[IT's contract is done spring 2018 so be summer of 2019, he will probably be long gone (the Celtics will not be the team to pull up the Brink's truck). It also would not surprise me if Horford is traded in Summer of 2018 and we rebuild around all star players that we have drafted.
I do not see a team built around Thomas and Horford on max contracts ever being a title contender.
I've thought about this a lot. As great as Thomas has been at converting people this season into seeing he's a star, I still don't think the market for him will be robust enough to get a max. The league is flush with PG's and a bunch of bad teams are going to draft a good PG this summer which means, when IT's contract is up, there just aren't going to be many teams that need a PG. On top of that, he'll be 29 years old and he'll still be 5'9". All the reasons skeptical Celtic fans don't want to pay a lot of resign him will be the same reasons skeptical GMs on other teams won't want to pay him either.
What that all adds up for me is, maybe he could be signed for something like $18 mil a year for 4 years. It would be 3 times what his old contract was and be a nice deal for the Celtics.
Keeping the Nets picks makes me think a trade for Vucevic would be a good fit. Maybe Amir + minny 2nd rounder plus Clippers 2019 pick?
Let Amir, Zeller, and Jerebko walk and keep moving forward with the youth movement.
I'm into this idea. I don't think the C's are going to get someone better than Vucevic in free agency this summer. Offensively, he can play next to Horford. He's not great defensively but he's a terrific rebounder which will help the C's defense.
He's also a guy you can stick in the middle and play more small ball around.