Just Re-Sign Posey

[Wicked Messenger]

Let's face it, besides injuries, the re-signing of James Posey is the single most important issue confronting the Celtics in connection with the defense of their NBA championship.  In the final analysis, why quibble between a 4 or 5 year deal?  How would Celtic Nation feel if Posey dons the Laker, Cavalier or New Orleans colors?  Every contender has a glue guy like Posey that they bring off the bench.  Pay the extra $6 million and call it good.  We saw the plays that Posey made in the chase for 17.  There's no way we win it all without him. 

While I'm still basking in the glory of the championship, I won't feel settled until this matter is resolved.  Please Mr. Ainge, convince the ownership to lock up Big Game James.

[dooyork]

Let's face it, besides injuries, the re-signing of James Posey is the single most important issue confronting the Celtics in connection with the defense of their NBA championship.  In the final analysis, why quibble between a 4 or 5 year deal?  How would Celtic Nation feel if Posey dons the Laker, Cavalier or New Orleans colors?  Every contender has a glue guy like Posey that they bring off the bench.  Pay the extra $6 million and call it good.  We saw the plays that Posey made in the chase for 17.  There's no way we win it all without him. 

While I'm still basking in the glory of the championship, I won't feel settled until this matter is resolved.  Please Mr. Ainge, convince the ownership to lock up Big Game James.

Amen.  It's stupid to quibble about whether the deal is 4 or 5 years, since the window of opportunity with KG, PP and Ray is basically another 2 or 3 years.  We have to win now, and the current roster is a proven winning formula.  And, Posey is a big reason why.  This is absolute insanity that some fans can be so nonchalant about the possibility of Posey leaving.  After watching him the whole season, I'm thinking, are we talking about the same player?  This guy is essential to this team.  Insanity!  Just sign him already! 

[BudweiserCeltic]

Let's face it, besides injuries, the re-signing of James Posey is the single most important issue confronting the Celtics in connection with the defense of their NBA championship.  In the final analysis, why quibble between a 4 or 5 year deal?  How would Celtic Nation feel if Posey dons the Laker, Cavalier or New Orleans colors?  Every contender has a glue guy like Posey that they bring off the bench.  Pay the extra $6 million and call it good.  We saw the plays that Posey made in the chase for 17.  There's no way we win it all without him. 

While I'm still basking in the glory of the championship, I won't feel settled until this matter is resolved.  Please Mr. Ainge, convince the ownership to lock up Big Game James.

Amen.  It's stupid to quibble about whether the deal is 4 or 5 years, since the window of opportunity with KG, PP and Ray is basically another 2 or 3 years.  We have to win now, and the current roster is a proven winning formula.  And, Posey is a big reason why.  This is absolute insanity that some fans can be so nonchalant about the possibility of Posey leaving.  After watching him the whole season, I'm thinking, are we talking about the same player?  This guy is essential to this team.  Insanity!  Just sign him already! 

This isn't a 4 or 5 years thing. This is also what they'll pay him THIS year.

The Celtics should explore all their options, and I'm glad they're doing it. I like Posey, but paying him full MLE this year could end up being foolish if it ends up preventing them from signing other players of interest that would've only taken a portion of the MLE.

[timepiece33]

This isn't a 4 or 5 years thing. This is also what they'll pay him THIS year.

The Celtics should explore all their options, and I'm glad they're doing it. I like Posey, but paying him full MLE this year could end up being foolish if it ends up preventing them from signing other players of interest that would've only taken a portion of the MLE.

Completely disagree.  This is a 4 or 5 year thing.  A 3 year contract coincides with Paul Pierce's end of contract and a 4 year contract with Kevin Garnett's.

If you believe there are people available with a "portion of the MLE" that will do more than Posey to help us win, I'd like to know who these players are.   I don't see them outside of a pipe dream named Corey Maggette.

Hope they sign him to a 3 year deal.  Would be apprehensive about a 4 year deal, but would contemplate it. 

[Triboy16]

i want to give it a max of 4 years 20 million but dayam if 5 years 25 million will do it, just do it , i'm with you

You can always trade him later with a prospect if the celts need to restructure and i don't think posey will ever mark blount it , he is just not that kind of guy in my eyes

i think one of the biggest hurdles though if most of the mle goes to posey is that who can they sign in the f a market this year?? the celts are at least one big away from being a more complete team, posey coming back or not, we really need another big over 6'10

I really like giddens and walker but if they just drafted a guy at least 6'10 , i don't think ainge would have as much as headache as he does now trying to figure out who else he needs to sign to replace pj brown.

[zerophase]

i would give the man what he wants. 4 years at the max mle, then so be it. i want to just lock up this guy. there's no one left in free agency that would actually come to boston that would be as good of an addition as posey.

