Rumor: Celtics stockpiling picks to make "seismic" trade. Eventually.

https://sports.yahoo.com/rumor-celtics-stockpiling-picks-seismic-211530962.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&uh_test=0_00



Rumor: Celtics stockpiling picks to make "seismic" trade. Eventually.


NBC Sports
Thu, Jul 6, 2023, 2:15 PM PDT·2 min read



The Boston Celtics are expected to make one franchise-defining move this summer: Sign Jaylen Brown to a massive five-year, $295 million supermax extension . There are whispers they would like to get involved in another massive move — trading for Damian Lillard — although he reportedly has zero interest in coming to Boston (which is why Jayson Tatum is reportedly trying to recruit him).

Boston's plans may not end there. The Celtics are stockpiling draft picks in hopes of a yet-to-be-determined future bold move, reports Adam Himmelsbach at the Boston Globe. How many draft picks? Boston has all of its own future first-round picks (although the Spurs have the right to swap rights in 2028), the Warriors' 2024 first-round pick, and a multitude of second-rounders.

“No, the Celtics do not have a plan to start a youth movement centered on draft picks. This capital will eventually serve as currency in a larger deal, with the Celtics well-positioned for a seismic strike, league sources said. The spree of recent activity has bred speculation that they could be staking out their big move right now, but a league source said that appears unlikely.”

Clearly the more punitive new luxury tax — especially fear of the second apron — is not slowing Boston and head of basketball operations Brad Stevens if he thinks it makes his team a title favorite. There is no chance he can take that kind of swing without ownership being on board.

That move is likely not going to be landing Lillard unless the seven-time All-NBA player has a change of heart. Also, despite some fans hard-to-understand desire to split up Brown and Tatum, there is not a Brown trade coming either (and not for Lillard especially, that makes little sense for either team).

However, Boston may be getting its Make Way for Ducklings in a row so it can pounce when the opportunity for a bold move arises. Because in the NBA, it always does. Eventually.


Bob
MY NOTE:  "Ducklings" indeed.  If we are competitive our draft picks will be in the mid-to-high 20's.  Second round picks have the new cache of being non-guaranteed, and non-specific, contracts.  So you can roll the dice and take someone without having to commit to pay them for 4 years at pre-determined prices like they do with first round picks, but they are still diamonds in the rough or they wouldn't have dropped that far.  Everybody realizes you cannot win a Championship without two or three superstars and superstars get paid.  Therefore you have little choice but to surround them with lesser talented players like 2nd rounders and/or Ring Wraiths.  And don't forget that thanks to that idiot (and racist) Ted Stepien you cannot trade first round picks for two consecutive years.  So the fact that we have all our own firsts means that we can only trade every other one, at most.  I suppose having straight years of picks means you can offer the choice of Years 1,3,5 or Years 2,4,6.  Based upon a relatively cursory internet search I believe the Stepien Rule only applies to a team's first round picks.  I do not see where first rounders from other teams cannot be packaged even if they are in consecutive years.  IF TRUE, then it would have been nice if Brad had been able to get a first for Grant instead of two 2nds.  

It seems to me, viewing this as an outsider, that Brad and Wyc banked on the deal for Brogdon going through with the Clippers too heavily and when it fell apart they had no choice but to make whatever deal they had to make to get Z and the only willing partner was Memphis who wanted Smart and nobody else.  It looks like the same thing might have happened with Grant.  Everybody knew we wanted to move him, and we were somewhat pressed for time because the day after he was traded was the first day he could officially receive an offer sheet (receiving, and accepting, an offer sheet prevents sign-and-trades, I believe) so they weren't going to give up a 1st for him.  Once again, the clock ended up working against us even though we had time to see the train coming.  


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Except there was a rumor out there that said the Celtics were prepared to match an offer for GW.

This is the reason why rumors are far from being facts

Also the seismic reference did not come from the Celtics.  

Although the Celtics picks are probably not lotto level 1st rounders are still valuable.  When pkg with other picks teams can move up.  Or in the case of genius Brad turn one late bite into 5 smaller bites with way more volume.

The new second-round exception contract is part of what has made 2nd round picks the new currency.  The new exception allows a path directly to Bird Rights for 2nd round picks.  Teams no longer have to use part of their MLE to get past the 2-year limit for vet-min contracts, which is how many 2nd round picks were signed. After two years, 2nd round picks were going into free agency, unrestricted, and many of them got poached by other teams because their original team had no advantage to retain.

