2018 Boston Celtics offseason

On Jimmy. Did I see something on Twitter suggesting a Jimmy Jackson/Jason Kidd/Toni Braxton type situation? I can't find it now but I don't follow any randoms so someone it was either tweeted or retweeted by a legit NBA source.

Some of you are making it into a BIG problem. That was not the intent. All I was getting at is that the chemistry has changed ALOT from the end of last year. How does it all work out.? The words super max players also brings another thought to the process. Danny and Brad will have some tough choices to make with the owner on managing the salary cap. Who does he keep and who gets max contracts? Lets say that brown see's Tatum getting the money and he doesn't. tatum has the max and Brown gets a good but not max, because of the cap. Who does the organization see as the face of the franchise?  How many max contracts can you have and maintain the deep roster that they have? Horford and kyrie come up next summer. This is with the roster the Celtics have is a GREAT problem to have. I do not think that you will have malcontents as much as players looking for greener pastures when the opportunity presents itself.

This is the way I look at their salaries:

Kyrie is getting a max offer unless he’s really hurt; it’s that simple and the only questions are when are he opt outs and does he want it here.

Rozier is the backup insurance plan should Kyrie leave. The good news is stars always sign first so we don’t have to worry about losing Rozier before knowing what happens with Kyrie. Plus, he’s restricted so we control the match game. Celtics may still get him back on a one year tender or his market may be affected enough by the restricted market that the value is too good not to match and figure out a trade between him and Smart later.

Horford can opt out but I have no fear he’s leaving. Truthfully, at his age, he’s no longer a max guy so my guess is he won’t opt out of 30m. They may be able to work an extension for him.

Hayward - we have 2 more seasons before he can opt out. It’s too hard to tell what his deal is. It does seem that family and loyalty is important to him, but he’s shown a willingness to leave before. I think this comes down to what the Celtics want to do more than him. Too much to factor with this. How have Tatum and Brown developed and who do they draft between now and then? What if they have the number 2 pick and get another stud wing? Hayward is probably gone, if not and Tatum has added even more muscle to be better down low then maybe he stays. Impossible to tell.


Brown and Tatum are way too early in their development and too far away to know anything other than they will get paid, both of them, by the Celtics if they continue on these paths. Jaylen Brown will get his in Boston.

I'm referring to both him and Butler requesting trades over things that seem rather small. Irving because he wanted to be the man and Butler because he thinks the Wolves are too young.

I've done a good amount of coaching in youth sports and I've never once even come close to having too much talent. Overall its a problem most coaches never face. Stevens has never had this issue before.  So you're right they never worry about it because it almost never happens.

I was born in 1982, so I really can't comment on the Celtics of the 80's. I will say that the best player on the team was one of the best passing forwards of all-time. A forward that averaged a lot more assists than Irving does. I really think that just proves why I think Irving is the key next year. If he is 100% all about the team, I don't think we'll have any issues. If Irving is all about Irving it could cause us a bunch of issues. As you've said nothing with Irving would surprise you, I feel the same way. Given that you just can't predict what he does next year. I think we both agree on what we hope happens. He plays team ball and is content being the leading scorer on the best team in the league.

The NBA just told teams its expected to go up 7.5m. I don’t actually trust that as the NBA seems to always over estimate but that’s the number I was working off of.

Our pickup games are next level," Irving said. "I mean, next level. You can't believe what we're doing out there. We can't wait to get started."

The Coach and the players are all on the same page, they just want to keep getting better as a team. You here Stevens say it all the time, it is about making the best basketball play. Translation, this team is striving to play the best team basketball that it can PERIOD and that is what I expect to see this year. Hell they are so deep and motivated I wouldn't be surprised to see them approach 70 wins. They are gunning for GS and will be challenging themselves to keep getting better all season which means they will be running teams off the court and winning big!!

I expect the margin of victory to be right up there with GS this, tough defense and points galore. All this talk about playing time and touches is going to be trumped by winning and having fun doing it. The only guy I see being annoyed by playing time is Morris maybe and he is the one who will be traded to get under the cap as long as everyone else stays healthy.

The C's are going to be as epic this year as the Sox have been. I am being greedy but I want more than one championship in the next 10 months and it is quite feasible it could happen.

