# Boston Summer 2014: Standing at a crossroads



## Bogg (May 4, 2009)

Well, with the draft lottery around the corner and Woj reporting that Minnesota is acknowledging that it's time to look at potential Kevin Love packages this summer, it seems like as good a time as any to kick off a thread for any offseason rumors/ideas/hopes/dreams/etc. 

After a year of "will they or won't they" speculation about trading Rondo, this summer is probably the time that they finally pick a direction for the next 3-4 years of the franchise. I could see the Celtics cashing out most of their trade chips for one of Kevin Love or (much more unlikely) Carmelo Anthony and then picking up one or more additional win-now players like Larry Sanders, Asik, Afflalo, Josh Smith, or someone else. I could also see Rondo being shipped out on draft night for another lottery pick, Jeff Green heading out of town if Ainge picks a small forward, and Boston not only looking completely different (again) on opening night, but committing to at least one or two more years of living in the lottery. 

Lotto night on Tuesday should have quite a bit to say about this, as Boston would, in my opinion, be able to trump any other team's offer for Love if they landed a top-3 pick. If Boston slides back to pick 7, or even 8, and the Lakers jump up that could change things, though, and Orlando could put themselves in the mix as well with two lottery picks on hand. I have to admit though, moving Rondo and coming out of the draft with two of the top 7 guys is really tempting as well, although it won't be as immediately satisfying.


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## Floods (Oct 25, 2005)

7. Fanfreakingtastic.

EDIT: 7 MINUS 1 IS WHAT I REALLY MEANT


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Lakers are #7 . -___-


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## Floods (Oct 25, 2005)

Wait, what? I thought we got bumped down one slot.


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Floods said:


> Wait, what? I thought we got bumped down one slot.



You did. To #6 .


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## Floods (Oct 25, 2005)

I have no idea what I'm doing, clearly.


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Floods said:


> I have no idea what I'm doing, clearly.



I think that's been known for some time now.


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## Floods (Oct 25, 2005)

You'll regret that, mister Post-Go-Lakers!-in-every-single-thread.


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Go Lakers!


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## Bogg (May 4, 2009)

I'm fine with #6 , guarantees Boston a choice between some of the top 7/8 guys in this draft. Lakers falling a spot is icing on the cake - I don't think they ever would have traded a top 3 pick for Rondo, and they might have been able to get Love with it, but they might trade the #7 for Rondo in order to chase Carmelo in free agency. All in all, the night didn't go the way that I hoped, but it's not a disaster either.


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## Wilt_The_Stilt (Jun 7, 2002)

Bogg said:


> I'm fine with #6 , guarantees Boston a choice between some of the top 7/8 guys in this draft. Lakers falling a spot is icing on the cake - I don't think they ever would have traded a top 3 pick for Rondo, and they might have been able to get Love with it, but they might trade the #7 for Rondo in order to chase Carmelo in free agency. All in all, the night didn't go the way that I hoped, but it's not a disaster either.


Yeah I have heard that discussed. I'd hope for a pick back, at least the 2015 Philly pick.

Problem would be the competition for Melo and filling out the frontcourt. We'd only have the room exception and a 2.8 mil tpe.


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## Bogg (May 4, 2009)

So, Kevin Love's throwing gasoline on the offseason rumor mill fires, having flown in for the weekend to kick around Boston and "see what it's like", going to some of the local bars around TD Garden and heading to the Red Sox game tonight. If Boston was a destination city like New York, LA, or the like I'd think it's no big deal, but it's certainly odd timing for him to decide he doesn't know enough about the Boston area unless Ainge is pretty deep into negotiations with the Wolves. I gotta say, if Love actually says he'd _like_ to be in Boston for his next contract, I'd have a hard time saying no to whatever package Ainge negotiates. When guys of Love's caliber are on the table, you have to make the move.


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## Wilt_The_Stilt (Jun 7, 2002)

So what are you guys going to do if you miss on Love and Melo?

You could easily make the playoffs by trading a pick for Asik and Bogans for Mayo. And you'd still have plenty of assets moving forward.

Or would you rather trade Rondo?


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

They aren't "easily making the playoffs" with a team full of tertiary scorers.


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## Bogg (May 4, 2009)

Wilt_The_Stilt said:


> So what are you guys going to do if you miss on Love and Melo?
> 
> You could easily make the playoffs by trading a pick for Asik and Bogans for Mayo. And you'd still have plenty of assets moving forward.
> 
> Or would you rather trade Rondo?


If they can't get one of the top guys on the trade/FA market this summer I'm fine with the team finishing the job of blowing things up and moving Rondo and possibly Jeff Green as well. Embiid possibly falling to #6 is super-intriguing, especially if the team can get a second high draft pick for Rondo. Would anything raise Celtics fans' collective anxiety levels more than Ainge drafting _both_ Embiid and Randle 6/7?


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## Wilt_The_Stilt (Jun 7, 2002)

E.H. Munro said:


> They aren't "easily making the playoffs" with a team full of tertiary scorers.


I don't know about that. 

Draft Smart
Trade Bogans for Mayo. 
Trade #17 for Asik
Trade Wallace and the LAC pick for Josh Smith.
Split the MLE between two wing players.

I think you'd be in.


