Aldridge: Smith most wanted to play for Boston

[shrink]

"I think that's a legitimate opinion, but at the same time, you have to ask yourself what's worth more to Joe Smith at this point? $1.2 mil from the pro-rated part of CLE's remaining $3.7 of the MLE? Or a better chance at wearing a ring for the rest of his life?"

I think thats kind of a silly way to look at it. You are making it sound like the chances of the C's winning a ring are near 100 and the chances of the Cavs winning a ring being near 0.

The reality is that the celtics have a slightly higher chance to win the title with a healthy squad, but currently do not have home court against Cleveland and currently do not have a healthy squad.

Considering Joe probably still has friends in Cleveland, considering he'll get more minutes there, and lastly considering the reality that Cleveland's chances at a title are similar to ours...

... why wouldnt he go there?

-Dizzy

Here's a posting hint. If you have to start a sentence with "you're making it sound like ..", you're probably setting up an incorrect straw man argument. Respond to what a poster has said, and not what you want him to have said.

However, setting aside that, look at it from Joe's point of view:

If he joins the Cavs and has a big impact, he may have a legit shot at a ring, but he's got to get past BOS and KG in the ECF.

If he joins the Celtics, whether he has a big impact or not, he has a better chance. The Celtics will be fine with or without him. The Cavs would not be. His absence may cost CLE a game or two, and home court advantage. Regardless, if he's not there, the Cavs will have a hole at PF in the playoffs, when the Celtics will have Garnett back. Smith may not be a star, but he magnifies his chances of getting a ring (not "hanging out with local friends for three months in CLE") by going to BOS, because they get him, and more importantly, CLE does not.

[Celts17Pride]

The Cavs are likely offering Joe their full pro-rated MLE(3.6 million), not just 1.2 million.

And what would that full pro-rated MLE ($3.6 mil) be with one third of the season left, hmm?

shrink,

Boston can offer a pro-rated share of $1.2 million and Cleveland can offer a pro-rated share of the full MLE which is about $5.6 million. Joe Smith is going to take the money.

[celtxman]

I totally agree, but the fact that Joe Smith never commented about playing for Boston, and the fact that he didn't pursue a buy-out until Ben broke his leg is a pretty telling sign that Boston wasn't necessarily his "preferred destination".

Why did he actually say "I'm going to Cleveland." Player don't always say what they feel. A couple of days ago he said he was happy with Oklahoma.

Well, the thing is, he never said anything about Boston...and said he'd be interested in the Cavs a few months back....but it just makes no sense that his most desired destination was Boston since he didn't want a buy-out when they would have signed him.

Doesn't matter now though, he'll be a Cav on Wednesday morning for sure, but I just was a little taken aback by that comment that Aldridge made, considering the events that have transpired in regards to the situation.

I have to agree with all of this. Wallace going down was the best thing to happen for the Cavs - they may even also look to sign Gooden. Truthfully Smith can be effective against the Celtics, Gooden used to kill them.
Even if Aldridge has spoken to people, Smith's lack of action until Wallace got hurt makes it pretty clear that he wasn't really interested in the Celtics. The Celtics needed length, would have rather had Smith, but weren't about to get sandbagged into a bidding war that they could only lose because of the Cavs ability to pay more. The Celtics got the best big man that they were going to get and were wise to sign Moore. Moore is a backup center. Smith is a backup PF. Smith could put his money where his mouth is if he really wanted to go to Boston and still sign there but obviously he won't. Smith will indeed be in Cleveland on Wednesday -maybe he and his agent just wanted to hear how loved he was. Who knows -maybe now that Scott Brooks is through blowing kisses at him, maybe there will be a need to have Greg Popovich say how great he is before going to Cleveland.

[sully00]

But Joe Smith is much better for BOS then Moore can ever be.

We're a team of small PFs. And Moore is a 7ft tall SF.

At least Smith would be able to hold his own in the paint, rebound, and still provide mid-range threat.

Moore is a guy that can provide a mid-range threat.

You are not too familiar with Joe Smith apparently. Joe is a 6'10" SF. He can play the PF spot but struggles in the post even with guys his own size. I like Joe Smith and wanted him on this team but Mikki Moore is much more of a 4/5 than Joe Smith and they are going to give you similar production in the role available.

If I needed a starting PF Joe Smith is the guy and if Marbury wasn't hear and we were looking for an offensive threat then missing out on Joe Smith would be a disaster but Moore might actually fit what we are trying to do better and it isn't like Smith could be better than Baby has been as a spot starter.

[shrink]

The Cavs are likely offering Joe their full pro-rated MLE(3.6 million), not just 1.2 million.

And what would that full pro-rated MLE ($3.6 mil) be with one third of the season left, hmm?

shrink,

Boston can offer a pro-rated share of $1.2 million and Cleveland can offer a pro-rated share of the full MLE which is about $5.6 million. Joe Smith is going to take the money.

As I said before, the difference is about $1 mil. Now, for you or me, we'd do a lot for $1 mil. However, Joe Smith has made perhaps $100 million over the last 10 years.

There is a lot of precedent where an older player leaves a lot more on the table than $1 mil to go chase a ring. Karl Malone and Gary Payton passed up huge amounts of money, and many buy-outs have players levaing more than $1 mil on the table.

It sounds like a moot point though, if boobie's insider is correct. I would still have hoped that BOS made an offer to Smith. It seems to me like the proper GM move.

