Maggette is Available

[EJPLAYA]

How about this one:

GS gets BBD, Scal, Giddens, and TA
Boston gets Maggette

Works in the trade machine. We fill our problem at the SF spot with a guy who can really score. Scal and Giddens don't really hurt us. We replace BBD with a no name big like this guy from the D league and play POB in BBD's spot. We try also to pick up Joe Smith if he becomes available, or a guy like Zo.

[Chris]

I don't think the C's have any interest in Maggette for that type of money.  They wanted him on a 1 year MLE deal.  If they wanted to take on that kind of salary, they would have resigned Posey.

[TradeProposalDude]

I don't think the C's have any interest in Maggette for that type of money.  They wanted him on a 1 year MLE deal.  If they wanted to take on that kind of salary, they would have resigned Posey.

But that was then. This is now. Ainge and Wyc assumed that Eddie & Tony in our backcourt would not surrender leads and blow games like they've been doing of late. We're pretty desperate for any quality bench addition we can get. Frankly, if Maggette can be had that easy, finances aside, you do it. We're only going to be in contending shape for so long... KG, Allen, and Pierce aren't the youngest cats around.

[CoachBo]

I don't think the C's have any interest in Maggette for that type of money.  They wanted him on a 1 year MLE deal.  If they wanted to take on that kind of salary, they would have resigned Posey.

I agree.

That's what happens when your front office starts thinking it can outsmart the league.
The only person the Celtics have ever had in the front office who could do that died a couple of years ago.

Penny-wise, and banner-foolish.

[Chris]

I don't think the C's have any interest in Maggette for that type of money.  They wanted him on a 1 year MLE deal.  If they wanted to take on that kind of salary, they would have resigned Posey.

But that was then. This is now. Ainge and Wyc assumed that Eddie & Tony in our backcourt would not surrender leads and blow games like they've been doing of late. We're pretty desperate for any quality bench addition we can get. Frankly, if Maggette can be had that easy, finances aside, you do it. We're only going to be in contending shape for so long... KG, Allen, and Pierce aren't the youngest cats around.

To be honest, I don't think Ainge is the least bit surprised by the way the bench has played.  They were not THAT much better at this time last year, and they had Posey.  I felt during the summer, and I still feel now that Danny made his moves over the summer with the eye towards bringing in reinforcements (in a fiscally sound way) midway through the season.

And given the fact that the team is still 28-5 at this point in the season, I think Danny is as far from desperate as he has ever been.

[Chris]

I don't think the C's have any interest in Maggette for that type of money.  They wanted him on a 1 year MLE deal.  If they wanted to take on that kind of salary, they would have resigned Posey.

I agree.

That's what happens when your front office starts thinking it can outsmart the league.
The only person the Celtics have ever had in the front office who could do that died a couple of years ago.

Penny-wise, and banner-foolish.

It worked last year with Posey.  They convinced him to sign below market value with the hope of being able to go back on the market the year after getting exposure as a part of a championship team.  It is a pretty good selling point, and there will be a bunch of teams using that selling point next year trying to lure guys like Kidd, AI, and others.

[mahonedog88]

Yeah I think now, Maggette wouldn't work.

What's interesting is that supposedly, Golden State is already starting to regret signing him to this big contract.  He already can't stay healthy and when he is healthy and is playing, I guess the word is that he hasn't been helpful in practice and is being labeled a ballhog by alot of his teammates.

[CoachBo]

Well, that leads me to wonder what the goal is, then?

Is it pinching Wyc's pennies?

Or is it winning another banner?

Personally, when I look at Danny's body of work, I see a lot more of last summer in his pre-2007 work than I do any of the signs of gratuitous genius that he's apparently been rewarded with for tapping into the Seattle and Minny fire sales in 2007.

It seems a little brazen, frankly, to assume that you can pry the appropriate pieces out of the market every February. I don't know if Grousbeck shifted back into penny-pinching mode here or if this is Danny's belief that he's smarter than every other GM at work.

Whichever, they're gambling a year in a very short Pierce-Garnett-Allen window. And they didn't need to.