The new second-round exception contract allows for up to four-year contracts, with an option for the last season.  The option can be player or team.  3 + 1.  They are actually committing to pay them for 3 or 4 years at pre-determined prices, like they do with first round picks, except at much lower prices. If the player shines, the team has Bird Rights (advantage for team to retain) and is in a better position to be rewarded for their investment.

Price control in the new NBA.

https://us.yahoo.com/sports/gary-washburn-cs-look-north-002923349.html



Gary Washburn: C's should ‘look north' for their next move


Justin Leger
Fri, July 7, 2023 at 5:29 PM PDT


The Boston Celtics already have made significant changes this offseason, but it feels like president of basketball operations Brad Stevens still has an ace up his sleeve.

Boston has a wealth of draft assets at its disposal following the 2023 NBA Draft and their trades of Marcus Smart and Grant Williams. Unsurprisingly, Stevens doesn't plan to use all of those picks -- most of them second-rounders -- to add young talent to the pipeline. The Boston Globe's Adam Himmselsbach reported on Thursday that the C's are stockpiling their draft picks to make a "seismic" trade in the future.

Such a trade probably won't come this summer, but it's still worth exploring how Stevens could use those picks in a deal sometime down the line. Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe joined "Early Edition" to share the type of trade he believes the C's should pursue.

"I think they should look up north for some solutions. Pascal Siakam or OG Anunoby," Washburn said on Friday. "Toronto's got to figure out whether it wants to rebuild or whether it wants to kind of re-tool. They lost Fred VanVleet, and they signed Dennis Schroeder. They're a team in total limbo right now and they've got some guys on some expiring contracts coming up that might be available to the Celtics with all this draft capital, all these second-round picks that they've picked up over the last couple of weeks. So I think looking north would be their next move."

Siakam, 29, would bring a significant boost to Boston's frontcourt. The two-time All-Star forward scored a career-high 24.2 points per game for the Raptors last season while averaging 7.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists. He's scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

Anunoby, who turns 26 on July 17, has a $20 million player option for next year. The 2022-23 All-Defensive selection averaged 16.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while shooting 47.6 percent from the field (38.7 percent from 3) last season with Toronto.

Both players would be tremendous additions. But in the meantime, Washburn believes Stevens and the C's should be keeping tabs on the free-agent market over the next few days and shore up their roster.

"They need to wait for this market to dry out," he said. "There's going to be some available guys in free agency who are going to be up to minimum deals because they can come to Boston, have a chance to win a championship, and continue their careers because right now the market is drying and some of these guys are going to get left out.

"So the Celtics are going to have to be smart, but they do need to make some moves starting this weekend."


Bob
MY NOTE:  Either one of those players would be an invaluable addition but, as my grandfather used to tell me, "your eyes are bigger than your stomach".  Anunoby averaged 35.6mpg last season, a total of 2386 minutes over 68 games.  For comparison, Jaylen played 2408 minutes.  Siakam played 37.4mpg, a total of 2652 minutes over 71 games (Jayson played 2732).  So, what we're talking about here are players whose minutes all but mirrored our two All-NBA players.  When/where would either of these players play?  Would you start them?  What would our starting 5 be then?  Z, Tatum, one of these, Brown and White?  That'd be a killa 5, and you'd still have Brogdon, Al and RWill coming off the bench for your 8 with Sam/Oshae and Dalano/Payton for your 9th and 10th men.  Would OG or Pascal be happy playing 20-30% fewer minutes?  There is no way, NO way, Siakam would play that many minutes here.  

And let's not overlook the $18.6M OG will make this year ($19.6M next year) and the $37.8M Siakam will make in this, his final, contract year.  If we didn't want to go over for Grant would they be willing to go WAY over for either of these players?  BOTH of those players would put us WAY over the 2nd Apron.  And would Siakam resign with us next year for a lot less?  If not then he's just a one year (or, even, partial year) rental.

And, no, I do NOT agree with Washburn's conclusion that the Celtics "need to make some moves starting this weekend", other than signing Jaylen.  It's barely the beginning of the 2nd week of July, for Pete's Sake!  Summer League has barely started.  GMs, not just our own, need to see what they do and do not have before they flip the switch, and their opinions will be shaped not just by the performance of the players on their summer league rosters but what they're seeing in other team's summer league rosters.  Do they roll the dice with SL standouts, or do they go for a veteran?  They won't be in a position to answer that question until the end of SL and that's no earlier than this Friday for teams that don't make the SL Playoffs.

Calm tf down, Gary.  It's summer time.  Enjoy a cool beverage and chill.  There's lots of time.  The KG trade, that changed our Championship chances dramatically, didn't happen until July 31st.    


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