Celtics targeting Lowry?

[Vermont Green]

Also saw where they might be targeting Reggie Bullock.  If they sign Reggie though, kiss Evan good bye.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10008347-knicks-rumors-reggie-bullock-drawing-interest-from-lakers-76ers-celtics

Any particular reason you think them interested Bullock means no Fournier? Bullock is a career journeyman. He’s not going to cost much. They could probably sign both if they wanted to bolster the bench.

Reggie Bullock is likely available for the tax-payer MLE which is all any of the noted teams, Lakers, Sixers, Celtics, would likely offer.  I can't imagine anyone doing a sign and trade to pay him more and be hard capped.  Offering him our MLE would have no impact on our ability or decision to sign Fournier.  We are probably going to use the MLE on someone under almost any roster scenario so if not Bullock, then someone else.

Bullock is a nice, reliable, veteran bench/fringe starter player but I am not sure a guy like him would be a very high priority for us.  Seems like a reasonable target for the Lakers though.

[LilRip]

Lowry would bring some much needed vet-toughness to this team. He’s Marcus smart without the crazy

I can’t imagine Raps letting Lowry walk though and vice versa. The guys a champion. There’s nothing left to prove. He can ride off into the sunset as one of the Raptor greats and call it a career.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Raptors have the #4 pick and are clearly not going to win another title without a major overhaul.  I would think they would be open to letting him walk.  They also have Van Vleet and Malachi Flynn.  They're likely going to draft Suggs too right? They seem pretty set at guard

[Walker Wiggle]

This is the type of player where you wait and see how the free agent market shakes out first. If it doesn't seem like Lowry's going to get what he's looking for, then I'd start asking about a 2-year deal at about $40m and think hard about giving up Robert Williams or Nesmith in the trade. Lowry is absolutely built for the playoffs, even at this age, and I would love to see him and Smart in the backcourt together.

[Who]

This is the type of player where you wait and see how the free agent market shakes out first. If it doesn't seem like Lowry's going to get what he's looking for, then I'd start asking about a 2-year deal at about $40m and think hard about giving up Robert Williams or Nesmith in the trade. Lowry is absolutely built for the playoffs, even at this age, and I would love to see him and Smart in the backcourt together.

I wonder about Lowry and his ideal backcourt mate.

I thought Lowry benefited a lot in Toronto this last two years from playing alongside a smaller quicker guard in VanVleet. Someone who was quick enough to check quicker PGs. Someone who was fast enough to push the ball in transition and help generate easier shot attempts. Someone quick enough and dangerous enough off the dribble to provide dribble penetration in the halfcourt and provide a large amount of playmaking (6apg).

I wonder about Lowry as he is getting older. He is not as dynamic with the ball as he used to be. He is more of a perimeter shooter now. Less of a driver. He does an excellent job defending bigger guards but is not as good on smaller ones.

I look at Smart and I see a player who struggles to get dribble penetration. A player who needs a more dynamic ball-handler next to him. A player who defends bigger guards better than he does smaller guards.

And I wonder how good of a fit they actually would be together.

My first reaction is "Wow, that would be awesome - two bulldogs beating the crap out of people" but I wonder if some of those similar strengths & combined weaknesses really brings the best out of each other.

And I do wonder about how well Lowry will play without a more dynamic guard next to him. I thought VanVleet did a lot to hide some of the age-related decline in Lowry's quickness offensively & defensively. I do wonder if whatever team ends up getting Lowry sees more of a drop-off in his performances when Lowry no longer has VanVleet alongside him.

Still, it would be cool. Perhaps not ideal but still very interesting to see Smart & Lowry together. Even if not ideal there is still enough good qualities there for it to be a substantial net positive for the team.

[BruceBanner18]

I'm not saying I don't like Lowry but if we're talking to the raptors I'd rather it be about Siakam

[Rikibellevie]

This is the type of player where you wait and see how the free agent market shakes out first. If it doesn't seem like Lowry's going to get what he's looking for, then I'd start asking about a 2-year deal at about $40m and think hard about giving up Robert Williams or Nesmith in the trade. Lowry is absolutely built for the playoffs, even at this age, and I would love to see him and Smart in the backcourt together.

I wonder about Lowry and his ideal backcourt mate.

I thought Lowry benefited a lot in Toronto this last two years from playing alongside a smaller quicker guard in VanVleet. Someone who was quick enough to check quicker PGs. Someone who was fast enough to push the ball in transition and help generate easier shot attempts. Someone quick enough and dangerous enough off the dribble to provide dribble penetration in the halfcourt and provide a large amount of playmaking (6apg).

I wonder about Lowry as he is getting older. He is not as dynamic with the ball as he used to be. He is more of a perimeter shooter now. Less of a driver. He does an excellent job defending bigger guards but is not as good on smaller ones.

I look at Smart and I see a player who struggles to get dribble penetration. A player who needs a more dynamic ball-handler next to him. A player who defends bigger guards better than he does smaller guards.

And I wonder how good of a fit they actually would be together.

My first reaction is "Wow, that would be awesome - two bulldogs beating the crap out of people" but I wonder if some of those similar strengths & combined weaknesses really brings the best out of each other.

And I do wonder about how well Lowry will play without a more dynamic guard next to him. I thought VanVleet did a lot to hide some of the age-related decline in Lowry's quickness offensively & defensively. I do wonder if whatever team ends up getting Lowry sees more of a drop-off in his performances when Lowry no longer has VanVleet alongside him.

