Celtics Rumors: Nikola Vucevic Among Top Priorities in 2019 NBA Free Agency

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2842118-celtics-rumors-nikola-vucevic-among-top-priorities-in-2019-nba-free-agency




Celtics Rumors: Nikola Vucevic Among Top Priorities in 2019 NBA Free Agency




MEGAN ARMSTRONG
JUNE 21, 2019




The 2019 NBA draft is in the books, and the Boston Celtics are already reportedly onto their next move.

According to The Athletic and Stadium's Shams Charania, the Celtics are viewing Orlando Magic All-Star center Nikola Vucevic as "one of their top priorities" once free agency begins:

https://twitter.com/Stadium/status/1141925806110924804

Stadium

@Stadium
After drafting Romeo Langford and trading away Aron Baynes, the Celtics are in for a busy summer. Live from the Barclays Center, our @ShamsCharania has the latest on Boston's plans, including their interest in Nikola Vucevic.

706
7:28 AM - Jun 21, 2019

Boston's interest in Vucevic is likely linked to the expectation center Al Horford is leaving in free agency. A void was further created at the position when the Celtics traded Aron Baynes and their No. 24 overall pick to the Phoenix Suns during the draft.

Charania's report was preceded by one from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski (h/t Orlando Magic Daily) stating that Vucevic and the Magic are "motivated to get a deal done" with the Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers looming as plausible landing spots if the two sides can't agree.


Vucevic is fresh off the best season of his career. The 7'0", 260-pounder posted career highs in games played (80), points per game (20.8 ) rebounds per game (12.0) and assists per game (3.8 ).

Boston can likely afford to offer the 28-year-old whatever he demands after Horford and All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving leave as free agents as expected. Marcus Morris is also set to become an unrestricted free agent, and Terry Rozier a restricted free agent.

Should Vucevic land in Boston, the Celtics will hope the progress he made as a defender continues as Horford was known mostly as a defensive asset.

"Vucevic—yes, Vucevic—has emerged as a steadying influence for the Orlando defense," The Athletic's Josh Robbins wrote in January. "His individual improvement has fueled, and mirrored, the Magic’s improvement as a whole."

Largely in his career, Vucevic has been labeled a defensive liability.

If defense is primarily what Boston is seeking, it's worth noting that the team has "checked in" with the Houston Rockets about a potential trade for Clint Capela, according to SNY's Ian Begley.

Vucevic or not, the Celtics are in the midst of an overhaul. Boston began its roster retooling by drafting Romeo Langford (No. 14) and Grant Williams (No. 22) in the first round of the draft



bob
MY NOTE:  Our friend Worcester will be ecstatic with this.  If this pans out he'll do an Irish jig, or maybe a sirtaki.


.

This guy is already much better than any other center on the Boston roster. He could be a nice addition.

Looks like Orlando will get first change to keep him.

If he stays there maybe Ainge can offer them Langford for Mo Bamba?

then still sign a big man like Dedmon a FA from Atlanta.

from another posting

Re: Al Horford opts out; to become free agent
Post by dboss on Tue Jun 18, 2019 11:34 am

If Boston had the CAP space as a result of AH gone I would like to see them go after

Nikola Vucevic. 20 PPG and 12 rebound and 3.8 assists. They would still need to add a beast at PF.

_________________
dboss

Yes Bob. I would have Mikis Theodarakis playing Zorba's dance, and I would be doing the sirtaki if we got Vuc. It'll be tough for Danny to pull off, but if he has to commit to all Celtics players and staff becoming Amway agents, Danny will do it.

Vuc may not be a great fit in LA because of AD and LJ but they have some money to spend on a FA and they could scoop him up.

Boston remains in a funk.

They have lost their starting PG, center and PF plus their BU center.

They drafted a shooting guard who is a questionable shooter along with a make believe undersized PF and two midget point guards one of whom is really a SG.  These are the types of players that you add when you already have your starting 5 ready to go.

If I'm Vuceviic and I have a choice of playing with LA or Boston,  LA is where I would go because they have 2 super elite players and Boston does not even have an allstar on the team.

Vuc is an UFA so he has many great options in front of him but I do not see the Magic letting him get away without a fight.  Mo Bamba is still a few years away and they do not have other options at center.

