Plan B: Resign TA and Cheap 3pt wing or Throw MLE at RFA?

[GregB]

Now that Posey has signed with NO.

Do we resign TA and a cheap 3pt shooting wing? They could plausibly resign TA and sign one of Nachbar, Finley, Giriceck, Newble, Jones, and Barnes for less money than Posey.

or

Should we throw the MLE at one of the RFA who could potentially outperform the contract?? Like Childress, Gomes, JR Smith or Dorrell Wright???

[Ed Pinkney]

I like all of those players from the restricted list, but I don't see the MLE getting it done for any of them unfortunately as their own teams would match any offers I would think. But you never know.

[MoBSTa]

I like Chidress,Gomes and J.R. smith but I would say the best bet for versitility, for a play that has the potential to explode in the c's lineup is Kelenna Azubuike.

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=K ... tesearch=#

[canman1971]

I think if you are going to use the MLE on a RFA, do it soon so their are still options available if their respective team decides to match. I don't think Gomes is worth the MLE. Wright? No. JR Smith doesn't seem to bright, so I'd be hesitant about that one. Childress would be OK, but I think you first option is a more realistic and smart way to go.

[cisco]

1. Re-sign House (2 years). He serves as backup point and shooter off the bench.
2. Then re-sign Tony.
3. Offer the full MLE to Childress and pray.

[MyInsatiableOne]

I agree with Cisco...that seems like the best bet at this stage

[Ed Pinkney]

Scoring off the bench is one of our few real concerns. As Posey was a good spot up shooter, it did help our offense when he was on the floor with spacing and preventing his man from doubling etc. Childress is not what I would call an offensive force so is he really a good option for us?

[elrod enchilada]

I agree with the general premise of this post:

1. Re-sign Tony Allen to a two year deal with a team option for a third year. The amount is not important since we hold Tony's rights and it will not count against the MLE or LLE. That makes Tony especially valuable. (I wonder if Danny regrets not picking up Tony's option now? If Tony signs elsewhere, he might.)

2. Use the bi-annual LLE slot to sign either Eddie House or another back-up sharpshooting guard if Danny thinks someone superior to House is available. It will be a two-year deal. If there is change left over, use it to ink Bill Walker to a three year rookie deal.

Then there are several options with what to do with the full MLE, which is untouched at this point.

3. Use the entire MLE to offer the best possible contract to one of the big RFAs remaining available and hope to get lucky. The obvious candidates are Childress, Gomes and Ben Gordon. In all three cases a five-year $33 million deal will likely be met.

The Cs might, however, be able to install a poison pill provision or two or three that could help their chances. Have the contract include a strict no-trade provision for the first season. Then have the contract include a provision giving the player the right to become an unrestricted free agent again after the first year of the contract. Then, if this is legal, have the contract include the provision saying that if the player becomes a UFA after the first year of the deal, the player cannot re-sign with the team holding the contract. This sort of puts the screws to the team holding the player the Cs are going after. For example, consider Childress. If Atlanta matches the Cs offer, Childress cannot be traded for a year, and after year he can become a UFA. If he does, Childress cannot be re-signed by Atlanta. So in almost certain likelihood, if Childress is good he walks in a year and the Hawks get nothing. If he regresses, the Hawks are stuck with him for a contract that clogs up their payroll for many years, as they are looking at big deals for Smith, Williams and Horford, and an extension for Joe Johnson.

Sure, the Cs could lose the same player after one year, but that is the risk we run. We could have the contract include another provision allowing the player to opt out after three season, only this time letting the player resign with the team holding the contract. That way if Childress gets better, he only has to wait two more seasons and the Cs (or the Hawks) would hold Bird rights.

The other benefit: let's say the Hawks match the offer and retain Childress. Let's say Childress then becomes a UFA in 2009. The Cs might be an attractive team for Childress to consider then.

4. Another option with the MLE would be to target a young RFA Danny is keen one, say CJ Miles or Robert Swift, and way overpay for a two-year deal (with a team option for a third year to get Bird rights) to get them away from their current team. I don't think the full MLE would be necessary in either case. The problem here is that it might mess with the heads of the other young players on the Cs to have some young and untested guy come in at a much larger salary.

5. Finally, the team could use a portion of the MLE to sign a veteran wing like Nochbar or Wells to no more than a two-year deal and then keeping the balance of the MLE for a mid-season pick-up. That would require waiving someone because our roster would have a full complement of15 players.

Finally, why my obsession with two-year deals? Because there are going to be a lot of teams looking fior expiring contracts by 2010, and it will be an opportunity to get higher draft picks and/or quality veterans.

[Celts17Pride]

1. Re-sign House (2 years). He serves as backup point and shooter off the bench.
2. Then re-sign Tony.
3. Offer the full MLE to Childress and pray.

I agree with this plan except I think #3 is going to be a cheaper version someone like Bostan Nachbar for $2.5-$3.5 million for 3 years.

[shackles10]

I don't think Atlanta woudl be required to match any of that stuff except for the money amounts and total years being offered. It's only an offer sheet we can put out and give an opportunity for them to match, not an actual contract.

[tombattor]

I say we re-sign House and Tony and stay pat. JR Smith is not going to be available, especially now that they have the money (from Camby deal) to re-sign him. And Childress is an interesting choice and can be decent in Posey's role, but he's not much of an upgrade from Tony. Yes, Childress is a little more polished, but he's not really a better defender than Tony and his outside shooting is even worse.

