I wonder if he'd be willing to take a buyout. You've got to think that he could latch on to some team for the minimum, which is a bit more than $1.2 million.
If the Celts offered him, say, $2.75 million, would it be in his best interests to take it?
Would it be in the Celtics best interest to do so? I know he's an "expiring contract", but more often than not, expiring contracts do just that: expire. They're not always the trading chip that people think they are.
I'm not convinced he could get a fully guaranteed deal for the year entire year. Not sure what he offers that's really different from Jason Collins.
Also, I'm not sure how much that $1 million would offer in terms of flexibility anyway. We don't really have cap room, and willingly gave that up to acquire the picks with Anthony. He's good tanking filler for Minny in a Love trade, for example, and is cheaper than Bass. Sully-Anthony-Bogans-Johnson-Babb creates the salary to take back Love's contract this offseason (obviously picks are added), and requires them to take on less salary than a deal with Bass.
While a lot of what you say is true, I wouldn't downplay what $1 million in flexibility can get you. Maybe it's the difference in taking a flyer on a player like Greg Smith when he goes through waivers.
My guess is that Joel Anthony vs. Brandon Bass won't be the decider in any Love trade this off-season. If it is, it will likely be because the Wolves prefer Bass, and hope to flip him for an actual asset.
They could have taken a flyer on Greg Smith after he passed through waivers anyway. They had enough room to add him for 2 days. They would have needed to release someone, but I don't think Chicago, who had less room than we did, went over the tax to get him. But I do see your point at large.
That said, re: Anthony to Minny in the completely not happening universe where we get Love -- I'd also like to keep Bass, since he's much more useful on that team than Anthony, or anyone we can probably get with our saved money.