Keith Smith's latest rumor updates out of vegas...C's not finished yet.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Finally, as I pointed out at the beginning of this thread, neither of the two proposals he's "hearing" for Griffin work with the salary cap. 

Not addressing at all the validity of the rumor... But unless I'm missing something they do work:

Griffin + Pierce make $23.6m

Amir, Jerebko, Mickey and Holland make $19m

LAC is taking on less salary so it works for them. BOS has $4.6M in caproom after signing Green, Zeller and Jackson. If BOS didn't have room it'd still work bc they could take back 125% of $19m which is $23.75

You're missing out on the fact that Griffin has a 15% trade kicker.  Then incoming salary for Boston would be $26.7 million.

Yep, though I think he can waive that... not sure why he would, unless a renegotiation + extension takes place, though it might become a bit difficult to do so. Not sure about all the considerations off hand right now.

[Bobshot]

I don't buy it for a second, but if the Celtics somehow landed Blake Griffin for Amir Johnson, Terry Rozier and a non-Brooklyn 1st, I'd probably build a statue for Ainge.

Ya I don't see how Sac trades Rudy Gay for only Rozier, feel like other players would have to be included. Terry had a dynamite summer league but he's still largely unproven.

Love the idea of trading for Pierce and Griffin. Jaylen couldn't ask for a better mentor and Blake Griffin/Horford could stand with any front court in the league.

I played around with the trade machine for a 3 team trade involving us, the Kings, and the Clippers based using the values roughly of the assets going out in options 4a and b.

I have:
Clippers receive Amir Johnson and Gay and 2 non Nets picks from us.
We receive Griffin and Pierce.
Kings receive Jonas, Holland, and 2 out of Rozier, Hunter, and Young. Maybe another non net pick here.

It's probably too light on our end if we are not giving up a Nets pick or Crowder haha, but I'm really hesitant to give up either for a 1 year rental for Blake.

I've mentioned this elsewhere but we have a ton of leverage.  It only makes sense for a playoff caliber team and not a rebuilding one to take a chance for a 1 year rental.  We are one of the very few playoff teams that can put together the matching salaries and assets while not totally gutting our team.   Both Griffin and Gay for that matter can walk at the end of the year.  Better for those teams to get something rather than nothing like the Thunder with Durant.

If I could get both Westbrook and Griffin on rentals, I'd do it for whatever it takes. The key is to get both. That makes them contenders, and they will go deep into the playoffs. A big incentive for both to stay and extend. Plus the signing advantages the Celtics would have. I don't think signing just one on a rental would make them good enough to be assured of re-signing.

It may be that's the only way they can get these guys--without the guaranteed extension, and with good enough offers for Doc and Presti to pry them loose.

If Ainge waits for them to be FAs, he'll go through another 50 win season, and they'll sign with better teams. That's the trend in free agency. Horford isn't quite at that level of FA.

[saltlover]

Finally, as I pointed out at the beginning of this thread, neither of the two proposals he's "hearing" for Griffin work with the salary cap. 

Not addressing at all the validity of the rumor... But unless I'm missing something they do work:

Griffin + Pierce make $23.6m

Amir, Jerebko, Mickey and Holland make $19m

LAC is taking on less salary so it works for them. BOS has $4.6M in caproom after signing Green, Zeller and Jackson. If BOS didn't have room it'd still work bc they could take back 125% of $19m which is $23.75

You're missing out on the fact that Griffin has a 15% trade kicker.  Then incoming salary for Boston would be $26.7 million.

Yep, though I think he can waive that... not sure why he would, unless a renegotiation + extension takes place, though it might become a bit difficult to do so. Not sure about all the considerations off hand right now.

Yes, he could waive it, but he's not going to do so without a renegotiation that raises his salary even more.  And if we go that route, we have to send out even more salary than this proposal, because we don't have to just match salaries, we have to send out enough to be far enough under the cap to give him the raise/extension.

If we assume that Zeller has yet to sign his contract (so that it's just his Bird cap hold), that in fact Yab and Zizic are off the books this year, that Green has yet to sign, that Bentil has yet to sign, and that Jackson will be making the minimum this year (reportedly it's a 3-year deal so we need cap room for him), the Celtics would have to send out $25,349,795 in salaries for a renegotiated Blake and also Pierce, which is far more than Amir+Crowder+Holland ($6.2 million more).

In short, that proposal is bunk.

[Bobshot]

Finally, as I pointed out at the beginning of this thread, neither of the two proposals he's "hearing" for Griffin work with the salary cap. 