I think we have a good enough team to start the season with the MLE or whatever available and fill the needs as they come up. No need to go nuts for a bench player. Posey was different because we knew what he can do for this team, but these other guys aren't even that.

[kmgarnett21]

even tho jr smith has problems, the man can shoot the heck outta the ball. maybe playing alongside 3 pro's with the credentials that kg, ray & paul have will make him realize he needs to grow up. i wouldnt want KG yellin in my face if i threw up a bad shot.

[tombattor]

even tho jr smith has problems, the man can shoot the heck outta the ball. maybe playing alongside 3 pro's with the credentials that kg, ray & paul have will make him realize he needs to grow up. i wouldnt want KG yellin in my face if i threw up a bad shot.

No kidding, but we don't have the money to sign him. What do you think it's going to take to sign JR Smith? He's going to get a much bigger contract than Posey did. Besides, the Nuggets will probably sign him, now that Camby's gone and they have some cap room.

[sully00]

What about MIchael Finley? I don't believe he is signed and the Spurs just signed a guard. He is old as dirt and wouldn't want to go more than a year with him but he certainly can shoot the 3 and has made some big shots and can play a little defense on occasion.

[The Rondo Show]

even tho jr smith has problems, the man can shoot the heck outta the ball. maybe playing alongside 3 pro's with the credentials that kg, ray & paul have will make him realize he needs to grow up. i wouldnt want KG yellin in my face if i threw up a bad shot.

No kidding, but we don't have the money to sign him. What do you think it's going to take to sign JR Smith? He's going to get a much bigger contract than Posey did. Besides, the Nuggets will probably sign him, now that Camby's gone and they have some cap room.

He probably will get the same or a bigger contract than Posey, but he's 22 years old so giving him the 4th and/or 5th years of the mid-level should not be a problem the way it was with Posey.

Camby was traded because their owner is cheap and does not want to pay the luxury tax, not to create cap room to make another signing. I mean, who are you going to get better than Marcus Camby at that price? No one, he's a bargain.

If we gave J.R. the full mid-level, I don't think they'd match as I'm pretty sure that puts them back in luxury tax territory. I could be wrong and maybe they would match but any organization that trades Marcus Camby or a player of that caliber for absolutely nothing screams cheap to me.

He'd be my #1 target if I were Ainge. This kid is and amazing shooter and scorer, still just 22, very athletic and could learn to play D under Thibodeau.

[tombattor]

even tho jr smith has problems, the man can shoot the heck outta the ball. maybe playing alongside 3 pro's with the credentials that kg, ray & paul have will make him realize he needs to grow up. i wouldnt want KG yellin in my face if i threw up a bad shot.

No kidding, but we don't have the money to sign him. What do you think it's going to take to sign JR Smith? He's going to get a much bigger contract than Posey did. Besides, the Nuggets will probably sign him, now that Camby's gone and they have some cap room.

He probably will get the same or a bigger contract than Posey, but he's 22 years old so giving him the 4th and/or 5th years of the mid-level should not be a problem the way it was with Posey.

Camby was traded because their owner is cheap and does not want to pay the luxury tax, not to create cap room to make another signing. I mean, who are you going to get better than Marcus Camby at that price? No one, he's a bargain.

If we gave J.R. the full mid-level, I don't think they'd match as I'm pretty sure that puts them back in luxury tax territory. I could be wrong and maybe they would match but any organization that trades Marcus Camby or a player of that caliber for absolutely nothing screams cheap to me.

He'd be my #1 target if I were Ainge. This kid is and amazing shooter and scorer, still just 22, very athletic and could learn to play D under Thibodeau.

Camby's got almost $20 million coming to him for the next 2 years. And he's 35. He's not a bargain.

JR Smith is 22 and is loaded with talent. There is no way they just let him go, and certainly not over MLE, especially with Iverson's $22 million coming off the books next year. You gotta look at things from the other team's POV too.

[sully00]

I don't really see a difference between J.R. Smith and Ricky Davis and I don't think this team needs either guy. Guys that can shoot are great but we need smart ball players guys that are going to improve the collective team I just don't get that feel from J.R.

[The Rondo Show]

Camby's got almost $20 million coming to him for the next 2 years. And he's 35. He's not a bargain.

JR Smith is 22 and is loaded with talent. There is no way they just let him go, and certainly not over MLE, especially with Iverson's $22 million coming off the books next year. You gotta look at things from the other team's POV too.

I thought Camby made less than he did, but regardless, $10M a year for 2 years is at the very least, an extremely reasonable salary for a player like Camby.

He's a guy with significant trade value (Nets were offering some combination of Sean Williams, Marcus Williams, Josh Boone, picks and expirings) who they dealt for nothing. The move had everything to do with cutting salary so they wouldn't have to pay the luxury tax and nothing to do with improving the team.

Maybe they would match an offer for Smith, but I have no idea how you can claim there is "no way" they will let him go when they just dealt an elite rebounding, elite shot blocking center who can chip in with double figures in points as well for absolutely nothing despite the fact that he was far from overpaid.

I've looked at it from a Denver perspective and while it's clearly not the best move for them in terms of winning basketball games, neither was trading Marcus Camby for a possible swap of 2nd rounders in 2010. Their owner cares more about not paying the luxury tax.