In theory this is a great idea. The problem I have (as Ainge may also) is that we are spending more money in these back loaded deals which make up a hell of a lot of ticket sales.
The main two issues I have are that we are
1)getting a late first round pick which is nice but at the 24-28 range pretty meh given how many we have. That's it. Asik and Lin for a year while we gift wrap Melo.
2)by adding Lin we've essentially added a scoring wing who will be a Jordan Crawford replacement -only better. We'll also have a rim protector in Asik who will make a huge difference.
This team is too good to be bottom 5 and gain any decent draft pick of our own. We are also too poor to make it out of the first round.
Essentially all we are doing is hurting our 2015 lottery odds and paying the rockets salary of Lin+Asik for them in exchange for a pick in last 4-6 picks in the first round.
If we were to do this deal we'd need a hell of a lot more incentive. That team takes us from the worst team (or bottom 3), to a playoff team or fringe playoff team in no mans land with no benefit because Asik walks.
I don't understand your concern about resigning Asik. We need a center like him and if we don't spend assets on Asik, we'll have to spend them on someone else. Resigning a player is also almost always more likely than getting a free agent. And if Asik walks, the team will suck and get a higher draft pick.
If you think Asik isn't worth signing to a long term deal, that at least makes sense.
Mike
I have no problem with Asik, I have a problem with him being able to walk at the end of the season.
The risk is that he plays for us for one season (as does Lin) and they get us an extra 10 wins, which in turn hurts our pick next season. Then, after hurting our pick's chances/worth and playing his butt off in a contract year, the Bobcats offer him 15 million x 4 years.
Do we match that?
So I'm scared that we end up with a worse first round pick and have taken on Asik and Lin without dumping Green or Bass's longer deals.
Doesn't make any sense. I'll also add that Marc Gasol and Love will be free agents that off season when Asik is...as is Rondo.
Doesn't seem like a good move in a rebuilding year...unless we go after Love or Aldridge and have a star in place.
I think you just have to accept that sort of risk in team-building. If not for Asik, then for someone else. Certainly for Rondo, if you see him as a part of the team, because even if he 100% right now wants to be a Celtic forever, it makes little sense for him to sign an extension before next season (unless maybe it is for the maximum), so there is always a risk that things could happen that change his mind.
If you have interest in chasing guys like Gasol and Love in the summer of 2015, then Asik is the sort of guy you would want, since there is no commitment to him beyond next season. If your goal is to make a big splash next summer, you have to establish Brad Stevens as a good coach that players should want to play for, so the best thing you can do to maximize your chances of getting someone like Gasol/Love as a free agent is to put together a roster that makes the playoffs next season. It doesn't have to be good enough to be a contender, it just has to have the potential to be good enough to get Stevens some Coach of the Year talk.