Author Topic: Is Khris Middleton the Celtics most likely attainable free agent this o/season?  (Read 43662 times)

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Offline Forza Juventus

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I think we should offer him a fair offer but not the max.  He does not deserve to be a max guy.   We don't want to hamper up the rebuild by hamstringing ourselves by paying the max to that kind of guy.

In your opinion what would you consider a fair offer?
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Offline chambers

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So I personally love this kid. He was a 2nd round pick that was originally a lottery prospect years ago, but he hurt his ankle before the draft. (similarly to Caris Levert this year).
I believe considering how much Danny and Brad Stevens are obsessed with numbers guys, this guy is target numero uno for us this offseason.

6'7" shooting guard/small forward
215 pounds
Just turned 23 years old (younger than Kelly Olynyk)

Seems like the PERFECT guy for this team, with a no fuss attitude, doesn't care about the bright lights and is very happy in Milwaukee. He says as long as there's a gym around, he's set.
His attitude is all about working hard and he'd be a great fit for Stevens and our style of play too. Ok so his attitude is great, but check out his numbers post All Star break.

Post All Star break:

17.5 points
4.7 rebounds
2.9 assists
3 point FG% 44% attempting 4 shots per game
(shot 40.7% for entire season-better than anyone we currently have)
total FG % 45.2% on 14.5 attempts a game
Free throw percentage 86% for season

As many know from previous posts he is top 10 in NBA real +/- for the season.

Great article on Middleton here and his success since the All Star Break. Explains how he's improved on isolation plays and utiziling his ability to break down defenders off the dribble. (something we need badly considering all we have is IT off the bench, and Evan Turner).

http://www.milwaukeemag.com/2015/03/19/quick-bucks-new-khris-middleton/

He's got size, length and is a great defender.

In a recent interview with Zach Lowe, he said he wants to utilize his skills in the post so that teams are forced to double him so he can kick out to passers.
You get some insight into his personality. In his off time he likes to play FIFA on the playstation rather than go out to clubs- but he had to cut down on FIFA ha.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/qa-with-milwaukees-khris-middleton-on-impending-free-agency-cereal-and-more/

Seems like a great target to throw a large offer at because of his age/potential and what he's already proven. I also think the Bucks will try and match almost any offer, but with the Salary cap going up to 108 million, this guy should get an offer from us of something like 4 years x $15 million in the Chandler Parsons area of money, considering Parsons is 3 years older.

Segment on NBA TV
http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2015/03/30/20150330-gametime-middleton.nba/

lastly, a highlight video of the kid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuwT27wTYOw

« Last Edit: April 18, 2015, 03:26:39 AM by chambers »
"We are lucky we have a very patient GM that isn't willing to settle for being good and coming close. He wants to win a championship and we have the potential to get there still with our roster and assets."

quoting 'Greg B' on RealGM after 2017 trade deadline.
Read that last line again. One more time.

Offline Irish Stew

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A max contract to Middleton will seem like such a bargain two years from now when the cap explodes to $100+million. Milwaukee may match but that is out of our control. Follow that up with either a trade for Noel or an above market offer for Biyombo and that would be a solid offseason for us.

Offline dreamgreen

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I've only seen him play against the C's so I really have nothing to add as far as his ability. But my question is where would he fit on the team? Our guard rotation is very solid at this point and we already have Young to see if he can fit into what it sounds like Middleton is. SF is interesting because Turner has been playing point forward for us and Crowder could be a keeper so ...

Offline Endless Paradise

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A max contract to Middleton will seem like such a bargain two years from now when the cap explodes to $100+million. Milwaukee may match but that is out of our control. Follow that up with either a trade for Noel or an above market offer for Biyombo and that would be a solid offseason for us.

Signing Biyombo is plausible; acquiring Noel isn't.

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A max contract to Middleton will seem like such a bargain two years from now when the cap explodes to $100+million. Milwaukee may match but that is out of our control. Follow that up with either a trade for Noel or an above market offer for Biyombo and that would be a solid offseason for us.

Signing Biyombo is plausible; acquiring Noel isn't.

Overpaying Middleton and Biyombo would lock this team into mediocrity.  Neither is a star -- let alone a superstar --and this team shouldn't be committing large chunks of salary cap space for role players.


