Official Boston Celtics Thread

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Source says Marcus Smart has not heard from Celtics since start of free agency, and he's "hurt and disgusted."

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/c...Max8FY.twitter

That's really disappointing to read & hear. Smart already has a lot on him dealing with his mother's sickness but for us to not act like we're even interested in trying to bring him back makes me disgusted too at Ainge & management. Smart is & was a key player in our run in the playoffs this past season. He played with that injured thumb the entire playoffs but he still contributed & played well.

No excuse for the Celtics management as this point to at least contacted him to talk about his future. I wouldn't blame him one bit now to just totally shun any qualifying offer we give him & just sign an offer sheet from another team. The question to me is are we going to even give him an offer? I mean most RFA's on teams have received an offer of some kind by now.

Does Ainge & management think Smart isn't valuable enough to bring back or what? In my opinion, there are no other guards like him around that can guard/play positions 1-4. He has the strength to guard PF's but is better suited as a PG because of his lack of height. His toughness makes up for a lot of his minor weaknesses. If Smart develops a more consistent 3-pt. shot then he's looking at big money down the road from some team. That's really the only thing he doesn't do well.

Send him an offer fast Ainge! It may be too late though & I don't blame Smart for being hurt about this either. Should have NEVER happened! We signed our draft pick Robert Williams & he's already screwed up twice but we haven't even considered throwing an offer to a veteran & important part of this team in Smart. Man-O-Man! This is disappointing!

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Marcus Smart now has a qualifying offer of $6 million on the table from the Celtics. I DO NOT think that will cut it. I see $8+ million coming from another team for Smart pretty soon.

[jeremym480]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Marcus Smart now has a qualifying offer of $6 million on the table from the Celtics. I DO NOT think that will cut it. I see $8+ million coming from another team for Smart pretty soon.

Which Boston will easily match. As long as no team goes crazy and offers $14M+ then I'm not worried about not seeing Smart in green next season... and if a team does offer him that then more power to Marcus and best of luck in all of his future endeavors.

[BleacherBum2310]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

I'll believe it when i see it. I think they want Smart back but they are also waiting for the market dictate his value because they don't want signing him longterm to also impact signing Tatum/Jaylen/Kyrie down the road when the cap is going to be tight for them.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Which Boston will easily match. As long as no team goes crazy and offers $14M+ then I'm not worried about not seeing Smart in green next season... and if a team does offer him that then more power to Marcus and best of luck in all of his future endeavors.

I hope that you're right on Smart. Fran Fraschilla on ESPN during the Summer League game between the Celtics & Knicks that are on right now said after speaking with one of the Celtics management officials(not named) that Boston wouldn't go into double digit range for matching a Smart offer from another team. So it seems $8-$9 million might be the max the Celtics will go for retaining him. We will find out pretty soon though. Thanks.

[TheEndIsNear4All]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

That's really disappointing to read & hear. Smart already has a lot on him dealing with his mother's sickness but for us to not act like we're even interested in trying to bring him back makes me disgusted too at Ainge & management. Smart is & was a key player in our run in the playoffs this past season. He played with that injured thumb the entire playoffs but he still contributed & played well.

No excuse for the Celtics management as this point to at least contacted him to talk about his future. I wouldn't blame him one bit now to just totally shun any qualifying offer we give him & just sign an offer sheet from another team. The question to me is are we going to even give him an offer? I mean most RFA's on teams have received an offer of some kind by now.

Does Ainge & management think Smart isn't valuable enough to bring back or what? In my opinion, there are no other guards like him around that can guard/play positions 1-4. He has the strength to guard PF's but is better suited as a PG because of his lack of height. His toughness makes up for a lot of his minor weaknesses. If Smart develops a more consistent 3-pt. shot then he's looking at big money down the road from some team. That's really the only thing he doesn't do well.

Send him an offer fast Ainge! It may be too late though & I don't blame Smart for being hurt about this either. Should have NEVER happened! We signed our draft pick Robert Williams & he's already screwed up twice but we haven't even considered throwing an offer to a veteran & important part of this team in Smart. Man-O-Man! This is disappointing!

I too hate the fact that Ainge has yet to resign Marcus. I love the fire he brings, and personally,I loved him since he was at Oklahoma State. Would be very upset if he ends up somewhere else.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Operation Sports mobile app

[stakzz00]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Marcus Smart now has a qualifying offer of $6 million on the table from the Celtics. I DO NOT think that will cut it. I see $8+ million coming from another team for Smart pretty soon.

Smart is hard. On paper he isn't needed. Not by a long shot, but he's like Draymond.. Stats and numbers don't measure their level of impact. In game, the Celtics proved they can win without him as well as their two stars. So I don't see him coming back if he's offered 12-18 mil...

