Trade/Free Agency Thread 2023-24, part 10 and Counting . . .

[snowman]

With White locked in as starting at PG, Brogdon as 2nd team PG, and now having signed Banton and Svi that can both handle the ball, I've got a feeling Pritchard will be the one traded for a big man. Pritchard is going to make a bit under 4.2 mil this season, and Banton and Svi both making less than 2.1 mill, Pritchard and a 2nd may bring back a 3rd team big for us. According to Spotrac, we are 4.1 mil under the 2nd apron, but that doesn't include Svi's salary. If Svi is signed to a minimum contract, then he will count less than 2.1 mil against the cap. That would leave us 2 mil under the 2nd apron. We could trade Pritchard and a 2nd for a big making less than 6.1 mil, using our TPE from Grant's trade and still be under the apron, albeit with just 14 players.

[darrendaye]

Not gonna lie, I'm a little surprised Giles got signed before Garuba.

Offensive big man over defensive big man. If Harry's been putting up 1000's of 3pters to prep for his return, I think he's got a shot. I annoyingly advocated for signing Giles much of last year, but, Giles is the example where I'd agree it would be big man saturation. Still think Garuba is different in that you can put him out there and be hopeful he could stick defensively with most 3's and 4's and fit in the Rob Williams role when he misses time.

My interest is going to suffer a long death here, lol.

[ConstableGeneva]

Read on Twitter

Hoopshype has spoken!

[31to6]

Lamar Stevens is the guy the Celtics should be signing for the last spot. A tough defensive 3/4 that can play the PF spot next to R Williams, Horford, Porzingis or Kornet. Stevens is the best option in my opinion.

Enough of focusing on feel good stories and start concentrating on getting players that can fill a real role and get you closer to winning a championship.

I think you're describing Brissett's role -- IF he can up his defensive impact. per bballref O'shae has spent 70% of his career minutes at PF, compared to 40% for Stevens.

Why not both?

1. I think they leave the 15th spot open for $$ savings

2. PF is covered: Rob or Al starts there, the other backs them and the 5 up, Tatum plays some PF, as do Hauser and Brissett. Depending on how we count it, don’t see the opportunity for a 5th or 6th string PF — even if two of the above miss time, or two of them play all their minutes at another position, you’re still looking at 3 or 4 guys who can play PF before needing to shift Jaylen up a bit.

[darrendaye]

I think you're describing Brissett's role -- IF he can up his defensive impact. per bballref O'shae has spent 70% of his career minutes at PF, compared to 40% for Stevens.

Why not both?

1. I think they leave the 15th spot open for $$ savings

2. PF is covered: Rob or Al starts there, the other backs them and the 5 up, Tatum plays some PF, as do Hauser and Brissett. Depending on how we count it, don’t see the opportunity for a 5th or 6th string PF — even if two of the above miss time, or two of them play all their minutes at another position, you’re still looking at 3 or 4 guys who can play PF before needing to shift Jaylen up a bit.

1.Agree. I'm not inclined to go through the cap gymnastics again but I'm pretty sure they are a hair over a vet min salary slot before hitting the 2nd apron. I also recall they could theoretically drop Kornet and his money owed so far and avoid. But I do think they want to preserve some mid-season flexibility. More on this later, lol...

2. Agree. I will say that I would not be shocked if Kornet gets a good chunk of the big-big 3 injury fill in time. As you mention, there are also less-big fill in options too if you don't choose the same script (twin towers). But even with Kornet you're going to bump up minutes for someone else too in that scenario.

Brad did mention a few months ago about looking for a wing and a 4/5. (Someone correct me if I completely am making this up )
Maybe 4/5 could be a focus for the 3rd 2-way spot. Or could just be an either or statement at the time, weighing the market and which direction had the best fit. But I did take the comment to mean it was an ongoing area they were evaluating adding someone to upgrade.

[Curmudgeon]

If Garuba winds up in Miami after the Lillard trade he could make Celtics fans really unhappy.

[Hal14]

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Hoopshype has spoken!

Pelicans.

Or, his best option might be to develop overseas for 1-3 yrs and then come over here ready more polishes and ready to kick a&&, take names.

Who knows, maybe one day we'll see g-league/overseas leagues become a true minor league/feeder system for NBA teams..guys develop in the minors and then get called up to the pros when ready to contribute..

[Hal14]

If Garuba winds up in Miami after the Lillard trade he could make Celtics fans really unhappy.

He's not that good. Likely at least a year or 2 from being able to contribute to a playoff team. Struggled to get mins last season for the worst team in the league.

Miami has Bam, Love, Thomas Bryant and Orlando Robinson. Garuba might be their 5th string big if he goes there. And since Miami has those other 4 guys, I doubt they're looking to add any other bigs..

