Official Boston Celtics Thread

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Celtics News(6-29-16): http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/16...a-city-thunder (I think we all figured this would happen)

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4723427/meeting-with-dwight-howard-another-encouraging-sign-for-celtics

http://espn.go.com/blog/onenacion/post/_/id/4502/is-al-horford-going-to-be-in-lakers-purple-and-gold-or-celtics-green

http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2016/06/boston_celtics_rumors_a_chance.html

http://www.hoopsrumors.com/2016/06/free-agency-rumors-knicks-bazemore-rivers.html

http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2016/06/29/after-blowing-108m-antoine-walker-helps-athletes-avoid-bankruptcy.html

http://www.celticsblog.com/2016/6/29/12060276/boston-celtics-daily-links-6-29-16?utm_campaign=celticsblog&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

[jeremym480]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

If the link below is correct Qualifying offers are $4,433,683 for Sully and $3,695,169 for Zeller. That sounds like chump change compared to what some FA's are rumored to be getting. Signing the QO's is just the first step in the process, once other teams start extending their offers is when things are going to get interesting.

http://www.basketballinsiders.com/boston-celtics-team-salary/

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

If the link below is correct Qualifying offers are $4,433,683 for Sully and $3,695,169 for Zeller. That sounds like chump change compared to what some FA's are rumored to be getting. Signing the QO's is just the first step in the process, once other teams start extending their offers is when things are going to get interesting.

http://www.basketballinsiders.com/bo...s-team-salary/

No way these two players sign for that type of change. Especially for Zeller. I figured Sully would bring between $5-$7 million at least & Zeller around $4-$6 million range. No doubt the Celtics will have other offers to end up beating for both of these players.

I don't know how much higher they would go but my guess is that it wouldn't be much more for the reasons that I previously explained mainly. Maybe close to $5 million for Sully & not over $4 million for Zeller. I feel offers like this will be beat by another team(s).

[areobee401]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

No chance the Celtics are matching any offer larger than the qualifying one.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

No chance the Celtics are matching any offer larger than the qualifying one.

I would say you're probably right but you just don't know how things will go with these qualifying offers. I don't think we want Sully or Zeller bad enough because we're going to get at least one star player at a max contract value.

Maybe even try to go for two. That would mean these two guys are out for two reasons. One is that they wouldn't be needed necessarily & secondly these QO's will be beat rather easily more than likely by at least one team.

[jeremym480]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

No chance the Celtics are matching any offer larger than the qualifying one.

I think it's too early to say honestly. I mean, yes there are some good big's out there, but I'm sure they're are teams that are going to be throwing max deals out to the guys at the top... and that makes me nervous.

If we missed out on all of the top big's (Horford, Howard, Whiteside) it wouldn't surprise me if we had to match Sully just to reach the cap floor. What that match would be is hard to say though because we're in uncharted territory. I really don't think it will come to this, but it isn't out of the realm of possibility either, in my opinion.

With the cap projected to go up another 17 million next year I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of the top FA's wanting 1+1 deals with the thought that they will make even more the following year. That's what I'm hoping for anyway. Anything to keep us for having to sign long term deals to any of the three I listed above would be a positive in my book.

[BleacherBum2310]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Let Sully walk please. I do hope they bring Zeller back i think he was misused personally and think he's a quality backup.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

I think it's too early to say honestly. I mean, yes there are some good big's out there, but I'm sure they're are teams that are going to be throwing max deals out to the guys at the top... and that makes me nervous.

If we missed out on all of the top big's (Horford, Howard, Whiteside) it wouldn't surprise me if we had to match Sully just to reach the cap floor. What that match would be is hard to say though because we're in uncharted territory. I really don't think it will come to this, but it isn't out of the realm of possibility either, in my opinion.

With the cap projected to go up another 17 million next year I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of the top FA's wanting 1+1 deals with the thought that they will make even more the following year. That's what I'm hoping for anyway. Anything to keep us for having to sign long term deals to any of the three I listed above would be a positive in my book.

Which three you talking about? I know Zeller & Sullinger but which other player? I agree with your post for the most part by the way.

Let Sully walk please. I do hope they bring Zeller back i think he was misused personally and think he's a quality backup.

If I had to let one of these two players walk it would be a tough decision for me. I like how Sully bangs underneath & has the mid range & 3pt. game. He's not consistent though & he seems to make too many bonehead plays.

Zeller I have already mentioned before. He was certainly misused this past season. Barely played the last 10-15 regular season games but had a couple of playoff games that he got minutes & contributed. I just never understood how they were trying to use him.