On the otherside I believe Boston has only missed one playoffs if any since their rebuild and Smart has been a part of that rebuild, with Bradley playing at near peak potential, I feel as if Ainge and Stevens believed they could get more out of a peak potential Marcus Smart than they could a peak potential Avery Bradley, because remember he played near all star level his last year in Boston.

So I feel like it's a double egged sword. Do we really need him? imo yes. Ainge isn't into building assets and letting them slip away before their potential prime would start around the ages of 24-28. I'd see Ainge matching and moving Smart before the trade deadline, but in no way would I want Smart to leave without getting a pick back. N.Y. would be a good team to trade with especially considering the Irving talks, it would give Ainge an insight on what NY could offer if they decided to do a sign and trade next summer or whatever happens on that part since there has so far been 0 effort to blend all of our players together, Kyrie is just the leader who isn't the leader considering his team is still reshaping and rebuilding due to financial constraints rather than the players tanking.. As a player it would be hard to invest in a team where the players aren't the issue but rather Front Office.. So maybe Ainge matches Smart in a bigger effort to prepare for a post Irving Boston, who knows, but it's hard to just say he won't match considering Smart replaced Bradley.

[stakzz00]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

I've seen Smart make late game moves that secured a win but added no numbers to his stats. Not every team has those guys. Yes KD can shoot, but if he's not willing to dive hard for a loose ball and put his body on the line then there's something missing. Smart is like a young LeBron in the sense that you surround him with shooters so he doesn't have to shoot.. Still he puts up bad shots, but we now have the fire power that Smart can play his role and play his game, but we lack the cap space.. Maybe Brown adds 15lbs of muscle this off-season. Who knows, but it's not like Toby Allen's, Marcus Smarts and Draymond Greens grow on trees... How is OG Anunoby the next elite defender to join these three guys??? I don't see it. Hold onto smart and trade before deadline. c'mon Ainge, this ain't nuffin new.

[stakzz00]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

I too hate the fact that Ainge has yet to resign Marcus. I love the fire he brings, and personally,I loved him since he was at Oklahoma State. Would be very upset if he ends up somewhere else.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Operation Sports mobile app

Same. Somehow someway Ainge drafted all of my favorites from every draft. I make draft classes and rosters so of course I understand where we were in the draft and who would be available.. I was a big 33 Smart fan, however did not actually want him on my real life boston team.. Jaylen Brown, I felt like he was top 3 due to his athleticism, but still felt like their were better options. I didn't see him as much more than a dunker. Rozier too. Everybody liked Tatum. He wss one of the rare cases of being a number one recruit coming out of HS but falling in cbb ranks.. I wanted Fultz damnit. lol. But they all worked out. and I'm super excited about Williams. GMs will be fired in 3 years for letting lottery talent slip into the hands of Boston again even though Boston picked way out of the lottery this year.

[TheEndIsNear4All]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Same. Somehow someway Ainge drafted all of my favorites from every draft. I make draft classes and rosters so of course I understand where we were in the draft and who would be available.. I was a big 33 Smart fan, however did not actually want him on my real life boston team.. Jaylen Brown, I felt like he was top 3 due to his athleticism, but still felt like their were better options. I didn't see him as much more than a dunker. Rozier too. Everybody liked Tatum. He wss one of the rare cases of being a number one recruit coming out of HS but falling in cbb ranks.. I wanted Fultz damnit. lol. But they all worked out. and I'm super excited about Williams. GMs will be fired in 3 years for letting lottery talent slip into the hands of Boston again even though Boston picked way out of the lottery this year.

Yeah it's really hard to truly criticize Danny, seeing as he always seems to pull something off in the long run, but man, do I love what Marcus brings to the table lol. The intangibles and mental grit he has reminds me of a combination of what Rajon and Kevin had on the floor. I love Marcus, but Danny usually has something up his sleeve and if no deal is made, I've got to feel that everything will work itself out and we'll end up with another talent worth noting. Especially since, like you stated, we have picks galore Lol.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Operation Sports mobile app

[jeremym480]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

I'll believe it when i see it. I think they want Smart back but they are also waiting for the market dictate his value because they don't want signing him longterm to also impact signing Tatum/Jaylen/Kyrie down the road when the cap is going to be tight for them.

Same here. As much as I want him back and locked up it makes a lot of sense financially to get him back at his QO, especially since there's only one or two teams that can offer more than this offseason.

