Wojnarowski on weei

[BfB]

Players can't renegotiate contracts, thats only in the last CBA

Not true. They can now renegotiate as part of an extension, provided that their salary is not reduced by more than 40%.

Larry Coon's site does not yet cover the new CBA, but sourcing can be found here:

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/73294 ... -agreement

I could spell out the scenarios with Pierce, relative to keeping him and resigning in two years, renegotiating downwards in an extension this summer or waiving him next summer and him chasing an MLE, but the bottom line is that the money would be about the same for him (i.e. he will make about $35m during the rest of his career no matter what he does). The renegotiating allows him to do it in Boston with a team that has $30-34m in cap room this summer, however.

That's extremely interesting.

I was already expecting Boston to offer Ray/KG 5 year/10 million dollar contracts, which would be equal to their expected 2 year/10 million offers from contenders with MLE money. If Pierce was extended to increase available money to 34 million, that would really open things up.

I don't care what Woj says, Howard may not be interested in Boston as of now, but as long as he takes a meeting with Boston, they can show him how they are in a better position than both NJ and DAL, which is 100 percent true.

If Boston can offer a Rondo/Green/Howard core with promising role players like Johnson and Bradley, plus a couple more draft picks, that's a solid future plus asset base to work from.

If Howard starts with a base at 18 million, that gives Boston 16 million to spend. Ray/KG take 4 total, and Green gets a 2 year, 12 million. That's 6 million below the cap with trade assets to utilize in S&T scenarios or to retain players like Wilcox and Pietrus, if desired.

Opens up a lot of options.

[Captain_Caveman]

That's extremely interesting.

I was already expecting Boston to offer Ray/KG 5 year/10 million dollar contracts, which would be equal to their expected 2 year/10 million offers from contenders with MLE money. If Pierce was extended to increase available money to 34 million, that would really open things up.

I don't care what Woj says, Howard may not be interested in Boston as of now, but as long as he takes a meeting with Boston, they can show him how they are in a better position than both NJ and DAL, which is 100 percent true.

If Boston can offer a Rondo/Green/Howard core with promising role players like Johnson and Bradley, plus a couple more draft picks, that's a solid future plus asset base to work from.

If Howard starts with a base at 18 million, that gives Boston 16 million to spend. Ray/KG take 4 total, and Green gets a 2 year, 12 million. That's 6 million below the cap with trade assets to utilize in S&T scenarios or to retain players like Wilcox and Pietrus, if desired.

Opens up a lot of options.

Sure does. Of course, if they both hit free agency, which I guess is a given at this point, other teams will be able to employ similar strategies, such as using their amnesty.

Brooklyn has the lead, because it appears to be Howard's preference, and Deron can get a 5th year from them. But I fully expect that it's gonna get real crazy real fast. The Nets, Lakers, Mavs and Knicks will be formidable challengers, but it hardly ends there.

Dallas could trade Dirk to the Nets for Deron and sign Howard outright. Crazy.

A possible advantage we have is being able to surround them with a championship supporting cast from Day One. Here's a best case scenario: if Nets get leveraged by Deron and are willing to take Rondo back over losing Deron for nothing, we could sign Howard outright, have Pierce, Bradley and Johnson under contracts, have the 2 first rounders, and still have about $13m in cap room to resign Ray, KG, Green and/or Bass. Or replace one with Steve Nash on a ring chase. Then you do the Rondo trade before filling out the rest of the roster with vet minimums on guys like Pietrus, Wilcox and Jermaine.

The key to any scenario is that Howard and Deron will have the leverage to force themselves basically anywhere they want to go. If they pick your vision, you win.

Deron/Nash/Bradley
Ray/Pietrus/Doron Lamb or Austin Rivers
Pierce/Green
KG/Johnson/Patric Young
Howard/Jermaine/Wilcox

[jfs1000d]

Celtics just have to get in the room and make a pitch. That's all Boston wants. If Ainge can show direction, the Celtics have a shot at Howard IMO. What more can you ask for.

BTW, this team sorely needs either OJ Mayo or James Harden.

[hiphop1]

If we do trade Pierce I think HOuston is prob the most likely destination.