Still, it would be cool. Perhaps not ideal but still very interesting to see Smart & Lowry together. Even if not ideal there is still enough good qualities there for it to be a substantial net positive for the team.

I think you are right on Lowry aptitude and complementarity. But Smart Lowry wouldn't necessarly be the 2 starters. Smart or Lowry could embrace the 6th m'en role, where both could excell. We could pair them at rime, esp in defensive 4th quarters. It is now the rôle of Jays to go more and more to the basket. Langford, maybe Jabary or an MLE stretch 4 give some inside presence too.
A trio of Smart, Lowry and Horford gives a lot of grit, basketball IQ and PO expérience. Things we lacked. Things that may make overachieve a young underdog team. And they give mentoring, expérience for the long term progression of there squad. Lowry also would have a short contract which is also positiv. Only problem is we don't have anymore the TPE to ST him easily.

[gouki88]

don't sign and trades need to be for at least 3 years?

Darn, had totally forgotten that S&T rule. I guess guarantees could make it look different

[tstorey_97]

Have always loved Lowry's game.

NBA champ with 7.2 assists per game last season? Yikes

Don't know if Steven's wants to lay down the cap busting pay check on Kyle though.

It would be "win now" move which works on my end.

[KG Living Legend]

Marcus Smart, Tristan Thompson and one of Romeo Langford, Pritchard or Aaron Nesmith would work against a Lowry deal in the $25-million dollar range and would make some sense for Toronto.

Smart isn’t Lowry, but he’s very Lowry-lite. Thompson might be more likely to be bought out or moved, but with only one year left on his deal, he could serve as a second-unit big-man who might be revitalized by coming home. Finally, while the Celtics wouldn’t want to give up Pritchard (and might not have to, depending on how things shake out), Langford and Nesmith both have interesting skill sets that the Raptors development staff could go to work on. As a bonus, both lottery picks are bigger back-court options (Langford at 6’4”, 216 lbs; Nesmith at 6’5” and 215 lbs), that would give the Raps some size in an area they lack.

Of course, Toronto wouldn’t want to make this trade, but if Lowry was courted hard enough by new team president Brad Stevens, and decided that he wanted a change in scenery, it would serve as a palatable return.

[RodyTur10]

I'm not saying I don't like Lowry but if we're talking to the raptors I'd rather it be about Siakam

Me too. Adding Siakam to our front court would be awesome. Horford + Langford + picks could do the trick.

Smart/Brown/Tatum/Siakam/Timelord is a defensive juggernaut on paper.

[Birdman]

I'm not saying I don't like Lowry but if we're talking to the raptors I'd rather it be about Siakam

Me too. Adding Siakam to our front court would be awesome. Horford + Langford + picks could do the trick.

Smart/Brown/Tatum/Siakam/Timelord is a defensive juggernaut on paper.

No way Raptors gotta do that trade..

[Vermont Green]

Toronto has a serviceable core team Siakam (27, 3 more years contract), VanFleet (27, 3 more years), Anunoby (25, 4 more years).  I doubt that they trade any of these 3 unless blown away and Boston does not have the assets to blow them away (unless they offer Brown or something).  So I don't see how there is even a discussion on Siakam unless you want to put Brown on the table.

Lowry is a reasonable sign and trade target for someone.  He could be decent on the Celtics but it just doesn't seem like enough of an upgrade to give up assets and be hard capped.  For example, giving up Smart to get Lowry and be hard capped just doesn't seem like a good deal for a 35 year old player.  Now if Thompson and Picks could get us there, great.

The Lakers could offer Kuzma (probably beating anything we could offer) and give Lowry $16M but I am not sure the Lakers would want to be hard capped.

[Moranis]

don't sign and trades need to be for at least 3 years?

Darn, had totally forgotten that S&T rule. I guess guarantees could make it look different

Roy pointed out that only the 1st year needs to be guaranteed though.  So I think it could be workable.  I think Smart going out makes a lot of sense (just from roster construction this year and in the future). 

Smart, Thompson, 23 lotto protected 1st for Lowry

Seems like a fair trade for a sign and trade

Post-Trade

PG - Lowry, Pritchard, Edwards
SG - Fournier, Langford, FA/2nd
SF - Brown, Nesmith, Semi
PF - Tatum, Parker, G. Williams
C - Horford, R. Williams, Brown

That seems like a fringe type contender if Tatum can make a jump into the top 10 type discussion and Lowry still has anything left.

[nyceltsfan]

don't sign and trades need to be for at least 3 years?

Darn, had totally forgotten that S&T rule. I guess guarantees could make it look different

Roy pointed out that only the 1st year needs to be guaranteed though.  So I think it could be workable.  I think Smart going out makes a lot of sense (just from roster construction this year and in the future). 

Smart, Thompson, 23 lotto protected 1st for Lowry

Seems like a fair trade for a sign and trade

Post-Trade

PG - Lowry, Pritchard, Edwards
SG - Fournier, Langford, FA/2nd
SF - Brown, Nesmith, Semi
PF - Tatum, Parker, G. Williams
C - Horford, R. Williams, Brown

That seems like a fringe type contender if Tatum can make a jump into the top 10 type discussion and Lowry still has anything left.

Lowry may be better than Smart, but I don't think he is so much better that it moves the needle.  Lowry is also older.  In my mind, any trades that shrink the window to win a title have to make us legit contenders for 1-2 years.  In other words, hold on to our guys and try to let them gel, unless all the experts can look at this team and legitimately say that we can beat, Milwaukee, Brooklyn, Philly and the western teams when fully healthy.