Sam Cassell = Small forward via trade

[ScoobyDoo]

Our only weak spot on the team this year right now is small forward. Perk, O'Bryant and someone else now, PJ later and we'll be fine at Center.

However, DMiles and BWalker at back up SF is a major liablity. Now if Miles is healthy and Walker suprises at a rookie, we would be rock solid but...

1. The chances of Miles staying healthy and Walker shining as a rookie are slim. Therefore you are taking a major gamble as team intent on winning right now with that rotation at your small forward spot...

Therefore, if Sam Cassell is signed it is because we are going to trade for a small forward either now or Dec 15th, when Gomes can be traded. And whether it's now or later I think Minnesota could well be in the plans. They have ( in Gomes, Miller, Brewer and Carney) four small forwards but are weak in the back court at both off and point. Enter Pruitt and/or Giddens or both.

I could easily see ( as much as I like him or them ) either Pruitt or Giddens packaged with Scalabrine for Brewer or Gomes and change.

For example: Scal and pruitt for Gomes and Booth works on Real GM. Brewer was a lottery pick, yes, but he'll never be a starter in the NBA and any GM knows that. Meanwhile, Pruitt does have starter capability. Minny needs back court help.

The question is would you rather have a rotation this year at the wings and Point of:

SF: Pierce / Miles / Walker
OG: RAllen / TAllen / Giddens
PG: Rondo / House / Pruitt

or

SF: Pierce / Gomes or Brewer / Miles
OG: RAllen / TAllen / Walker
PG: Rondo / House / Cassell

With the Latter we win another chanpionhsip, almost a lock. With the former, if Miles goes down and Walker can't shine...we probably don't win another championship.

WE might have to throw in Giddens and Pruitt with Scal for Gomes or Brewer and Booth. But with Rondo playing 38 minutes a night how much time would Pruitt ever get anyway? Unless he becomes so good he challenges Rondo for starter minutes...hard to see. Rondo is elite to me.

With Giddens, he's interesting but you can find 6'6" off guards pretty easy and with Ray, TAllen and B Walker you have time...to find another one.

Now, I perosnally like Brewer. He'll never be a starter but he's a perfect role player who plays D and does all the little things. I'd also be happy with Gomes.

I'm not syaing Minny is the only option but likely. it's a fit. They have extra small forwards, we have guards. We need a small forward, they need guards.

If not Minny, then we are trading with someone else for a good, solid back up small forward for Pierce.

     

[crownsy]

Intersting post, i would love to get ryan back. I think the biggest  thing that are problemtic in this scneario though is length of ryans new deal.

 If minn is willing to part with ryan, why sign him to a long term deal? If you wanted to use him as trade bait, a shorter deal is the way to go, assuming you don't have an immeditate partner. ryan getting 5 years from them tells me they think he's going to be around to lead there young team. Minn is actually pretty intriging to me, yes there doormats, but they have alot of young, quality players around big al.


TP for a deal that A) makes sense from both sides and B) doesnt invlove kicking ray allen out of town. 

[Evantime34]

So first of all I love ideas that would end in Sam not being on the Celtics this year. But I think if his signing signals a trade it's not going to be involving him. For these reasons:
1. He's a free agent, he can pick whatever team he wants, he will not allow himself to be part of a sign and trade.
2. Part of his contract seemed to be that he was able to become an assistant coach after the season, this would probably be voided if he got traded.
3. He plays pg which along with the center position is a position of need for the Celtics. We wouldn't trade him for a wing when we have a glut at the 2-3.

[ScoobyDoo]

Thanks for the replies, here are my thoughts:

Crownsy, thanks for the Tommy point! Yeah, I don't want Ray going anywhere...yet and probably not at all if possible. I'd like to think he can stay productive this year and next and then, since he's already had two max contracts, he decides to come back for mid level or near abouts as a classic sixth man for anothe ryear or two. extend his career.

Yes Re Minny / Gomes. It doesn't make sense to sign him to that long of a contract unless ( enter conspiracy theory) Ainge loves Gomes that much and sees HIM as a part of our team over the next 4-5 years, helping the big three win some titles and then easig the transition thereafter AND MCHale really likes the idea of a Pruitt/Giddens backcourt to go with Big Al Love and Miller. I'd hate to see both those guys go but...how many minutes will Pruitt get behind Rondo and off guards are one of the easier postions to fill if you move Giddens.

Now, moving off the Gomes deal, is there anyone closer to a Posey / Bowen / Quentin Ross type player than Brewer? If Gomes is in the long term for Minny and Miller is at off guard with Carney and MCCants behind them...where does Brewer fit in? Now, Pruitt with Miller has a nice ring to it in the back court.

Yes, Brewer is a lottery pick but he will never be a starter. Too think legged to bang night in and night out with SF's and too slow and not a good enough shot nor will he ever have a good enough shot to start at off guard. Ultimate role player. Perfect for us. For Minny, they need a good point guard more than a good role player right now. They can worry about adding a role player when they get better...

I would love Brewer behind Pierce. and geting Pruitt for him is a good deal for Minny. Brewer can do what he's best at, defend and rebound and do the little stuff.

Meanwhile, everyone says Scal is untradeable. He's a great asset for this year and next for a young team and he's only $3 mil a year.

Scal and Pruitt for Brewer and change...

