Trade Rumors: Celtics Now Want Cousins AND Ty Lawson

http://sacramento.suntimes.com/sac-sports/7/138/81029/celtics-cousins-lawson-rumors



NBA Rumors: Celtics now want both DeMarcus Cousins and Ty Lawson

WRITTEN BY NATE LINHART POSTED: 06/05/2015, 08:30AM




In a move which would shake up the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics are now rumored to be after both DeMarcus Cousins and Ty Lawson, according to Sports World Report.

Boston Celtics nw @BostonCelticsnw
Boston Celtics Trade Rumors: DeMarcus Cousins Target With Ty Lawson? Willie ... - Sports World Report http://dlvr.it/B6K02P
2:59 AM - 5 Jun 2015



Boston Celtics Rumors: DeMarcus Cousins Trade Target With Ty Lawson,...
By Sports World Report @sportswr
The Boston Celtics are poised to be active this offseason with draft picks and money to spend and the team could target a DeMarcus Cousins trade along with Ty Lawson, as they have two first round...
http://www.sportsworldreport.com/articles/52300/20150604/boston-celtics-rumors-demarcus-cousins-trade-target-with-ty-lawson-willie-cauley-stein-draft-option-if-isaiah-thomas-traded-for-pick.htm

Per NESN.com and Marc Stein at ESPN, the Celtics are “expected” to make a run at trading for DeMarcus Cousins this offseason. Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets appear to be open to trading Ty Lawson and Kenneth Faried, according to hngn.com.

Lawson and Cousins could be a dominant duo in the East and would make the Celtics a legitimate threat.

Possible trade chips for those players could include Jared Sullinger, Kelly Olynyk, Isaiah Thomas and the Celtics two first-round draft picks.

From Sports World Report:

According to Grantland writes Zach Lowe, the Celtics could look at Ty Lawson as a trade target, as they likely will shop Isaiah Thomas after acquiring him from the Suns this season at the trading deadline. The team tried to trade for Lawson first at the deadline and he had a solid season while averaging 15 points and nearly 10 assists per game in 75 games for the Celtics. The team has the draft picks to make deals and Thomas’ contract could be attractive to some teams.

As for Cousins, Kings vice president Vlade Divac claims that the big man is “untradeable,” but promises like that in sports don’t hold up too often.

Whether the Celtics end up landing Cousins and Lawson or not, the team is expected to make major moves this offseason. They have the money to spend on free agency (aka Kevin Love) and pieces to trade up for a higher first round pick, as Boston is also reportedly interested in Kentucky’s Willie Cauley-Stein.



bob
MY NOTE:  This article was written by a writer from the Sacramento Sun-Times.  It quotes NESN and Sportsworld.  It appears Sacto is taking Danny's interest and pursuit of Cousins seriously.


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This is the same "news" that ran a month-or-so ago.  One area in which Cowens and I are firmly on the same page is that Cousins would be a great addition to the Celtics; and so would Lawson—although the percentage of the Green getting one of them, let alone two, is pretty low.

There are several reasons I'd like to see Lawson become a Celtic.  For one thing, I'd prefer to have floor general duties focused on the "1" position rather than the "3" position.  For another thing, I'd like to see Turner be able to focus more on firepower and defending than on dividing his attention between shooting and enabling.  Thirdly, it will take a lot more than I've seen signs of so far to convince me that Marcus Smart will ever become a true floor general.

As for Cousins, as I've said before, I think there's little that's quite as uplifting as when an NBA offensive big man learns what a defensive force he can become. (See Maxwell, Cedric.)  And to those who feel Demarcus has no potential to modify his behavior, I say I'm the old one who's supposed to reject the concept of change.

Sam

Nothing wrong with "wanting" both Lawson and Cousins. Both guys are proven and experienced veterans who would probably help most any team in the league.

With a thousand options out there, these names do not surprise me as desirable pieces for next season's Cs team.
As Sam mentioned, getting only one of these guys would be nice. Just not sure that Ainge has the trade material to get both because neither team (Sacramento or Denver) sounds like they are going the Philadelphia route of trying to get worse hoping to get better in a few years.

Thomas > Lawson

Mrkleen,

First of all, good to see some posts from you.  I hope you've been enjoying your family during this "hiatus" in important NBA action.

I like a lot of what Isaiah did for the Celtics this past season.  Basically, he was the kind of scoring catalyst that could help them stay in game and ultimately win a lot of them.  However, when other teams started putting bigger players on him, he often struggled.  Sometimes struggles just represent barriers that really good players find ways to surmount.  I'm not sure that's true of Isaiah, but we'll probably see.

Aside from adding a couple of important inches in height, I like the fact that Lawson combines speed with scoring and playmaking ability.  And he's not afraid of the big moment.  I don't know much about his defense, but I'd have a hard time believing it isn't at least on par with Thomas'.  I think that Lawson comes closer to representing a true floor general, while Thomas is a "2" trapped in the body of a "1."

Be sure to give my best to the family.

Sam

Sam

Sam

I agree that Thomas isnt really a starting, floor general type of PG....but if we assume that Marcus Smart will eventually grow into that role, then Thomas is younger and a better scorer than Lawson. Considering this team is a few years from making any real noise, all things being close - the younger player wins imo.

Thanks for your kind words - all is well here.

Mrkleen,

I don't share the assumption that Marcus Smart will grow into a bona fide floor general.  He can hand out assists, make good plays, and certainly play outstanding defense; but I don't believe he has the type of mentality to be the kind of coach on the floor that I associate with a true floor general.  I'm not sold on his transition game as an enabler either.

I'm not at all sure that Lawson possesses the attributes of a floor general either, but I believe he's closer than either Smart or Thomas.  A lot of people say that, in a motion offense, a true floor general is not needed; but no single type of offense is played 100% of the time.  I guess we'll see.  I do know that, last season, the offense of the starters was very often dysfunctional despite the fact that a lot of assists were piled up.

Sam

The defense was more dysfunctional Sam.