Trade/Free Agency Thread, part Ocho, 2023-24

[Larry_Russell]

The Athletic beat writers for the Celtics don't have any scoops, like ever. It's always Himmelsbach that's got the goods.

And it’s never any good

Brad's front office is tighter than Danny's.

thats cause they make it up as the go.

[zoyathedestroya]

Dame and his agent and the media is really pushing the whole Dame to Miami thing.

Its **** anoying.


Part of me is starting to hope he goes there and after gutting the team for him and they fail bigtime.

Yeah his agent is doing a great job scaring off any teams. I think this is a bad look for the NBA honestly if he goes to Miami.

terrible look.


It has been getting worse and worse

Crucial next two years for the Cs. You can't convince me Tatum won't consider same route these superstars are taking if he doesn't win a title soon. What's stopping him from asking out in 2025 once he's signed his supermax extension next offseason?

[Drax]

I think people are underestimating how getting rid of Smart could be a net positive for the team specifically because it cements White as basically the top guy in that position. Touches that would have gone to Smart will go to White instead, and that's a huge win in my book.

Not just in your book, i actually hope White becomes the #2 option on this team behind Tatum. Derrick is just a super smart player and makes good things happen.

[Riverwalk2021]

White is on one of the best contracts in the NBA now. You could easily flip him for two firsts, seconds, and a rotational player. Every contender would be interested because he's plug-and-play.

[JaMarco]

Is Brown traded yet?

[ajones9219]

We better pray that Tingus is healthy, otherwise we are royaly fuc ked

We acting like Dame doesn't miss games. zinger played more than him last year. Dame averages 55 games a season the past 4 years.

[zoyathedestroya]

He could be my favorite non-Cs player very very soon (apart from Jok).

Read on Twitter

[Celtsfan4life18]

.......

[jonige94]

We better pray that Tingus is healthy, otherwise we are royaly fuc ked

We acting like Dame doesn't miss games. zinger played more than him last year. Dame averages 55 games a season the past 4 years.

Portland tanked, hence why he played less.

[ajones9219]

We better pray that Tingus is healthy, otherwise we are royaly fuc ked

We acting like Dame doesn't miss games. zinger played more than him last year. Dame averages 55 games a season the past 4 years.

Portland tanked, hence why he played less.

And zinger got shut down for the last 7 games to tank. Dame also played 29 games the year before due to injury. This isn't a new thing. He gets hurt a lot. I'd trade for him anyway but it's a known issue

[JaMarco]

Even if Cs can't get Dame, not trying at all makes no sense.

[pac213up]

Is Brown traded yet?

Not even on the table until next year.

[steefP2]

Maybe next time we can all agree to ignore ddb bull “informer”. Last time this man had any sauces was 15 years ago

[Bar Fight]

Watch on YouTube

;ab_channel=ESPN

Stephen A emphatically says Dame wants no part of Boston....about 20 times lol

[zoyathedestroya]

Read on Twitter

Fair.

[Larry_Russell]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Derrick White and Jayson Tatum are **** bargains. I guess that allows us to overpay JB lol.

I think people are underestimating how getting rid of Smart could be a net positive for the team specifically because it cements White as basically the top guy in that position. Touches that would have gone to Smart will go to White instead, and that's a huge win in my book.

That is broken logic. It doesnt work like that.


Last season: fgas
Smart - 9.9
Grant - 6

KP 15.7


Shots that Marcus and Grant took will be going to KP.
You think White is going to be taking 18 shots a game now?



He MIGHT get 1 more shot....maybe on a good day, 2.


Team took 88.8 fga last season
Lost 15.9 fga in notable players
Gained 15.7 in notable addition


There is no more shots, unless Jaylen and Tatum give up touches. Or Brogdon gives up 11 per game, or horford his 7.


Alsoi I would not be the least bit surpriced to see team FGA and PACE drop this season with Smart and Grant out. Our defense has taken a pretty big hit, I think other teams score more now as we will not have a top 5 defense. Less stops means less runouts.

[Larry_Russell]

I think people are underestimating how getting rid of Smart could be a net positive for the team specifically because it cements White as basically the top guy in that position. Touches that would have gone to Smart will go to White instead, and that's a huge win in my book.

Not just in your book, i actually hope White becomes the #2 option on this team behind Tatum. Derrick is just a super smart player and makes good things happen.

I am all for White taking usage and shots away from Brown.

[ajones9219]

Watch on YouTube

;ab_channel=ESPN

Stephen A emphatically says Dame wants no part of Boston....about 20 times lol

My guy we know this. People like myself suggesting we trade for him don't care and want to get him anyway

[GoGreen]

If Dame doesn't want to come to the place that gives him the best chance to win maybe we shouldn't want him here either?