[Hal14]

I think you're describing Brissett's role -- IF he can up his defensive impact. per bballref O'shae has spent 70% of his career minutes at PF, compared to 40% for Stevens.

Why not both?

1. I think they leave the 15th spot open for $$ savings

Screw saving $. We're trying to win a championship here, going all-in. I highly doubt we go with only 14 players.

Isn't it really rare for teams to only carry 14 guys? I feel like every year, pretty much every team goes with the full 15. I would think if any team goes with just 14, it'd be a really bad team because what's the point in spending that extra $ on a team that isn't going anywhere? But we're trying to win a championship here!

No team last season only carried 14 guys, did they? We had 15 all season, except for a few weeks prior to signing Champagnie..but we started the season off with 15.

[ConstableGeneva]

This was after he got traded to OKC.

Read on Twitter

“I spoke with the coach and general manager in recent days. The transfer was made official recently, and we confirmed everything was fine. They have told me that they trust me a lot and think I was not in the right situation in Houston, and I agree with them,” Garuba shared about his conversations with his new club.

“The Thunder are a team whose style of play can come in handy for me, and from the times I’ve played against them, I think I can benefit a lot from that system. I’m looking forward to meeting my teammates. I really want to. The coach is counting on me, although, obviously, anything can happen. We’ll see how training camp goes, but I’m really glad I went to the team where I honestly wanted to be drafted,” he added.

Poor guy. But if he's got the right attitude, he should use that as motivation to prove everyone wrong. Some chip-on-your-shoulder ****.

[Hal14]

With White locked in as starting at PG, Brogdon as 2nd team PG, and now having signed Banton and Svi that can both handle the ball, I've got a feeling Pritchard will be the one traded for a big man. Pritchard is going to make a bit under 4.2 mil this season, and Banton and Svi both making less than 2.1 mill, Pritchard and a 2nd may bring back a 3rd team big for us. According to Spotrac, we are 4.1 mil under the 2nd apron, but that doesn't include Svi's salary. If Svi is signed to a minimum contract, then he will count less than 2.1 mil against the cap. That would leave us 2 mil under the 2nd apron. We could trade Pritchard and a 2nd for a big making less than 6.1 mil, using our TPE from Grant's trade and still be under the apron, albeit with just 14 players.

I don't see how trading a 3rd string PG for a 4th string big gets us closer to banner 18. Especially if we have to also trade a 2nd round pick..and also considering we already have Kornet, who is an adequate 4th string big man.

What big are we trading for who is better than Kornet? Any big that's better than Kornet would probably be a guy who makes so much $ that it'd put us over the 2nd apron. It also doesn't make sense to trade valuable assets and pay that much $ for a 4th string big who's just gonna ride the bench when everyone is healthy.

Also, Mazzulla loves shooters. So he's gonna prefer Pritchard over banton.

Also, Brad and Mazzulla prefer proven vets over younger, unproven players. Pritchard is older and more proven than Banton. So I think it's more likely that Banton gets cut, than Pritchard gets traded.

Sure, Pritchard makes more $ than banton. But I don't think they care as much about that. They know they're paying a lot of $ for this team - they want a banner.

With that being said, I think we'll carry both Pritchard and banton on the roster. It's not like we're over the roster limit so we have to cut 1 of them. We still have 1 open roster spot - even with both of them..

[Hal14]

TL/DR the spacing and ball movement is good when Blake is in the game.

Let's look at some film. Here's the most recent game where Blake got some real minutes in a game:

Watch on YouTube

Had 12 rebounds this game in 25 minutes. Celtics win rather easily, despite the fact that both Rob and Al were out. Blake was a +3

4:09 savvy play to hang near the basket for the easy dunk

4:18 slick pass to the open shooter. He's so unselfish, moves the ball. Drives in, draws help defender, kicks to open shooter with a no-look pass. Not an easy play but he makes it look easy

4:34 nice job of diving on the floor for the loose ball. We need more guys who are making plays like this. The hustle, the effort, the heart.

