Ranking the top 7 free agents the Boston Celtics need to pursue

I believe that Batum is coming off an injury and then coming off the bench during the playoffs, so that would explain his lower numbers.

I'd go for door #'s 1 and 2. They start at the 3 and 4 position. Crowder and Olynyk are their backups off the bench.

We still need a 5, Bismack Biyombo is not the answer. Amir is gone. We already have the backup w/Zeller.

gyso

Go all in for Durant. He's the much needed super star that a serious contender must have. With all the remaining chips that Danny would still have, filling out the rest of the roster with excellent complimenting players should be a breeze.

swish

bobheckler wrote:

swish wrote:Go all in for Durant. He's the much needed super star that a serious contender must have. With all the remaining chips that Danny would still have, filling out the rest of the roster with excellent complimenting players should be a breeze.

 swish

Swish,

Durant is an UNrestricted free agent.  He can go, or not go, anywhere he wants.  EVERY team with the cap space, and there are quite a few, will go "all in" for him.  The decider will be "where does he think he can win?"

The best way of convincing him is for Danny to pull off a big trade, if not All-NBA then at least an All-Star.  If he doesn't then, in my opinion, there is no "all in" that Danny can offer that will turn his head.  It won't be money, he'll get his max deal no matter where he chooses.


bob


.

And just like most Celtic fans think that the future of the Celtics is very promising it is possible that Danny will be able to convince Durant that his future could be best served by signing with the Celtics. Surely Danny will remind him of the Celtic makeover of 2007-08 and of the fact that he once again has the chips to duplicate that scenario again. Certainly the bidding for his services will be furious but nevertheless a doable deal for the Celtics. Time will tell.

swish

Below link presents the salary cap figures for all 30 teams for this years free agency biding war.

http://www.basketballinsiders.com/nbas-bestworst-case-2016-17-cap-projections/


 With Durant expected to get a Max contract of about 25 mil it appears to me that most of the better teams will not have the cap space to be involved in the Durant sweepstakes. But the salary cap rules are quite tricky so who knows for sure? If that is the case then the chances of the Celtics landing him are greatly enhanced.

 swish

I will agree with the posters who mentioned that getting Durant may completely hinge on getting another top notch player on the roster before the free agency period opens.

Durant already knows that he cannot win a championship by himself or even with another fine player (Westbrook) so why would he even think of going to another team that does not have at least a similar player to Westbrook?  Thomas is a good player, but with just adding Durant to Thomas Boston is not better than OKC is with Durant and Westbrook and Ibaka except for being located in the eastern conference.

Durant knows the game and can easily figure out where he may have a better chance to win might be.  He also knows what kind of players he wants to play with.  I am sure that he is impressed with how well the Cs did this year without a first rate offensive weapon beyond Thomas and also impressed with Stevens and his staff.  However, more probably needs to be done to get his full attention in July.

Of the names mentioned, Okafor is going to be the easiest to trade for since his salary for the next few years is the lowest.  So perhaps one of our younger and better players and the Nets pick and another first round pick may get him to Boston if you really want this kid.  Butler and Cousins are going to be harder to get due to their salaries are triple what Okafor gets.  This means more of our younger and better players will have to leave to make salaries match plus the Nets pick and still another first round pick or two.

Draining the roster of its quality young players then would open up a bunch of other spots to fill.  Say Crowder and Bradley leave via trade for Butler, Ainge must then find quality replacements for both guys. Not sure that Hunter, Young, Rozier and Mickey fill in well enough by next season.

Going to be very interesting that is for sure.

[quote=]

Of the names mentioned, Okafor is going to be the easiest to trade for since his salary for the next few years is the lowest.  So perhaps one of our younger and better players and the Nets pick and another first round pick may get him to Boston if you really want this kid.  Butler and Cousins are going to be harder to get due to their salaries are triple what Okafor gets.  This means more of our younger and better players will have to leave to make salaries match plus the Nets pick and still another first round pick or two.


Going to be very interesting that is for sure.[/quote]

I already laid out a possible scenario where we aquire Butler and sign Whiteside or Horford (etc) to a max deal.

here is one that lets us get Cousins and Durant.

1) we trade Bradley, Amir , nets pick, #31 pick and the 2018 nets pick to the Kings for
Cousins and McLemore.

our Salary Number minus holds after the trade still at $51M. add in about $3M for the two first round picks left and we are around $54M . leaving us with about $26M Just enough to add Durant.

here we need to enounce Sully, Turner and Zeller holds and/OR release Jerebko and his $5M non guaranteed salary.

I would release Jerebko and re-sign Zeller using that money.

on draft night I pick:
#16- Sabonis or Ellenson- whichever drops
#23- D. Jones or AJ Hammons

#35- D. Hamilton or P. McCaw

Roster:
Cousins- Starting C
Zeller
D. Jones of Hammons
Kelly
Sabonis or Ellenson
Mickey
Crowder- starting F
Durant- Starting F
Smart- Starting G
Thomas- Starting G
McLemore
Rozier
Hunter
Hamilton or McCaw- Replaces Young.

one roster spot left, possible vet minimum

Spurs and GS built their championship level teams through  the draft and I think Boston should do the same.

If Boston decides to trade the Nets pick this year getting a 
superstar must be part of the deal.  

If the Celtics go after Durant, It may end up being a sign and trade deal so that he can get that 5th year.  

The tricky part of everything is that the top free agents will not be available until after the draft.  But we could see multiple draft day trades by Boston to work a trade and or to move up in the draft.  Two top 10 picks would be great.

