Celtics General Offseason Thread Pt. 10: Free Agency is in Free Flow

[ZeroTolerance]

All season this board hated Morris. Every game thread dreaded him entering the game. Now we are upset we didn’t offer him that contract?

I think that he too got in on the disgust over the team not performing up to expectations...The Kyrie fan base would not blame their guy so they compensated by blaming others...and Mook got a chunk of that action.... It happens that way...

I think for the most part he was a good Celtic...I wish him well in San Antonio....Playing for Pop should be a good experience for him and that team will certainly remain relevant in the west...

[winsomme2]

I think Brad will start small but play big, basically moving Tatum to SF or so from the bench, basically meaning;

Walker, 34minpg, Edwards/Wanamaker, 14minpg
Brown, 32minpg, Smart, 26minpg
Hayward, 28minpg, Williams/Langford, 18minpg
Tatum, 34minpg, Theis, 14minpg
Kanter, 20minpg, Williams/Poirier, 20minpg

Grant is a PF, but he ends up playing the back-up 3, because Jayson is basically the back-up SF and he slides to the 4, kinda

Basically, with 8-10minpg of Theis or Grant at Center kinda

That's way too many minutes for rookies if this team has any real designs on the playoffs.

Big minutes from Edwards, Langford, and both Williams. That's scary. I mean, Tatum and Brown still don't have their footing either and are coming off crappy seasons.

[denmuscles]

Did anyone have as many departures as we did..

Kyrie gone
Al gone
Rozier gone
Morris gone
Baynes gone

[ZeroTolerance]

Had to renounce his cap hold to sign Kemba

But why couldn't we have renounced Theis and traded Yabu instead?

It wouldn't clear enough cap space even if you dumped Yabu. Morris's cap hold is more than 5x bigger than Theis's.

Ohh ...what to do with Yabu?

I almost feel bad for the guy....watching that summer league win, he was the only guy who played significant minutes who seemed like he was lost out there....

Sooner or later Danny will have a decision to make.....Yabu's salary is too large for an end of the bench player.....And the other no name bigs who played last night outclassed him it seemed to me....They fit in with the offensive flow much better....

[BigTrade92]

Yabu needs to be cut/traded and Tacko signed.

There is literally zero reason why a professional NBA roster should have Yabusele on it, let alone ours.

This better not be a Danny Ainge “pride” moment. It was a bad pick, when you were handicapped and had to just pick a guy to stash. But don’t make it worse. Get rid of him and open up a roster spot.

He pulled this crap once with Abdel Nader. Let’s not relive it again with Yabusele.

[brackdan70]

Yabu needs to be cut/traded and Tacko signed.

There is literally zero reason why a professional NBA roster should have Yabusele on it, let alone ours.

This better not be a Danny Ainge “pride” moment. It was a bad pick, when you were handicapped and had to just pick a guy to stash. But don’t make it worse. Get rid of him and open up a roster spot.

He pulled this crap once with Abdel Nader. Let’s not relive it again with Yabusele.

Salary ballast for the big trade.

[Darth Celtic]

Theis not signed yet? We can give him $19.3M/2 years, 2nd year non-guaranteed. $9.28M is a better trade ballast midseason. We at least have to have the option of trading up in late January.

Ojeleye + Yabu can get us Crowder, expiring ($7.82M).

Add Kanter and you can get into the Adams/Drummond/Gasol trade range.

Lose 3 rotational players for a starting center. At this point, is it still worth it?

How come we could give Theis that much but not Morris?

because Morris had a cap hold of 10m. Theis 1.8m. We could go over that to sign them, but it had to do with the hold. That's why.

[BigTrade92]

Yabu needs to be cut/traded and Tacko signed.

There is literally zero reason why a professional NBA roster should have Yabusele on it, let alone ours.

This better not be a Danny Ainge “pride” moment. It was a bad pick, when you were handicapped and had to just pick a guy to stash. But don’t make it worse. Get rid of him and open up a roster spot.

He pulled this crap once with Abdel Nader. Let’s not relive it again with Yabusele.

Salary ballast for the big trade.

$3 million isn’t making or breaking any trade.

And you don’t hold a roster spot hostage for a trade that may never even happen.

[Darth Celtic]

How come we could give Theis that much but not Morris?

Theoretically, we could.

So we chose Theis over Morris?

No, this is wrong. as I said, we could keep theis on 1.8m hold, and renounce the Morris 10m hold and sign Kemba with cap space in sign and trade. Then sign Theis to 5m a year going over the cap.

We had no choice.

[Darth Celtic]

Theis cap hold was only 2 million so we never had to relinquish it. We needed to relinquish Morris hold to have max space for Kemba, but not Theis. We only had exceptions for Morris but with Theis I believe we could pay him whatever. Only option with Morris was to sign him with cap space and then trade him but to get anything back we needed Sixers and Nets to play along.