[EJay33]

Am I the only one not counting on a Jeff Green return? What happened to him sounds pretty serious. Is there any precedent for this in pro sports? Has any athlete ever returned to the pro level after a surgery like the one he had? I'm kind of in the "I'll believe it when I see it" camp with regards to him returning to the NBA and helping the Celtics win basketball games.

[No35]

The day that drama queen Dwight Howard lands in Boston after trading Pierce is the day I stop being a fan.

[Celtsfan1980]

Would a team take Pierce considering how he has played this season? Hopefully this means they'll have a team salary around $30 million next year. At least then Doc will be forced to play the younger players.

[ParticleMan]

The day that drama queen Dwight Howard lands in Boston after trading Pierce is the day I stop being a fan.

i guess you forgot pierce's drama queen moment against Indy (among others)? pierce was no model citizen early in his career. i think it's funny how some fans have the memory of a gnat.

honestly, i think dwight has been fairly professional about this. contrast with laqueen who basically openly quit on his team. i don't think anyone says dwight isn't giving 100%, and this may be overall his best year yet.

i think people are just jumping on him for his "touches" comment. but how different is that from pierce's "i should play more in the 4th quarter".

[EJay33]

I also think this stuff is funny. Dwight Howard is 26 years old. When Pierce was 26 years old, he shot 40.2% from the field, 29.9% from three, but that didn't stop him from attempting nearly 5 per game, and he led the entire NBA in turnovers. He also pulled his socks up to his knees, and refused to run back on D if he didn't get a call so that he could get in a few seconds of complaining.

He didn't get ejected from an elimination playoff game for elbowing Jamaal Tinsley in the face until he was 27 years old.

[Captain_Caveman]

Am I the only one not counting on a Jeff Green return? What happened to him sounds pretty serious. Is there any precedent for this in pro sports? Has any athlete ever returned to the pro level after a surgery like the one he had? I'm kind of in the "I'll believe it when I see it" camp with regards to him returning to the NBA and helping the Celtics win basketball games.

Ronny Turiaf.

Not a doctor, but if it isn't something recurring due to Marfans or whatever, he should be fine by all indications.

[hiphop1]

It was a blood clot in his heart and has sucsessfull been removed its not like a murmur or irregular heart beet or anything.

[spedb]

Kind of shocking that KG and Ray might not fetch even a draft pick.

its not that shocking

kg would be a rental because he's threatened retiring if traded before.... as for ray, its assumed he has the same thought process

is a 1 year rental worth a potential star from the best draft in 2 decades?

[exculpatory]

Would a team take Pierce considering how he has played this season? Hopefully this means they'll have a team salary around $30 million next year. At least then Doc will be forced to play the younger players.

How has he played?

10 games subpar because he was out of shape & injured.
10 games as an All Pro (23-8-8) - earning him his 10th ASG selection & carrying the team on his shoulders to a 9-1 record.
5 games where he inexcusably coasted & sucked.
Tonight's game with a 18-4-4-2-1 stat line.

Answer: Hell yes - but Danny isn't making that offer.

[exculpatory]

Am I the only one not counting on a Jeff Green return? What happened to him sounds pretty serious. Is there any precedent for this in pro sports? Has any athlete ever returned to the pro level after a surgery like the one he had? I'm kind of in the "I'll believe it when I see it" camp with regard to him returning to the NBA and helping the Celtics win basketball games.

Rony Turiaf.

Not a doctor, but if it isn't something recurring due to Marfan's syndrome or whatever, he should be fine by all indications.

Well, although I am NOT a cardiologist or a cardiothoracic surgeon, I am a Professor of Medicine, & a reasonably well rounded internist (as well as an endocrinologist). And I can speak to this issue "a bit".

Caveman's comment is very astute, & Godmoney's concern is absolutely valid. My compliments.

Absent the presence of an underlying connective tissue disease like Marfan's syndrome or Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, otherwise healthy young people diagnosed with thoracic aortic aneurysms which are then successfully resected & replaced with aortic grafts "should have" a good prognosis. I believe this was the case with Rony Turiaf who successfully returned to the NBA. Jeff also had an aortic aneurysm which was resected & replaced by an aortic graft at the world renowned Cleveland Clinic. I have no idea if he has an underlying connective tissue disease such as Marfan's syndrome or EDS, but I am certain an appropriate evaluation has been performed. I cannot imagine that he will be allowed to
resume a career in the NBA unless he has been cleared to the hilt by his CV surgeon, his cardiologist &
his rheumatologist. I defer COMPLETELY to the expertise of these particular specialists.

