The latest rumors/news after today's signings

[canman1971]

I was told that if anything happens, it is highly likely to happen within the next week and a half, before the Olympics start. That keeps with the timeline I've heard all along.

And this source reminded me that things were very, very quiet at this time in 2007 before the KG trade. That trade had similar moving pieces in it too.

FWIW, I don't think either deal goes down. I think both LAC and OKC ultimately choose to hold on their pieces.

What? Then why are you even posting it? Haha. Just kidding, which I hope you already knew. As with the case of most "big" name in all sports, it's tough to get all sides to agree, even harder with 3 teams. Everyone loves their binkies.

[Smitty731]

I was told that if anything happens, it is highly likely to happen within the next week and a half, before the Olympics start. That keeps with the timeline I've heard all along.

And this source reminded me that things were very, very quiet at this time in 2007 before the KG trade. That trade had similar moving pieces in it too.

FWIW, I don't think either deal goes down. I think both LAC and OKC ultimately choose to hold on their pieces.

You are a wet blanket at the end of this post!

Ha! Sorry man. I tend to be overly realistic. I just can't see one team pulling off two huge trades for superstars, with a ton of moving parts including picks, in one summer. Seems fairly far fetched to me. But these are sources I trust implicitly, so I'm sharing.

[robbie84]

My main source on Griffin says:

"The Celtics are trying to push it back to the 3 team deal. Basic framework is:

Rozier, Young and Hunter/Mickey from BOS to SAC
Holland (would be waived by LAC), Johnson, Hunter/Mickey and 1 BRK (probably 2018) from BOS to LAC
Griffin and Pierce from LAC to BOS
Gay from SAC to LAC
Draft Rights for someone (I am guessing Maarty Leunen) from LAC to SAC to satisfy "touch" rules in a 3 team trade

Boston could kick Sacramento a future pick if necessary to get the deal done.

He said the Kings are intrigued, Boston is motivated, but LAC is still holding out and questioning if dealing Griffin is the right thing at this point. The Clippers are also questioning if just dealing with Boston is better and if they can get Crowder who Boston does not want to trade.

SAC also doesn't have a roster spot for 3 guys when sending out just Gay. But that isn't a major hold up and they'll try to sort that out later this year. Even if it means paying someone to take on a contract later.

Wow...that's not bad assuming that's not 2017 Brooklyn pick. I hate losing Rozier but no AB OR CROWDER!?!

There is zero chance that the Clippers give up the best player in the deal for our scrubs and an unknown lottery pick.
This is way off.

[Chris4Vikes]

I was told that if anything happens, it is highly likely to happen within the next week and a half, before the Olympics start. That keeps with the timeline I've heard all along.

And this source reminded me that things were very, very quiet at this time in 2007 before the KG trade. That trade had similar moving pieces in it too.

FWIW, I don't think either deal goes down. I think both LAC and OKC ultimately choose to hold on their pieces.

You are a wet blanket at the end of this post!

Ha! Sorry man. I tend to be overly realistic. I just can't see one team pulling off two huge trades for superstars, with a ton of moving parts including picks, in one summer. Seems fairly far fetched to me. But these are sources I trust implicitly, so I'm sharing.

Agree but all the moves made suggest something will happen. 4 PGs? 8 guards signed for next year!

[Smitty731]

You are a wet blanket at the end of this post!

Ha! Sorry man. I tend to be overly realistic. I just can't see one team pulling off two huge trades for superstars, with a ton of moving parts including picks, in one summer. Seems fairly far fetched to me. But these are sources I trust implicitly, so I'm sharing.

Agree but all the moves made suggest something will happen. 4 PGs? 8 guards signed for next year!

That is the part that pulls me back in every single time. I have a lot of trouble reconciling what is happening with the Boston roster without some other moves coming.

[Captain_Caveman]

I guess what my point is that Presti/ownership cheaped out on under 5 mil without even seeing if he would take it. OKC would be in a lot better shape right now if they still had a core of Westbrook/Harden. No clue what the other pieces would be currently considering the chain of events would be different, but potentially having 1 less superstar than you could have over 4.5 million is inexcusable.

I think what I'm saying is it didn't come to that. Harden wanted a bigger role and his own team, he wasn't sticking around either way.

Let's not totally revise history here. Harden was a restricted free agent who your team didn't keep because they were lux tax hardliners. There's no way you give up 4-5 years control of an All-Star caliber guy otherwise. And make no mistake that you did in fact have in control of him at a market rate.

