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There has been talk of the Celtics looking to drop salary once Tatum signs his extension, and the Warriors are a potential buyer. What do you think it would cost?

Even in a bad draft, #1 overall pick seems too steep, so I think a 3-way trade could work.

Would the celts be looking for a pick, or more established player? What positions would you target?

I think for Boston to deal Smart they'd have to be getting a better, more impactful player. A draft pick could work in theory if they love a guy. But there's the risk there of projecting how good the player actually is and then the development time it takes to get him there. More likely in the event that Smart is dealt would be Smart packaged with young player(s) and/or pick(s) for a proven NBA player.

Ultimately I just don't envision a scenario where dealing Smart would make sense.

Bimbo_Coles wrote:There has been talk of the Celtics looking to drop salary once Tatum signs his extension, and the Warriors are a potential buyer. What do you think it would cost?

Even in a bad draft, #1 overall pick seems too steep, so I think a 3-way trade could work.

Would the celts be looking for a pick, or more established player? What positions would you target?

PASS.

It woud take a whole lot more to pry Smart from our hands.

Man it would have to be a huge overpay for him I think or rather believe his value is higher on our team than any other. And at that conclusion a top 20 player and 2 draft picks get you into the door but expect to pay more

Bimbo_Coles wrote:There has been talk of the Celtics looking to drop salary once Tatum signs his extension, and the Warriors are a potential buyer. What do you think it would cost?

Even in a bad draft, #1 overall pick seems too steep, so I think a 3-way trade could work.

Would the celts be looking for a pick, or more established player? What positions would you target?

Hayward expires before Tatums contract would kick in. If were in trouble, we could just let him walk.

Me, personally? I’d trade him for LaMelo Ball. Anything else I’d pass.

Infinite

What is this talk of the Celtics dropping salary? I haven’t seen it

I'm assuming the theory is to duck the tax next year for the Cs? I don't think dropping Marcus is anywhere near the top of the ways to do that. Or that we even try to get under it. Who knows where it even is at this point?

Going off that premise, it's a pretty interesting idea for GSW. Though, I'm not sure how they would match salary without sending out Wiggins, and you may need the pick just to do that alone. Regardless, you'd probably be at some level of overpaying a 3rd team to make it happen and probably not enough left to get Smart.

But, if you could somehow work it out.... Smart, 26 & 30 for #1 and some end of bench contributor / salary from a 3rd team, I'd go for and I love Smart. Depending on how good the guy coming back is you could probably get 17. Could you foist Wiggins & 17 on someone and still get enough smaller contracts to send one to the Cs that could a) contribute and b) get below the tax line and flip us #1? Doubtful.

Would anyone trade Smart in a deal for John Collins? Obviously filler can be added if need be, but it feels like Smart would be an ideal fit next to Trae and that Collins would be a pretty great fit with our current team.

Homerclease wrote:What is this talk of the Celtics dropping salary? I haven’t seen it

Yeah I don't think it exists

In no draft is Marcus Smart worth the 1st pick.

He's a unique player because he's worth more to have on the team than he is as a trade piece. Like a poster before said, Hayward is expiring before Tatum needs an extension so I'd assume Gordon would be the odd man out if someone else offers him big money.

SmartWentCrazy wrote:Would anyone trade Smart in a deal for John Collins? Obviously filler can be added if need be, but it feels like Smart would be an ideal fit next to Trae and that Collins would be a pretty great fit with our current team.

Instantly.

SmartWentCrazy wrote:Would anyone trade Smart in a deal for John Collins? Obviously filler can be added if need be, but it feels like Smart would be an ideal fit next to Trae and that Collins would be a pretty great fit with our current team.

Does Collins want a max deal tho?

SmartWentCrazy wrote:Would anyone trade Smart in a deal for John Collins? Obviously filler can be added if need be, but it feels like Smart would be an ideal fit next to Trae and that Collins would be a pretty great fit with our current team.

Collins doesn't play much defense and is publicly seeking a max deal, he has publicly claimed that he feels he has earned a max deal. He also fills no void for us if Jaylen can continue to refine his offensive game while putting in better effort on the boards.

celtics543 wrote:In no draft is Marcus Smart worth the 1st pick.

He's a unique player because he's worth more to have on the team than he is as a trade piece. Like a poster before said, Hayward is expiring before Tatum needs an extension so I'd assume Gordon would be the odd man out if someone else offers him big money.

