Godfather offer to Sacramento

[Who]

The Kings assets:

• Rajon Rondo
• #4 pick from this year's draft
• Spencer Hawes
• Almost $40mil of cap space

That's a hugely attractive situation. Two hardest positions to fill, filled. Massive cap space, enough to sign two max contract players and another well paid role player, or three star level players. And, the #4 pick from this year's draft.

What about Rondo's looming extension?  The assumption there is that you extend Rondo and that's going to lower that $40 million in cap space.  I'm assuming the projected $40 million is coming before a Rondo extension.

I didn't do out the math, but I put Rondo down for $10mil. He would be the only contract on their books that's not a rookie contract. Hawes for $3mil, the #4 pick for $2.5mil, Greene for $1mil. 

You'd have to take away another $4mil or so for open roster spot charges. So closer to $35mil than $40mil.

Edit: Rondo's contract would be comparable, slightly higher maybe, than Martin's contract. So it's basically just swapping those three overpaid role players for cap space, at the cost of Thompson and the 2010 pick.

[Lucky17]

The Kings assets:

• Rajon Rondo
• #4 pick from this year's draft
• Spencer Hawes
• Almost $40mil of cap space

That's a hugely attractive situation. Two hardest positions to fill, filled. Massive cap space, enough to sign two max contract players and another well paid role player, or three star level players. And, the #4 pick from this year's draft.

But, the kind of player you'll get with that cap space is like a Shawn Marion: one who wants to be 1st/2nd banana and well-paid, but not necessarily looking for a title.

Also, the arena situation in Sacramento, plus the small market, won't help attract free agents. If the team were to relocate, that might improve (Vegas; Seattle). Or, it might not (Kansas City; San Diego).

Using cap space to overhaul a team is such a risky proposition.

[Michael Anthony]

The Kings assets:

• Rajon Rondo
• #4 pick from this year's draft
• Spencer Hawes
• Almost $40mil of cap space

That's a hugely attractive situation. Two hardest positions to fill, filled. Massive cap space, enough to sign two max contract players and another well paid role player, or three star level players. And, the #4 pick from this year's draft.

What about Rondo's looming extension?  The assumption there is that you extend Rondo and that's going to lower that $40 million in cap space.  I'm assuming the projected $40 million is coming before a Rondo extension.

The $40 million does come before the Rondo extension, but that does not mean it is not there - having cap space is not desirable, using it is. After they sign a couple of young all-stars to pair with Rondo, Hawes, 2009 #4, Walker, Giddens, Greene and 2009 #31 - and a few vets looking to make a run (MLE, LLE) - they will be primed for a run at a chip.

Building on Martin, Hawes, Thompson and 2009 #4 will take significantly longer - and may never pan out.

2010 Free Agents:
LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Stoudemire...

Joe Johnson, Ray Allen, Ty Thomas, Josh Howard, McGrady, Gay, Foye, Aldridge, Roy, Ginobili, Bargnani, O'Bryant...

Not to mention others with ETO...

Rondo - 2009 #31
Johnson ($17M) - Giddens
Howard ($9M) - Walker
Aldridge ($14M) - 2009 #4 (Hill)
Hawes - MLE Backup

Even if they do not land a top dog, they end up with a pretty solid crew.

[Michael Anthony]

The Kings assets:

• Rajon Rondo
• #4 pick from this year's draft
• Spencer Hawes
• Almost $40mil of cap space

That's a hugely attractive situation. Two hardest positions to fill, filled. Massive cap space, enough to sign two max contract players and another well paid role player, or three star level players. And, the #4 pick from this year's draft.

What about Rondo's looming extension?  The assumption there is that you extend Rondo and that's going to lower that $40 million in cap space.  I'm assuming the projected $40 million is coming before a Rondo extension.

I didn't do out the math, but I put Rondo down for $10mil. He would be the only contract on their books that's not a rookie contract. Hawes for $3mil, the #4 pick for $2.5mil, Greene for $1mil. 

You'd have to take away another $4mil or so for open roster spot charges. So closer to $35mil than $40mil.

