Celtics/NBA Pre-Season Thread: Celtics, now owners of minor league Red Claws, say team will stay in Portland

[Gator Mike]

Tatum and Leonard would mean the next title IMO.

Can't think of a single reason why Leonard would leave Toronto to join a team with Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, and a bunch of question marks.

 

[KrejciMVP]

Can't think of a single reason why Leonard would leave Toronto to join a team with Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, and a bunch of question marks.

Before the season started. Would you have favored the celtics supporting cast minus KYrie who just lost a game 7 or the Raptors minus Derozen who just lost in 4 to Cleveland. Imo Leonard had a worse supporting cast in TO than Boston had

 

[Troublesome 85]

IDK about any of u but I would prefer the team packages some picks for some veteran or younger vet help.

Of the guys they have drafted who other than Brown, Tatum and Rozier have shown anything? Williams showed some blocking ability but what have Ojeleye and Yabusele shown?

 

[pgm16]

So how much money can they spend in FA to land Irving's replacement if they use Rozier in a trade for Capela etc ? I think Horford will stay. Is it possible to sign Kemba Walker ?

Man the NBA salary cap & rules are tough to get a handle on.

 

[Mr Cartmenez]

Anyone surprised if Kyrie flips and signs with the Lakers?

Yes, I would be. IMO that's your typical media driven story. I don't think Kyrie is keen on playing with Lebron again and he it would be even worse than in Cleveland as he would only be third fiddle behind LBJ and AD. And hasn't it been reported that the Lakers will NOT have another max slot?

Kyrie is going to the Nets and it will seriously not hurt me one bit as soon as it is announced. That's uncommon when a superstar leaves, but Kyrie is a different animal. If you ask me, it's one hell of a task to have ruined the chemistry of this team that had this awesome playoff run last year. Was it only Irvings fault? Who knows, but here is a pretty strong case for Kyrie being the cancer.

What we should do now that the superstar route is closed down. Give Stevens a good young group he can work his magic with. This will not lead to a championship next year, but we cannot do anything about that anyway. We need to keep accumulating prospects and develop players (it worked under CBS before, this is how we were able to get Irving in the first place, Cleveland valued Crowder, Zizic and IT).
Who knows when the next superstar comes available. James Harden?

 

[8thRoundPick]

Before the season started. Would you have favored the celtics supporting cast minus KYrie who just lost a game 7 or the Raptors minus Derozen who just lost in 4 to Cleveland. Imo Leonard had a worse supporting cast in TO than Boston had

What does before the season starting have anything to do with Kawhi's current decision? The bottom line is that the Raptors are the far better team right now, both in terms of depth and talent. There is zero chance Kawhi will sign in Boston. If he goes to California, it's because he wants to go home. If he wants a winning formula with a team and city that love him and appreciate him, then he's already got that in Toronto. I don't see any other option that even remotely makes sense after that.

 

[Gator Mike]

So how much money can they spend in FA to land Irving's replacement if they use Rozier in a trade for Capela etc ? I think Horford will stay. Is it possible to sign Kemba Walker ?

Man the NBA salary cap & rules are tough to get a handle on.

The NBA salary cap should be roughly $109 million for this season. .

Boston Celtics Guaranteed Salaries for 2019-20 season

Gordon Hayward: $32.7 million
Marcus Smart: $12.6 million
Jayson Tatum: $7.8 million
Jaylen Brown: $6.5 million
Aron Baynes: $5.4 million
Guerschon Yabusele: $3.1 million
Robert Williams: $1.9 million
Semi Ojeleye: $1.3 million
No. 14 pick: $3.45 million
No. 20 pick: $2.6 million
No. 22 pick: $2.38 million

That's around $80 million in salary commitments, not counting any other players.

They have four restricted free agents. The Celtics have to make a choice with each player. If they choose to make them a qualifying offer, they have the right to match any contract those players may receive from another team, but their qualifying offer counts against the cap. If they don't choose make a qualifying offer, there's no cap hit, but the player then becomes an unrestricted free agent, and the Celtics no longer have a right to match or go over the cap to resign them. My guess is they'll qualify at least Rozier, and maybe Theis. That would put them around $86 million.

Terry Rozier: $4.5 million
Daniel Theis: $1.8 million
Brad Wanamaker: $1.6 million
Jonathan Gibson: $1.8 million

Al Horford has a $30.1 million player option for next season. If he picks up the option, the Celtics will be over the cap. If he declines the option, my best guess is that they'll be somewhere around $23 million under the cap, which is not enough to sign a free agent to a max contract. This is probably the worst case scenario.

If Horford opts in, they'll still have a chance to use the mid-level exception to sign a free agent.

 

[pgm16]

The NBA salary cap should be roughly $109 million for this season. .

Boston Celtics Guaranteed Salaries for 2019-20 season

Gordon Hayward: $32.7 million
Marcus Smart: $12.6 million
Jayson Tatum: $7.8 million
Jaylen Brown: $6.5 million
Aron Baynes: $5.4 million
Guerschon Yabusele: $3.1 million
Robert Williams: $1.9 million
Semi Ojeleye: $1.3 million
No. 14 pick: $3.45 million
No. 20 pick: $2.6 million
No. 22 pick: $2.38 million

That's around $80 million in salary commitments, not counting any other players.

