Gorman: Celtics Won’t Dive Too Far Into Free Agent Market

I've always taken everything Danny says with as much grains of salt as the Dead Sea has.  But of course I wouldn't be shocked if Danny swung for the fences this summer.  And I don't think Danny cares about or even pays attention to anything Gorman says.

Swinging for the fences. ??? Guess it depends on if your a dead pull hitter or not.

Depends but he'd be stupid not to see what is out there as a FA and at what price?

beat

GMs don't always tell it like it is, and I'm starting to think Danny just likes getting a rise out of everyone with his dry sense of humor.

Gorman, on the other hand, generally only talks about things he knows to be accurate and is usually on target when he says something.  Gorman's assumption is probably based on information from pretty good sources and close observation.  My guess is he's probably going to be proven right here.

It can only help us if Danny doesn't look too eager to sign a big F.A. And if the C's show some promise in the playoffs, we'll be a more attractive place for a name player to land. What an amazing job he and Brad are doing (and I'd say that with 10 fewer wins). This is the audition year and players are given a good chance to show their stuff, so we don't let a good one slip away. Hustle is rewarded. The rest of the League is in trouble next year. Go Celtics! Hawk

I'll wager a quarter that he will pass on free agency this year. Take a little more time to get a little better handle on the Quality of the players that are already on board. Perhaps try to pick up some young players on the cheap that he can sign to one year deals hoping to pull out a gold nugget out of a coal bin. The trip to Vegas comes in 2016. After reviewing my predictions I'm reducing my wager to 5 cents.


swish

I've never been a strong supporter of free agency.  I regard it as just slightly less of a crap shoot than the draft.  For what it costs (in the way of cap space), it's questionable how many really great options are out there.  Too many players, if they've reached the point where they're desirable have also reached the point where they're also health and attrition risks.  There are certainly exceptions.  I thought Love was an exception.  I believe Jordan would be an exception.  The one positive thing about free agents is presumably they ostensibly want to be with the team that signs them, whereas traded players don't usually have a lot of choice.  However, I'm  uncharacteristically cynical about what portion of their desire to be with a team is function of the appeal of the team versus the appeal of the money and other extraneous factors such as climate.

It's certainly a different free agent world than when Red could readily purloin late-career free agents who buttressed a few (ho hum) championship rosters of a team I'm forbidden to mention under penalty of being slandered.

Sam

I look at all great players that came to Celtics and found success....some were super stars a la KG and Bird, while other became great to near superstar players such as the Chief and McHale.  

The common threads among these and other players that proved successful for the Celtics were they came through either trades or the draft.

I do not think the Celtics will deviate from their past success in building the next great team.

112288

Free agency, trades and draft picks will and always have been used.

The players that come from those activities will most likely be selected based on how they may fit into the Stevens coached Celtics.  

The fomulas has changed however.

For example we have all been clamoring for the Celts to get a rim protector.  That skill by itself may disqualify some otherwise good candidates.

let me explain what I mean.

The Celtics have a damn good center in Tyler Zeller.  He is not a great defender but he is not horrible either.  The one thing that he does really well is run the floor.  What we are seeing now from this team is the beginning stages of what could become a team that brings a blistering fast break to the court every night.

The Celtic need bigs that can run.  As a matter of fact every player that they keep must get up and down.  That is the style of the Celtics now.  

Danny will look for another big but I do not think he is looking exclusively for a large body that can intimidate the opposition in the paint.  He is going to want a center that runs the floor at both ends.

Anyways the # 1 free agent that the Celtics should go after is our own Brandon Bass.

dboss

I dont think Danny has said he is going to swing for the fences - I think he will take what is available vs what he thinks the team needs to take the next step.

I think they are still a few years away, so there is no need to pay big money for a max free agent right now. Draft well, pick up a FA big man or front line SG if one presents itself and that player in 27 or younger - and continue to build.

Next summer would be the time to make a bigger splash IMO.

I am sure that Ainge is thinking that the re-build that is now almost two full seasons completed will take a little bit longer than just year number 3.

But, I do not think that he will ignore any avenues this summer to make next year's team better. He may find a younger type free agent who will be a help and is willing to sign. He may find some free agents who are not stars yet possibly looking to Stevens and what the Cs have accomplished to date who want to join the march for banner 18. He will have plenty of trade possibilities with all the draft picks and trade exemptions, and he will have two spots in the first round of the draft as well.

If he can add three fairly young players this year who will help not only next year (competitive in the playoffs) but also will be around for year four of the post Garnett/Pierce re-build he will only likely be two more players short of competing throughout the playoffs in 2016-17.

two reason why "waiting till next year" to get that FA big man, may not be the best option.

1) the cap will rise dramatically in 2016 , due to new TV money. So many more teams can be in play for any Free agents then this off-season.

2) the actual players who will be free agents

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11377133/nba-free-agents-2015-2016

take a peek.

UFA centers in 2015:
T. Chandler
G. Monroe
D. Jordan
M. Gasol
K. Koufas
O. Asik
A. Ajinca
K. Perkins
R. Lopez
T. Duncan

a few others of lesser skills

2016 list of UFA centers:

A. Horford
J. Noah
I. Mahinmi
H. Whiteside
C. Andersen
Z. Pachuila
C. Kaman
Nene

so we can see that IF you are going to get a quality NBA center as a UFA , then THIS off-season is the year to shop.


now, I do understand that some may feel the better option is to trade for that guy.

I have pointed out two players who may/ or may not be available this off-season who could fit that bill. D. Cousins (if the marriage will coach Karl doesn't work)and N. Noel (if they end up drafting Towns or Okafor in this years draft to pair with Embiid).Perhaps there COULD be others, but teams trading players like KG are few and far between.

right now the only Centers who fall in the 10-16 range on my draft rankings board are: Myles Turner( #11) and Frank Kaminsky (#14). While Turner may become an NBA starter at some point in his career, it will take a few years. Kaminsky is more likely to be a career backup ( I think of him as a combo of Zeller and Kelly O.).

So when I look at the possibilities out there to UPGRADE our center position, I feel a FA signing (this off-season) is our best chance.

I must add here that cost of course is everything and the more I look at Noel the more I think he might be a very good fit here.
Runs the floor
very active on defense
shot blocker
OK FT shooter for a big
stays within his offensive game (like Zeller).

in fact he reminds me of a more athletic Zeller in some ways.

If Philly would take Sully and our top draft pick, I think I would do it, resign Bass and Crowder and wait for the draft to fill out the end of the roster next season.

if you like Luigi back fine, we ahve the space to sign him and release Wallace outright then.