The 2010-2011 Celtics

[aporel#18]

It's playoff time, and the Celtics need to focus on game 5, but the game is tomorrow, we've pledged all our TPs to victory, so I'd like to share my thoughts about next offseason.

There's a lot of talk about the Celtics buying a first round pick. Which team would be interested? The Timberwolves and Grizzlies have multiple first round picks, and they have 23rd and 25th.

If the Celtics finally buy one of them, I'd like them to pick a SG and a PF/C with their two first round picks, and then in the second round, draft Da'Sean Butler from WVU. He's slipped from the mock drafts second round, so it would be very interesting to try him.

Then the Celtics would have a young prospect to replace in 2-3 years each of the Big 3. Hassan Whiteside, Larry Sanders or Ekpe Udoh would be fine as PF/C. James Anderson, Willie Warren or even Mikhail Torrance if they buy an early second round pick would make a good SG prospect. And Da'Sean Butler is clutch, he reminds me of Pierce, and as a late second round pick is worth any risk related to injuries.

They won't get playing time next year, so they can develope learning from RA (he will be back for 2 more years at 10-11 millions a year), the Captain and KG.

If the 9 playoff rotation players are back (probably they will), and if the Captain's contract is extended for 3-4 years at 12-13 millions a year, adding the RA paycut, the Celtics may be able to spend the whole MLE in someone like Mike Miller to round an incredible second unit. Then the rookies little 3, and maybe Shelden plus Gaffney or Lafayette would make the 15 roster spots.

Two more years with the Big 3 with an improved bench and some prospects for the future sounds good to me. I don't think the Celtics will find better pieces than Nate and TA at the same prize, and this playoffs are showing the Celtics bench can play. They outplayed the Laker's best in the 4th quarter, who would have thought that?

I know that some of the folks here want to make big changes, and there was a lot of "trade Ray" threads, and even this days there are some opinions about trading Perk... I think this team will be much better next year if they keep the 9 player core, adding some interesting rookies. What do you think?

PG  Rondo/Nate/Lafayette
SG  Ray/TA/little 3
SF  Pierce/Miller/little 3
PF  KG/Shrek/little 3 or Gaffney
C   Perk/Sheed/little 3 or Shelden

Go Celtics!!! Beat LA!!!

[FrDrake]

Does anyone know if the Cs can use the MLE again this year after using it on Sheed last summer?  I think that it might be available only every other year.

If so, I see them drafting two guys, signing one of the D-leaguers Lasme or Lafayette depending on who does well in the summer league, and signing a bunch of minimum veterans that want to win.  Guys like a Duhon (NYK) or Dorrell Wright (Miami).

Then you resign Lil Nate, and if Doc leaves sign McHale to coach (sigh...)

The real question is do they resign Ray Allen? 

[action781]

Does anyone know if the Cs can use the MLE again this year after using it on Sheed last summer?  I think that it might be available only every other year.

If so, I see them drafting two guys, signing one of the D-leaguers Lasme or Lafayette depending on who does well in the summer league, and signing a bunch of minimum veterans that want to win.  Guys like a Duhon (NYK) or Dorrell Wright (Miami).

Then you resign Lil Nate, and if Doc leaves sign McHale to coach (sigh...)

The real question is do they resign Ray Allen? 

The MLE can be used every year if you are over the cap.  We used it last year on 'Sheed and the year before we split it on Posey and House I think.  

I think the LLE (used last year on Daniels) can only be used every other year and is also known as the bi-annual exception for that reason.  We do not have that available this year.

[Chris]

Does anyone know if the Cs can use the MLE again this year after using it on Sheed last summer?  I think that it might be available only every other year.

If so, I see them drafting two guys, signing one of the D-leaguers Lasme or Lafayette depending on who does well in the summer league, and signing a bunch of minimum veterans that want to win.  Guys like a Duhon (NYK) or Dorrell Wright (Miami).

Then you resign Lil Nate, and if Doc leaves sign McHale to coach (sigh...)

The real question is do they resign Ray Allen? 

The MLE can be used every year if you are over the cap.  We used it last year on 'Sheed and the year before we split it on Posey and House I think.  

