Harrison Barnes -- rejecting a 4 year/$64 mill contract

[Big333223]

This stuff makes me appreciate what we have...The more types of offers we see like this getting rejected makes Danny look even smarter for signing and trading for players like Bradley  ($8m) & Isaiah Thomas ($7Mil)..Those will seem like dirt cheap contracts soon.

True, but contracts tend to be dirt cheap for a reason.  IT and Bradley are nice players, but neither is a guaranteed starter on a typical playoff squad.

You get what you pay for.

Sort of. But Thomas' contract is an utter steal at this point and will keep getting better.

I think it's a great value.  At the same time, I think he's a sixth man. 

My point here is just that while it's never a bad thing to have nice role players on good value deals, it's not like Ainge can just keep 'out smarting' every one with this bargain deals and build a great team that way. 

He's going to have to acquire some big pieces, possibly for big money or by trading picks and a top prospect or two.

Totally. And obviously the hope is that he'll be able to accomplish that by collecting this assortment of solid players on good deals. This part has to come first.

[mgent]

You know Bradley has been a starter on three playoff teams in his five-year career, right?

Sure, but Sasha Pavlovic was a starter on a team that went to the Finals.

I don't think Avery is a guaranteed starter on most of the good teams in the league.

Just go on down the list --

Warriors (no),
Spurs (no),
Clippers (no),
Rockets (no),
Grizzlies (no, unless TA starts at SF),
Thunder (probably),
Cavs (no),
Mavs (no)
Suns (no)
Pelicans (no)
Bulls (not unless Butler is at SF),
Bucks (no),
Wizards (no),
Heat (no),
Raptors (not unless Derozan is at the 3)
Hawks (no)

I mean, I think it's pretty conclusive.  I'm not suggesting Bradley isn't good enough to give a playoff team quality starts.  Rather, I'm pointing out that Bradley is probably not even an average starter at his position.  A fine piece, like most of the guys in the Celts' rotation, but not a difference maker.

It wouldn't at all surprise me if Bradley started over Redick in Clipperland, certainly over TA in Memphis, over Shumpert in Cleveland, and you already talked about 2-3 other teams he could start on, plus the Celtics.  Being able to start on near half of the playoff teams (don't know why you included Mavs, since they're not looking like one at all this year, and you're assuming Johnson bounces back to 100% after a severe injury, which is an aggressive assumption) means you're playoff starter material.  No, he's not an All-Star, so he's not likely to start on every team.  And if he's your second-best starter, you're in trouble.  But he's a viable starter on many playoff teams, and at a certain point, that means you're a starter on a typical playoff team.

?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?

Unless you're a horrible team trying to play the youth, or a team with absolutely atrocious spacing, I don't think there's a right-minded human who would prefer AB over TA.

I also question your evaluation of Shumpert.   He's almost as good of a shooter and defender as AB, but he's better at guarding SGs, MUCH better at guarding SFs, and infinitely better than AB at taking it to the rim.

Heck, even JJ Redick is probably a better player than Bradley (and I'm not much of a Redick fan).

[Big333223]

You know Bradley has been a starter on three playoff teams in his five-year career, right?

Sure, but Sasha Pavlovic was a starter on a team that went to the Finals.

I don't think Avery is a guaranteed starter on most of the good teams in the league.

Just go on down the list --

Warriors (no),
Spurs (no),
Clippers (no),
Rockets (no),
Grizzlies (no, unless TA starts at SF),
Thunder (probably),
Cavs (no),
Mavs (no)
Suns (no)
Pelicans (no)
Bulls (not unless Butler is at SF),
Bucks (no),
Wizards (no),
Heat (no),
Raptors (not unless Derozan is at the 3)
Hawks (no)

I mean, I think it's pretty conclusive.  I'm not suggesting Bradley isn't good enough to give a playoff team quality starts.  Rather, I'm pointing out that Bradley is probably not even an average starter at his position.  A fine piece, like most of the guys in the Celts' rotation, but not a difference maker.

It wouldn't at all surprise me if Bradley started over Redick in Clipperland, certainly over TA in Memphis, over Shumpert in Cleveland, and you already talked about 2-3 other teams he could start on, plus the Celtics.  Being able to start on near half of the playoff teams (don't know why you included Mavs, since they're not looking like one at all this year, and you're assuming Johnson bounces back to 100% after a severe injury, which is an aggressive assumption) means you're playoff starter material.  No, he's not an All-Star, so he's not likely to start on every team.  And if he's your second-best starter, you're in trouble.  But he's a viable starter on many playoff teams, and at a certain point, that means you're a starter on a typical playoff team.

?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?

Unless you're a horrible team trying to play the youth, or a team with absolutely atrocious spacing, I don't think there's a right-minded human who would prefer AB over TA.

I also question your evaluation of Shumpert.   He's almost as good of a shooter and defender as AB, but he's better at guarding SGs, MUCH better at guarding SFs, and infinitely better than AB at taking it to the rim.

Heck, even JJ Redick is probably a better player than Bradley (and I'm not much of a Redick fan).

The real problem with Bradley is that he's too small to guard big SG's so it would be hard to play him next to another small guard like Chris Paul (even though they're both very good defenders) or a bad defender like Kyrie Irving. You could probably get away with it with Mike Conley because he's long enough to guard some 2's and Bradley is a better shooter than TA, so maybe he could start in Memphis. But his skill set and physicality are a little too specific for him to be a starter in most other situations.