[tenn_smoothie]

Celts need to make sure both Posey and House are back in green next season.

i watched a replay of this season's game @ San Antonio the other day and was struck by how much that 2nd half looked like the Detroit & LA series did.  Posey was all over the floor making the little plays that win games in addition to hitting some key shots. Eddie was right behind him. these are the type of players that every championship team has - glue, chemistry, hustle, clutch scoring, loose balls & defense.

this Posey situation is reminding me of the Paul Silas scenario after the 1976 season. many of you will remember how that turned out for the Celts.

[BudweiserCeltic]

This isn't a 4 or 5 years thing. This is also what they'll pay him THIS year.

The Celtics should explore all their options, and I'm glad they're doing it. I like Posey, but paying him full MLE this year could end up being foolish if it ends up preventing them from signing other players of interest that would've only taken a portion of the MLE.

Completely disagree.  This is a 4 or 5 year thing.  A 3 year contract coincides with Paul Pierce's end of contract and a 4 year contract with Kevin Garnett's.

If you believe there are people available with a "portion of the MLE" that will do more than Posey to help us win, I'd like to know who these players are.   I don't see them outside of a pipe dream named Corey Maggette.

Hope they sign him to a 3 year deal.  Would be apprehensive about a 4 year deal, but would contemplate it. 

It isn't about 1 player that's better than Posey. It's a combination of players that could be acquired. I'm not against giving Posey the full MLE, but I'm against blindly handing it to him without exploring other options that would make our team better even with Posey in there.

What that combination could be? Who knows, as long as Danny is doing his homework, it's good by me.

[Celtic_E]

I agree with all of you that Posey is a must on this team more than any other possible FA's available out there. But the thing I'm not really settled with is the length of contract we should give him. As of this writing, I'm still on the 4yr/$20 mil. crowd. I don't think signing Posey to a 5 yr. deal will do us good in the long run. A lot can happen in between the window years of the championship run and the rebuilding stage. As of right now, we are still in the championship run stage but what happens if we reach the rebuilding mode sooner than expected? If we tie up players to our team, then we limit our flexibility in the future which could come back and haunt us.

What I'm saying is that we should give Posey his due but stretching it to 5 years is a bit too much for me. 4 yrs. I could live with. With all that said, I'm glad I'm not in Danny's shoes right now. It is tough to make decisions of this stature and a lot of consequences stands on decisions like these. But I trust Danny to make the right decision on this matter, regardless of what this is.

[wdleehi]

There is a problem with a full MLE contract that goes 4 or 5 years.  The Celtics would be paying Posey around 9 million a year when he is 35 and the three stars may not be still here.  It creates salary and tax issues for the Celtics bringing in younger and more effective players. 


He was an important piece of the Celtics title team, but he is far from irreplaceable. 

[lon3lytoaster]

I'd much prefer Maggette and if he's really serious about joining Boston than he deserves our full attention because he's three times the player Posey is.

It's crazy what a few three-pointers and some baseline hugs can do for a guy. Contrats, James... You have officially made it first ballot into the Boston sports Hall of Fame for the Overrated. You join such company as Gerald Green, Antoine Walker, and even Red Sox great Clay Buchholz!

[cordialb]

Posey seems more interested in the length of the deal rather than the amount of the deal.

Danny would like to keep some of the MLE free to sign rookies to contracts longer than 2 years and keep them locked in, all while maintaining salary flexibility for post big 3.

Despite not wanting to pay posey too long, i would offer him a 4 year 20 mil contract.  That will essentially guarantee him being with us for the duration of the big 3, and if the worst side effect of signing him up to be here off the bench for the next 2 or 3 years contending is having to pay him one extra year at 6 or 7 million for limited production, then i think that is a good tradeoff.  

I dont look for James to be a liability that we will be locked into like Vin 'another round' Baker or Scal 'mr intangibles' brine.  I mean, if we are paying Scal 4 million now for what he is producing, i'm ok with paying Pose that extra year to be a good mentor off the bench.

Offering him 5M a year and not full MLE should leave enough to sign at least one of our home run swing draft picks to a longer deal, whichever shows more promise i'd say.  Seems like a good compromise.  

While i believe returning posey is key, I think it is good danny is weighing his options and not getting wrapped up in the emotions and signing posey to full MLE for 5 years.  

[Chief]

If he were 28 years old, then sure. But at 31, no way. Danny Ainge is way too smart to do that.

[CDawg834]

To me, this situation is similar to the 2004 and 2005 Red Sox and their free agents.   Everyone was up in arms about them letting Lowe, Pedro, Damon, etc. walk instead of overpaying for them or giving them too long a deal.  Management didn't want to let sentimental feelings cause them to give too many years to a player who may not be effective in 4-5 years.

I love Pose and hope they keep him, but I would totally understand if they did not want to give him a 4 year deal.  We saw how that worked out for the Mets and Pedro.  And in the NBA with the hard salary cap and luxury tax, you can't always buy your way out of contract mistakes.

[P2]

As I said before, if Posey wants the full MLE at 4 or more years, Danny will NOT sign him. It's ridiculous to pay a declining 6th man that much, especially after the contracts of the Big 3 are up. Maggette and Pietrus actually deserve that type of contract.