Edit: Rondo's contract would be comparable, slightly higher maybe, than Martin's contract. So it's basically just swapping those three overpaid role players for cap space, at the cost of Thompson and the 2010 pick.

If I understand this correctly (Channeling Roy hobbs), Sacremento could tender Rondo for a cap hold of $3.78 million. They will have to pay him more of course, but there would be a window to sign other players before his extension kicked in.

They would have his bird rights, so they could offer more than any other team. Assuming the free agent signings push them to the cap ~$54 million, and an MLE signing bumps them to ~$60, the could sign Rondo long term for $10-$12 without pushing into the tax.

[Lucky17]

2010 Free Agents:
LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Stoudemire...

Joe Johnson, Ray Allen, Ty Thomas, Josh Howard, McGrady, Gay, Foye, Aldridge, Roy, Ginobili, Bargnani, O'Bryant...

Not to mention others with ETO...

Rondo - 2009 #31
Johnson ($17M) - Giddens
Howard ($9M) - Walker
Aldridge ($14M) - 2009 #4 (Hill)
Hawes - MLE Backup

Even if they do not land a top dog, they end up with a pretty solid crew.

I'm fairly certain that virtually not a single player you've listed here would take Sacramento's money over a contender's/larger market team (except for Patty O, who I hear has a cult following in Cowtown).

Certainly, none of the elite members from that FA class would play in a small market like Sacramento.

Of that 2nd group, the vets chase a ring, and the Blazers are resigned with Bird Rights (Paul Allen will open up his checkbook for both of them, absolutely). Does Bargnani realistically go from cosmopolitan Toronto to cow country? I can't see Rudy Gay going from one small market to another either.

I could see Ty Thomas, Foye, and maybe Josh Howard in purple, depending on who else is bidding for their services -- and I think I'd rather have Thompson, Martin, and Garcia than those three.

[Donoghus]

2010 Free Agents:
LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Stoudemire...

Joe Johnson, Ray Allen, Ty Thomas, Josh Howard, McGrady, Gay, Foye, Aldridge, Roy, Ginobili, Bargnani, O'Bryant...

Not to mention others with ETO...

Rondo - 2009 #31
Johnson ($17M) - Giddens
Howard ($9M) - Walker
Aldridge ($14M) - 2009 #4 (Hill)
Hawes - MLE Backup

Even if they do not land a top dog, they end up with a pretty solid crew.

I'm fairly certain that virtually not a single player you've listed here would take Sacramento's money over a contender's/larger market team (except for Patty O, who I hear has a cult following in Cowtown).

Certainly, none of the elite members from that FA class would play in a small market like Sacramento.

Of that 2nd group, the vets chase a ring, and the Blazers are resigned with Bird Rights (Paul Allen will open up his checkbook for both of them, absolutely). Does Bargnani realistically go from cosmopolitan Toronto to cow country? I can't see Rudy Gay going from one small market to another either.

I could see Ty Thomas, Foye, and maybe Josh Howard in purple, depending on who else is bidding for their services -- and I think I'd rather have Thompson, Martin, and Garcia than those three.

Agree with Lucky, here.  I just see most of the big names going elseewhere or getting locked up long-term but their current teams.  I just don't see Sacramento getting a Bosh or Amare and most of the 2nd tier guys are going to be locked up by their current teams.

[guava_wrench]

Did anyone notice Moore included in the original post? Seriously?

[wiley]

Like many of you, in the hopes of improving this team in both the short and long term, I have posted a number of trades this offseason - some better than others. A Godfather offer, as you may have guessed, is one you cannot refuse. I think the C's can and should make such an offer to Sacramento this offseason.