There was a way to keep Morris's hold or at least come close to what the Spurs offered but it would take some cap maneuvering. djFan and I spent an entire thread for this.

Seems like all they needed to do was dump Yabu's salary (tons of teams did it this off season) and not keep Theis. No?

For what they were talking about, we would have had to give assets like first round picks to other teams like the Nets. Morris wasnt worth giving up firsts for to keep.

[brackdan70]

Yabu needs to be cut/traded and Tacko signed.

There is literally zero reason why a professional NBA roster should have Yabusele on it, let alone ours.

This better not be a Danny Ainge “pride” moment. It was a bad pick, when you were handicapped and had to just pick a guy to stash. But don’t make it worse. Get rid of him and open up a roster spot.

He pulled this crap once with Abdel Nader. Let’s not relive it again with Yabusele.

Salary ballast for the big trade.

$3 million isn’t making or breaking any trade.

And you don’t hold a roster spot hostage for a trade that may never even happen.

Idk. Not like we are going to add a useful guy with that final roster spot. Kind of a non issue to me.

[gocelts]

That’s a good point. I get that Hayward-Brown-Tatum isn’t Kawhi and Paul George, but no one’s sweating the lack of traditional size on that team.

We match up well with the Clippers. Like we did the Warriors.

We have to go through at least two of the Bucks (Lopez Bros./Giannis), Sixers (Embiid/Horford/Simmons), Indy (Turner/Sabonis), and Raptors (Ibaka/Gasol) first. Though I'm really not concerned about those last two teams.

Interior defense has been a weakness of the team for a few years now. We addressed the rebounding but not the paint protection part. Kyrie-to-Kemba on the point-of-attack defense isn't an upgrade either. I think the major upgrade we will get could be the togetherness and oncourt chemistry we lost last season. So there would be less defensive breakdowns if these guys are in sync and communicating on the floor.

Until there is some resolution of the Hayward/Brown issue, I'm not convinced the chemistry issues will go away.

I believe the resolution is that both Brown and Hayward now start while moving Tatum the pf. This puts our 4 best players on the court for now (one could challenge Smart should start over one of Brown or Hayward) and allows us to really evaluate what we really have with the aforementioned players.

The Kanter, G Williams adds and opening playing time for R Williams is certainly NOT an upgrade over Horford. It does (hopefully) maintain what Morris and Baynes gave us.

We definetly need a front court upgrade to solidify the interior D but overpaying Horford or trading big assets for Capella (who's likely not available) is kind of panicking...and it's arguable that a WCS who had to sign a minimum contract is really going move the needle much more than giving those minutes to Theis and both Williams. In other words we need a real big time upgrade and not whatever Yabs and a pick will get us...it's a Brown and picks kind of talent we'd need back, and Danny isnt ready to do that OR he has and the market for that package isn't as good as we think it is. So here we are...stuck with what we got. Let's not act like if a game changer we're available that Danny is too chicken to make a trade...

Lastly....there are still lots of bad teams out there with talent that will be on the move. It's not a bad position to wait it out and see what the tide brings. We're still in the top half of the East and should compete for at least the 4 seed. After all this Kyrie and Al "noise" goes away, someone will have an "ah ha" moment and will want an opportunity in Boston. It's annoying to wait but sometimes good decisions are tough.

[Half-Full]

I think Yabs and Wanamaker might be in trouble. Waters and Edwards look good.

Edwards did look good. I wonder, though, if he is more of a SG rather than a PG. Yeah, he doesn't have the size for SG, but he can sure shoot the ball. Not sure about his ball distribution skills. I think Wanamaker is more of a true PG. Maybe play Edwards as SG on offense, and have him cover opposing team's PG on defensive end. I think he would be good paired up with Smart. They can both bring up the ball, but I think Smart is a better distributor, based on the small sample I've seen, and Smart can certainly guard a bigger player. I believe Wanamaker is on a one year deal. Tremont will likely spend some time with the Red Claws, or taking up one of the 13-15 slots. In any case, he could be contending for a back up PG role next year after Wanamaker is gone.

[zoyathedestroya]

Did anyone have as many departures as we did..

Kyrie gone
Al gone
Rozier gone
Morris gone
Baynes gone

Pacers: Joseph, Collison, Matthews, Bogdanovic, Evans, Young, O'Quinn
Sixers: McConnell, Butler, Redick, Boban
Bucks: Brogdon, Snell, Mirotic
Raptors: Kawhi, Green

Rozier and Morris are addition by subtraction considering our current roster. Kemba replaces Kyrie. He might be a less talented individual but will be a better fit. Also not a moody weirdo that would cause issues in the locker room. Baynes, as much as I love him, is replaceable (Poirier might be the guy). Horford is the real loss from oncourt impact standpoint.