Was this Brad Stevens or Danny Ainge keeping Zeller off the court? When he plays he puts up numbers/stats. He can't do it setting his behind on the bench. I haven't heard of any off the court or locker room issues that Zeller might could have had either. He's a very capable player. He could start for 1/3 to 1/2 the teams in the NBA.

He used to start for us but the last time I believe he started a game for us was back in 2014-15 season. He might had a spot start or two last season but not many that I know of.

I really think Zeller actually brings a better game & fits what we want to do more than Sully. Sully might be a little better offensively because of his range. Zeller brings more height & he also brings us a lot of scrappiness in getting rebounds.

He can also score a little easier in the paint than Sully but Sully knows how to use his weight & strength to score inside while Zeller scores with an assortment of moves along with his height advantage over Sully. Zeller is also a better FT shooter than Sully. Zeller is a little better defensively because of his height compared to Sully on the inside.

What we basically have are two players pretty equal in quality they bring with their games. However, Zeller has some skills/advantages that Sully can't bring so I would rather us keep Zeller instead of Sully if we can't have them both. Thanks!

[jeremym480]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Which three you talking about? I know Zeller & Sullinger but which other player? I agree with your post for the most part by the way.

Sorry, I meant the three Free Agents (Horford, Howard and Whiteside). I would prefer to sign them to a 1+1 deal rather than 4 years. The first two because of their ages and Whiteside just because I'm kind of worried about how he's going to play once he gets paid.

I was bored at work this morning and decided to take a closer look at our cap situation.


*Brown's contract is an estimate.

Even if we pick up the options on Johnson and Jerebko we still would have 39 million in cap space for three players and we would have to spend almost 30M of that just to get to the cap floor. Even if we don't land Durant we're going to have to spend money this year, whether it's signing guys or making trades. Either way these next few days should be really fun.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Thanks Jeremy for posting those salary CAP figures for our Celtics. You're right. We are going to have to spend some money one way or another. I think we're going to land at least one star player coming up here starting July 1st(tomorrow) during the FA period.

Dwight Howard's name has been reported now to be on the Celtics lists as well. What do you'll think of us going after him? Howard has no doubt under-performed the past few seasons. The last really solid season he had was while he with Orlando really.

I mean he's had a couple other decent years since but not dominating type performances like he was having in Orlando.

The Hawks are also to be heavily interested in Howard as well. I think this is for many reasons. One is this is his hometown.

Secondly, they know they're going to probably be losing Horford & maybe even Millsap too. Thirdly, if they don't get somebody with a pretty big name after losing Horford & possibly Millsap then they know it's going to be really rough in Atlanta.

They've already lost Teague so they better get somebody else. If they don't get Howard or any other star type player the Hawks are going to be a team that I feel won't even make the playoffs next season. Thanks!

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Celtics News(6-30-16): http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celti...nt-recruitment

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/ind...rs_knicks.html (Come back to us Evan! We really do need you & your services!)

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/06/30/the-celtics-are-favored-to-land-dwight-howard-and-everyone-is-already-losing-their-minds/

Adam Himmelsbach:

Hearing that it's likely the Celtics will guarantee Amir Johnson's $12 million contract for next season.

To back up the above quote from Adam: http://www.masslive.com/celtics/inde...uaranteed.html

http://www.csnne.com/video/mannix-celtics-did-everything-they-could-get-butler

http://www.nba.com/celtics/video/originals/1on1-Guerschon-Yabusele-063016

http://www.nba.com/celtics/video/originals/1on1-danny-ainge-063016

[jeremym480]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Thanks Jeremy for posting those salary CAP figures for our Celtics. You're right. We are going to have to spend some money one way or another. I think we're going to land at least one star player coming up here starting July 1st(tomorrow) during the FA period.

Dwight Howard's name has been reported now to be on the Celtics lists as well. What do you'll think of us going after him? Howard has no doubt under-performed the past few seasons. The last really solid season he had was while he with Orlando really.

I mean he's had a couple other decent years since but not dominating type performances like he was having in Orlando.

The Hawks are also to be heavily interested in Howard as well. I think this is for many reasons. One is this is his hometown.

Secondly, they know they're going to probably be losing Horford & maybe even Millsap too. Thirdly, if they don't get somebody with a pretty big name after losing Horford & possibly Millsap then they know it's going to be really rough in Atlanta.

They've already lost Teague so they better get somebody else. If they don't get Howard or any other star type player the Hawks are going to be a team that I feel won't even make the playoffs next season. Thanks!

