Max Level Additions???

From my seat at this computer, I do not see any MAX level free agent signings for the Cs this summer.

I do not think that there are any max level free agents to chase this summer.  In fact, with the new CBA there may not really be any max level players who hit free agency with this CBA in place.  The current CBA was designed to not have a team's best players walking away for zero return, and I would bet that we would not have Horford if he had not been available via the previous CBA.

Yes, Hayward (Utah) is a very nice player, but unless he is totally and completely unhappy in Utah why would he even consider leaving there when he can make $50M more over five years than he can ANYWHERE else?  I have read absolutely nothing about him being unhappy in Utah as they are rebuilding very much like the Cs are, and are also kind of in the same situation in their conference as the Cs are in theirs.

Griffin could all of a sudden find a way to stay healthy, but I would not count on it if I was any other team.  He also falls into the spot of taking far less money to go somewhere else, but his team may have decided not to continue forward with him due to his every year health issues which could make him more likely to move on than Hayward.

Who else comes to mind?  I am drawing a blank especially because any guys who are guards (Wade comes to mind) are not really far and away better than our current guard foursome.  Unless there is a brain freeze by any max level guy ($50M is an awful lot of money to walk away from), the Cs need another plan.

With all of this said about max level guys, I would suggest that the Cs change their approach and begin to look at some guys who would be mid-level salary guys who specifically play positions that we are weakest.  Two guys coming in at around mid range salaries may actually make us much better next season if they can defend the paint and rebound better than our last year's core of forwards.

There are still some potential star players out there who may be acquired via trade.  Porzingis is near the top of my list even he must be attached to Carmelo Anthony.  Cauley-Stein has not panned out great for Sacramento, but that could be because Sacramento has been such a mess since he got there. O'Quinn would add some big man depth, and I am sure that there are others as well to be considered. Cauley-Stein, Quinn and others are athletic enough and young enough (yet not rookies) for Stevens and his staff to further develop into a top notch centers/forwards.

Ainge again has more draft picks than he will ever be able to fit onto the Cs roster in the next five years.  He may have made a mistake with having too many last year at this time and has even more at his disposal this year.

Stevens has mentioned many times that his team is "too young" and more rookies are going to keep his roster "too young" forever.  

Could be time for searching out some younger guys who play positions of need, have a couple of years of NBA experience, and use some of the many picks we currently have to get some guys that fit this description.

Butler is not my favorite NBA player, but he is certainly a very, very good NBA player.  I like Avery Bradley very much, but his contract (one year left) and future contract demands in 2018 probably will take him out of Boston by the end of next season so trading him with some of these draft picks for Butler is not something that I wouldn't do.

How about Bradley and Zeller(for balancing out the money aspect) along with the Nets 2018, one other first round pick and a couple of second round picks for Butler?

How about this year's #3, Yabusele or Zizic, Minnesota's first next year and the Clippers first next year for Porzingis and Anthony?  Yes, Porzingis is good, but he is very likely to leave the Knicks (and, they have to anticipate this) as soon as he can since he is already upset with the mess that is the Knicks.  Everyone knows thatd the Knicks really do need to get rid of Anthony ASAP if not long ago.  Even toss in some second round picks to get O'Quinn included in the deal.

How about the Cs 2018, Mickey, and two second rounders for Cauley-Stein?

At the end of the three deals we get a guard to replace Bradley (Butler), a guy who can still score (Anthony -- who is certainly a gamble but only for one year if 'stretched' for the second year if necessary), a young, potential star big man (Porzingis), two young big men who will likely develop much further and much faster in Stevens system and with his coaching staff (Cauley-Stein and O'Quinn) while replacing (to add adding quality depth) guys like Mickey, Young, Johnson, Jackson, Jerebko, and perhaps Olynyk.

All players who we acquire in these deals all fit in with the Horford max contract time frame, all have limited or no health concerns, all already have at least two years of NBA experience, all get much closer to winning a conference championship, all help us where we are currently weaker, all get to play for one of the best coaching staffs in the league so they would likely hit the ground running full speed (well, maybe not quite full speed for Anthony, but even he may see a championship light at the end of the tunnel to be worth sprinting for) upon arrival.

These three deals get us a little bit older, uses up a good deal of the draft picks we currently own, makes a much better and deeper front line, gives us a shooter to help IT, does not put us in luxury tax (which is not anything that concerns me from my house, but it does certainly concern the Cs front office), and, in the end, makes us better NEXT season without breaking up too much of the core of players that Stevens has developed and very much likes.  It still allows us to keep Olynyk if we so desire if his price is reasonable.

it would be an interesting team, however the trades are mostly way one sided in our direction and/or will not meet cap requirements..

cap infor with our holds here:

http://www.spotrac.com/nba/boston-celtics/cap/2017/


my thoughts for each of your moves;

1) Bradley, Zeller, 2018 nets pick and a future first for Butler, I think would work cap wise. But I think The Bulls would hold out for this years #3 pick instead of the 2018 pick myself. BUt you may be right and if so that is a good deal for us, IMO.

2) The deal for Porzingus and Melo. you have no where near enough salary going back to NY to make the deal pass muster cap wise. You are talking taking back over $25M in salary , while sending out only about $8M in cap holds. to get close you'd need to sign and trade Kelly ($12M?) add Zeller ($8M) to THIS deal along with #3 pick and future picks to get close.
of course adding Zeller here, mean the BUtler deal needs changed, with might require add Crowder to that deal to make it work.

3) WCS for a late 2018 first, Mickey (ZERO trade value to me) and a couple seconds. I doubt even the Divac would sign on to that one sided deal.

just trying to be realistic here. it is an interesting team for sure, but I doubt all the pieces could be put together to make it work

Looks like we'll find out in 2 weeks if it's true there are no max FAs coming to Boston.