[Darth Celtic]

Watching tatum on his vacation tour makes me think he's not doing the work he needs to. He needs to eat 4000 calories a day of carbs and protien and needs to be lifting bro.

Lots of lifting. Core, legs, arms, everything. If he's going to play pf, he gets pushed around too much. No last year Hayward who is stronger did a lot of PF when paired with Tatum, but Tatum has to get stronger in the core. It took Giannis 5 years to look like that, tatum needs to start. More weights bro, less step back long 2's over YMCA players.

[ZeroTolerance]

Yabu needs to be cut/traded and Tacko signed.

There is literally zero reason why a professional NBA roster should have Yabusele on it, let alone ours.

This better not be a Danny Ainge “pride” moment. It was a bad pick, when you were handicapped and had to just pick a guy to stash. But don’t make it worse. Get rid of him and open up a roster spot.

He pulled this crap once with Abdel Nader. Let’s not relive it again with Yabusele.

I was somewhat surprised with Tacko...He is sorta "lurch like" in that you wonder if he was going to fall over himself at times...But he did show some ability beyond just dunking the basketball..... I'm not at all sure that he deserves a roster spot...but that oriental guy whose name escapes me and i will have to look up seemed coordinated and motivated to make the team....and though the odds are small that this happens, it's easy to root for guys like that..

I think Tacko will play in Portland for the Red Claws and be a sort of fan favorite celebrity there...His personality will win him points aside from his height....But for the Celtics to carry him on the NBA roster, I don't think it will happen...

[Half-Full]

We also don't have shooters. I mean who are our shooters. This roster is way out of whack which is frustrating because the East is really weak.

Rookies looked good, tho. That's a positive.

Edwards is certainly a shooter. I can see him getting minutes for that reason alone. Grant Williams, while not strictly a shooter, can put the ball in the hole in a variety of ways.

[No-Man]

I think Brad will start small but play big, basically moving Tatum to SF or so from the bench, basically meaning;

Walker, 34minpg, Edwards/Wanamaker, 14minpg
Brown, 32minpg, Smart, 26minpg
Hayward, 28minpg, Williams/Langford, 18minpg
Tatum, 34minpg, Theis, 14minpg
Kanter, 20minpg, Williams/Poirier, 20minpg

Grant is a PF, but he ends up playing the back-up 3, because Jayson is basically the back-up SF and he slides to the 4, kinda

Basically, with 8-10minpg of Theis or Grant at Center kinda

That's way too many minutes for rookies if this team has any real designs on the playoffs.

Big minutes from Edwards, Langford, and both Williams. That's scary. I mean, Tatum and Brown still don't have their footing either and are coming off crappy seasons.

I mean I expect Poirier, and Wanamaker over Edwards, meaning, Edwards-Smart-Grant-Theis-Poirier from the bench

Edwards, Langford and Bob as extra depth

[ZeroTolerance]

I think Yabs and Wanamaker might be in trouble. Waters and Edwards look good.

Edwards did look good. I wonder, though, if he is more of a SG rather than a PG. Yeah, he doesn't have the size for SG, but he can sure shoot the ball. Not sure about his ball distribution skills. I think Wanamaker is more of a true PG. Maybe play Edwards as SG on offense, and have him cover opposing team's PG on defensive end. I think he would be good paired up with Smart. They can both bring up the ball, but I think Smart is a better distributor, based on the small sample I've seen, and Smart can certainly guard a bigger player. I believe Wanamaker is on a one year deal. Tremont will likely spend some time with the Red Claws, or taking up one of the 13-15 slots. In any case, he could be contending for a back up PG role next year after Wanamaker is gone.

Carson Edwards is a keeper....His shot reminds me of Stephan Curry's... His release point is so quick and he has the confidence in it too ... He's so Curry like in that he can handle the ball and pass as well...... I think this kid could become a star in this league....

And don't sleep on the Waters kid either...Even though he is tiny, he's just as tenacious and bull dog like as Marcus Smart....His defense was driving Philly crazy last night....I love hustle guys and this one can run an offense too....

Both of these guys should see minutes off the bench this season....and I think Edwards could see lots of them...

I love our rookie class this year!

[Half-Full]

Anyone who has the Pacers or Raps above us, get outta here

Or the nets without KD

I love our top 6 but our bench is has zero experience. Until we add a proven bench guy or guys idk

I think you will be surprised by Brad Wanamaker. He is an experienced, heady player, with true PG skills. When he was out there last year, he acquitted himself well. I expect he will see more minutes this year.

Watch on YouTube

I think Theis counts as an experienced bench player. Hopefully we will see more from Semi this year. Poirier is an unknown quantity at this point, but could be a decent pick up.