I think the LLE (used last year on Daniels) can only be used every other year and is also known as the bi-annual exception for that reason.  We do not have that available this year.

Correct.  Although you seem to be blocking out 2009 with the MLE (and I don't blame you one bit for that).  That was the year the MLE was used to sign Bill Walker, Mikki Moore, and Stephon Marbury.

[FrDrake]

This is good news!   

He probably will get a bigger offer from some dumb wad GM who has too much cap space, but I wouldn't mind seeing Danny offer the MLE to a guy like Travis Outlaw.

[FrDrake]

Or how about a two year MLE deal for Kyle Korver or JJ Reddick. They can both shoot lights out which could help if they don't resign Ray Ray.

[Chris]

This is good news!   

He probably will get a bigger offer from some dumb wad GM who has too much cap space, but I wouldn't mind seeing Danny offer the MLE to a guy like Travis Outlaw.

I don't think Outlaw will get the full MLE, but I absolutely expect him to be on Ainge's radar.  There are a few guys who have been rumored as Ainge guys for years that are up this summer.  I have a feeling someone from this group of Ainges binkies will be on the Celtics next season:

Outlaw
Amir Johnson
JJ Reddick
Randy Foye

Or how about a two year MLE deal for Kyle Korver or JJ Reddick. They can both shoot lights out which could help if they don't resign Ray Ray.

I think Reddick is going to take more than 2 years to get a deal done.  He might not take the whole MLE (alhtough probably something close), but he will likely be looking for 4-5 years.

[action781]

Does anyone know if the Cs can use the MLE again this year after using it on Sheed last summer?  I think that it might be available only every other year.

If so, I see them drafting two guys, signing one of the D-leaguers Lasme or Lafayette depending on who does well in the summer league, and signing a bunch of minimum veterans that want to win.  Guys like a Duhon (NYK) or Dorrell Wright (Miami).

Then you resign Lil Nate, and if Doc leaves sign McHale to coach (sigh...)

The real question is do they resign Ray Allen?  

The MLE can be used every year if you are over the cap.  We used it last year on 'Sheed and the year before we split it on Posey and House I think.  

I think the LLE (used last year on Daniels) can only be used every other year and is also known as the bi-annual exception for that reason.  We do not have that available this year.

Correct.  Although you seem to be blocking out 2009 with the MLE (and I don't blame you one bit for that).  That was the year the MLE was used to sign Bill Walker, Mikki Moore, and Stephon Marbury.

Oh yes, I completely skipped over 2009.  Why/how on earth could I have just forgot all about the 2009 season..... How strange that only 2008 and 2010 were in my mind...

TP for the correction

[rjsuperfly66]

Whats the least Pierce could restructure for? Or can he restructure?

My dream is to see the Celtics let go of Ray Ray (not because I want them to, but to free cap).

Pierce restructures for a 3 year, 37 million dollar contract... year 1 is 10 mil, year 2 is 12 mill, year 3 is 15 mil.

With the restructure I believe they would cap space to add a guy like Joe Johnson, because the Pierce move would put them under the cap.

Key is, Celts need to get younger. ASAP.

Then they can resign TA.  Get Nate back, and if he too expensive, make a run at Eddie (hell yeah).  Scal will be cheap to fill out roster. Same with shelden and marquis if they really want too.  Add the old pieces with a draft pick or two and the roster could be real solid.

[ManUp]

I fully expect the Celtics to buy another 1st rounder (hopefully higher than the 19th), and I expect the rookies to get plenty of opportunities. They'd better if the Celtics plan on sleep walking through the rest of the RS like they did this year. They now know they can sleep walk through a season and flip the switch come play-off time. That doesn't bode well for next regular season entertainment wise. It'd be nice to have some high quality rooks to watch play while the vets wait for the regular season to end.

[rondofan1255]

I really hope the Celtics buy another defensive guru! 

[Fafnir]

Whats the least Pierce could restructure for? Or can he restructure?

My dream is to see the Celtics let go of Ray Ray (not because I want them to, but to free cap).

Pierce restructures for a 3 year, 37 million dollar contract... year 1 is 10 mil, year 2 is 12 mill, year 3 is 15 mil.

With the restructure I believe they would cap space to add a guy like Joe Johnson, because the Pierce move would put them under the cap.