Not addressing at all the validity of the rumor... But unless I'm missing something they do work:

Griffin + Pierce make $23.6m

Amir, Jerebko, Mickey and Holland make $19m

LAC is taking on less salary so it works for them. BOS has $4.6M in caproom after signing Green, Zeller and Jackson. If BOS didn't have room it'd still work bc they could take back 125% of $19m which is $23.75

You're missing out on the fact that Griffin has a 15% trade kicker.  Then incoming salary for Boston would be $26.7 million.

Yep, though I think he can waive that... not sure why he would, unless a renegotiation + extension takes place, though it might become a bit difficult to do so. Not sure about all the considerations off hand right now.

Yes, he could waive it, but he's not going to do so without a renegotiation that raises his salary even more.  And if we go that route, we have to send out even more salary than this proposal, because we don't have to just match salaries, we have to send out enough to be far enough under the cap to give him the raise/extension.

If we assume that Zeller has yet to sign his contract (so that it's just his Bird cap hold), that in fact Yab and Zizic are off the books this year, that Green has yet to sign, that Bentil has yet to sign, and that Jackson will be making the minimum this year (reportedly it's a 3-year deal so we need cap room for him), the Celtics would have to send out $25,349,795 in salaries for a renegotiated Blake and also Pierce, which is far more than Amir+Crowder+Holland ($6.2 million more).

In short, that proposal is bunk.

Another good reason to make a deal without an extension, though I understand Griffin has a 15% trade kicker.

[mef730]

Can't we trade for Deandre instead of Griffin?  Just seems like a better fit to me.

I think we should trade for LeBron, LaMarcus Aldridge and Klay Thompson. Fantastic fits.

and curry. how could you forget curry? 

I had to cut him from the list because he's not a "fantastic fit" with LeBron. These are the tough choices we have to make sometimes.

Don't want Curry. He's a UFA next year.

I'm not sure about the package you put together. Sure, they bring us scoring and defense, but will they fit in with the rest of the team culturally? How will LeBron feel about coming off the bench behind Crowder.

I wouldn't give up a Brooklyn pick, but maybe Jerebko, Amir Johnson, KO and the Memphis pick could be traded. If they insisted, I'd throw in our 2023 pick.

Mike

[mctyson]

Hate to ruin everyone's dream, but why has nobody else reported this?

This guy is clearly a hack on a random blog.  His whole post is speculation.

[mctyson]

Fan fiction, based on multiple sauces.

Somebody likes the attention he's getting.

It is the best and worst part of the internet and Twitter-verse.  If you get any sort of following, suddenly you are credible sauce.

[wiley]

Can't we trade for Deandre instead of Griffin?  Just seems like a better fit to me.

I think we should trade for LeBron, LaMarcus Aldridge and Klay Thompson. Fantastic fits.

and curry. how could you forget curry? 

I had to cut him from the list because he's not a "fantastic fit" with LeBron. These are the tough choices we have to make sometimes.

Don't want Curry. He's a UFA next year.

I'm not sure about the package you put together. Sure, they bring us scoring and defense, but will they fit in with the rest of the team culturally? How will LeBron feel about coming off the bench behind Crowder.

I wouldn't give up a Brooklyn pick, but maybe Jerebko, Amir Johnson, KO and the Memphis pick could be traded. If they insisted, I'd throw in our 2023 pick.

Mike

Can someone explain the Warriors situation to me.  I'm assuming under the new cap that they can easily keep their big 4?  If any of the big 4 left, which one would be most likely?...I'd guess first mostly likely would be newcomer Durant and next most likely would be Draymond Green...

[trickybilly]

Can't we trade for Deandre instead of Griffin?  Just seems like a better fit to me.

I think we should trade for LeBron, LaMarcus Aldridge and Klay Thompson. Fantastic fits.

and curry. how could you forget curry? 

I had to cut him from the list because he's not a "fantastic fit" with LeBron. These are the tough choices we have to make sometimes.

Don't want Curry. He's a UFA next year.

I'm not sure about the package you put together. Sure, they bring us scoring and defense, but will they fit in with the rest of the team culturally? How will LeBron feel about coming off the bench behind Crowder.

I wouldn't give up a Brooklyn pick, but maybe Jerebko, Amir Johnson, KO and the Memphis pick could be traded. If they insisted, I'd throw in our 2023 pick.

Mike

Can someone explain the Warriors situation to me.  I'm assuming under the new cap that they can easily keep their big 4?  If any of the big 4 left, which one would be most likely?...I'd guess first mostly likely would be newcomer Durant and next most likely would be Draymond Green...

