With all the AD speculation, everyone is back to talking about the Celtics assets. They still have a lot but is it just me or do these assets no longer look as appealing?
Jayson Tatum - No one can offer a better young player but he's likely untouchable or close to it.
Jaylen Brown - Shooting 41%/27%/68% with a 9.6 PER.
Terry Rozier - Shooting 39%/37%/71% with a 11.8 PER. He also needs a new contract.
Kings and Grizzlies (top 8 protected) picks - Currently tied at 15th overall and they already have twice as many wins as 5 teams that are clearly tanking.
Clippers pick (top 14 protected) - Currently 20th overall.
Coming into the season everyone thought the Kings pick would be a top 5 lock and they might get another really good pick down the road from the Grizzlies as well when the protections get softer. It's still very early but all of the picks might convey this year and that's not a good thing for the Celtics.
I could see Boston offering some combination of Brown, Rozier and maybe all of 4 of their 2019 picks to New Orleans for AD. But a few things to clear up on those picks:
- the Sacramento 2019 pick is only #1 protected
- the Memphis 2019 pick is top 8 protected then becomes top 6 protected in 2020 and then is totally unprotected in 2021
- the Clippers pick is top 14 protected in 2019 and 2020 and then becomes a 2022 2nd round pick
celtics still have the best package to offer but wouldn't they not be allowed to acquire AD unless they traded kyrie? something about not being allowed to have more than one "designated player" on the roster
and obviously they wouldn't trade kyrie for AD
The Celtics can trade for AD but not until July 1st. This is because of the complicated " Derrick Rose Rule " I'll let the experts over at CBS Sports explain it better:
The CBA prevents a team from having two players on the same roster that were acquired via trade that had previously signed a contract extension under what is called the 5th Year 30% Max criteria. This criteria is commonly referred to as the “Rose Rule”, as Derrick Rose was the first place to make use of it.
How does this impact the Celtics? Boston acquired Kyrie Irving via trade last summer (if you don’t know that, you have a lot of reading and catching up to do!) and he had previously signed that contract as an extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers using the Rose Rule (I’m using Rose Rule because it’s shorter to type!). Anthony Davis also used the Rose Rule to sign his contract extension with the New Orleans Pelicans. As the Celtics would need to acquire Davis via trade, they are not allowed to do because both he and Irving signed using the Rose Rule and both would have been acquired via trade.
As soon as Kyrie Irving is no longer under his current contract. That means next summer, 2019, the restriction is removed. This is provided Kyrie Irving opts out of his current deal as expected. Boston could also trade for Anthony Davis right now, provided Irving was shipped out in that deal, or in another deal before the Celtics acquired Davis.