Rondo, R. Allen, Walker, Giddens, T. Allen, and Scalabrine
for
Martin, Thompson, Nocioni, Garcia, Udrih and 2010 First Round Pick

Sacramento gets the two best players in the deal, and improves to 35 wins next season with the following lineup:

Rondo / Pick #31
R. Allen / Giddens
Greene / Walker
Hill / Scalabrine
Hawes / Thomas

More important is their 2010 offseason cap number - $13.7 million. That puts them in prime position to add two maximum contracts, an MLE contract, and a number of veteran minimum contracts to a young core of Rondo, Hill and Hawes in a warm weather city. Un.Real.
.........................................
Before getting into the lineup, I want to address the major step back we are taking at pointguard. Udrih is not as good as Rondo. Period. Not even close. He is also overpaid. That being said, he is a very capable outside shooter, he can advance the ball against presure, and he can cause havoc getting into the lane. As the second option on a terrible Sacramento team last year, he struggled. As the fourth option on a very good Celtics team he will perform exceptionally. Plus, we can buy a late first/early second round pick to draft back up like Collison to help defend quick pointguards. The 2009-2010 lineup looks like this:

Udrih / Collison - Pruitt
Martin / Garcia - House
Pierce / Nocioni
Garnett / Powe - Moore
Perkins / Thompson

Kevin Martin is a top 5 shooting guard in the NBA, and is very similar to a young Ray Allen. He has an excelent shot and lives at the freethrow line - pretty even swap today, much better over the next five years. Thompson is a very good young PF/C that rebounds, defends, and can knock down 12-15 footers. He goes a long way towards solving our problems as the first big off the bench. Garcia and Nocioni are versatile players that hustle on defense and spread the floor with very good outside shooting. They give Doc a ton of flexibility at the 2-3-4 positions. The number 1 pick will probably be Top 5 protected, but at 35 wins, we can expect is to yield a very productive lottery prospect next off-season.

In summary, Boston gets significantly younger at shooting guard and takes a step back in talent but not production at pountguard. We add a very promising young big (Our young core improves from Rondo & Perkins to Martin, Thompson, Perkins and 2010 Loto pick), and we have a Top 5 bench with a lot of shooting, defense and flexibility.

Permission to copy and paste your Celtics lineup into the names only thread?  I'll put your name on it of course....just want to revive that thread as the draft approaches......
thanks,
Wiley

p.s.  you'd be able to post a second lineup after the draft.....

Edit:  Oh nevermind I'll just re-open the thread with a request for more posts....thanks/sorry for confusion.....check out the post titled "Pre and Post Draft Celtics Lineup Thread"  It's a names only thread....

[Michael Anthony]

2010 Free Agents:
LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Stoudemire...

Joe Johnson, Ray Allen, Ty Thomas, Josh Howard, McGrady, Gay, Foye, Aldridge, Roy, Ginobili, Bargnani, O'Bryant...

Not to mention others with ETO...

Rondo - 2009 #31
Johnson ($17M) - Giddens
Howard ($9M) - Walker
Aldridge ($14M) - 2009 #4 (Hill)
Hawes - MLE Backup

Even if they do not land a top dog, they end up with a pretty solid crew.

I'm fairly certain that virtually not a single player you've listed here would take Sacramento's money over a contender's/larger market team (except for Patty O, who I hear has a cult following in Cowtown).

Certainly, none of the elite members from that FA class would play in a small market like Sacramento.

Of that 2nd group, the vets chase a ring, and the Blazers are resigned with Bird Rights (Paul Allen will open up his checkbook for both of them, absolutely). Does Bargnani realistically go from cosmopolitan Toronto to cow country? I can't see Rudy Gay going from one small market to another either.

I could see Ty Thomas, Foye, and maybe Josh Howard in purple, depending on who else is bidding for their services -- and I think I'd rather have Thompson, Martin, and Garcia than those three.

I do not know much about Sacramento, but I am not sure why you consider it a small market town in cow country. With a population (460,000) comparable to Portland, Atlanta and Miami and San Francisco a little over an hour away I could see it as a very popular destination. Plus, the weather is perfect.

Plus, I think the annual salaires described above are pretty generous, accounting for the relative unatractivenes compared to NYC or LA.

[Michael Anthony]

Did anyone notice Moore included in the original post? Seriously?

You can swap in any other veteran minimum big that will not complain about playing time. Sheldon Williams maybe? Aaron Grey? Petro? It does not matter, they will not be playing at all - just a little added depth for the blowouts.