So he is basically admitting that he'll rather get more money to wait and he wants to be here. It's coming from the horses mouth. I'm good with that. That's good enough to make me feel it's better than a 50/50 shot at keeping him longterm.

I’m ignoring Patriot talk so let’s get after the Celtics and the NBA.

Butler is getting traded within a couple days and it’s most likely to the Eastern Conference. If the Celtics are healthy it shouldn’t much matter where he goes BUT, it can certainly have a big effect.

Who could he be dealt to? for who? And what is the impact?



Toronto:

Ibaka and OG Anunoby for Butler - maybe there’s draft picks too but this would be the meat of the deal.

I doubt Toronto includes Lowrie, plus his salary is such that Minnesota would have to deal additional players and I doubt Toronto is taking more salary when Butler and Leonard could walk leaving Toronto with nothing. Would Toronto deal Anunoby for a guy that could walk with Leonard leaving them with nothing in return? For Minny: Ibaka and OG fits their roster pretty well and should fit Tibs style. Both play D and can shoot from outside and OG gives them another young player. This is a real possibility. Imagine this happening and Leonard and Butler leaving Toronto together for the Clippers?

As for next season, Lowrie, Butler and Leonard (assuming healthy), is a really strong core 3 and there’s a lot around them. It would make the Celtics path a lot more difficult. Let’s hope this doesn’t happen.



Milwaukee:

Middleton and Dellavedova for Butler.

Basically it’s hard for the Bucks to make a deal without including Middleton. I doubt Minnesota wants Bledsoe as they have Teague and they can’t include that much salary back. Middleton isn’t as good as Butler but he’s one of the more underrated guys in the NBA, is cheaper and 2 years younger. Keeps getting better too. I don’t see much of a fit here, but it’s possible.

Butler, Bledsoe and Giannis would be a formidable group. They’d be a tough matchup because Giannis is a tough matchup for anyone, but Middleton was probably the second best player in that series and he’s a more dynamic scorer than Butler. Not concerned if they get him by dealing Middleton away.



Philly:

This has been quiet which leads me to believe something could be in the works. What would it be? Philly seems to love Fultz and Butler could walk after a year so I’m taking Fultz, Simmons and Embiid off the table. This lead me to put Saric in the deal, because you have to trade something to get, but after writing the analysis I realized Saric has to be an untouchable too. Him and Embiid are the only bigs on the roster and trading Saric would put way too much pressure on Embiid to play too many games and minutes. As it is now, they probably need to add someone else. I didn’t notice this before. It’s amazing how they went from that over abundance to not enough (sorry Noel and Okafor)


So I guess that leaves something like:

Covington, Chandler, Smith and draft picksfor Butler and Tyus Jones.


This is a tough deal to figure. You could swap in Bayless for Salary instead I’d Covington or Chandler, but he’s useless to Minnesota so I put Chandler in the deal instead. Let’s be honest here, this deal sucks for Minnesota. I’m trying to justify that Chandler and Covington can play the wing and Contribute whereas Smith and that draft pick (Heat 2021 pick?) gives them something long term that they can develop or deal. It’s possible this is the best they can do.

On Philly’s side this would be a huge get and from the Celtics side if they add Butler in a deal like this it’s scary. Their undoing could be the bench, but that may not much matter in the playoffs.






Washington/Indiana/Cleveland:

Can’t see it working. Only included Cavs because rumors are they are trying.

Heat/Knicks/Nets:

I don’t care if they get Butler, no threat either way. The Knicks seem to have a good front office now as well so it looks like they are determined to rebuild properly. I don’t even think they will sign 30 year old Butler the free agent because he doesn’t fit their timeline.

Goddamn! How do you guard this team? If Brown improves his passing even just slightly, this offense cannot be stopped.

Trying not to buy in on the Kyrie is healthy for the first time in years narrative dominating camp, but man it’s fun to dream on...

Adam Kaufman‏Verified account @adammkaufman · 2m2 minutes ago

Irving to @rachel__Nichols: "Most talent I've played with. Future's VERY, very bright in Boston. Even if I ever try to think about going elsewhere, it'd be like, [Why?] We're pretty f'n good for not just this year, but yrs to come. Looking forward to that."