So I cannot get too excited for Boston's chance of signing him.

Someone mentioned Dedmond and he is also an unrestricted FA.  He may be a better target for Boston given his salary and because the Hawks drafted Fernando.

Also did you know that he shot 38.2 % from deep this past year and 35.5% the previous year?

Only downside is that he has never played more than 25 MPG so Boston still needs another center.  Maybe RW gets those minutes.

kdp59 wrote:Looks like Orlando will get first change to keep him.

If he stays there maybe Ainge can offer them Langford for Mo Bamba?

then still sign a big man like Dedmon a FA from Atlanta.

Kdp,

Why do you say Orlando will get first chance to keep him? He is an Unrestricted free agent. He made $12.75M last year.


bob


.

bobheckler wrote:

kdp59 wrote:Looks like Orlando will get first change to keep him.

If he stays there maybe Ainge can offer them Langford for Mo Bamba?

then still sign a big man like Dedmon a FA from Atlanta.

Kdp,

Why do you say Orlando will get first chance to keep him?  He is an Unrestricted free agent.  He made $12.75M last year.


bob


.

Because he played for Orlando and I am hearing that they want him back.  I know how much he made and I know he is an UFA.  

I think they would get first crack at him;  see snippet of article below from The Orlando Sentinel

The future: There is no doubt Vucevic meant a great deal to the Magic this season. He has said he would like to return to Orlando, and we know the Magic would like to re-sign him. President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman has said it’s “a priority.”

Bob,

just what Dboss said, I too read he likes it there both he and the team want to get a new deal done.

doesn't mean that he may prefer Boston in the end, but Honestly Orlando can offer him MORE money. we simply don;t have the space for a near max contract.

Ainge seems undone by the off-season player defections, so maybe he already has some deals in place.

also I again agree with Dboss that we actually need TWO NBA big men now just one. Which means that cap space has to stretch a bit, once we sign someone with cap space I think our MLE will only be worth 2 years starting at about $4.7M the first year.

thats why brought up Dedmon, he may be had for under $10M leaving us room for another PF type.

maybe a pair of players like Dedmon and Aminu from Portland?

if we could get both using that $20M in cap space and still sign Rozier. that may be a better optiion than just going all in for Vucevic?


Dedmon
Aminu
Tatum
Brown
Smart

Hayward
Rozier
Semi
Grant or Rob
Langford

as the Starters/rotational players

Just another option/s

If this guy likes it Orlando he may just stay there if they want to pay him what he wants.

But, as far as deciding to play in LA WITH James or coming to Boston, I would rather go to Boston mostly because James is in LA.

Might be a strong prejudice in my thoughts, but what can you expect after nearly 60s a Cs fan?

When it comes to signing Vuc the 2 states (Fl-Ma) income tax laws cannot be dismissed or overlooked. I would be shocked to see Vuc come our way.

7% tax difference I believe.

willjr wrote:When it comes to signing Vuc the 2 states (Fl-Ma) income tax laws cannot be dismissed or overlooked. I would be shocked to see Vuc come our way.

Will,

I'm not sure but I seem to remember reading somewhere that state income tax rates are applied in the states in which the income is earned.  If correct, Vuc pays FL taxes for the 41 home games and road games in Miami.  The rest will be wherever they are playing on the road.

No wonder players hate California road trips!


So hlmost half of Vuc's income will be taxed at varying rates no matter which team he signs with.   This is true of every major League professional athlete in the US since their road trips often take them out of state..  Why sign with the Patriots when you could sign with the Dolphins?  Or the Red Sox instead of the Marlins?  There are other factors at work here.

Look, governments need to get the money from somewhere.  If there are zero income taxes in a state (e.g. New Hampshire) then how do they pay for schhools, police, fire, road improvements, etc?  Well, maybe with high property taxes (e.g. New Hampshire).  Maybe with high sales taxes (e.g. my San Mateo County's 8 1/4%). If Florida is more attractive for income taxes it must be less attractive in other ways. These bazillionaires don't live in cheap shacks. If Florida has close to NH's property tax rate, ouch!


bob


.