Obviously much depends on Hayward's decision. So he opts in at $34 million. He is similar to Smart in that you would not be able to replicate what he provides easily in any return with the Celtics being capped. What if Boston offered him a new contract at say $75 million for three seasons that went $34, 21, 20 million?
I agree Hayward may be the odd man out, but its not a given he will be back if he isn't really part of the future and the Celtics will have to show their cards if Hayward asks for them this offseason.
Smart will always be someone whose name comes up because of his salary. He is much like Draymond Green in his value to the Celtics

SmartWentCrazy wrote:Would anyone trade Smart in a deal for John Collins? Obviously filler can be added if need be, but it feels like Smart would be an ideal fit next to Trae and that Collins would be a pretty great fit with our current team.

Not a huge fan of Collins' fit here actually. I think the things he does well would be marginalized playing with Kemba/Brown/Hayward/Tatum. Scoring is the main thing he brings to the table and it'd just be tough for him to do that on high volume here. Not that he wouldn't help but he'd be marginalized like I said.

And defensively, he's a PF trying to improve his capabilities at the 5. The weaknesses we currently have in the front court are his weaknesses as well.

Lastly, you have the contract status. Him wanting a max next that would kick in next year is tough to fit in with our overall team structure.

It's not that I think Smart for Collins would be bad value in general. I just don't think Collins' value would be maximized here. That seems more like a 3 way deal than a straight swap IMO. Could work if some other team that wants Collins has pieces that make more sense here.

I keep seeing this with John Hollinger in the Athletic's discussion with him. It's like he isn't aware that Hayward expires before Tatum's contract would kick in. All his talk is about how they need to unload Hayward or Smart to make space for Tatum's deal.

I feel like that takes a max of 5 minutes to research before an interview.

hugepatsfan wrote:

SmartWentCrazy wrote:Would anyone trade Smart in a deal for John Collins? Obviously filler can be added if need be, but it feels like Smart would be an ideal fit next to Trae and that Collins would be a pretty great fit with our current team.

Not a huge fan of Collins' fit here actually. I think the things he does well would be marginalized playing with Kemba/Brown/Hayward/Tatum. Scoring is the main thing he brings to the table and it'd just be tough for him to do that on high volume here. Not that he wouldn't help but he'd be marginalized like I said.

And defensively, he's a PF trying to improve his capabilities at the 5. The weaknesses we currently have in the front court are his weaknesses as well.

Lastly, you have the contract status. Him wanting a max next that would kick in next year is tough to fit in with our overall team structure.

It's not that I think Smart for Collins would be bad value in general. I just don't think Collins' value would be maximized here. That seems more like a 3 way deal than a straight swap IMO. Could work if some other team that wants Collins has pieces that make more sense here.

A few things:

1) I dont see him getting a max deal— Sabonis was a similar player to Collins in year three and could only muster a 4/77 deal. Feels like a fair price for Collins as well. Remember, Jaylen Brown once said he wanted a max deal too and obviously he later agreed to an amount decently below it.

2) I view Collins as a long-term piece; I dont consider how he fits with Kemba and Hayward. To me, his offensive skill set is similar to Jaylen’s— he can thrive in transition, run a good PnR as the roll man and hit open corner threes. I think he’d work well [16-18 PPG instead of 20+], but we can agree to disagree. I think he’d complement Tatum and Brown well, personally— from a spacing perspective alone he’d definitely open driving lanes.

3) Defensively, he’s underrated. Per PIPM, he was a slight positive on that end this year and is a slight negative over the past 3. In a new system with better defensive players, I think he could play the 5 long term.

The Warriors are not a potential buyer. They'll be sellers, too.

But to answer the question about value, impossible to say. There is no defined cap landscape to measure him with right now. Or anyone else.

Parliament10 wrote:

Bimbo_Coles wrote:There has been talk of the Celtics looking to drop salary once Tatum signs his extension, and the Warriors are a potential buyer. What do you think it would cost?

Even in a bad draft, #1 overall pick seems too steep, so I think a 3-way trade could work.

Would the celts be looking for a pick, or more established player? What positions would you target?

PASS.

It woud take a whole lot more to pry Smart from our hands.

All that grit and toughness (when he's not injured and battling the his weight) for only $12mil per, I'm surprised Angie's phone isn't ringing off the hook.

Seriously, I'd rather have Bruce Brown (or a close copy) coming off the bench for a quarter of the cost.