The entire picture has so many variables that it really is impossible to figure out.  There is only one superstar among the free agents mentioned.  The Cousins speculation continues to flare up like a bad rash.  

I am not remotely hopeful that we can add Durant.  

I would go the conservative route.  Add 2 shooters from the draft and go after a rim protector via trade or free agency.  Keep  the core in tact but upgrade quality of the overall depth.  Harrison Barnes would be a good SF addition and I would take him over Batmun because he can play defense.

Dboss

dboss wrote:Spurs and GS built their championship level teams through  the draft and I think Boston should do the same.

If Boston decides to trade the Nets pick this year getting a 
superstar must be part of the deal.  

If the Celtics go after Durant, It may end up being a sign and trade deal so that he can get that 5th year.  

The tricky part of everything is that the top free agents will not be available until after the draft.  But we could see multiple draft day trades by Boston to work a trade and or to move up in the draft.  Two top 10 picks would be great.

The entire picture has so many variables that it really is impossible to figure out.  There is only one superstar among the free agents mentioned.  The Cousins speculation continues to flare up like a bad rash.  

I am not remotely hopeful that we can add Durant.  

I would go the conservative route.  Add 2 shooters from the draft and go after a rim protector via trade or free agency.  Keep  the core in tact but upgrade quality of the overall depth.  Harrison Barnes would be a good SF addition and I would take him over Batmun because he can play defense.

Dboss

Dboss,

I think you summed it up well, but more importantly, I think you summed it up realistically.

Not bad for a Colts fan.

I believe our top 3 free agent targets would be Barnes, Batum and Festus Ezeli. Ezeli was not mentioned in the article above.

All have drawbacks.  Barnes is going to be looking for bigger money than we may be willing to pay and is restricted.  Batum is 28, closer to the high end age wise.  He is unrestricted, but will cost a lot for a guy who had a bad year in '14 - '15.  Ezeli is restricted but may allow us the opportunity to sign the big-body defensive center we need.  Were I sitting in Danny's chair, with a good chance we can find the scorer/outside shooter we need in the draft, I would look hard at how or if we might be able to pick up Ezeli.

Regards

NYCelt 

You are too funny.  After 6 years I finally purchased a new phone.  The old one stopped working and when I made a call no one on the other end of the line could hear.  I figured under the circumstances that it could no longer be considered a phone.

Enter the new phone that changes words even when I spell them correctly.  Thus while I am a Celts fan my stupid phone thinks I am really a Colts fan.

Anyways Festus also crossed my mind.  I like both Barnes and Batum but prefer Barnes.  GS has to make a qualifying offer.  Around $5 mill

Dboss

Dboss,

I started using my Kindle for Game On! threads. It is so much more manageable than my larger laptop. It has learned the word, "Celtics". When I type "Go C . . ." it has Celtics in the que. Most times however, it changes what I type and it is very frustrating. I get odd looks from the Mrs. whenever she catches me swearing at inanimate objects.

gyso

bobheckler wrote:I watched the Trailblazers close out the Clips last night.  Crabbe was right there in the thick of things.  Pina did a good job of describing him.  A shooter, a defender, NOT a passer/creator.  For him to work as Turner's replacement we would need to find another ball handler/floor general because Crabbe is not him.  Still, he is not afraid to take, and hit, the big shots.  24 years old.

With Boston out of the playoffs, I encourage those interested in upcoming free agents to catch a game or two of the Portland-Golden State series to check out Crabbe.

I've seen Portland a few times this year, and Crabbe has impressed me more as the season has gone along. He may not be a creator, but he can shoot, play D, and get some rebounds. Boston needs guys like him.

Besides, with the hair, he'd fit right in.

Bob,

I'm think Golden State may be more likely to match for Ezeli than for Barnes. I could see Ezeli being the replacement for Bogut in a couple of years. The knee issues concern me, but he is one big, athletic dude who has improved his skills significantly over the past couple of years and has the potential to be really good. He also seems to be a genuinely nice guy and great teammate. Everyone on the team likes Festus.

But that knee worries me. Ezeli didn't play today, and I was surprised to see Varejao as the first big off the bench. I think Ezeli is still recovering both rust-wise and health-wise from his knee surgery. I didn't hear anyone say it, but I wonder if he got the day off because his knee is sore.

Barnes has also improved his skills nicely, but he's not max-money good. Like you, I think he'd be nuts to leave what is a great situation, but he didn't accept the offer prior to this season, so it seems like he's interested in chasing the money. If that is truly the case, one of the writers close to the team said that the other players would just as soon let him go, because many of them have taken lesser deals to be part of this team and they think Barnes should, too. Barnes is a very good, productive two-way player, I really like his defense, rebounding, and effort, but he's not consistent enough offensively to command more than Klay and Draymond. With the bump in the salary cap, somebody is going to offer him a big number, and like you, I don't think the Warriors will overpay. Durant is a long shot, but they might be quite happy to sign a guy like Batum to fill that spot.

I'm of course glad the Warriors won today, but I was even happier to hear Curry say he feels like he could come back by game 3. Even if he doesn't come back that soon, that's a positive indication that his recovery is going nicely. I'd really like to see him get at least one game in this series, preferably two, because they'll need him playing well in the conference finals.

I'm also thrilled to see them play so well and confidently without Curry. At certain points this season, they've been too dependent on Curry, too willing to not give max effort and let Curry bail them out, and if they can add a healthy Curry to what they're doing now, they could be the best possible version of themselves.