All things Draft Pick. #3

[12buckets]

Just watch Ainge facilitate and grab KLove.

I know it's projecting a little bit, but if LeBron and PG do leave for LA in a year, the Celtics with Love would definitely be the top team in the east.

It'd get the Pacers a little more value (getting Love locked up should cost more than a gamble on PG) with the Cavs biting the bullet in the name of one last playoff run, which should be worth it for them. Everybody wins.

Sent from my XT1565 using RealGM mobile app

Cost would be too much from Boston standpoint in terms of players going out because of Love's higher salary.
Bradley, Crowder, + Rozier doesn't even get it done to match salaries. Have to throw in Zizic.

Now you're just left with IT-Horford-#3-Brown-Smart. I don't think it's worth the trouble.

And Love. And since we're talking hypotheticals, Hayward isn't ruled out with the right timing.

Bradley, Crowder, and #3 would work, once the pick counts as salary.

That leaves a starting lineup of Horford, Love, Brown, Hayward, and IT. With rozier, smart, and zizic on the bench.

Love for 22.5 mil and 24 mil the next 2 seasons feels like a real bargain right now. And he's a prototype big man for a Brad Stevens offense.



Sent from my XT1565 using RealGM mobile app

[CelticFaninLBC]

And Love. And since we're talking hypotheticals, Hayward isn't ruled out with the right timing.

Bradley, Crowder, and #3 would work, once the pick counts as salary.

That leaves a starting lineup of Horford, Love, Brown, Hayward, and IT. With rozier, smart, and zizic on the bench.

Love for 22.5 mil and 24 mil the next 2 seasons feels like a real bargain right now. And he's a prototype big man for a Brad Stevens offense.



Sent from my XT1565 using RealGM mobile app

Ideally they'd hang onto #3 and have Horford, Love, Hayward, Brown, IT with Josh Jackson and Smart off the bench. They'd also retain the Bkn and Lal picks and have the best team in the east when LeBron heads West in 2018.

[The Rondo Show]

Love is going to be 29 years old when season starts with knee/back injuries and would be adding another defensive liability to the starting lineup in addition to Isaiah. He's also gotten exposed as someone not strong enough to make Durant or even Klay (who might've passed Smart on my pound for pound strongest players list) pay inside against GS and not athletic enough to hang defensively. Very bad fit vs. GS which is why CLE is talking about dealing him to get more versatile in the 1st place. And if he's a bad fit vs. GS, he's going to be just as bad or worse against a team with the incredibly versatile 3/4 duo of George and LeBron. So the two teams you are trying to compete with? He doesn't help you against. Big pass on ever including an asset like #3 overall for him.

[12buckets]

And Love. And since we're talking hypotheticals, Hayward isn't ruled out with the right timing.

Bradley, Crowder, and #3 would work, once the pick counts as salary.

That leaves a starting lineup of Horford, Love, Brown, Hayward, and IT. With rozier, smart, and zizic on the bench.

Love for 22.5 mil and 24 mil the next 2 seasons feels like a real bargain right now. And he's a prototype big man for a Brad Stevens offense.



Sent from my XT1565 using RealGM mobile app

Ideally they'd hang onto #3 and have Horford, Love, Hayward, Brown, IT with Josh Jackson and Smart off the bench. They'd also retain the Bkn and Lal picks and have the best team in the east when LeBron heads West in 2018.

I know, but I want to keep Zizic!! I've already lost one prospect I've been excited about this week. As CrowderKeg mentioned, salary matching gets a little tricky at Loves cap number.

Sent from my XT1565 using RealGM mobile app

[CelticFaninLBC]

Love is going to be 29 years old when season starts with knee/back injuries and would be adding another defensive liability to the starting lineup in addition to Isaiah. He's also gotten exposed as someone not strong enough to make Durant or even Klay (who might've passed Smart on my pound for pound strongest players list) pay inside against GS and not athletic enough to hang defensively. Very bad fit vs. GS which is why CLE is talking about dealing him to get more versatile in the 1st place. And if he's a bad fit vs. GS, he's going to be just as bad or worse against a team with the incredibly versatile 3/4 duo of George and LeBron. So the two teams you are trying to compete with? He doesn't help you against. Big pass on ever including an asset like #3 overall for him.

They could play a lot of small ball against either team w Love being the backup center.

[Shuttlesworth99]

I wouldn't help facilitate PG to Cleveland at all, we are probably going win now, if we don't get the best player in the deal ala Paul George, I'm steering clear.

We deserve the best players, not the consoliation prize now.

[PierceFan4ever]

Wait someone said we should use the 3rd pick that we got for moving down on Fultz and Crowder and Bradley for Kevin freaking Love as the end result?

[ConstableGeneva]

Read on Twitter

[Writebloc]

Read on Twitter

In some ways this might be for the best? LA would have to give up youth or the number 2 pick, either would be rough, but it would keep George off of Cleveland and leave the Celtics still with the opportunity to get Butler.

[Writebloc]

Read on Twitter

Here's your boy Ian Thompsen making up fake content.

[ConstableGeneva]

Insider: Paul George's desire to leave Pacers leaves Kevin Pritchard with impossible task

The deadline for Pritchard to make such a trade to receive the most compensation possible in exchange for George, it appears, is Thursday’s draft. But the Pacers, according to a source, are not planning to panic in the aftermath of Mintz’s message, though George's value is limited since he's likely to only spend one season with his new team.

The Lakers, who possess the second overall pick, have no incentive to discuss trade options with the Pacers with their knowledge of George’s intentions. The Vertical reported that Pritchard has yet to discuss possible trade options with the Lakers.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, according to a source, are interested in acquiring George for next season to help them compete against the Golden State Warriors, who beat them last week in the NBA Finals.