I would be fine with Howard as long as it isn't a long term deal. Assuming we don't get Durant or no other major trades are in the works, then main thing with this offseason is maintaining financial flexibility going forward. So I would be for signing Howard on a 1+1 deal or better yet an Amir type contract with a non-guaranteed second year. Although, I don't think Dwight's ego would allow that.

I would try to pair him with one of the best shooters available. Maybe Marvin Williams, Ryan Anderson or Jared Dudley. Then try to bring Sully back as well.

The lineup would be something like

PG - IT4, Smart, Rozier
SG - Bradley, Brown, Hunter
SF - Crowder, Dudley
PF - Sully, Olynyk, Jerebko, Mickey
C - Howard, Johnson

I think that would be a deep lineup with a ton of versitality. We just need Howard to give 100% effort and I think a change of scenery would help with that.

As far as Howard to Atlanta, I could see that happening if Horford bolts. However, if they trade Millsap, then I wouldn't worry about Howard going there. Because if they trade him it's a clear sign that they are in 100% rebuild mode.

Anyway, not too much longer until we can end all of this speculation. I can't wait to see how it all plays out.


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[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

I would be fine with Howard as long as it isn't a long term deal. Assuming we don't get Durant or no other major trades are in the works, then main thing with this offseason is maintaining financial flexibility going forward. So I would be for signing Howard on a 1+1 deal or better yet an Amir type contract with a non-guaranteed second year. Although, I don't think Dwight's ego would allow that.

That's what I basically meant was asking if you'll would like to sign Howard to a 1yr deal just to see how it works out. I used to love Howard but I question his work ethic & effort nowadays.

I think he still has something left in his tank though. He's just always seemed like a soft guy with such a huge body. I think we could use him down low though on a test basis for 1 year.

I would try to pair him with one of the best shooters available. Maybe Marvin Williams, Ryan Anderson or Jared Dudley. Then try to bring Sully back as well.

The lineup would be something like

PG - IT4, Smart, Rozier
SG - Bradley, Brown, Hunter
SF - Crowder, Dudley
PF - Sully, Olynyk, Jerebko, Mickey
C - Howard, Johnson

I think that would be a deep lineup with a ton of versitality. We just need Howard to give 100% effort and I think a change of scenery would help with that.

You mention a change of scenery for Dwight but hasn't he changed scenery enough already to try & help with that part? He's been with what 3 teams now?

Dwight doesn't seem like a bad guy at all but for some reason he leaves a team with players saying things about him. Some good & some bad.

You have Brown listed as a SG above. He wouldn't play SG for our roster. He would be a SF probably initially backing up Crowder unless we trade or release Crowder. He could possibly start but I don't think so in his rookie campaign.

I assume the lineup you have listed above means that we lose Zeller to another team but match other offers for Sully?

I would go for having Ryan Anderson on the team but not Jared Dudley. I'm just not high at all on Dudley even as a backup player. Ryan Anderson would bring us a solid 3pt. shooter with size & a decent rebounder. He can get hot & put up points in a hurry at times.

I'm also not high on Marvin Williams. His days in this league are just about over & he never panned out to be a star player like many thought he would be anyhow.

I would rather just keep Amir Johnson & sign Howard to have as our two Centers. We would already have plenty like you have listed above at PF. If we don't sign another SF then we would have 2 SF's in Crowder & Brown.

Ryan Anderson plays PF but can also move to SF so that would mean we could have really 3 SF's on the roster when you consider Anderson's versatility. I don't know though which of the two positions that Anderson would get the most playing time.

I don't think Mickey sees the floor much at all or he will probably be playing in the D-League most of next season.

Bottom Line to me. We are going to sign I would guess two players to fill this roster & some players will either be released or traded before next season begins.

If I had to guess I think Crowder might be gone & also a guard. I don't which guard but one of them. I think the only safe one is IT. The others to me will be used as trade bait or one will just be straight released.

I thought we might go after Nicolas Batum but as of today he doesn't have any scheduled meetings with us. He has I believe meetings setup with four teams & none of those are us.

As far as Howard to Atlanta, I could see that happening if Horford bolts. However, if they trade Millsap, then I wouldn't worry about Howard going there. Because if they trade him it's a clear sign that they are in 100% rebuild mode.

Anyway, not too much longer until we can end all of this speculation. I can't wait to see how it all plays out.


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Most online sites are now saying we're the favorites to sign Howard instead of Atlanta. I would have thought his hometown area would be a more attractive offer for him.

Rumors are that Howard really likes IT on this Celtics team. That might be the main reason he would come here & not bolt to Atlanta. That would be fine with me for 1 yr to try Howard out. What if he came to Boston & resurrected his career?