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Offline JumpingJudkins

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Butler and Kawhi would be the first choices, but I don't  think they're going anywhere. Tobias Harris is my hope for Evan Turner relief, but Middleton would be a good fallback. I don't think the Bucks would give him the max, with the Freak and Jabari Parker already there.

Offline Smitty77

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I certainly hope that Middleton is not the most attainable free agent.

I'm hoping and praying that we prioritize the 4s as Love, Monroe and Faried (not a free agent but I think a good fit).  I hope we make Jimmy Butler and Kawhi max offers.

I don't know much about Middleton.  Maybe he's a guy who is just having a contract year.  I hope we draft either draft Stanley Robinson or sign Kawhi before going to Middleton or another starting caliber 3.
Kawhli, Butler and Green will get offered the Max by their teams. Kidd will have a fit if Middleton leaves so I don't see that hapenning.  Monroe to me is not a fit he is not a rim protector. I hope we can somehow get Jordan but I doubt we can match LA. He wants to do better than His Bro in Portland. 

Faried is the best Choice. We have Rondo trade exemption and picks to give Denver. They may go all in with a rebuild since they are Tanking this year. Lopez may leave the Nets for us if we get another big name too. Going to be a fun summer of hope.

First, unless I am wrong, San Antonio has NEVER paid a player the MAX!!  What in the world makes you think that they will pay the max to both Kawhi and Danny Green???  Danny Green simply will NOT get offered a max by the Spurs, period!!!  I seriously doubt that they even think about matching a max for him.  Kawhi will likely get the max however.

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Offline Irish Stew

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A max contract to Middleton will seem like such a bargain two years from now when the cap explodes to $100+million. Milwaukee may match but that is out of our control. Follow that up with either a trade for Noel or an above market offer for Biyombo and that would be a solid offseason for us.

Signing Biyombo is plausible; acquiring Noel isn't.

Overpaying Middleton and Biyombo would lock this team into mediocrity.  Neither is a star -- let alone a superstar --and this team shouldn't be committing large chunks of salary cap space for role players.
The scenarios in which Noel might be available for a number of our high value draft choices are 1) they don't believe that Embiid and Noel can work in a twin towers format 2) Philly winds up 1 or 2 in the lottery and takes Okafor or Towns. Biyombo is a role player as a rim defender. Middleton would be 35 minutes per night as our starting 3 shooting 40+% from 3-point range and make Stevens salivate. If down the line we should acquire a superstar 3, then Middleton could easilly slide over to the 2. We are going to have tons of cap space avalable over the next couple of years as the cap will eventually move from about $67 million to well over $100 million. Also, Wallace comes off at the end of next season and his $10 million  salary. If we wait for pie in the sky reaches like Butler or Leonard, we'll wind up with nobody. A good rim defender and Middleton should get us to 45-50 wins. At that point we start to become attractive to the kind of players that would make us a championship contender. This is a process and not an overnight event.

Offline Csfan1984

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I certainly hope that Middleton is not the most attainable free agent.

I'm hoping and praying that we prioritize the 4s as Love, Monroe and Faried (not a free agent but I think a good fit).  I hope we make Jimmy Butler and Kawhi max offers.

I don't know much about Middleton.  Maybe he's a guy who is just having a contract year.  I hope we draft either draft Stanley Robinson or sign Kawhi before going to Middleton or another starting caliber 3.
Kawhli, Butler and Green will get offered the Max by their teams. Kidd will have a fit if Middleton leaves so I don't see that hapenning.  Monroe to me is not a fit he is not a rim protector. I hope we can somehow get Jordan but I doubt we can match LA. He wants to do better than His Bro in Portland. 

Faried is the best Choice. We have Rondo trade exemption and picks to give Denver. They may go all in with a rebuild since they are Tanking this year. Lopez may leave the Nets for us if we get another big name too. Going to be a fun summer of hope.

First, unless I am wrong, San Antonio has NEVER paid a player the MAX!!  What in the world makes you think that they will pay the max to both Kawhi and Danny Green???  Danny Green simply will NOT get offered a max by the Spurs, period!!!  I seriously doubt that they even think about matching a max for him.  Kawhi will likely get the max however.