The Boston Celtics, who possess several future draft picks, could be another team willing to acquire George in trade. The Celtics made attempts in February to acquire George before the trade deadline. The Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers — another team also previously linked to George as a trade target — have reportedly agreed on a blockbuster deal. The Celtics are expected to send their No. 1 overall pick to the 76ers in exchange for the No. 3 pick and additional future draft choices.

If no trade involving George is agreed upon after Thursday’s draft, the Pacers could enter the free agency and next season in one of the most tenuous positions in the league.

The scenario where Cavs put Love on the table and involve a third team scares me the most. Price will go up in a bid for Love's services.

[reload141]

I swear to god if Cavs land George and route Love elsewhere I'll go mental.
Will be the 2nd time they've screwed us out of getting a star player.

[ConstableGeneva]

One thing to consider for Paul George in his desire to join the Lakers. His jersey number is retired for Wilt Chamberlain. Sources say the Celtics will consider not retiring James Young's jersey number if George decides to come to Boston.

EDIT: Lakers trying to scour for another 1st round pick in this year's draft. They'll try to keep #2 off the table in offer for PG.

[djFan71]

I think if we get PG, we don't max out anyone else. It just leads to redundancy and immediate tax bill next year. Why pick Jackson/Tatum then have that pick and Jaylen behind both PG & Hayward? I'd rather do something like:

Jae/Rozier/Zeller/LAC pick/BOS18 for George.
Sign a 2nd tier big man to an Amir/JJ type 1+1 deal. Z-Bo, etc (I did a list before, too tired to recreate now).
Bring over Zizic, Yabs
Resign KO.

Now, you have a pretty balanced roster.

IT/Smart
AB/Jaylen
PG/#3
KO/ZBo
Horford/Zizic

That's a team that can beat the Cavs. PG is a huge help against LeBron, then ZBo/whoever big helps as well. Jaylen/Marcus/#3 all get better.

And you have tradeable contracts/picks for the deadline/summer for... AD or whoever else pops up.

If you also add Hayward or Griffin, you're not maximizing your max contracts or your rookie values, and you have nothing to trade for the real big fish when they become available.

I know you could also just max Hayward and not trade any assets, but George to me is just that much better in a world where LeBron and KD still exist.

[ConstableGeneva]

Don't mind the misleading headline...

Rumors confirmed: George bound for L.A.

Since George joined the Pacers in 2010, they’ve been to the playoffs every year but one -- when George missed almost all of 2014-15 recovering from a broken leg. They’ve won 31 playoff games in that span, more than the Lakers have managed in any of the past four regular seasons.

But that apparently matters little to George, or at least doesn’t matter enough. Even with George, the Lakers don’t immediately become a contender. They might make the playoffs, but have no hope of competing with the Warriors. Hell, they were 25 games behind the crosstown Clippers last season.

No, this isn’t about winning, and that’s where George might’ve actually done the Pacers a little bit of a favor, however unintended.

They’ve been operating under the assumption that his biggest priority was winning a championship, that he was a foundational player worthy of being built upon.

These next few steps won’t be easy, and almost certainly will be painful. But at least now the Pacers know who Paul George really is and, more importantly, what he is not.

... George to me is just that much better in a world where LeBron and KD still exist.

Agree with this 100%. I like your plan (mainly because of the tax implications of the alternative). It all depends on which non-top-tier FAs we chase for frontcourt help.

[djFan71]

... George to me is just that much better in a world where LeBron and KD still exist.

Agree with this 100%. I like your plan (mainly because of the tax implications of the alternative). It all depends on which non-top-tier FAs we chase for frontcourt help.

It's not an overwhelming list, but I think several could be an upgrade over what we had (our Amir island real estate pricing be damned!). Not as thorough as I did before, but: Zbo, Taj, Haslem, Nene (injured?), Ibaka. I'm sure there are others. All seem worthy of less than the max, that we could squeeze in if we do that before resigning KO & making the PG trade. Rudy Gay as a small ball 4 even. Again, 1+1 overpays, so get what you can out of them this year and they're super tradeable or cuttable.

[BleedGreen1989]

Man, PG is just too risky.

I feel strongly he's simply going to LA, period.

[djFan71]

... George to me is just that much better in a world where LeBron and KD still exist.

Agree with this 100%. I like your plan (mainly because of the tax implications of the alternative). It all depends on which non-top-tier FAs we chase for frontcourt help.

It's not an overwhelming list, but I think several could be an upgrade over what we had (our Amir island real estate pricing be damned!). Not as thorough as I did before, but: Zbo, Taj, Haslem, Nene (injured?), Ibaka. I'm sure there are others. All seem worthy of less than the max, that we could squeeze in if we do that before resigning KO & making the PG trade. Rudy Gay as a small ball 4 even. Again, 1+1 overpays, so get what you can out of them this year and they're super tradeable or cuttable.

James Johnson was another one. Dedmon. Though, both of them probably want real deals, not the 1+1 business.

[Edug27]

George wants to be traded. The emphasis on him going to LA is his way to discourage 95% of the league from trading for him. The dude wants to go to Cleveland and Lebron is the only person who can keep him from going to LA after next season. So pretty much, it's GM Lebrons move to make. No other team will worth the "risk".

[djFan71]

Man, PG is just too risky.

I feel strongly he's simply going to LA, period.

I'm even OK with that depending on what we give up. If it's Jae/Rozier/bad picks they're replaceable. For Rozier, Danny will always find a way to draft another guard. For Jae, Jaylen/#3 are waiting in the wings. Getting PG ahead of them instead of Jae gives us a legitimate shot at the finals, so they get that experience. If we get that far and PG still bolts, a) lame, b) they take over a little earlier. If PG stays, even better. I like either scenario better than tying myself to Butler - I don't see him being as much of a game changer.