PS When the Jeff Green diagnosis was made, I posted quite a bit about many of the various
cardiovascular diseases which can afflict young athletes with potentially disastrous consequences if not diagnosed & properly treated - if either of you gentlemen are interested.

[EJay33]

Obviously Jeff Green's health and ability to live a normal healthy life are most important here, but from a basketball perspective I feel like this really limits his upside. Jeff Green is a 25 year old highly inefficient player who has trouble asserting himself. Taking an entire year off from not only basketball, but from training as a pro athlete does can't be good from either the standpoint of learning how to be a winning basketball player or improving physically and athletically. To go under the knife and miss a season of basketball just doesn't improve the outlook for an already questionable prospect. I'm hoping for the best, but Green is still a player that needs to take 2 or 3 steps forward before he is a valuable rotation player in the NBA.

Making matters worse for Green's future as a Celtic - He desperately needs to play small forward in the NBA. He can't handle NBA 4s. The Celtics as we are all seeing have such pathetic big men that he'd almost assuredly continue to see minutes at the 4 pretty much out of necessity. Green at PF
can't defend or rebound and his shooting isn't good enough to make him a worthwhile stretch 4.

I don't see him as a great fit on this team unless Ainge drastically reconfigures the roster. With no center currently on the roster and with KG most likely retiring, the Celtics will probably need a starting PF and a starting C and I don't see how that is accomplished in one off-season so that Green can play where he is best suited at the 3. So, it'll probably be another frustrating season from Green unless he goes elsewhere and/or until Ainge configures a roster that will allow him to succeed.

[exculpatory]

Obviously Jeff Green's health and ability to live a normal healthy life are most important here, but from a basketball perspective I feel like this really limits his upside. Jeff Green is a 25 year old highly inefficient player who has trouble asserting himself. Taking an entire year off from not only basketball, but from training as a pro athlete does can't be good from either the standpoint of learning how to be a winning basketball player or improving physically and athletically. To go under the knife and miss a season of basketball just doesn't improve the outlook for an already questionable prospect. I'm hoping for the best, but Green is still a player that needs to take 2 or 3 steps forward before he is a valuable rotation player in the NBA.

Making matters worse for Green's future as a Celtic - He desperately needs to play small forward in the NBA. He can't handle NBA 4s. The Celtics as we are all seeing have such pathetic big men that he'd almost assuredly continue to see minutes at the 4 pretty much out of necessity. Green at PF
can't defend or rebound and his shooting isn't good enough to make him a worthwhile stretch 4.

I don't see him as a great fit on this team unless Ainge drastically reconfigures the roster. With no
center currently on the roster and with KG most likely retiring, the Celtics will probably need a starting PF and a starting C and I don't see how that is accomplished in one off-season so that Green can play where he is best suited at the 3. So, it'll probably be another frustrating season from Green unless he goes elsewhere and/or until Ainge configures a roster that will allow him to succeed.

God,

I agree with your bball analysis of JG.

Was the medical info of value to you?

I brought this up before & I will say it again. I would like to know if he does have an underlying CTD like Marfan's or EDS. If he does (which I suspect), he is at risk for other problems even if the graft surgery was entirely successful (which I certainly hope was the case for his sake).

BTW, Abraham Lincoln either had Marfan's syndrome or was "Marfanoid" due to a rare genetic endocrine syndrome called Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia (MEN) Type 2B. I am not sure which. I was going to research this, but I have not had the time.

Ex

[EJay33]

Yes Ex, thanks for this. I also would not be surprised at all to learn that Green has an underlying condition that puts him at risk for future problems. It seems like it'd be too convenient if this were an isolated issue and not part of a larger problem. I am just speculating as is everyone, but for this reason I'm not expecting anything from Green moving forward and I think people are setting themselves up for disappointment if they're expecting him to return to the Celtics and play like a vet. Hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised down the road.

[Collinto]

It's not necessary to review medical tests to know that Green isn't making a big impact next year, the eyeball test was sufficient.