There's a rumor floating around that Willie Cauley-Stein may be made available.  Danny always liked him.  Sacto now has Koufos, Bagley and Harry Giles, WCS is overkill.

WCS is a RFA who made $6M last year.

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/sacramento-kings/willie-cauley-stein-17834/


It's hard to do research herr.  Anybody have any idea what kind of help Sacramento might be looking for?


bob


.

bobheckler wrote:

willjr wrote:When it comes to signing Vuc the 2 states (Fl-Ma) income tax laws cannot be dismissed or overlooked. I would be shocked to see Vuc come our way.

Will,

I'm not sure but I seem to remember reading somewhere that state income tax rates are applied in the states in which the income is earned.  If correct, Vuc pays FL taxes for the 41 home games and road games in Miami.  The rest will be wherever they are playing on the road.

No wonder players hate California road trips!


So hlmost half of Vuc's income will be taxed at varying rates no matter which team he signs with.   This is true of every major League professional athlete in the US since their road trips often take them out of state..  Why sign with the Patriots when you could sign with the Dolphins?  Or the Red Sox instead of the Marlins?  There are other factors at work here.

Look, governments need to get the money from somewhere.  If there are zero income taxes in a state (e.g. New Hampshire) then how do they pay for schhools, police, fire, road improvements, etc?  Well, maybe with high property taxes (e.g. New Hampshire).  Maybe with high sales taxes (e.g. my San Mateo County's 8 1/4%).  If Florida is more attractive for income taxes it must be less attractive in other ways.  These bazillionaires don't live in cheap shacks.  If Florida has close to NH's property tax rate, ouch!


bob


.

Bob,

Florida’s property tax rates are not high.
I was born and raised in north NJ where property taxes are very high.
Florida receives billions of dollars from tourism annually which allows us to have no state income tax.

It is true that athletes have to pay the taxes based on the state in which they play the games.

Vucevic will have a lot of interest throughout the league.
As much as I like his game, he should not be a high priority for the Lakers who don’t have any guards right now...
He’s a better fit for Boston.

tjmakz wrote:

bobheckler wrote:

willjr wrote:When it comes to signing Vuc the 2 states (Fl-Ma) income tax laws cannot be dismissed or overlooked. I would be shocked to see Vuc come our way.

Will,

I'm not sure but I seem to remember reading somewhere that state income tax rates are applied in the states in which the income is earned.  If correct, Vuc pays FL taxes for the 41 home games and road games in Miami.  The rest will be wherever they are playing on the road.

No wonder players hate California road trips!


So hlmost half of Vuc's income will be taxed at varying rates no matter which team he signs with.   This is true of every major League professional athlete in the US since their road trips often take them out of state..  Why sign with the Patriots when you could sign with the Dolphins?  Or the Red Sox instead of the Marlins?  There are other factors at work here.

Look, governments need to get the money from somewhere.  If there are zero income taxes in a state (e.g. New Hampshire) then how do they pay for schhools, police, fire, road improvements, etc?  Well, maybe with high property taxes (e.g. New Hampshire).  Maybe with high sales taxes (e.g. my San Mateo County's 8 1/4%).  If Florida is more attractive for income taxes it must be less attractive in other ways.  These bazillionaires don't live in cheap shacks.  If Florida has close to NH's property tax rate, ouch!


bob


.

Bob,

Florida’s property tax rates are not high.
I was born and raised in north NJ where property taxes are very high.
Florida receives billions of dollars from tourism annually which allows us to have no state income tax.

It is true that athletes have to pay the taxes based on the state in which they play the games.

Vucevic will have a lot of interest throughout the league.
As much as I like his game, he should not be a high priority for the Lakers who don’t have any guards right now...
He’s a better fit for Boston.

TJ,

Property taxes and NH were just exampes of how states with little to no state income tax make up the difference.

Where does FL get the money from if not income taxes and/or property taxes?


bob


.

Florida's 6 to 7% sales tax (so many tourists) and real estate taxes (there are many, many properties here) bring in billions, and we have a very popular lottery. Road maintenance costs ars minimal. The state pays bupkis for education, and social services are meager, so Florida can get by without an income tax. Unfortunately, we educated northern transplants have to swim in a sea of under informed yahoos. It's easy to be snobbish here, regrettably.