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## Bogg (May 4, 2009)

Wilt_The_Stilt said:


> I don't know about that.
> 
> Draft Smart
> Trade Bogans for Mayo.
> ...


I mean, that team would be able to play some defense, but I don't know that they'd be able to score the ball well enough to win more than 30-something games. I feel like I'd rather send Rondo to Sacramento for their pick and hit full reset on the franchise than try to chase an eight seed simply because I don't know where the team would go from there even if they did eke into the playoffs.


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## Wilt_The_Stilt (Jun 7, 2002)

Bogg said:


> I mean, that team would be able to play some defense, but I don't know that they'd be able to score the ball well enough to win more than 30-something games. I feel like I'd rather send Rondo to Sacramento for their pick and hit full reset on the franchise than try to chase an eight seed simply because I don't know where the team would go from there even if they did eke into the playoffs.


I do think they could make it with those moves or similar ones given their assets. But I see your point about chasing the 8th seed.


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## Bogg (May 4, 2009)

Wilt_The_Stilt said:


> I do think they could make it with those moves or similar ones given their assets. But I see your point about chasing the 8th seed.


Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those people who thinks you need to either be competing for championships or winning 15 games, but I also think a team needs to be building towards something if they're going to make a set of win-now moves.


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## Bogg (May 4, 2009)

Little bit of chatter regarding potential Rondo trade talks:

http://bostonherald.com/sports/celtics_nba/boston_celtics/2014/06/rajon_rondo_saga_continues



> The failure to acquire Kevin Love and the drafting of point guard Marcus Smart with the sixth overall pick has certainly led people to connect some dots on Rajon Rondo and his future in these parts.
> 
> But, barring an unexpected offer for Rondo the Celtics cannot refuse, expect this entire process to take some time. That’s because a.) the Celts have not abandoned hope of finding a high quality player (and it could still be Love at some point next season) to pair with their All-Star point guard, and, b.) to increase his value, they likely need to get him back on the floor to show how much better he can be as he puts his knee surgery further into the rearview mirror.
> 
> ...


With the pretty widely-held belief that Rondo's going to have to be traded now that Marcus Smart is on board, it's at least interesting to read the theory that Ainge is only going to hold on to _Smart_ long enough for him to play up his value. I still think Rondo gets moved, and that it's eventually to Sacramento or Houston, but I hadn't initially considered that Smart might not be here next summer.


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## UNHFan (May 14, 2005)

Danny introduces the new kids today and then this evening he starts talking to free agents. It will be interesting to see what the plan is and if some trade talks heat up over the summer.


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## Bogg (May 4, 2009)

UNHFan said:


> Danny introduces the new kids today and then this evening he starts talking to free agents. It will be interesting to see what the plan is and if some trade talks heat up over the summer.


Short of a miracle run at Carmelo Anthony, I don't expect any major free agent signings. I believe simply bringing back Avery Bradley is going to take up most/all of what cap space Boston can create, and I don't see Ainge cashing in his trade chips for Luol Deng or Gordon Hayward. The Love trade talks should continue right up until he actually leaves Minnesota, so that's definitely something to keep an eye on. It'll be interesting to see if Boston can get a sit-down with Carmelo, though. If Jackson's looking at losing him for nothing, a trade package of Jeff Green, James Young, the non-guaranteed contracts, and a future first or two might be very attractive to the Knicks. Perhaps you throw in Joel Anthony's expiring contract simply to get Carmelo up to his personal max salary in the sign-and-trade. You could do worse than Rondo/Bradley/Melo on the perimeter with Smart as the backup combo guard.


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## Bogg (May 4, 2009)

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11194467/jarrett-jack-cleveland-cavaliers-headed-brooklyn-nets-boston-celtics-part-trade



> Sources told ESPN.com that the Nets have agreed to take on the contracts of Jack and youngster Sergey Karasev from the Cavaliers in a swap that will also see the Celtics acquire Brooklyn's Marcus Thornton, Cleveland's Tyler Zeller and a protected 2016 first-round pick from the Cavaliers.


Well there we go, first move of the 14-15 season of any significance, unless you count Avery Bradley getting an extension that was fully expected, if a little rich. I really, really like this move, even though it's not a huge return for the C's. The trade exception was set to expire within a week, and letting it go for nothing would have been an opportunity wasted. Picking up an extra first-rounder give Ainge more ammo for a possible major move down the line, and taking a flier on Zeller is worthwhile for what is, right now, a rather bare frontcourt. There's the obvious Cleveland fishing for Lebron angle, which will be covered in depth on the main board, but I'm actually kind of excited about the Cavs maybe blowing all that space on roleplayers if James stays put and makes the draft pick much more valuable. That's probably the best part of all this - there's no bad outcome to Lebron's decision. Either he stays put and the C's got a better trade chip, or he shakes up the league and things are more interesting from the fan's standpoint.


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## Bogg (May 4, 2009)

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/489170180476379136
Looks like Pressey's going to be sticking around for one more year. I like it, he's the only pure point guard on the roster other than Rondo, who seems to have one foot out the door, and gives them an emergency distributor who can easily bring the ball up under pressure. He still can't shoot, but it's much easier for the team to waive Babb and Johnson when/if it comes to roster cutting.


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