BTW, you listed your lineup/roster for next season so I will list mine. Mine will be based on mostly current roster & plus players that I think we might bring in for next season. 15 total but only 12 active. That means 3 non-active players. Let me give this a shot :

PG Isiah Thomas, Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier(if not traded)
SG Avery Bradley, R.J. Hunter, James Young
SF- Jae Crowder, Jaylen Brown, & possible signed FA
PF- Kelly Olynyk, Jonas Jerebko, Ryan Anderson(or another signed FA), Ben Bentil
C- Dwight Howard(if we get him), Amir Johnson, Jordan Mickey or another Center if we sign another one thru FA(Mickey would go to the D-League if so)

If some of the players I have picked to come to us don't pan out then it could be a bevy of lineups for next season. I have both Sully & Zeller being lost to better offers from other teams. We might end up deciding to keep one of them but I don't see both. If there is one I would guess it would be Sully.

That would crowd the PF position though bigtime. We might decide to keep Zeller because more need at C but we don't know how to use him so I think he darts the heck out of Boston & goes to a team that will let him play & get minutes.

All of the Euro rookie guys will stay just that in my opinion for next season. I don't think any of them make it on our roster for the 16-17 season. Maybe one of them by 17-18 & the rest by 18-19 but just not yet. Thanks guys for listening to my rambling!

[jeremym480]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

That's what I basically meant was asking if you'll would like to sign Howard to a 1yr deal just to see how it works out. I used to love Howard but I question his work ethic & effort nowadays.

I think he still has something left in his tank though. He's just always seemed like a soft guy with such a huge body. I think we could use him down low though on a test basis for 1 year.



You mention a change of scenery for Dwight but hasn't he changed scenery enough already to try & help with that part? He's been with what 3 teams now?

I'm not trying to make excuses for Dwight because I've disliked his since the end of his Orlando days. I know he basically through a fit to get himself out of Orlando. I guess we can blame that on him being somewhat young and dumb. However, I don't think he ever really wanted to go to the Lakers (and by the Lakers I mean play with Kobe). I think he wanted to go to Brooklyn, iirc. Either way I don't think he was ever happy in LA. I do believe that he initially liked being in Houston, but playing year after year with a ball hog like Harden really brought him down.

I think playing for a coach that believes in players playing as a "team" would be good for him more than an actual change of location.

Dwight doesn't seem like a bad guy at all but for some reason he leaves a team with players saying things about him. Some good & some bad.

You have Brown listed as a SG above. He wouldn't play SG for our roster. He would be a SF probably initially backing up Crowder unless we trade or release Crowder. He could possibly start but I don't think so in his rookie campaign.

I think Brown, like most of our players, will be able to play multiple positions. Especially since we're basically moving to position-less basketball and Brad uses Ball Handlers, Wings, Swings and Big's instead of your traditional 1-5 positions, so I should have used those instead. Brown would fit in the wing category, but I could see him taking over the Evan Turner role and being Ball Handler on occasions too. He would probably have to get some playing time/experience before he could really take on that role though.

I assume the lineup you have listed above means that we lose Zeller to another team but match other offers for Sully?

Yes. If other teams run up their price we could probably only match one. Also, assuming we're keeping Jerebko and sign a big we would really only need one.

I would go for having Ryan Anderson on the team but not Jared Dudley. I'm just not high at all on Dudley even as a backup player. Ryan Anderson would bring us a solid 3pt. shooter with size & a decent rebounder. He can get hot & put up points in a hurry at times.

I'm also not high on Marvin Williams. His days in this league are just about over & he never panned out to be a star player like many thought he would be anyhow.

Williams shot a career best .402 from 3 on 378 attempts last year and Dudley shot .420 on 238 three point attempts. Either of those guys would be nice rotation players for us since we were the 3rd worst team in 3pt shooting last season... and had even a worse 3pt % in the playoffs.

I would rather just keep Amir Johnson & sign Howard to have as our two Centers. We would already have plenty like you have listed above at PF. If we don't sign another SF then we would have 2 SF's in Crowder & Brown.

Ryan Anderson plays PF but can also move to SF so that would mean we could have really 3 SF's on the roster when you consider Anderson's versatility. I don't know though which of the two positions that Anderson would get the most playing time.


Let me start this by saying Ryan Anderson is one of my favorite players in the NBA. Since I live in Baton Rouge I've watch the Pelicans more than any team. Seeing him play and watching these hilarious promos that they shoot with him has really been a treat. Plus, knowing some of what he's been through personally gives me a lot of respect for him. I hope he succeeds wherever he goes.