Here is their salary breakdown:

http://www.basketballinsiders.com/golden-state-warriors-team-salary/

Basically it starts with the Bogut trade and Barnes FA. GSW gets a long way under the cap by getting that cash of its books (Barnes was a cap hold), and that's how they signed Durant .

Next year they have 67mill of guaranteed salary, (or slightly more if Durant opts out and gets a bigger deal). Curry's max can easily be accommodated under the cap. They will have Iggy, Varajao, Clark, and Livingston's Bird Rights, so they can easily be kept if management is willing to pay. They will still have MLE for Pachulia (if they want it).

Could be 4 championships in that team, everything going to plan. What kind of deal they give Iggy next year will determine how available Klay becomes in 2019 though..

[LarBrd33]

Do people think we're trading for Blake Griffin?

[chambers]

Do people think we're trading for Blake Griffin?

Did Bill Simmons tell you it's not happening?

[kozlodoev]

Can't we trade for Deandre instead of Griffin?  Just seems like a better fit to me.

I think we should trade for LeBron, LaMarcus Aldridge and Klay Thompson. Fantastic fits.

and curry. how could you forget curry? 

I had to cut him from the list because he's not a "fantastic fit" with LeBron. These are the tough choices we have to make sometimes.

Don't want Curry. He's a UFA next year.

I'm not sure about the package you put together. Sure, they bring us scoring and defense, but will they fit in with the rest of the team culturally? How will LeBron feel about coming off the bench behind Crowder.

I wouldn't give up a Brooklyn pick, but maybe Jerebko, Amir Johnson, KO and the Memphis pick could be traded. If they insisted, I'd throw in our 2023 pick.

Mike

Can someone explain the Warriors situation to me.  I'm assuming under the new cap that they can easily keep their big 4?  If any of the big 4 left, which one would be most likely?...I'd guess first mostly likely would be newcomer Durant and next most likely would be Draymond Green...

You can pretty much always sign your free agents so keeping them shouldnt be an issue.

[clover]

Finally, as I pointed out at the beginning of this thread, neither of the two proposals he's "hearing" for Griffin work with the salary cap. 

Not addressing at all the validity of the rumor... But unless I'm missing something they do work:

Griffin + Pierce make $23.6m

Amir, Jerebko, Mickey and Holland make $19m

LAC is taking on less salary so it works for them. BOS has $4.6M in caproom after signing Green, Zeller and Jackson. If BOS didn't have room it'd still work bc they could take back 125% of $19m which is $23.75

You're missing out on the fact that Griffin has a 15% trade kicker.  Then incoming salary for Boston would be $26.7 million.

Yep, though I think he can waive that... not sure why he would, unless a renegotiation + extension takes place, though it might become a bit difficult to do so. Not sure about all the considerations off hand right now.

Yes, he could waive it, but he's not going to do so without a renegotiation that raises his salary even more.  And if we go that route, we have to send out even more salary than this proposal, because we don't have to just match salaries, we have to send out enough to be far enough under the cap to give him the raise/extension.

If we assume that Zeller has yet to sign his contract (so that it's just his Bird cap hold), that in fact Yab and Zizic are off the books this year, that Green has yet to sign, that Bentil has yet to sign, and that Jackson will be making the minimum this year (reportedly it's a 3-year deal so we need cap room for him), the Celtics would have to send out $25,349,795 in salaries for a renegotiated Blake and also Pierce, which is far more than Amir+Crowder+Holland ($6.2 million more).

In short, that proposal is bunk.

Pierce doesn't make sense anyway.

[Bobshot]

If you believe Smitty's latest post at RealGM, there's a helluva lot going on behind the scenes to bring Griffin, Pierce and Westbrook to Boston.  Ainge is persistent, and benefits from good relationships with Doc and Presti.

There is some talk even of doing a deal for Griffin without extension--which might be cheaper. Then getting Westbrook to create a contending team neither player would walk away from in a year. The kind of thing I alluded to in some previous posts.

I suspect Sam is trying to sign Westbrook right now. If he can't, I would expect him to deal him. And Ainge is right there at the door waiting with all the pieces.

[Kane3387]

If you believe Smitty's latest post at RealGM, there's a helluva lot going on behind the scenes to bring Griffin, Pierce and Westbrook to Boston.  Ainge is persistent, and benefits from good relationships with Doc and Presti.

There is some talk even of doing a deal for Griffin without extension--which might be cheaper. Then getting Westbrook to create a contending team neither player would walk away from in a year. The kind of thing I alluded to in some previous posts.

I suspect Sam is trying to sign Westbrook right now. If he can't, I would expect him to deal him. And Ainge is right there at the door waiting with all the pieces.

Link to this?