each of them for most of one of the previous 2 seasons. And in order to play all your best players, you have to go very small. The team will be fun to watch, could win more games in the regular season even, but ECF is the absolute ceiling. And, that is best case scenario dependent on seeding.

Our non-Kemba roster (even taking the draft and most of the signings as is) could very conceivably have been:

Smart/Brown/Tatum/Harkless/Ed Davis
McConnell/Langford/Igoudola/Williams/RWIII
Edwards/Semi/Theis/Poirier/Yabu
2-ways: Waters, Tacko

Plus 2 first found picks from POR and GSW salary dumps. That is based on real trades we could have had the cap space to make, and signings at salary other teams have made.

That lineup let's you focus more on developing Brown/Tatum, but also have solid veterans up front, along with a couple young bigs. You have 2 perfect salary pieces that contenders could want in trades in Harkless at $11M, Iggy at $17M. Theis & Davis at ~$5M as well. You added 2 first round picks. And your ceiling is just as high as the Kemba-based team - if not a little higher. And your cap looks great for next summer even with Brown signing with the expirings coming off (unless you already traded them for another long term piece).

We had a chance to really reload around Brown & Tatum, but we basically punted it for a short-term retool. I'm very happy to be proven wrong here, but I just don't see anything that really set us up for contention this year, or greased the wheels for it in the future.

Horford leaving made them shift gears, they had to use the space or lose the space now. Brown and Tatum will be due to get paid coming up, not to mention next years free agent class is quite poor. There’s also the desire to stay within striking distance in case another star shakes loose to pair with Kemba. Memphis pick + Brown or Tatum is still a quality haul in a star package.

[Homerclease]

C's already agreed on a two-way deal with Max Strus. No idea why though. Waters is a lock to get the other one. So that leaves Tacko in a weird spot. Do C's love him that much that they're willing to eat Yabu's deal for him? Or maybe there's a deal that opens a roster spot.

They can just release Straus from his two way at any time correct? They did that with Walt Lemon last year to bring back RJ Hunter

Yes, but Lemon was waived late November/early December, not after a couple of practices.

True, but Tacko is basically Pandora’s box and Straus is dinged up. Nobody is going to fault them for switching gears

[Zeroforwinger]

The only potential or semi realistic candidate for us in the immediate future to me is Beal. Don’t see ainge wanting Westbrook and don’t think he pivots to Blake.

Not sure we even have the assets to outbid people for Beal.

I don’t think you can rule out anything after what we just saw happen, I really think until Davis re-signs, he could leave. Wouldn’t that be delicious..

What if it were the ultimate insider job and AD goes back to NO next year? Just completely bury the Lakers for 10 years

[djFan71]

Spoiler:

This is the first off-season where I really haven't liked what Danny did/didn't do. Before I've had nitpicks. This year, I fundamentally disagree with the direction.

We're kinda stuck in the middle. Young team with 2 older conceivable all-stars, 2 possible all stars in the making. 3 at the same position. No real tradeable salary to improve during the season. I didn't want to go the Kemba route, but I understand the thinking. What I don't get is if we went that route, why not prepare to improve the team at the deadline? There were no/low cost ways of manipulating transactions in order to add Trey D Ballast, but we didn't do any of them.

For the first time in the last few years, we're not straddling youth and contention. You can't say we're even fringe contenders. We also aren't really super-flexible to add players, which is usually an Ainge hallmark, since we don't have the salaries to allow it. Plus, you've openly declared that a Smart/Brown backcourt isn't the plan long term - after starting each of them for most of one of the previous 2 seasons. And in order to play all your best players, you have to go very small. The team will be fun to watch, could win more games in the regular season even, but ECF is the absolute ceiling. And, that is best case scenario dependent on seeding.

Our non-Kemba roster (even taking the draft and most of the signings as is) could very conceivably have been:

Smart/Brown/Tatum/Harkless/Ed Davis
McConnell/Langford/Igoudola/Williams/RWIII
Edwards/Semi/Theis/Poirier/Yabu
2-ways: Waters, Tacko

Plus 2 first found picks from POR and GSW salary dumps. That is based on real trades we could have had the cap space to make, and signings at salary other teams have made.

That lineup let's you focus more on developing Brown/Tatum, but also have solid veterans up front, along with a couple young bigs. You have 2 perfect salary pieces that contenders could want in trades in Harkless at $11M, Iggy at $17M. Theis & Davis at ~$5M as well. You added 2 first round picks. And your ceiling is just as high as the Kemba-based team - if not a little higher. And your cap looks great for next summer even with Brown signing with the expirings coming off (unless you already traded them for another long term piece).

We had a chance to really reload around Brown & Tatum, but we basically punted it for a short-term retool. I'm very happy to be proven wrong here, but I just don't see anything that really set us up for contention this year, or greased the wheels for it in the future.

Horford leaving made them shift gears, they had to use the space or lose the space now. Brown and Tatum will be due to get paid coming up, not to mention next years free agent class is quite poor. There’s also the desire to stay within striking distance in case another star shakes loose to pair with Kemba. Memphis pick + Brown or Tatum is still a quality haul in a star package.

I get all that, everything I said is after Horford decided to leave. Problem is MEM pick & Brown or Tatum isn't near enough salary. You need to also include Smart and other people. That's why not getting ballast is so important.