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31to6 wrote:Slartibartfast wrote:Alternate thread titles:
An Affair to ReKemba
Free Aingency
Zoya's Reclaimed Sign & Trade Emporium
We’ve got time — I nominate “An Affair to ReKemba” as thread #7 which I fully expect to launch before 6pm tomorrow.
Other two are awesome as well. Zoya is putting in WORK!
Gant wrote:zoyathedestroya wrote:
BOOM.
Here's the video of Woj making that statement.
This isn’t what the Celtics had planned this offseason.
Not at first. Not even second or third.
But, with Kemba Walker apparently ready to join up, they could still wind up being pretty damn fortunate relative to how bad things could have been.
Considering how the franchise had awaken from its championship dream in a cold sweat this year, it was still the club’s first choice to run it back with one large addition — a 6-foot-10 addition in Anthony Davis. But before they could try to bring The Brow to The Bean, they got ill wind of Kyrie Irving’s imminent departure. That curtailed what the Celts would be willing to offer New Orleans for Davis — his camp’s loud pronouncement that he’d never re-sign here was also a factor — and ultimately allowed the Lakers to complete its drawn out heist of the star.
OK, so Plan 1 to keep Kyrie: gone. Plan 2 to get Davis anyway: gone.
The third idea was to follow through on Al Horford’s desire to refuse the last year on his contract but stay if the Celtics would give him a three-year deal. The sides seemed to be moving in that direction until Horford was surreptitiously informed that he could get a better shake on a team with a better chance to compete for a championship.
So Plan 3: gone.
Left with the opportunity to create a maximum salary slot by the departures of Irving and Horford and a few additional moves, such as trading Aron Baynes, the Celtics then had to hustle to get in the free agent game. They say they had prepared for all offseason eventualities, but it’s probably fair to assume they had studied this one the least.
Would there be anyone seemingly available to them who could step in and bring back even a whiff of the sweet cologne of contendership they were wearing last summer at this time? It certainly didn’t look that way.
And it may still not to some people now. But the Celts have to be feeling lucky that Walker became get-able.
The All-Star point guard of the last three years had wanted to stay in Charlotte, but when the Hornets, who were able to give him a longer deal for more money, didn’t come in with a large enough offer, they invited Walker’s eye to wander. And the Celtics seem to be a very good fit.
Assuming the C’s can complete this pass, it would still leave them well shy on paper to the top teams in the Eastern Conference. Then again, what did “good on paper” get the Celtics this past season?
More moves will still be necessary. There is a very good returning core in Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown, and people around the team are cautiously giddy of what Gordon Hayward could be as he gets further away from his horrible injury and is put with a crew that hopefully is interested in sharing the ball more. But that still leaves a major need for an experienced big person.
As for point guard, Green fingers are crossed that the move to Walker could actually prove to be a positive. While you’d be hard pressed to find anyone that wouldn’t say Kyrie Irving is a better individual talent than Kemba Walker, turning talent into wins comes down to fit. And in this regard it would be hard to argue that Walker won’t be able to surpass what became by the end an unhappy situation for both sides.
One league exec who’s dealt with the Celtics even went as far as to tell the Herald he knows for a fact the club would have been willing to trade Irving for Walker over the past two years. If he’s got it right, it would indicate the Celts knew there were issues with Irving’s approach to leadership and general ability to help cool the fires of young players whose image may have surpassed their actual abilities following the 2018 conference finals run.
Having Walker be able to work with Horford would be ideal, but the salary cap won’t allow that to happen, even if the latter was willing to stay. So now the onus falls on Tatum and Brown — and Danny Ainge. The first two have to show they are capable of being unfailing producers. They cannot occasionally lurk in the shadows of veteran teammates. What they do will be perhaps the most telling barometer on whether the Celtics succeed on a given night.
And if they indeed get to play with Walker, they should have the space to play.
