Do You Think The Celtics Will Keep Ray If he continues...

[Matt34520]

if he continues to play as solid as he has?

Many people were writing Ray off on here, now a healthy Ray comes back and hes the guy we thought we were getting in 2007.

I don't care if hes 33 or 34 or whatever, Ray is still a valuable player in this league. I hope the Celtics keep him.


And another reason I hope the Celtics keep him, if you look up class in the dictionary...you won't see a picture of Ray Allen. BUT YOU SHOULD!!!!!!!!!!!! lol

[Matt34520]

theres probably people that don't care that ray is the classiest player in the league. it doesn't matter basketball wise, but its nice to have a guy on your team that represents your team in a good light. thats just me

[Avalanche]

Next season, with the size of his expiring contract you have to leave the option open of trading him.

If some star wants out of their situation (much like KG did) we might be able to put a package together and add a younger player, more suited to dominating the regular season for us while KG and Pierce move into more of a supportive offensive role and save themselves for the playoffs.

Ray is all class though, and i love having him on the team

[uNpReTtiEr]

I wouldn't trade Ray, you'll never find stars like him willing to sacrifice out there like him especially with his offensive skills. Look at Iverson in DET. Ray is our more most dangerous weapon because of his 3's and he can drive after all he is the best pure shooter alive he'll keep that touch until he's 37-38. Why trade Ray HE GOT GAME.

[DorfonCeltics]

I would love to hold onto Ray for another 3-4 years after his contract expires and I'm sure Danny would too but only as long as he signs for the MLE. I honestly think that in the summer of 2010 everyone is going to be fighting it out for Lebron. I think Danny is going to sweep in and sign D-Wade to a max contract early in the free agency signing period. Now if you have a team of KG, Paul and D-Wade, to go along with Rondo, Perk and Ray as a 6th man. I don't care who else you have that is a team that can compete for a championship for another 3-4 years beyond that.

The thing is, does Ray take the MLE to stay with the Celtics with a chance to win another ring or two or does he think he can get one more near max contract on the market in a 2-3 year deal? There are going to be a lot of losers in the Lebron/Wade/Bosh sweepstakes who have plenty of cap space to sign Ray to this type of deal. So I guess the long answer is you definitely want to keep Ray around if you can. No way do the Celtics trade him next year. You let him expire, use that cap space to sign a stud (D-Wade) in 2010 and try to lure him back with the full MLE and visions of supremacy dancing in his head.

[greenbeans]

Next season, with the size of his expiring contract you have to leave the option open of trading him.

Exactly.
I love Ray, love having him on the team, love his attitude, love everything about him. But if we can make a deal that betters the Cs Danny has to atleast look at possibilities

[greenbeans]

I would love to hold onto Ray for another 3-4 years after his contract expires and I'm sure Danny would too but only as long as he signs for the MLE. I honestly think that in the summer of 2010 everyone is going to be fighting it out for Lebron. I think Danny is going to sweep in and sign D-Wade to a max contract early in the free agency signing period. Now if you have a team of KG, Paul and D-Wade, to go along with Rondo, Perk and Ray as a 6th man. I don't care who else you have that is a team that can compete for a championship for another 3-4 years beyond that.

The thing is, does Ray take the MLE to stay with the Celtics with a chance to win another ring or two or does he think he can get one more near max contract on the market in a 2-3 year deal? There are going to be a lot of losers in the Lebron/Wade/Bosh sweepstakes who have plenty of cap space to sign Ray to this type of deal. So I guess the long answer is you definitely want to keep Ray around if you can. No way do the Celtics trade him next year. You let him expire, use that cap space to sign a stud (D-Wade) in 2010 and try to lure him back with the full MLE and visions of supremacy dancing in his head.

Rondo's extension cancels out any hope of capspace we have.

[DorfonCeltics]

Greenbeans. I could very well be wrong but I thought any Rondo extension wouldn't kick in until the following year. This is year 3, next year is year 4, and 2010/2011 would be year 5 of his rookie deal at short money. Year 5 would be the first year of D-Wade's new contract with the C's. Surely we'll be WAY over the cap the first year of Rondo's new contract but we'll have everyone under contract. But I could be wrong. That's just how I understood it.

[Dave_From_NB]

I completely agree with the class of RA, he's a true professional.

I've always believed though, that with Ray as the first of the Big 3 with an expiring contract, that the C's need to be in a solid position to win to retain him with the current high $ contract. That's certainly the case this year, and I don't think he should go anywhere. Next season, especially if the C's are looking to 3-peat I would say keep everything together. But if the C's were starting to slide, I'd be open to trading Ray under the right circumstances, which would be to retool.