[Chris]

Well, that leads me to wonder what the goal is, then?

Is it pinching Wyc's pennies?

Or is it winning another banner?

Personally, when I look at Danny's body of work, I see a lot more of last summer in his pre-2007 work than I do any of the signs of gratuitous genius that he's apparently been rewarded with for tapping into the Seattle and Minny fire sales in 2007.

It seems a little brazen, frankly, to assume that you can pry the appropriate pieces out of the market every February.

It is to maintain a team that competes for championships for as long as possible, while still staying financially viable. 

I certainly understand how you feel that it is penny-pinching, but I disagree. 

I think this summer Danny saw a team that was going to improve in other areas enough that they could still be as good, if not better than last years team, even without Posey (and so far that has proven true).  Because of this, he was able to set a value on Posey, based on the future financial (and cap) flexibility of the team, and the potential of Posey still being worth anything close to the contract at the end of it, and stick to it.

I think he also looked at the rest of the league, and decided that there was a good chance they would be able to bring in reinforcements later in the year, and that there would likely be better options through trades and Free agents in February and March than there were available in July and August.  And if not, they still have enough fire-power to be a championship contender, if not favorite.

I really think people are forgetting that this team is 28-5, and just set the record for the best start in the history of the entire league.  Yeah, it would be nice if they had a better bench, and they were 34-2 right now...but lets not get carried away here.  If by not signing Posey, Danny made the C's "arguably" the best team in the league, instead of "hands down" the best team in the league, we may be getting a little greedy here.

So yeah, I don't think he is being brazen at all, I just think he was taking a calculated risk, based on the fact that they were good enough to still challenge for the title even if it didn't work out.

[CoachBo]

First, we totally disagree about one fundamental point: This team is not better than last year's team, and the primary reason is a bench that is missing a multitude of skills fundamental to a champion - length, outside shooting and most critically, a competent backup 5.

People tend to let wins - several of them difficult over second-rate teams - delude them into a false sense of security that a badly flawed bench simply will not support in playoff crunch time. I've been clear about this on this board: This team as currently constructed will not repeat, and will not win the Eastern Conference championship.

And further, we are one Kendrick Perkins significant injury away from cratering.

It makes no sense whatsoever to me to make the Garnett and Ray Allen deals if a worry about 2011 and beyond trumps your desire to win multiple titles. It makes more sense to keep Jefferson and continue maneuvering to acquire talent, so I think you're giving Ainge and Wyc more credit than they deserve.

They went all in in the summer of 2007 to win a title, and it worked. Good for them. That investment, though, makes no sense to me at all unless you're committed to thoroughly utilizing the window of the Pierce-Garnett-Allen careers to make serious title runs.

Paul Pierce is on the record as saying the Boston Celtics are about multiple titles. Close doesn't count. Today, I'm quite uncertain that his GM and owner share that sentiment.

Danny laid an egg this summer, and I suspect it was driven by budgets and ego rather than some grand master plan.

[TheReaLPuba]

First, we totally disagree about one fundamental point: This team is not better than last year's team, and the primary reason is a bench that is missing a multitude of skills fundamental to a champion - length, outside shooting and most critically, a competent backup 5.

People tend to let wins - several of them difficult over second-rate teams - delude them into a false sense of security that a badly flawed bench simply will not support in playoff crunch time. I've been clear about this on this board: This team as currently constructed will not repeat, and will not win the Eastern Conference championship.

And further, we are one Kendrick Perkins significant injury away from cratering.

It makes no sense whatsoever to me to make the Garnett and Ray Allen deals if a worry about 2011 and beyond trumps your desire to win multiple titles. It makes more sense to keep Jefferson and continue maneuvering to acquire talent, so I think you're giving Ainge and Wyc more credit than they deserve.

They went all in in the summer of 2007 to win a title, and it worked. Good for them. That investment, though, makes no sense to me at all unless you're committed to thoroughly utilizing the window of the Pierce-Garnett-Allen careers to make serious title runs.

Paul Pierce is on the record as saying the Boston Celtics are about multiple titles. Close doesn't count. Today, I'm quite uncertain that his GM and owner share that sentiment.

