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You know by the rumors that he is actively looking at ways to make this team better. The thing is, by the rumors it seems as though he is trying to use Ray's contract as the main focal point in some deals.
The way I am reading this is that he is trying to make us younger for the future, but also keep us in title contention at the same time. He did say back when he traded for KG that he doesn't just want to be a contender for a few years , but he wanted the franchise to be contenders for a long time.
Ray's contract is the only way I see this happening. If we just sit on his contract there is no way we will be contenders in the future, as we would have to totally rebuild as there is no way we are trading Pierce or KG at any point in the future. We need to capitalize now for the future of this team to be strong.
Lets first look at what happens if we just keep Ray here:

1) I don't see any big free agents in 2010 looking at this team with a bunch of aging stars that windows are closing wanting to come here for maybe a year or two of contention, and then boom the team has to totally rebuild. It would be a tough sell to have this happen even under the promise that they would trade that person when the window closed. Who wants to keep moving around.

2) We could just make a few moves and stay competitive for a few more years and totally rebuild from there.

I'm sure Ainge is looking at every possible avenue here for the right move to happen. If it doesn't happen then we just move on with Ray and see what we can do for the next few years for titles. I personally would like to see us stay competitive by making a move. For my personal ideas for this team I hope Danny can find that right move, if not, at least I know we will be good for the next few years, but also know that the feeling of rebuilding won't feel good in the future.

I don't think we should make moves that lower our chances of winning a title next year. If we trade Ray and/or Rondo we need to get back some pretty damn good players, not picks and filler. It's not like it's easy to put together a team with PP and KG on it. We have to take advantage and worry about rebuilding when we get there.

I rally don't think it will take Rondo to Amare. He is gone as afar as I'm concerned from PHO. Ray Allen for him straight up and a futue BOS#1 will do it. They don't want to pay anyone high salaries so they can miss the playoffs every year. They are going to blow it up real soon.

Ainge won't make a trade unless it is something that blows him away. It has to be something that doesn't hurt us now, but keeps us competitive for the future. The window of the future is now and it starts with Ray's contract, but it won't just be given away. If we can pick up a very good player along with some sort of expiring contract and a pick, this might help to get a good free agent in 2010. With the economy and more teams wanting to cut salary it is the ripe time to close in on a deal that benefits this team for the now and later. We need anotheer good player to put alongside Rondo to entice a free agent to come here. If it is in 2010 then the only way it gets done is if we trade Ray and get Pierce to opt out and resign later.

I agree

bruno sundov wrote:I rally don't think it will take Rondo to Amare. He is gone as afar as I'm concerned from PHO. Ray Allen for him straight up and a futue BOS#1 will do it. They don't want to pay anyone high salaries so they can miss the playoffs every year. They are going to blow it up real soon.

I think if all it took to get Amare was Ray and a future pick we would have already had a press conference a week ago.

BakersDozen wrote:

bruno sundov wrote:I rally don't think it will take Rondo to Amare. He is gone as afar as I'm concerned from PHO. Ray Allen for him straight up and a futue BOS#1 will do it. They don't want to pay anyone high salaries so they can miss the playoffs every year. They are going to blow it up real soon.

I think if all it took to get Amare was Ray and a future pick we would have already had a press conference a week ago.

not necessarily. i do think it would take more than ray and a future pick to get amare, but the fact that it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean anything. phoenix is gauging amare's stock around the league (the big al rumor) which means quite frankly they aren't sure what his worth is right now. we could all be surprised at what he goes for in this market.

It will take Ray and a lottery pick in this draft to get Amare and that is what Ainge is trying to do.

Now if that doesn't fly I would expect Ainge to go the old 10 mil dollar player for 5 mil strategy in the offseason with a reality that it might just work this year.

It isn't about trying to trade Ray, Rondo, or Perk it is about trying to trade for Amare.

the sea duck wrote:

BakersDozen wrote:

bruno sundov wrote:I rally don't think it will take Rondo to Amare. He is gone as afar as I'm concerned from PHO. Ray Allen for him straight up and a futue BOS#1 will do it. They don't want to pay anyone high salaries so they can miss the playoffs every year. They are going to blow it up real soon.

I think if all it took to get Amare was Ray and a future pick we would have already had a press conference a week ago.

not necessarily. i do think it would take more than ray and a future pick to get amare, but the fact that it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean anything. phoenix is gauging amare's stock around the league (the big al rumor) which means quite frankly they aren't sure what his worth is right now. we could all be surprised at what he goes for in this market.

Yeah probably. On the other hand though I really think PHO wants good young talent and cap space. I don't think they will get both this year. It will be one or the other for Amare.

sully00 wrote:It isn't about trying to trade Ray, Rondo, or Perk it is about trying to trade for Amare.

sully00,

Seriously we don't even know if Ainge has any interest in Amare at all. It's fun to speculate but who knows.