I think that he wants to a) go to a winning team b) go to a team were he has a prominent role (would probably settle for 6th man as long as he gets plenty of minutes, but he's not going anywhere to ride the pine or c) if he can't get "a" would go back home. I think Houston and Sacramento would be front runners for him, but selfishly I'd love to see him with Boston so I can continue rooting for his team.

Also, I think the days of him splinting some time at SF is practically over. He's too slow footed and a traffic cone already on D. He can't guard athletic SF for long spurts. If he's surrounded by good defensive players (like he would be in Boston, especially if we get Howard), then that would certainly help to hide his deficiencies.

I also see a lot of Boston fans saying that Olynyk or Jerebko can do the same thing as Anderson and that's just simply not true. For the value they may be worth it though, but I think Anderson's a more dynamic scorer than either of those, especially since he's developed his little Dirk-eseqe step back.


I don't think Mickey sees the floor much at all or he will probably be playing in the D-League most of next season.

Bottom Line to me. We are going to sign I would guess two players to fill this roster & some players will either be released or traded before next season begins.

If I had to guess I think Crowder might be gone & also a guard. I don't which guard but one of them. I think the only safe one is IT. The others to me will be used as trade bait or one will just be straight released.

Possibly Crowder could get traded in a package for a really good player.... However, we're not going to release one of our three best players from last season, who is on a contract that pays him next to nothing (compared to what NBA players are starting to make now) for the next four seasons.

I thought we might go after Nicolas Batum but as of today he doesn't have any scheduled meetings with us. He has I believe meetings setup with four teams & none of those are us.



Most online sites are now saying we're the favorites to sign Howard instead of Atlanta. I would have thought his hometown area would be a more attractive offer for him.

Rumors are that Howard really likes IT on this Celtics team. That might be the main reason he would come here & not bolt to Atlanta. That would be fine with me for 1 yr to try Howard out. What if he came to Boston & resurrected his career?

That would be pretty awesome. Howard and Amir would make a nice center combination, imo.

BTW, you listed your lineup/roster for next season so I will list mine. Mine will be based on mostly current roster & plus players that I think we might bring in for next season. 15 total but only 12 active. That means 3 non-active players. Let me give this a shot :

PG Isiah Thomas, Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier(if not traded)
SG Avery Bradley, R.J. Hunter, James Young
SF- Jae Crowder, Evan Turner(yes, I think he comes back to us), Jaylen Brown
PF- Kelly Olynyk, Jonas Jerebko, Ryan Anderson or Ben Bentil (Bentil if we don't sign Anderson or another PF)
C- Dwight Howard(if we get him), Amir Johnson, Jordan Mickey or another Center if we sign another one thru FA(Mickey would go to the D-League if so)

Seems believable, but like I said I don't think Anderson is going to take less of a role than he has in NOLA. Other than that I like it.

I can't wait for Summer League so we can see more of Mickey and Rozier and if guys like Brown, Yabusele, Bentil and Jackson are really made of.

If some of the players I have picked to come to us don't pan out then it could be a bevy of lineups for next season. I have both Sully & Zeller being lost to better offers from other teams. We might end up deciding to keep one of them but I don't see both. If there is one I would guess it would be Sully.

That would crowd the PF position though bigtime. We might decide to keep Zeller because more need at C but we don't know how to use him so I think he darts the heck out of Boston & goes to a team that will let him play & get minutes.

All of the Euro rookie guys will stay just that in my opinion for next season. I don't think any of them make it on our roster for the 16-17 season. Maybe one of them by 17-18 & the rest by 18-19 but just not yet. Thanks guys for listening to my rambling!

I agree than Yabusele and Aziz won't come over this year. I would not be surprised if Bentil or even Jackson makes the roster.

Responses in red.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Responses in red.

Very nice responses buddy. I can agree with just about all you said in response to me. Only one or two minor disagreements. I would much rather have Ryan Anderson than either Jared Dudley or Marvin Williams.

I know Dudley & Williams had pretty good seasons this year but Anderson's shooting alone attracts me to him. Problem in that is we lose some defense with Anderson.

As far as Brown being like our point forward like we used Turner this past season. No way that happens this coming season & to me I don't see him having that role at all ever in a Celtics uniform. You say we could use him in multiple positions. I don't know about that. I definitely don't see him as a SG.

I would only see him playing either SF or PF. PF because of his strength & decent height. He's just not a good enough shooter or ball handler to play any guard position. At least right now in this point in his career. Thanks!

Well, so much for Evan Turner coming back to Boston. Looks like he's signed with Portland for a ton of money. $14 million more than he made in Boston.

I'll have to adjust my lineup now that I listed before because I really thought we were going to try our best to bring him back.