Evantime34: I wasn't saying Cassell would be in the trade but that Cassell coming here means we're trading other people, most likely Pruitt for a small forward. If Cassell signs we'd have:

Rondo / House / Cassell at point
where would Pruitt play...behind Ray Allen, TAllen Giddens and Walker at off guard?

Which is why, if Cassell comes in I think it means Ainge is trading Pruitt, Scal for numbers and possibly Giddens for a good small forward. Minney has a lot of them...

Post trade:
Perkins / O'Bryant / PJ ( year's end )
Garnett / Big Baby / Powe
Pierce / SF we traded for / DMiles
RAllen / TAllen / Walker/Giddens ( if JR isn't traded )
Rondo / House / Cassell

 

[Eeyore III]

Interesting posts.  But I think the OP's premise is wrong, and that C is a bigger need than backup SF.  I predict that a 2-for-1 deal involving some of the usual suspects will be made with the Oklahoma City Blunder for one of the Swift/Petro/Sene trio.  That's my prediction. 

[zerophase]

no way minny gives up gomes. if they do, then essentially they gave up jefferson for kg straight up.

[action781]

I'll admit that I did not read your entire post.  I had to stop after I read, "Brewer was a lottery pick, yes, but he'll never be a starter in the NBA and any GM knows that. Meanwhile, Pruitt does have starter capability."

Now, I'm a celts season ticket holder and saw many games.  Yet, I don't recall a time I ever saw Pruitt play meaningful minutes.  How does that translate to starter capability?  The only 5 games he logged double digit minutes were games we won by double digits.  He is 22 years old.

Brewer is also 22 years old, yet will never be a starter in the NBA?  I admit that I haven't seen him as much as a pro as I did Pruitt, but he started 35 games... So, he actually already was a starter in the NBA.  He was obviously on a bad team, but he still was a starter, so apparently McHale is not one of your GMs that knows that.  I'm not sure Pruitt would start on that team over Telfair.

[gpap]

Why is everyone so against Cassell resigning with the Celtics? Is it because he's not young?

[dark_lord]

I could easily see ( as much as I like him or them ) either Pruitt or Giddens packaged with Scalabrine for Brewer or Gomes and change.

For example: Scal and pruitt for Gomes and Booth works on Real GM. Brewer was a lottery pick, yes, but he'll never be a starter in the NBA and any GM knows that. Meanwhile, Pruitt does have starter capability. Minny needs back court help.

mchale would hang up the phone and think u had too many scooby snacks.

[Rondoholic]

I really am okay with our rotation at the 3.  I'm excited to see what Walker can do and really think Miles can bounce back, obviously with a lot of the explosion lost but even with a hurt knee, I think he might be more-athletic-LOOKING than Posey. 

Is it just me or is Posey not the most deceivingly athletic player in recent memory.  The guy plays incredible D even though he is not toned at all.

I think Giddens and Tony are going to see minutes there against smaller SFs too.

[Thruthelookingglass]

Why is everyone so against Cassell resigning with the Celtics? Is it because he's not young?

a.  He's a chucker.  When he can't miss, he's awesome.  When I can't miss, I'm awesome.  Neither of us probably belong on Celtics, even if Cassell is way more awesome way more often than I am.

b.  His defense scares me.  When I notice it, that is.

c.  He typically takes us out of our offense, which presumably is "our offense" for a reason.  Actually, I like that quality when our offense isn't working, but maybe that's just me. 

I don't dislike Cassell--it's all total fun and games when he's sticking it.  Cassell going off is a sure dagger in the hearts of the opposing team.  I'm just worried about the fit.  That said, Doc and Danny know way more than I do so I leave it to them.

[Roy Hobbs]

Why is everyone so against Cassell resigning with the Celtics? Is it because he's not young?

Well, he was pretty terrible for much of the playoffs last year, and seemed to be hurting the team.  I think a lot of people worry about a repeat of that, and they're also worried about Eddie's role on the team, since Doc seemed to prefer Sam over Eddie for the majority of the playoffs (despite Eddie being the better player).

I'm not sure how I feel about the potential move.  I think we're still weakest in the front court, and I wish we'd add help there.  That being said, I'd rather have Sam on this team than Darius  Miles, who I expect to add nothing to an NBA roster now or in the future.

As for the potential trades, while I understand the premise that the Twolves have a surplus of 3s, I still don't think we're a good match for them.  Gomes, Brewer, or even Carney is worth significantly more than Scal (negative trade value) plus Pruitt.

[jdub1660]

First impressions are huge, which is why I think Cassell is being hated so much. He took on a huge role, and didn't pan out "as well" as we all hoped. Obviously he did SOMETHING GOOD for Ainge to take him back. I doubt the Minny trade could happen, but a trade with the THUNDER(cats) sounds more likely. Scal has little floor talent, but he's a great locker room/bench presence. How about a package mixed package of these players(Giddens,Scalabrine,Pruitt,BBD) in exchange for Wilkins(who took on a big offensive role when Ray/Lewis left) and Petro? Maybe it would take all four players to convince them to give up those 2, but still...here's what it does for us.
A.) We get rid of Scal.
B.) We create a roster spot for Cassell
C.) We get a backup 7' Center
D.) We get a SF that can shoot AND play D
E.) I will go on to say we open up 1 more roster spot for late season pick ups if necessary.

Rondo, House, Cassell
Ray, Tony,
Pierce, Wilkins, Miles
KG, Powe, Walker
Perk, Pat0, Petro
and 1 open spot for later

This could be our championship defending team