Danny laid an egg this summer, and I suspect it was driven by budgets and ego rather than some grand master plan.

This is a huge assumption but even last year our bench was never "solidified" until the 2nd half of the year.

This season is still early and we can still make moves and its quite possible our bench will play better because THEY CAN play better.

Now do the rotations and minutes need to be adjusted? Possibly....but to say that this team isn't about winning championships after just winning one is kinda silly!

[Chris]

First, we totally disagree about one fundamental point: This team is not better than last year's team, and the primary reason is a bench that is missing a multitude of skills fundamental to a champion - length, outside shooting and most critically, a competent backup 5.

People tend to let wins - several of them difficult over second-rate teams - delude them into a false sense of security that a badly flawed bench simply will not support in playoff crunch time. I've been clear about this on this board: This team as currently constructed will not repeat, and will not win the Eastern Conference championship.

And further, we are one Kendrick Perkins significant injury away from cratering.

It makes no sense whatsoever to me to make the Garnett and Ray Allen deals if a worry about 2011 and beyond trumps your desire to win multiple titles. It makes more sense to keep Jefferson and continue maneuvering to acquire talent, so I think you're giving Ainge and Wyc more credit than they deserve.

They went all in in the summer of 2007 to win a title, and it worked. Good for them. That investment, though, makes no sense to me at all unless you're committed to thoroughly utilizing the window of the Pierce-Garnett-Allen careers to make serious title runs.

Paul Pierce is on the record as saying the Boston Celtics are about multiple titles. Close doesn't count. Today, I'm quite uncertain that his GM and owner share that sentiment.

Danny laid an egg this summer, and I suspect it was driven by budgets and ego rather than some grand master plan.

Believe me, part of me really wants to agree with you on this, because I certainly see where you are coming from.  But when it comes down to it, I think we are just going to have to agree to disagree on this, and we can look at it again at the end of the season.  To be completely honest I just don't have much else I can add the argument at this point, because my side of the argument lies all in hypothetical future moves, and improvements by other players.

But I will say one thing, the way Ainge handled this past summer was the exact same way he handled things the last few years.  Basically, he has stuck with his philosophy of stashing his resources until the right opportunity comes along, rather than settling too early.  That is how he ended up with Ray and Garnett, as well as Posey.  That won us a championship last year.  Some call it luck, and yes, luck is involved, but as much as it was luck, it was being prepared for when the opportunity presented itself.

It doesn't always work, and I understand how it rubs people the wrong way, but I personally don't think it is any riskier in todays NBA than signing someone to a long term contract that you are not confident they will be able to fulfill.  All it takes is one untimely injury, and you lose your championship window, and are suddenly in a much worse position to be able to "reload".

[Cman]

Pass.
For MLE money, no brainer.  For big money, nope.  Pass.

[BrickJames]

How about this one:

GS gets BBD, Scal, Giddens, and TA
Boston gets Maggette

Works in the trade machine. We fill our problem at the SF spot with a guy who can really score. Scal and Giddens don't really hurt us. We replace BBD with a no name big like this guy from the D league and play POB in BBD's spot. We try also to pick up Joe Smith if he becomes available, or a guy like Zo.

Yeah those guys would be in the Warrior's starting lineup fo'sho.

[Rida]

I don't think the C's have any interest in Maggette for that type of money.  They wanted him on a 1 year MLE deal.  If they wanted to take on that kind of salary, they would have resigned Posey.

But that was then. This is now. Ainge and Wyc assumed that Eddie & Tony in our backcourt would not surrender leads and blow games like they've been doing of late. We're pretty desperate for any quality bench addition we can get. Frankly, if Maggette can be had that easy, finances aside, you do it. We're only going to be in contending shape for so long... KG, Allen, and Pierce aren't the youngest cats around.

I disagree, we know Danny is a huge Maggette fan and always has been. I think Danny would see Maggette as the long term Ray Allen replacement after this year.

For the next two years maggette can be a 6th man. I would love to see this happen.

Maggette is paid at the level that a 20 ppg scorer should be paid