[Slartibartfast]

My main source on Griffin says:

"The Celtics are trying to push it back to the 3 team deal. Basic framework is:

Rozier, Young and Hunter/Mickey from BOS to SAC
Holland (would be waived by LAC), Johnson, Hunter/Mickey and 1 BRK (probably 2018) from BOS to LAC
Griffin and Pierce from LAC to BOS
Gay from SAC to LAC
Draft Rights for someone (I am guessing Maarty Leunen) from LAC to SAC to satisfy "touch" rules in a 3 team trade

Boston could kick Sacramento a future pick if necessary to get the deal done.

He said the Kings are intrigued, Boston is motivated, but LAC is still holding out and questioning if dealing Griffin is the right thing at this point. The Clippers are also questioning if just dealing with Boston is better and if they can get Crowder who Boston does not want to trade.

SAC also doesn't have a roster spot for 3 guys when sending out just Gay. But that isn't a major hold up and they'll try to sort that out later this year. Even if it means paying someone to take on a contract later.

Gay and 2018 BK doesn't make much sense for LAC. I like Gay as a player, but he's several tiers below Griffin and a nebulous pick doesn't help LAC win-now.

A Gay/Crowder/KO trio plus the BK 2018 pick maybe.

That would completely address the forward rotation for the Clips. A scorer, a consummate role player and a stretch 4.

[Smitty731]

My main source on Griffin says:

"The Celtics are trying to push it back to the 3 team deal. Basic framework is:

Rozier, Young and Hunter/Mickey from BOS to SAC
Holland (would be waived by LAC), Johnson, Hunter/Mickey and 1 BRK (probably 2018) from BOS to LAC
Griffin and Pierce from LAC to BOS
Gay from SAC to LAC
Draft Rights for someone (I am guessing Maarty Leunen) from LAC to SAC to satisfy "touch" rules in a 3 team trade

Boston could kick Sacramento a future pick if necessary to get the deal done.

He said the Kings are intrigued, Boston is motivated, but LAC is still holding out and questioning if dealing Griffin is the right thing at this point. The Clippers are also questioning if just dealing with Boston is better and if they can get Crowder who Boston does not want to trade.

SAC also doesn't have a roster spot for 3 guys when sending out just Gay. But that isn't a major hold up and they'll try to sort that out later this year. Even if it means paying someone to take on a contract later.

Wow...that's not bad assuming that's not 2017 Brooklyn pick. I hate losing Rozier but no AB OR CROWDER!?!

There is zero chance that the Clippers give up the best player in the deal for our scrubs and an unknown lottery pick.
This is way off.

You ignored the part that has been stated over and over that Doc loves Rudy Gay. And he LOVED the way they played when they went small with Mbah a Moute at PF. And Amir Johnson is far from a scrub.

Gay, Johnson, and a BRK pick is a pretty nice return for a guy who has a questionable future in LA.

[claycarver]

Ha! Sorry man. I tend to be overly realistic. I just can't see one team pulling off two huge trades for superstars, with a ton of moving parts including picks, in one summer. Seems fairly far fetched to me. But these are sources I trust implicitly, so I'm sharing.

The Griffin trade looks we don't have enough assets going out, but the Westbrook trade looks like it costs us too much. Is that because Griffin would be coming without signing an extension and Westbrook would only be coming if he does sign an extension?

I don't know if this is for you specifically, Smitty, or if anyone else can explain why the huge discrepancies in cost between the two in these rumors.

[bondom34]

I guess what my point is that Presti/ownership cheaped out on under 5 mil without even seeing if he would take it. OKC would be in a lot better shape right now if they still had a core of Westbrook/Harden. No clue what the other pieces would be currently considering the chain of events would be different, but potentially having 1 less superstar than you could have over 4.5 million is inexcusable.

I think what I'm saying is it didn't come to that. Harden wanted a bigger role and his own team, he wasn't sticking around either way.

Let's not totally revise history here. Harden was a restricted free agent who your team didn't keep because they were lux tax hardliners. There's no way you give up 4-5 years control of an All-Star caliber guy otherwise. And make no mistake that you did in fact have in control of him at a market rate.

I'm not revising anything. Having control is not the same as having a player who is willingl and desires to play there. He wanted out.

[fallguy]

Wow...that's not bad assuming that's not 2017 Brooklyn pick. I hate losing Rozier but no AB OR CROWDER!?!

There is zero chance that the Clippers give up the best player in the deal for our scrubs and an unknown lottery pick.
This is way off.

You ignored the part that has been stated over and over that Doc loves Rudy Gay. And he LOVED the way they played when they went small with Mbah a Moute at PF. And Amir Johnson is far from a scrub.

Gay, Johnson, and a BRK pick is a pretty nice return for a guy who has a questionable future in LA.

I don't think Doc values Griffin the way the rest of the league does. His view might be too well-rounded.

Still - he should hold out for one of Avery or Crowder. Both guys would help immensely against GS.