4:57 slick pass here to JB. He's so unselfish. He could have probably taken this in himself and either scored or got fouled but he passes to JB who had a more clear lane to the basket and also passing it to JB you get a teammate involved so 2 guys look good on that play instead of just Blake

8:27 we have really good spacing on this play. Blake doesn't touch the ball, but he knows where he should be and he gets out to the corner, not clogging the paint so we have good spacing, helping us get the basket

8:35 nice job here trying to take the charge. Doesn't get the call here, but it's a 50/50 call, a lot of times, he's getting that call

9:03 nice double up-fake to throw off the defense, then passes to the open man

9:09: gets the ball back and makes a really quick pass to Tatum, who hits the 3. Really quick, unselfish passes like these help to keep the offense flowing

There were some plays in this game where he wasn't very impactful as a rim protector or wasn't able to provide much resistance when defending the PnR. And he didn't do much on offense besides make some slick passes and make easy baskets at the rim. But we're talking about a 4th/5th big here. He's not gonna be perfect. If we got a guy who was better in those other areas, they probably wouldn't be as good as passing, understanding how to space the floor and stay out on the perimeter on offense so we had good spacing and so the middle of the floor and paint were open for driving lanes, so we can spread the defense out..you gotta also like the hustle plays with Griffin.

Bottom line, Blake just knows how to play. The offense seems to flow really well with him out there - we have good ball movement with him in there. Between the way he spaces the floor by knowing where to be out on the perimeter and with the way he makes nice, quick, unselfish passes to keep the ball moving and find the open man. And hit the occasional 3.

Plus the hustle and energy Blake brings. And how well he gets along with the other guys on the team.

He does have some defensive limitations, though. But at least he's good at taking charges.

[LarryBirdsFingr]

Why not both?

1. I think they leave the 15th spot open for $$ savings

Screw saving $. We're trying to win a championship here, going all-in. I highly doubt we go with only 14 players.

Isn't it really rare for teams to only carry 14 guys? I feel like every year, pretty much every team goes with the full 15. I would think if any team goes with just 14, it'd be a really bad team because what's the point in spending that extra $ on a team that isn't going anywhere? But we're trying to win a championship here!

No team last season only carried 14 guys, did they? We had 15 all season, except for a few weeks prior to signing Champagnie..but we started the season off with 15.

Likely holding off for a training camp type deal ie: Pritchard etc and keeping that spot open will let them absorb a throw in.

[Hal14]

1. I think they leave the 15th spot open for $$ savings

Screw saving $. We're trying to win a championship here, going all-in. I highly doubt we go with only 14 players.

Isn't it really rare for teams to only carry 14 guys? I feel like every year, pretty much every team goes with the full 15. I would think if any team goes with just 14, it'd be a really bad team because what's the point in spending that extra $ on a team that isn't going anywhere? But we're trying to win a championship here!

No team last season only carried 14 guys, did they? We had 15 all season, except for a few weeks prior to signing Champagnie..but we started the season off with 15.

Likely holding off for a training camp type deal ie: Pritchard etc and keeping that spot open will let them absorb a throw in.

Possibly.

It certainly wouldn't shock me if Pritchard is traded. Between the lack of minutes he got last season, no significant talks/traction on an extension for him, Banton and Svi being added that make him somewhat expendable. The emphasis on adding size with all the guys we've added to the team this offseason. Pritchard asked for a trade last season..and his buddy Griffin might not be resigned.

There's a few signs that point to him possibly being moved..

I'm ok with moving him if we get a decent player in return who can contribute. Would rather just keep him if all we're getting abck is a small TPE and/or draft compensation because it would leave our bench too thin..

[snowman]

With White locked in as starting at PG, Brogdon as 2nd team PG, and now having signed Banton and Svi that can both handle the ball, I've got a feeling Pritchard will be the one traded for a big man. Pritchard is going to make a bit under 4.2 mil this season, and Banton and Svi both making less than 2.1 mill, Pritchard and a 2nd may bring back a 3rd team big for us. According to Spotrac, we are 4.1 mil under the 2nd apron, but that doesn't include Svi's salary. If Svi is signed to a minimum contract, then he will count less than 2.1 mil against the cap. That would leave us 2 mil under the 2nd apron. We could trade Pritchard and a 2nd for a big making less than 6.1 mil, using our TPE from Grant's trade and still be under the apron, albeit with just 14 players.

I don't see how trading a 3rd string PG for a 4th string big gets us closer to banner 18. Especially if we have to also trade a 2nd round pick..and also considering we already have Kornet, who is an adequate 4th string big man.

Also, Mazzulla loves shooters. So he's gonna prefer Pritchard over banton.

Also, Brad and Mazzulla prefer proven vets over younger, unproven players. Pritchard is older and more proven than Banton. So I think it's more likely that Banton gets cut, than Pritchard gets traded.

Sure, Pritchard makes more $ than banton. But I don't think they care as much about that. They know they're paying a lot of $ for this team - they want a banner.

With that being said, I think we'll carry both Pritchard and banton on the roster. It's not like we're over the roster limit so we have to cut 1 of them. We still have 1 open roster spot - even with both of them..