Speaking of space, if the Celts get Kemba to take up all of theirs on the salary cap, it will leave Ainge limited resources to get a big man. Unless he is able to find someone worthy with the $4.7 million exception or pull off some magical trade, the club will be left with a center-by-committee approach that’s far from comforting. It’d be nice if Robert Williams takes a giant step toward matching his obvious skills to the consistency required at this level.
But all that said, the Celts will still be in an interesting position when the dust settles — a position that’s a bit better than perhaps could be expected.
Said one Western Conference source, “You tell me how many teams could have two max contract guys walk with no return and still be looking at a pretty damn good team.”
Fair point, but, of course, “pretty damn good” isn’t the easiest ensuing course to digest after you’ve been fed a year of “championship contender.”
It’s therefore probably best to wait until all the offseason moves are made before planning to judge all the Celtic plans.
One league exec who’s dealt with the Celtics even went as far as to tell the Herald he knows for a fact the club would have been willing to trade Irving for Walker over the past two years. If he’s got it right, it would indicate the Celts knew there were issues with Irving’s approach to leadership and general ability to help cool the fires of young players whose image may have surpassed their actual abilities following the 2018 conference finals run.
31to6 wrote:Do we know how Kemba feels about Thanksgiving yet?
Or where he is on his path as a growing human being making his journey in this world, both individually and with the help and strength of what others can bring to it?
lon3lytoaster wrote:Gant wrote:zoyathedestroya wrote:
BOOM.
Here's the video of Woj making that statement.
The NBA is so weird and inconsistent with tampering rules. Maybe it’s not a big deal because he’s more or less been a free agent since the season ended but like.. how do you float mutual interest (Kemba and the Celtics) without tampering? So weird lol
SmartWentCrazy wrote:Wow, Bulpett basically confirmed its happening too. This is so awesome.
GoCeltics123 wrote:This isn’t what the Celtics had planned this offseason.
Not at first. Not even second or third.
But, with Kemba Walker apparently ready to join up, they could still wind up being pretty damn fortunate relative to how bad things could have been.
Considering how the franchise had awaken from its championship dream in a cold sweat this year, it was still the club’s first choice to run it back with one large addition — a 6-foot-10 addition in Anthony Davis. But before they could try to bring The Brow to The Bean, they got ill wind of Kyrie Irving’s imminent departure. That curtailed what the Celts would be willing to offer New Orleans for Davis — his camp’s loud pronouncement that he’d never re-sign here was also a factor — and ultimately allowed the Lakers to complete its drawn out heist of the star.
OK, so Plan 1 to keep Kyrie: gone. Plan 2 to get Davis anyway: gone.
The third idea was to follow through on Al Horford’s desire to refuse the last year on his contract but stay if the Celtics would give him a three-year deal. The sides seemed to be moving in that direction until Horford was surreptitiously informed that he could get a better shake on a team with a better chance to compete for a championship.
So Plan 3: gone.
Left with the opportunity to create a maximum salary slot by the departures of Irving and Horford and a few additional moves, such as trading Aron Baynes, the Celtics then had to hustle to get in the free agent game. They say they had prepared for all offseason eventualities, but it’s probably fair to assume they had studied this one the least.
Would there be anyone seemingly available to them who could step in and bring back even a whiff of the sweet cologne of contendership they were wearing last summer at this time? It certainly didn’t look that way.
And it may still not to some people now. But the Celts have to be feeling lucky that Walker became get-able.
The All-Star point guard of the last three years had wanted to stay in Charlotte, but when the Hornets, who were able to give him a longer deal for more money, didn’t come in with a large enough offer, they invited Walker’s eye to wander. And the Celtics seem to be a very good fit.
Assuming the C’s can complete this pass, it would still leave them well shy on paper to the top teams in the Eastern Conference. Then again, what did “good on paper” get the Celtics this past season?
More moves will still be necessary. There is a very good returning core in Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown, and people around the team are cautiously giddy of what Gordon Hayward could be as he gets further away from his horrible injury and is put with a crew that hopefully is interested in sharing the ball more. But that still leaves a major need for an experienced big person.