[Marley2Hendrix]

Westbrook
Bradley
Crowder
Griffin
Horford
6th - IT
7th - KO
8th - Jerebko
9th - Green
10th - Zeller
11th - Pierce
12th - Jackson

Is pretty damn strong. A little worried about our SF depth... Seems like LAC may getting less value than they'd want for Griffin though. Feels good that Gay basically said he wants Crawford/Pierce like stability yesterday. Welp, sucked into the board for another 10 days.

Have to say, if this is all we are giving up for Griffin and the RW trade falls apart, I'd still be ecstatic.

[pac213up]

Obviously Ainge is working hard on some things. Although these deals are hard to complete I would be more shocked if nothing happened.

[Smitty731]

Ha! Sorry man. I tend to be overly realistic. I just can't see one team pulling off two huge trades for superstars, with a ton of moving parts including picks, in one summer. Seems fairly far fetched to me. But these are sources I trust implicitly, so I'm sharing.

The Griffin trade looks we don't have enough assets going out, but the Westbrook trade looks like it costs us too much. Is that because Griffin would be coming without signing an extension and Westbrook would only be coming if he does sign an extension?

I don't know if this is for you specifically, Smitty, or if anyone else can explain why the huge discrepancies in cost between the two in these rumors.

I can guarantee you if you run the OKC part by a Thunder fan they will say it isn't enough. Two sides to every story. Brown and BRK picks haven't even played a real game yet. There is absolutely no way you can say with firm commitment that they are any better than Westbrook, who is an established top 5-10 player in the entire league.

[Asian Celtic]

If KD had gone somewhere other than OKC or GS we'd be looking at being the title favorites with these trades I think.

If KD went to us, we'd never thought that he was a Beta. We won't be training our warchest of assets now and instead made some minor moves for a solid supporting cast. Heck we wouldn't even have these westbrook and griffin rumors IMO.

[canman1971]

Ha! Sorry man. I tend to be overly realistic. I just can't see one team pulling off two huge trades for superstars, with a ton of moving parts including picks, in one summer. Seems fairly far fetched to me. But these are sources I trust implicitly, so I'm sharing.

Agree but all the moves made suggest something will happen. 4 PGs? 8 guards signed for next year!

That is the part that pulls me back in every single time. I have a lot of trouble reconciling what is happening with the Boston roster without some other moves coming.

I know but didn't we say the same thing last year?

[Marley2Hendrix]

Wow...that's not bad assuming that's not 2017 Brooklyn pick. I hate losing Rozier but no AB OR CROWDER!?!

There is zero chance that the Clippers give up the best player in the deal for our scrubs and an unknown lottery pick.
This is way off.

You ignored the part that has been stated over and over that Doc loves Rudy Gay. And he LOVED the way they played when they went small with Mbah a Moute at PF. And Amir Johnson is far from a scrub.

Gay, Johnson, and a BRK pick is a pretty nice return for a guy who has a questionable future in LA.

Yep, the only way I see LAC falling in love with this is if they become enamored with small ball with gay/jordan at the 4/5. Think it would work well with CP3 and shooters. I'd get why they'd waiver on this.

[Chris4Vikes]

Ha! Sorry man. I tend to be overly realistic. I just can't see one team pulling off two huge trades for superstars, with a ton of moving parts including picks, in one summer. Seems fairly far fetched to me. But these are sources I trust implicitly, so I'm sharing.

The Griffin trade looks we don't have enough assets going out, but the Westbrook trade looks like it costs us too much. Is that because Griffin would be coming without signing an extension and Westbrook would only be coming if he does sign an extension?

I don't know if this is for you specifically, Smitty, or if anyone else can explain why the huge discrepancies in cost between the two in these rumors.

I can guarantee you if you run the OKC part by a Thunder fan they will say it isn't enough. Two sides to every story. Brown and BRK picks haven't even played a real game yet. There is absolutely no way you can say with firm commitment that they are any better than Westbrook, who is an established top 5-10 player in the entire league.

It sounds to me that this all rides on Doc. If no Griffin, then no Westbrook. I think Boston would be too afraid Westbrook would bolt without Griffin first.

[jordb2k7]

I'm excited about all of this whether it happens or not is fun to think about. It is a lot to give up but to get major pieces you have to. I can't wait to see what happens our roster situation is a little odd right now as Smitty points out. Our guys still have not signed their deals just agreed to, something is going on but it doesn't mean it will happen. It is fun to think about what this team would look like!!

[Smitty731]

Source just told me:

"It helps a lot that Ainge has great relationships with both Doc and Presti. He and Doc are still really close. He's worked several deals with Presti. And Presti openly admits that he owes Ainge one for eating Perry Jones deal last year. He doesn't owe him Westbrook as a gift big, but taking a little off the price could be in play."