It's mostly about avoiding the luxury tax this season. If Smart comes back on his QO then I believe they'll still have room for someone like Bird without going into the luxury tax. If he gets more that $8-9 million then they'll be in the luxury tax a year earlier and Bird would have two stay on his 2-way deal.

I know Wyc has said that he would be okay with playing the tax but once you get into the repeater tax that's when things get really, really expensive. Do they really want to get that clock ticking a year early for Marcus Smart? Personally, I would because if you're a top 2-3 team in the league you can't let one of your key pieces, who is basically the backbone of your defense leave over the luxury tax.

Next season (depending on Kyrie) Boston will be in the tax anyway so might as well say screw it and all out like Golden State. Then throw Smart a bone for taking an L this season. Of course, there's a lot of teams with money next year so you stand the chance of losing him for nothing but if Bird or Wanamaker have nice years then maybe you cut your losses at that point... just not now before you see what those guys are all about at the NBA level.

[stakzz00]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Yeah it's really hard to truly criticize Danny, seeing as he always seems to pull something off in the long run, but man, do I love what Marcus brings to the table lol. The intangibles and mental grit he has reminds me of a combination of what Rajon and Kevin had on the floor. I love Marcus, but Danny usually has something up his sleeve and if no deal is made, I've got to feel that everything will work itself out and we'll end up with another talent worth noting. Especially since, like you stated, we have picks galore Lol.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Operation Sports mobile app

Correct! Danny changed the NBA and the NBA draft with this most current rebuild. Picks now have more value, while everyone criticized him, telling him to sell while the picks was high, he sat n the picks and drafted great guys so when he finally did trade a pick (Last year) he got a high bidding on that pick. I don't see him losing his precious 2014 pick, putting all that time and glitter on it and not selling high. It would also hurt if they resigned him with intentions of moving him by the trade deadline because Smart stays in the IR list. He has a whole man-cave down there with Baron David and Eddy Curry.

[areobee401]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

So, uhhhh, Robert Williams has lost his wallet twice since being drafted. I love this kid more and more each day.

On the Friday before the Boston Celtics began practicing for Las Vegas Summer League, Robert Williams had a flight to catch back to College Station, TX. Before he went to the airport, he worked out with Celtics coaches in the morning, gave his introductory press conference around noon, and participated in a Celtics Shamrock Foundation event at a local school a couple of hours later.

All the while, Celtics staffers were racing to find Williams’ wallet.

The rookie big man realized he had left it at his hotel, and making his 5:30 p.m. flight briefly looked dicey as the community event ticked toward 3 and then 3:30 p.m. Eventually, however, the staffers recovered the wallet back at the hotel, and Williams finished his event peacefully.

A day later, as Williams was preparing to leave for the airport to hop on a flight back to Boston, he realized that — once again — his wallet was missing. Once again, he knew where it was — former Texas A&M forward D.J. Hogg had it. But Hogg was already back in Dallas, nearly three hours away.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

So, uhhhh, Robert Williams has lost his wallet twice since being drafted. I love this kid more and more each day.

LOL! This guy really must still be a KID. Man, how many strikes is that on him already? Holy Cow! The wallet thing is more funny than really something serious like the other things that's happened but c'mone dude! He's got to get it together.

On a side note:

It appears that the Magic & Bulls are the 2 teams that might be going after Marcus Smart after our qualifying offer for $6 million. Most sports news sites are reporting these same 2 teams but it's also looking like Smart is leaning towards signing the Celtics offer sheet & shooting for Free Agency & possibly more money come the 2019 season.

Several sports news websites are reporting that the Mavericks & Bulls are the 2 teams most interested but $6-$7 million would be the highest offer coming from either team. If one of those 2 teams offer $7 million then for sure Ainge & company will pull the trigger to match that offer.

So, it's looking more & more like we will see Smart in a Celtics uniform for at least 1 more year even though he was upset that it took so long for us to make him a qualifying offer. Thanks.

Update: 2 more teams are now considering tendering offers to Smart. The Sacramento Kings & Brooklyn Nets have met with Smart & his agent. No offers are guaranteed at this time though from these 2 additional teams but the other 2 teams mentioned above could be one of the 1st to the punch. We will see where this goes but I feel Smart knows his importance to this Celtics team & also knows he has a legitimate chance at a NBA Championship come next season.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Another update on the latest Marcus Smart rumors & news. The latest of today is that both the Grizzlies & Nets are trying to pull off a sign & trade deal to acquire Smart from the Celtics.

This is being reported by multiple websites & the Nets seem to be the more serious threat to try & get Smart in this manner(sign & trade). However, these websites reporting this news is also saying it's more unlikely than likely this will happen because Ainge really wants to try & keep Smart for at least 1 more year.