As for point guard, Green fingers are crossed that the move to Walker could actually prove to be a positive. While you’d be hard pressed to find anyone that wouldn’t say Kyrie Irving is a better individual talent than Kemba Walker, turning talent into wins comes down to fit. And in this regard it would be hard to argue that Walker won’t be able to surpass what became by the end an unhappy situation for both sides.
One league exec who’s dealt with the Celtics even went as far as to tell the Herald he knows for a fact the club would have been willing to trade Irving for Walker over the past two years. If he’s got it right, it would indicate the Celts knew there were issues with Irving’s approach to leadership and general ability to help cool the fires of young players whose image may have surpassed their actual abilities following the 2018 conference finals run.
Having Walker be able to work with Horford would be ideal, but the salary cap won’t allow that to happen, even if the latter was willing to stay. So now the onus falls on Tatum and Brown — and Danny Ainge. The first two have to show they are capable of being unfailing producers. They cannot occasionally lurk in the shadows of veteran teammates. What they do will be perhaps the most telling barometer on whether the Celtics succeed on a given night.
And if they indeed get to play with Walker, they should have the space to play.
Speaking of space, if the Celts get Kemba to take up all of theirs on the salary cap, it will leave Ainge limited resources to get a big man. Unless he is able to find someone worthy with the $4.7 million exception or pull off some magical trade, the club will be left with a center-by-committee approach that’s far from comforting. It’d be nice if Robert Williams takes a giant step toward matching his obvious skills to the consistency required at this level.
But all that said, the Celts will still be in an interesting position when the dust settles — a position that’s a bit better than perhaps could be expected.
Said one Western Conference source, “You tell me how many teams could have two max contract guys walk with no return and still be looking at a pretty damn good team.”
Fair point, but, of course, “pretty damn good” isn’t the easiest ensuing course to digest after you’ve been fed a year of “championship contender.”
It’s therefore probably best to wait until all the offseason moves are made before planning to judge all the Celtic plans.One league exec who’s dealt with the Celtics even went as far as to tell the Herald he knows for a fact the club would have been willing to trade Irving for Walker over the past two years. If he’s got it right, it would indicate the Celts knew there were issues with Irving’s approach to leadership and general ability to help cool the fires of young players whose image may have surpassed their actual abilities following the 2018 conference finals run.
This quote sticks out
One league exec who’s dealt with the Celtics even went as far as to tell the Herald he knows for a fact the club would have been willing to trade Irving for Walker over the past two years. If he’s got it right, it would indicate the Celts knew there were issues with Irving’s approach to leadership and general ability to help cool the fires of young players whose image may have surpassed their actual abilities following the 2018 conference finals run.
The Comedian wrote:Wow, Bulpett may be Ainges mouthpiece but he isnt going to bull****.One league exec who’s dealt with the Celtics even went as far as to tell the Herald he knows for a fact the club would have been willing to trade Irving for Walker over the past two years. If he’s got it right, it would indicate the Celts knew there were issues with Irving’s approach to leadership and general ability to help cool the fires of young players whose image may have surpassed their actual abilities following the 2018 conference finals run.
Tommy Heinsohn wrote:The game is not over until they look you in the face and start crying.
SmartWentCrazy wrote:lon3lytoaster wrote:Gant wrote:
Here's the video of Woj making that statement.
The NBA is so weird and inconsistent with tampering rules. Maybe it’s not a big deal because he’s more or less been a free agent since the season ended but like.. how do you float mutual interest (Kemba and the Celtics) without tampering? So weird lol
Lol, we lost two max players to deals that were basically agreed to as well. **** sucks, but the NBA just doesn't care.
zoyathedestroya wrote:
MJ stumbled upon this video and said, "we won't max Kemba. We found our guy."
Tommy Heinsohn wrote:The game is not over until they look you in the face and start crying.