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Offline Csfan1984

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Since in playoffs been thinking more about this. I'd take a shot but only at a good $ not the rookie max. I can't go there. I know cap is going up and soon everyone will be spending like crazy yet 3rd or 4th option guys you can't overpay. Consider we gave AB a 4th/5th option guy that was growing 8 million, I'd go 11 million for Middleton. Locking in another young player in the beginning of his prime would be great even if he is not a super star. He does provide wing flexibility as well incase of injuries and Turner will be in last year. I can really get behind another "shooter" in the starting lineup to help Smart and AB. C's can't keep going ultra small ball with IT, AB, and Smart combo when down big. This helps that.

Offline chambers

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A max contract to Middleton will seem like such a bargain two years from now when the cap explodes to $100+million. Milwaukee may match but that is out of our control. Follow that up with either a trade for Noel or an above market offer for Biyombo and that would be a solid offseason for us.

Signing Biyombo is plausible; acquiring Noel isn't.

Overpaying Middleton and Biyombo would lock this team into mediocrity.  Neither is a star -- let alone a superstar --and this team shouldn't be committing large chunks of salary cap space for role players.


I don't agree that giving Middleton $15 million with his current production is going to be locking the team into any kind of mediocrity. Look at his stats, he fits this team's direction perfectly and could well be a bargain after 2 years.
$15 million by 2016-17 when the cap is predicted to be at least 87 million is 17.24% of the cap.
By 2017-18 when the cap is at $108 million his $15 million would only be 13.8 %
If Middleton is a 3rd option on a contender in the East that's a bargain to me.
Either way I think visions of the C's being hamstrung by such a deal are pretty over the top.
Giving Biyombo similar numbers however is a different story and would be disastrous.

When we gave Jeff Green $8.8 million in 2012 that was 15.17% of the cap, if we gave Middleton 15.17% of the cap he'd be getting $16.38 million with 2 years remaining on a four year deal (in 2017-18).

I think an aim of this offseason should be trying to find bargains before the cap skyrockets and he's a top flight candidate. Not to mention (again) his fit in the Brad Stevens system and our need for 3 point shooting and efficient scoring.
« Last Edit: April 18, 2015, 01:22:14 PM by chambers »
"We are lucky we have a very patient GM that isn't willing to settle for being good and coming close. He wants to win a championship and we have the potential to get there still with our roster and assets."

quoting 'Greg B' on RealGM after 2017 trade deadline.
Read that last line again. One more time.

Offline PhoSita

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How are we so sure that Middleton isn't just a somewhat better version of Corey Brewer?  He's decent, and for the right price I'd be happy to see him on the Celtics, but I'm not sure the upside is there to justify doling out the kind of deal it'll take to steal him from the Bucks.

I think taking a chance on somebody like Harrison Barnes might make more sense if only because his role so far in the league has been small enough that it's hard to say how he'd do with room for a much larger one.

Anyway, even if the Celtics added Middleton and Noel this off-season, the best case scenario for the resulting team would be what, competing with Washington for the 5th seed?
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Offline LarBrd33

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A max contract to Middleton will seem like such a bargain two years from now when the cap explodes to $100+million. Milwaukee may match but that is out of our control. Follow that up with either a trade for Noel or an above market offer for Biyombo and that would be a solid offseason for us.

Signing Biyombo is plausible; acquiring Noel isn't.

Overpaying Middleton and Biyombo would lock this team into mediocrity.  Neither is a star -- let alone a superstar --and this team shouldn't be committing large chunks of salary cap space for role players.
But see that's the thing.  We have a tiny advantage this summer in that not every team has cap space.  So if we want to utilize that advantage, we need to sign someone this summer. Even if it's an overpay.   Then the next year, the cap jumps another 20 million for EVERYONE and EVERYONE has a chance to sign Max contract talent.. But at least Boston will be mediocre enough to attract talent.  Then the next year it jumps another 20 mil.

I really think we are going to see some wild overpays this summer as teams with cap space try to lock in some talent while they have the advantage. 

Offline LarBrd33

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Why wouldn't the Bucks just match any Middleton offer?  I feel like if that kid was playing for a big market team like the Lakers or Knicks, we'd be hearing about how he's the second coming of Reggie Miller or something.  He's only 23 years old.  This year he averaged 13.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.5 steals on 47%/41%/86% shooting.  That's elite shooting.  He's a big part of why his team made the playoffs.   Since the all-star break he's averaged 17 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1.4 steals on 46%/39%/88%.   

A big playoff performance probably ruins any hope of signing him, I'd think.