In the perfect world, I think the Big 3 age gracefully with the Celtics, sliding into supporting roles with smaller contracts over time. It sure would be cool to be talking in 4-5 years about RA, KG, PP being our rotation guys. They need to be affordable though, which might be tough to achieve.

[DorfonCeltics]

Yup, here's the link to the salaries. C's have a qualifying option for Rajon for 2010/2011. D-Wade would be signed before an extension for Rondo even came into effect.

http://hoopshype.com/salaries/boston.htm

[greenbeans]

I stand corrected. I'm all for that idea then, whether it be Wade, Bosh..whoever, that'd be nuts

[DorfonCeltics]

Wait, now I'm reading up on qualifying offers and I'm more confused than ever. Can someone here clear this up? Will we have roughly $17-20mil of cap space in the summer of 2010?

[threrf23]

From what I understand looking over Larry Coon's FAQ, if we keep him until his contract expires, as with PP, we can hypothetically renounce his rights, sign him to a one year deal using the MLE and then retain his full bird rights the following offseason.

[Havlicek17]

Here's my top 7 list for why Ray ain't going anywhere:

1.) If we win the championship this year or get close, (which in all likelihood we will) then Ray ain't going anywhere. I don't care if he has an expiring or not. You don't break up a championship caliber team.

2.) He has adapted to his role on this team and the team's mix of strengths and chemistry couldn't be better. It's hard to bring a new "star" player know what it will do. Allen Iverson anyone?

3.) His shooting percentages are ridiculous at >50% on 2's, >40% on 3's, and >90% from the freethrow line. There is no better outside shooter in the game today.

4.) Ray spreads the floor and is the perfect compliment to KG in the paint and PP driving to the hoop for the AND 1.

5.) His contract expires at the perfect time to resign both Rondo and Ray.

6.) It's always better to add talent to the core, then dissasemble the core in the process. The latter approach is rebuilding the team and not adding to it.

7.) He's a class act and a perfect guy to help carry this generations championship team torch after retirement as a Celtic.

[Avalanche]

Im still not sure on the capspace thing, i just cant see us picking up a max guy (though it would be awesome)

a lot probably depends on this season, if we win the title again, and can add say Rasheed and get some improvement from our young guys then stay put... if we dont it may be worth putting ray on the table if an injury, or disappointing season hits another team (dirk in dallas, Melo in Denver etc) nothing specific just throwin names out there

[threrf23]

Yup, here's the link to the salaries. C's have a qualifying option for Rajon for 2010/2011. D-Wade would be signed before an extension for Rondo even came into effect.

http://hoopshype.com/salaries/boston.htm

I have said this in the past and have been corrected. There will still be a cap hold for Rondo of I believe slightly more than 7 mil unless we relinquish his rights

[s1ickd]

So far, all signs point to Ray having a very Reggie Miller like career (though Ray was obviously better in his prime). Reggie's decline was very slow and subtle, but was definitely there. Ray can play at a borderline all-star level for about 2 more years and then start becomming a 15-16 ppg type player with a slightly reduced contract. I think he's the type of player that end sup retiring on his own terms, and not because he can't make a team.

He'll be the kinda guy people try to talk out of retirement to round out their bench, a la Reggie Miller, Robert Horry, Lindsay Hunter, and PJ Brown.

[chakdaddy]

From what I understand looking over Larry Coon's FAQ, if we keep him until his contract expires, as with PP, we can hypothetically renounce his rights, sign him to a one year deal using the MLE and then retain his full bird rights the following offseason.

I'm fairly sure that we wouldn't have the MLE available in this situation since we were below the cap. I think we would be limited to the veteran's minimum in re-signing him if we renounce him.

That would take a lot of loyalty by Ray, but maybe he'd do it; esp with a wink wink deal for the next year using his Bird rights.

My gosh, I think Rondo's extension *wouldn't* kick in until the next offseason.

I think I've just changed my mind about the foolishness of letting Posey go.

I don't think we've ever been mentioned in the 2010 sweepstakes...but it looks like we could bring a max guy into Ray's spot. I can't imagine a more desirable FA location - a chance to join a team of KG/Pierce/Rondo/Perk?

Maybe not Wade, maybe not LeBron...but I can imagine us swooping in and grabbing Amare Stoudemire. and then...KG/Pierce retire, we have 2 big salaries on board in Rondo + X...and keep room for another guy the next big FA cycle.

This could be a recipe for perpetual contention...couple this with Ainge skill at drafting deep in the draft...we could really have a bright future post new Big 3.

2010 might be the chance to get a Len Bias to transition from the new Big 3...

[greenbeans]

^^^BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[GreenGrizz]

I am sure Ray wants more rings by making us better. He will give us a hometown discount and let us sign another star.