Key is, Celts need to get younger. ASAP.

Then they can resign TA.  Get Nate back, and if he too expensive, make a run at Eddie (hell yeah).  Scal will be cheap to fill out roster. Same with shelden and marquis if they really want too.  Add the old pieces with a draft pick or two and the roster could be real solid.

This doesn't work because of Rondo and Sheed's deals. Even with Pierce making 10 million dollars the C's would have less that the MLE in cap space.

[Chris]

Whats the least Pierce could restructure for? Or can he restructure?

My dream is to see the Celtics let go of Ray Ray (not because I want them to, but to free cap).

Pierce restructures for a 3 year, 37 million dollar contract... year 1 is 10 mil, year 2 is 12 mill, year 3 is 15 mil.

With the restructure I believe they would cap space to add a guy like Joe Johnson, because the Pierce move would put them under the cap.

Key is, Celts need to get younger. ASAP.

Then they can resign TA.  Get Nate back, and if he too expensive, make a run at Eddie (hell yeah).  Scal will be cheap to fill out roster. Same with shelden and marquis if they really want too.  Add the old pieces with a draft pick or two and the roster could be real solid.

Gary, is that you?

Well, first off, there is no such thing as "restructuring" in the NBA.  Pierce has an early termination clause in his contract, which allows him to opt out, and he could then resign a new contract, so it would be essentially the same thing, but I just want to be clear that it is not the same as the NFL, where they can actually restructure deals at any time.

Secondly, as Fafnir pointed out, the numbers just don't work.  If Pierce does opt out, and they let Ray walk, the C's still have about $42 million locked up in Garnett, Sheed, Perk, Davis, and Rondo.  That is not including cap holds.  If Pierce resigns for $10 million the first year, that puts them at $52 million.  Many people think the salary cap is going to drop this year to somewhere between $50-55 million, meaning this would put us right there.

And just in case you have been listening to Tanguay, lets also be clear that if Pierce opts out, and the C's want to resign him for anything more than the minimum, they need to resign him BEFORE they sign another free agent, since he would have a max cap hold eating up all of their cap space until he either resigns, or they renounce his rights.

[jr_3421]

This is good news!   

He probably will get a bigger offer from some dumb wad GM who has too much cap space, but I wouldn't mind seeing Danny offer the MLE to a guy like Travis Outlaw.

I don't think Outlaw will get the full MLE, but I absolutely expect him to be on Ainge's radar.  There are a few guys who have been rumored as Ainge guys for years that are up this summer.  I have a feeling someone from this group of Ainges binkies will be on the Celtics next season:

Outlaw
Amir Johnson
JJ Reddick
Randy Foye

Or how about a two year MLE deal for Kyle Korver or JJ Reddick. They can both shoot lights out which could help if they don't resign Ray Ray.

I think Reddick is going to take more than 2 years to get a deal done.  He might not take the whole MLE (alhtough probably something close), but he will likely be looking for 4-5 years.

I think that Amir Johnson is the most likely to end up in green next season. With Sheed's possible retirement he provides length to a bench that has absolutely none. And he is a young player who has not reached his ceiling.

[Chris]

This is good news!   

He probably will get a bigger offer from some dumb wad GM who has too much cap space, but I wouldn't mind seeing Danny offer the MLE to a guy like Travis Outlaw.

I don't think Outlaw will get the full MLE, but I absolutely expect him to be on Ainge's radar.  There are a few guys who have been rumored as Ainge guys for years that are up this summer.  I have a feeling someone from this group of Ainges binkies will be on the Celtics next season:

Outlaw
Amir Johnson
JJ Reddick
Randy Foye

Or how about a two year MLE deal for Kyle Korver or JJ Reddick. They can both shoot lights out which could help if they don't resign Ray Ray.

I think Reddick is going to take more than 2 years to get a deal done.  He might not take the whole MLE (alhtough probably something close), but he will likely be looking for 4-5 years.

I think that Amir Johnson is the most likely to end up in green next season. With Sheed's possible retirement he provides length to a bench that has absolutely none. And he is a young player who has not reached his ceiling.

Yeah, with Perk's injury as well, I agree that he would jump to the top of the list.