They have four restricted free agents. The Celtics have to make a choice with each player. If they choose to make them a qualifying offer, they have the right to match any contract those players may receive from another team, but their qualifying offer counts against the cap. If they don't choose make a qualifying offer, there's no cap hit, but the player then becomes an unrestricted free agent, and the Celtics no longer have a right to match or go over the cap to resign them. My guess is they'll qualify at least Rozier, and maybe Theis. That would put them around $86 million.

Terry Rozier: $4.5 million
Daniel Theis: $1.8 million
Brad Wanamaker: $1.6 million
Jonathan Gibson: $1.8 million

Al Horford has a $30.1 million player option for next season. If he picks up the option, the Celtics will be over the cap. If he declines the option, my best guess is that they'll be somewhere around $23 million under the cap, which is not enough to sign a free agent to a max contract. This is probably the worst case scenario.

If Horford opts in, they'll still have a chance to use the mid-level exception to sign a free agent.

Probably the best case scenario at this point is to work a sign-and-trade with whichever team Kyrie Irving decides to sign with, allowing his new team to provide him with a supermax contract, and giving the Celtics a trade exception of more than $30 million. That would allow the Celtics to acquire a player who earns up to $30 million without having to send salary in return.

Thanks so much

 

[Alicat]

This is just sad.

 

[Fenway]

Two people shot during Raptors championship rally

 

[Troublesome 85]

Team meeting with Irving Thursday.

 

[Troublesome 85]

IDK why the Raptors invited Drake on their float. Dude is annoying.

 

[Troublesome 85]

When it comes to the Irving trade neither team won.

Thomas and Crowder no longer on Cavs, have heard nothing about Zizic, I forgot who they selected with that pic and Irving gave a feeble effort in the only playoffs he was the top leader in.

 

[KesselBuiltMyHotrod]

IDK why the Raptors invited Drake on their float. Dude is annoying.

He's basically the team mascot.

 

[McGarnagle]

When it comes to the Irving trade neither team won.

Thomas and Crowder no longer on Cavs, have heard nothing about Zizic, I forgot who they selected with that pic and Irving gave a feeble effort in the only playoffs he was the top leader in.

Collin Sexton was the pick, and he's good but not a game breaker or anything.

Weird trade in the end. The Celtics got the better value out of it for sure, though at the cost of destroying the lockerroom. But for the first 3/4 of a year, we looked like we won the deal big, then Kyrie got hurt and everyone else winning in his absence set off his jealous side.

 

[Fenway]

 

[Fenway]

Looking at this you would think the parade was in Montreal

 

[Absurdity]

 

[N o o d l e s]

Horford expected to sign elsewhere.

No longer discussing new contract with Celtics. Honestly whatever, use that cap elsewhere. I’m fine with most of the players from that clusterf*** leaving.

 

[KrejciMVP]

At 30 million I'm glad Horford is going. He was a great celtic of course. Kyrie and Horford are on the back 9 and the celts should surround the Tatum Brown duo with younger talent. I have seen no reason the celtics cant take the east and with Golden State finished, the finals too.

 

[Gator Mike]

No longer discussing new contract with Celtics. Honestly whatever, use that cap elsewhere. I’m fine with most of the players from that cluster**** leaving.

Except the Celtics are about to lose two All-Star caliber players, and they won't have the means to replace them with an All-Star.

At 30 million I'm glad Horford is going. He was a great celtic of course. Kyrie and Horford are on the back 9 and the celts should surround the Tatum Brown duo with younger talent. I have seen no reason the celtics cant take the east and with Golden State finished, the finals too.

This is just about the worst case scenario for the Celtics.

They were a #4 seed last year. They just lost two of their best players, and likely don't have the resources to adequately replace them. Their highest-paid player has one of the most immovable contracts in the league. Outside of possibly next year's Memphis pick, they lack high-end draft assets.

They're pretty screwed.

 

[BostonBob]

Horford expected to sign elsewhere.

No longer discussing new contract with Celtics.

 

[KesselBuiltMyHotrod]

With Kyrie out I'm fine with not extending an aging Horford. The Celtics are not winning anything within the years of whatever contract he wants.

 

[Gator Mike]

Basically, the Celtics can go in a couple of directions at this point.

1. Throw near max contract money at near max contract players. How do you feel about paying someone like D'Angelo Russell, Tobias Harris, or Malcolm Brogdon $25 million/year?

2. Use their cap space to take bad contracts from other teams in exchange for assets such as future draft picks.

 

[N o o d l e s]

Except the Celtics are about to lose two All-Star caliber players, and they won't have the means to replace them with an All-Star.


This is just about the worst case scenario for the Celtics.

They were a #4 seed last year. They just lost two of their best players, and likely don't have the resources to adequately replace them. Their highest-paid player has one of the most immovable contracts in the league. Outside of possibly next year's Memphis pick, they lack high-end draft assets.

They're pretty screwed.

They were the four seed only because they were massively disappointing, not because of the talent. Horford is very good but clearly he’s not the player to get your team over the hump. I guess he’s fairly tough to replace but his best years are behind him and a long term deal wouldn’t age well. It’s already proven that with him as one of your best players doesn’t get you over the hump.

The East is wide open and will be especially so when Kawhi leaves Toronto.