[keevsnick1]

Reading between the lines with some of the stuff that has happened (we came up short in the finals in 2022, came up short of getting to the finals in 2023. 5 trips to the ECF now for JB and Smart together, 0 rings) then Smart gets moved, Grant gets moved, no extension yet for JB, Tatum recruiting Lillard.

Reading between the lines, it seems like perhaps there was a meeting with Tatum, Brad (and maybe others were there too like Wyc and Mazzulla) that this team, this group had run its course. That the Tatum/Brown/Smart core is unlikely to win a title together. That it's for the best to move Smart for someone like KP (Smart is probably not good enough to be the 3rd guy on a championship team - but KP probably is). Tatum and JB are too redundant, too much overlap, they play same position basically, they're both high scoring, high usage wings who are not elite defenders, not elite playmakers, it's not a recipe for winning a title. No team in the last 22 years has won a title with 2 high usage (30% or higher), low assist (under 25%) guys.

Perhaps Brad realized all of this, met with Tatum..then flips Smart for KP, flips JB for Dame and flips Grant (to save some $ since KP makes much more $ than Smart and Dame makes much more $ this season than JB)..and because Grant is just not that good lol.

Ya that's one read. You can also very easily read all of this a completely different way. Maybe they think trading Smart for a 7'2 shooting center option gives you the perfect PnR partner for two wing sized guys and gives your offense an actual identity. That combining Smart and Grant into one salary making 28.5 million in 24-25 actually makes it easier to carry Jaylen's extension that year. That stocking up on draft picks makes it easier to dump salary in future years if they want to keep Jaylen/Tatum/KP together while also giving them multiple shots at cheap cost controlled young guys to fill out the roster. And that maybe the Jaylen negotiations haven't wrapped up yet not because they are trading him but because they want to try an find a salary structure that works for both him and the team going forward and gives them a better chance of staying together.

The idea that Jaylen and JB are not a recipe for winning a title is just crazy to me, because they were like 5 minutes in game 4 of the 2022 NBA finals away from going up 3-1 and winning a title. They were some absolutely insanely bad shooting luck away from back-to-back finals trips this year. Those two together absolutely can win a title. My guess is the Celtics are going to do everything they can the next two years to try and win with those two, and if it doesn't work Jaylen gets traded in summer 25' the year before Celtics enter the repeater Tax and both Tatum and Browns extensions would be in effect.

But Tatum and Brown didn't win the title. All of this we were 5 minutes away from going up 3-1 stuff is all woulda coulda shoulda.

We didn't finish off game 4. And even if we did, there's no guarantee we would have won the series. We were facing a team with the greatest shooter of all time, a team with WAY more NBA finals experience than us - they were a group of players (and HC) that had already won 3 titles together.

We lost 3 games in a row to lose the series to GS. Just like we lost 3 games in a row this season to Miami. Those are facts.

No team in the last 22 years has won a title with 2 high usage (30% or higher), low assist (under 25%) guys on it. None, zilch, nada.

This season, JB was 66th in the league in BPM. He was 97th in Box Score RAPTOR, 76th in Overall RAPTOR, 181st in on/off RAPTOR.

In this year's playoffs, JB was 33rd in on/off RAPTOR, behind Tatum, Brogdon, Horford, Rob and Smart.

His best season ever, in 21-22 he was still only 29th in the league in Overall RAPTOR.

JB is probably not going to be the #2 best player on a championship team. He's definitely not worth a supermax $60 mil a year contract.

So? Neither did Giannis/Middleton until they did. Or Jokic/Murray until they did. Winning a title is hard, 1 team does it per year, the Celtics have done it once in the last 37 years.

I don't buy the "two high USG low passing guys can't win" That's as much to do with just the sheer rarity of having two over 30% USG guys then it is that combination not working. A lot of years there won't even be a single team with two players over 30% USG. I've posted this before, but the C's with Tatum+Brown on the court have been good, very good, just raw net rating wise. Those two together work.

Brown had a bad advanced stats year last year, he was pretty good the year before that tho by those same stats. I don't really care about them tho tbh, he's good, he adds value, he works with Tatum. If Tatum played in the 22' finals the way he did in the BRK series first round Brown would have been the 2nd best player on a title team, so i'm not sure how the argument can possibly be he can't.

In the end it doesn't really matter what we think. By all accounts they are re-signing Brown, its happening. Ultimately we will see in time if its the right move.