You are probably right, but there may be a team looking for a ball handler that has excess bigs to make a deal with. IMO, I don't think Brad likes players who are a defensive liability due to their height. Pritchard is the only player on the roster that is under 6'4. I'm also concerned about JD sticking around, even though he is only on a 2-way. Now that we have more guys who can be a third team / emergency PG Pritchard may get his wish to be traded. I think they do care about not going into the 2nd apron tax range. They won't give Pritchard away, but if they can get a serviceable big for him and save a million dollars, then that allows them to spend more on the 15th roster spot. As far as our players with non-guaranteed contracts (Banton and Kornet) I don't think they have to worry about their options being picked up. They will be. As a side note, I'm all for Blake coming back as the 15th man. I think all this team needs right now is another emergency big off the bench in addition to Kornet.

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

My Celtics Trade Of The Day

If the Warriors 2024 First ends up in the 5 - 8 range,
then that Pick, Rob, Brogdon (expiring contract), 25, 27 & 29 Celtics Firsts to Utah for Markkanen.
The absolute perfect Horford replacement and an upgrade over WCJ in that department.

The Celtics offer would be more than solid, though OKC could likely out bid them for him,
but still worth the effort.

[Hal14]

My Celtics Trade Of The Day

If the Warriors 2024 First ends up in the 5 - 8 range,
then that Pick, Rob, Brogdon (expiring contract), 25, 27 & 29 Celtics Firsts to Utah for Markkanen.
The absolute perfect Horford replacement and an upgrade over WCJ in that department.

The Celtics offer would be more than solid, though OKC could likely out bid them for him,
but still worth the effort.

Sounds nice in theory but probably not realistic because:

a) Utah probably says no

b) if we trade for him next summer, that's an awful lot to trade for a guy with only 1 year left on his deal

c) he would be due for a max extension (guessing at least $40 mil) so it's doubtful that we would have 3 max contract guys on the same team (JB, JT, Markannen) with 2 of them being on supermax contracts (JB, JT) since JT would sign his supermax next summer, plus 2 other guys making $30 mil or more (white and KP) since white is due to sign an extension for around $30 mil starting this september. The new CBA really makes it hard to have that many guys on the same team making that kind of money. We probably wouldn't have enough $ left to sign enough minimum contract guys to meet the minimum number of guys on a roster.

d) also, I'm pretty sure Porzingis is the Horford replacement so we probably don't need another one...but I do admit, that Markannen + Porzingis could be a freakishly good duo in the front court - especially on offense

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

Read on Twitter

With the Svi signing, I think that’ll put us around 2ish mil before the super tax apron. What do you think about Brad cutting loose Banton with only 200k guaranteed to him, and going after a more established vet like Warren, Oubre, Wood, Stevens for the 14th roster spot? — Gage W

It’s hard to see more proven guys like Oubre and Wood picking Boston at this stage. They surely want bigger roles than the Celtics can give them so they are probably biding their team in case a big trade (Lillard?) opens up opportunity elsewhere.


I don’t think it’s a sure thing Banton makes the roster but he will have a chance to play for a spot like anyone else in camp. With TJ Warren, I’m not necessarily a fan of giving him a guaranteed deal given the Suns let him walk for nothing. Lamar Stevens couldn’t play postseason minutes for the Cavs last year either due to his offensive limitations. I wouldn’t mind either of those guys on a non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed deal but wouldn’t clear any spots out for them otherwise.

[captain green]

I think you're describing Brissett's role -- IF he can up his defensive impact. per bballref O'shae has spent 70% of his career minutes at PF, compared to 40% for Stevens.

Why not both?

1. I think they leave the 15th spot open for $$ savings

2. PF is covered: Rob or Al starts there, the other backs them and the 5 up, Tatum plays some PF, as do Hauser and Brissett. Depending on how we count it, don’t see the opportunity for a 5th or 6th string PF — even if two of the above miss time, or two of them play all their minutes at another position, you’re still looking at 3 or 4 guys who can play PF before needing to shift Jaylen up a bit.

That's what I'm thinking 15 will be open. So as for signing anyone I think that's done unless a trade comes up.

[Parliament10]

Why not both?

1. I think they leave the 15th spot open for $$ savings

2. PF is covered: Rob or Al starts there, the other backs them and the 5 up, Tatum plays some PF, as do Hauser and Brissett. Depending on how we count it, don’t see the opportunity for a 5th or 6th string PF — even if two of the above miss time, or two of them play all their minutes at another position, you’re still looking at 3 or 4 guys who can play PF before needing to shift Jaylen up a bit.

That's what I'm thinking 15 will be open. So as for signing anyone I think that's done unless a trade comes up.

I Agree, I think that the 15th spot will stay Open.
I also think that 1 or more of the Partially Guaranteed's don't make it to Opening Day.