Ainge Has Talked To Hump About Next Year

Ainge also revealed Thursday that he had talked to forward Kris Humphries about the possibility of coming back next season. Humphries, who is making $12 million this year, will be a free agent after the season.

“I have had a few conversations with Kris," said Ainge. "Because he's been with us all year, he was with us in the summer and all this year. Kris sort of knows where we are as an organization and he knows we like him. And he knows there is a lot of uncertainty, depending on which direction we choose to go this summer. None of us know.

But he knows we like him, his coaches and teammates like him, we just can’t make any promises yet.”

Ainge was also asked about Jerryd Bayless and Phil Pressey but only offered comment on Humphries.



bob
MY NOTE: Not earth-shaking news here, but good to know the communications have begun. What I thought was interesting, more so than the part about Hump, was his refusal to comment about Bayless and Pressey.


.

I'd like to see them keep Hump. He's a very solid guy that contributes every game.

As for Bayless and Pressey, keep them also, Danny.



KJ

k_j_88 wrote:I'd like to see them keep Hump. He's a very solid guy that contributes every game.

As for Bayless and Pressey, keep them also, Danny.



KJ

KJ,

Bayless and Pressey are relatively marginal players. Yes, they both have some very nice parts of their games, but if we were to draft, say, Dante Exum or Marcus Smart, would we really need Pressey? As far as Bayless goes I like him but he's not unique. One thing that's nice about him is his $3.2M contract, but it is expiring and who knows how much he'll want.

There aren't many "untouchables" on this team. Damn few.

bob


.

bobheckler wrote:

k_j_88 wrote:I'd like to see them keep Hump. He's a very solid guy that contributes every game.

As for Bayless and Pressey, keep them also, Danny.



KJ

KJ,

Bayless and Pressey are relatively marginal players.  Yes, they both have some very nice parts of their games, but if we were to draft, say, Dante Exum or Marcus Smart, would we really need Pressey?  As far as Bayless goes I like him but he's not unique.  One thing that's nice about him is his $3.2M contract, but it is expiring and who knows how much he'll want.

There aren't many "untouchables" on this team.  Damn few.

bob


.

If another guard becomes available, then yes, that would make Pressey rather expendable. But if they don't pick up a guard (which is probably an unlikely scenario) then I like the idea of keeping Pressey as he has familiarity with the system and is on the cheap salary wise.



KJ

Bob,

I think the real question is, if the Celtics were to draft Exum or Smart, how long would lottery picks be content with backing up Rondo?  At least, Pressey seems willing (perhaps even thrilled) to be playing backup PG in the bigs?

Sam

sam wrote:Bob,

I think the real question is, if the Celtics were to draft Exum or Smart, how long would lottery picks be content with backing up Rondo?  At least, Pressey seems willing (perhaps even thrilled) to be playing backup PG in the bigs?

Good point. It seems there are two routes to go:

1. Get a backup who's good enough to start for many teams and accept that he'll go elsewhere when his contract is up, then find another backup. The example that comes to mind is Eric Bledsoe, who was a backup with the Clippers and left to become a successful starter with the Suns.

2. Get a backup who's suited to be a backup and hope he is happy to be a backup. DJ Augustin comes to mind as an example. BobH's buddy Steve Blake also fits that description.

My concern about Pressey is that although he's happy to be a backup, the C's could do better at that backup position from a scoring perspective. His per-36-minutes stats are a very good 7.3 assists versus 2.6 turnovers but with only 6.7 points. Compare that with the 36-minute stats for Augustin (6.0 assists, 2.1 turnovers, 17.3 points), Bayless (6.4 assist, 2.9 turnovers, 14.4 points), or even a guy like Jose Barea (7.3 assists, 3.0 turnovers, 16.6 points).

I did a search for guards who fit this criteria for this season: played 800 minutes, started fewer than 20 games, and had 4.0 or more assists per 36 minutes.

http://bkref.com/tiny/zMUSD

There are 23 guys who fit the criteria. Pressey is third in assists but only 15th best in turnovers and last in points. (Blake didn't fit the criteria because he started 27 games for the Lakers, but his per-36-minute stats are 7.6 assists, 2.4 turnovers, and 9.6 points.)

To me, the best option is a guy who has been a starter but has settled into being happy to be a backup rather than a guy who is just happy to be in the league. Guys who fit that description are Augustin, Bayless, Barea, Aaron Brooks, and Mo Williams.

I'm not sure how satisfied Will Bynum is to be a backup, but he looks very good on my search results (7.4 assists, 3.5 turnovers, and 16.6 points). He's signed with Detroit through next season for $2.9 million.

Bob,

As I just posted on the Draft Thread, I think there's a third option.  If Exum is the scorer he's made out to be; and, if he's the PG he's made out to be, drafting him could potentially address two issues: (1) a backup at both positions—in other words, a combo guard who represents insurance at both PG and SG as well as (2) potentially developing into the permanent PG or SG if Rondo or Bradley were to jump ship and (3) providing height that the current "core" Celtics guard lack.

This is not necessarily to say that I'd rather have them draft Exum than Embiid, but Exum could potentially do a more immediate job of filling two needs.

Sam