[campybatman]

I say to Smith, prove it. If Smith genuinely had a desire to sign with Boston prior to Boston signing Moore. Then shun Cleveland and have your agent reach Ainge and see what's what. Pruitt and Giddens can be bought out for nothing. And their salaries are small enough to swallow if either is cut outright. It's all on Smith right now. Stall. Do what you've to do to buy Ainge more time to figure out the details.

[InBoobieWeTrust]

As I said before, the difference is about $1 mil. Now, for you or me, we'd do a lot for $1 mil. However, Joe Smith has made perhaps $100 million over the last 10 years.

There is a lot of precedent where an older player leaves a lot more on the table than $1 mil to go chase a ring. Karl Malone and Gary Payton passed up huge amounts of money, and many buy-outs have players levaing more than $1 mil on the table.

It sounds like a moot point though, if boobie's insider is correct. I would still have hoped that BOS made an offer to Smith. It seems to me like the proper GM move.

Well, Prorated portion of 1.2 million is $320 thousand..

Prorated of 5.6 million is 3.5 million.


so it's a 3 million dollar difference.

This is v2.0 of the same negotiated crap that resulted in McDyess going back to Detroit after he got traded...oh well!

The Cassell trade and Mikki Moore buy-out situation is essentially the same level of underhandedness.

[billfromBoston]

I chalk all this up under the "who gives a ****" category of discussion...

The difference between Mikki Moore and Joe Smith relative to the role they'd play on this team is insignificant in my book - we need someone to be long and hit shots - Moore is going to hit his set jumpers at the nearly the same rate if not equal to the same rate and his per-minute rebounding differential this year isn't going to cost the team much in terms of posessions given the minutes he's looking at.

I value Moore's personality more than anything else - his fire and enthusiasm is much prefered to the stoic nature of Joe Smith...they're looking at 12-15 mpg of PT for situational matchups...Davis and Powe are the more productive players amongst the group - only Drew Gooden is more productive out of all available options...

The depth in the frontcourt isn't going to be the make-or-break factor anyhow - the team has 3 shooters and 3 post players now - i'm good with it...it'll be Marbury's play that will be the X=factor for this team - let Cleveland have Joe Smith, he's not an impact player anywhere close to the caliber that Marbury is.

As long as Marbury gets up to speed on the off/def sets, Boston still holds the biggest trump card...the rest is about getting KG back and getting Doc to take the leash of Bill Walker while TA is out, so Pierce doesn't limp into the playoffs himself...

[sully00]

Well, Prorated portion of 1.2 million is $320 thousand..

Prorated of 5.6 million is 3.5 million.


so it's a 3 million dollar difference.

What the hell kind of math is that? I am not mathematician but the pro rated amount for 21 games of 1.2 mil is a little over $300,000, and the pro rated amount of 5.6 mil over those same 21 games would be 1.4 mil how could it be more than half of the original figure? Obviously the way the NBA calculates pro rated pay is not something I am an expert about but it would have to be calculated the same way.

This is v2.0 of the same negotiated crap that resulted in McDyess going back to Detroit after he got traded...oh well!

The Cassell trade and Mikki Moore buy-out situation is essentially the same level of underhandedness.

Agreed on all that. I don't really understand why this bothers people the rules are what they are there is no underhandedness about it.

[shackles10]

It's be worthless, Joe Smith is going to be a Cav, Ben Wallace going down was the ONLY reason he even requested a buy-out.

Just because one event preceded the other, it does not prove that one thing caused the other.

Ben Wallace went down before several players requested buy outs. Did Wallace's injury cause them all?

Who knew Nietzsche was a Celtics fan...

[mr_sunshine]

You guys are ridiculous. If Danny waited and Moore went somewhere else and no one else was bought out you'd be crying foul. Now that DA acquired the best FA on the market at the time you're still crying. Really? Hindsight 20:20! He had no idea Smith was going to get bought out. Oh well... Smith is a bum anyway!

[ryaningf]

It's be worthless, Joe Smith is going to be a Cav, Ben Wallace going down was the ONLY reason he even requested a buy-out.

Just because one event preceded the other, it does not prove that one thing caused the other.

Ben Wallace went down before several players requested buy outs. Did Wallace's injury cause them all?

Who knew Nietzsche was a Celtics fan...

That particular line probably has more in common with Kant than Nietzsche.

[shrink]

As I said before, the difference is about $1 mil. Now, for you or me, we'd do a lot for $1 mil. However, Joe Smith has made perhaps $100 million over the last 10 years.

There is a lot of precedent where an older player leaves a lot more on the table than $1 mil to go chase a ring. Karl Malone and Gary Payton passed up huge amounts of money, and many buy-outs have players levaing more than $1 mil on the table.

It sounds like a moot point though, if boobie's insider is correct. I would still have hoped that BOS made an offer to Smith. It seems to me like the proper GM move.

Well, Prorated portion of 1.2 million is $320 thousand..

Prorated of 5.6 million is 3.5 million.


so it's a 3 million dollar difference.

I don't understand. Why is it 1/4th when its pro-rated for BOS, and over 1/2 when its pro-rated for CLE?

Moreover, storyteller says you already used some of your MLE, and only have $3.7 mil left. Why are you pro-rating $5.6?

http://www.storytellerscontracts.info/r ... laries.htm