Celtics trade Fab Melo for Donte Green (non-guaranteed contract)

[SHAQATTACK]

well....couldn't say I didn't see it coming,  Melo was gonna get the axe sooner than latter .

The thing he is missing is the pure basketball instincts ......they are non existent with him

either you make hay. with incredible hard effort like Bass does,  or your a natural gIfted player to succeed in the NBA

Fab was neither.

BB IQ was awful  ....afraid his future is not in the NBA

good luck to him ...

[Cman]

I don't know why anybody would be happy that we just dumped a project center we spent a 1st round pick on just a year ago for absolutely nothing (Greene will get cut).

That #22 pick from last year just went from "probably a waste" to "definitely 100% a waste."

Good job by Danny here. Greene's contract is non-guaranteed, allowing us to waive him and get our salary count down to 71.5 million (0.2 million under the tax threshold). This helps us avoid paying the harsh penalties of going over the luxury tax next year. If we go into the tax this year, that makes three years in a row and we'd have to pay huge sums of money if we wanted to go over the tax in future years.

We didn't need to get under the tax until the trade deadline.  I would have preferred to wait to see if there was a dump we could have made with Bass / Humphries / Lee where we get back less salary.

Technically, the Celtics didn't need to get under the tax until the last day of the regular season and some teams have made trades after the trade deadline for that purpose.

Making a small deal now means that Ainge is freer to walk away from negotiations involving those players if the other team insists on getting something like a first round pick as part of the trade.  Other teams lose leverage if the Celtics are not as desperate to shed salary.

Yeah, that's true, but I don't expect that we'd be driving a hard bargain as far as Bass / Lee / Hump are concerned.  If somebody is willing to take them and give us less salary / shorter deals in return, I would expect Ainge to go for it.

I still don't see the urgency of making this deal right now.  If you're going to dump Melo, why not dump him later?

The only explanation is that they actually think that some other guy they could sign for the minimum would be a better investment of a roster spot, now and in the future.  If so, they basically admit that the pick was a complete waste.

I bet Danny doesn't care much about what this "says" about the pick - it's a sunk cost. I think this is all about option value. Like you say, Danny probably believes that at some point later this year, a player better than Fab will become available - even if he doesn't know who that player is yet.

This is one thing I love about Ainge. A GM with less stones wouldn't do the deal because it would be tantamount to failure. Ainge? He calls it as he sees it, even if it means admitting his own failure. And he moves on. This is one of the reasons I think he is a very good GM.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

Can some1 tell me why Greene didn't get 1 minute of PT last season? There are literally no stats on the guy. He didn't look terrible 2011-2012, he must have some type of character issues? I'm sad that I see he scored 40 in a SL game, I probably would have been so hyped about him if it was for us in SL. Goes to show you gotta take it with a HUGE grain if salt. I'm starting to think if it was for us we would have 70 threads on him being the next "insert star". LOL I love CB!

[LooseCannon]

Can some1 tell me why Greene didn't get 1 minute of PT last season? There are literally no stats on the guy. He didn't look terrible 2011-2012, he must have some type of character issues? I'm sad that I see he scored 40 in a SL game, I probably would have been so hyped about him if it was for us in SL. Goes to show you gotta take it with a HUGE grain if salt. I'm starting to think if it was for us we would have 70 threads on him being the next "insert star". LOL I love CB!

He broke his ankle just before training camp after getting an invite with the Nets and being close to signing a contract with them.  He wasn't cleared to play until late February, spent some time in Puerto Rico waiting for a team to sign him, and eventually latched on with with Memphis as roster filler and emergency depth for the playoffs.

[Mazingerz]

Can some1 tell me why Greene didn't get 1 minute of PT last season? There are literally no stats on the guy. He didn't look terrible 2011-2012, he must have some type of character issues? I'm sad that I see he scored 40 in a SL game, I probably would have been so hyped about him if it was for us in SL. Goes to show you gotta take it with a HUGE grain if salt. I'm starting to think if it was for us we would have 70 threads on him being the next "insert star". LOL I love CB!

He broke his ankle just before training camp after getting an invite with the Nets and being close to signing a contract with them.  He wasn't cleared to play until late February, spent some time in Puerto Rico waiting for a team to sign him, and eventually latched on with with Memphis as roster filler and emergency depth for the playoffs.

Can he play? Is he an impact player? or a scrub?

[TripleOT]

I had hopes for Melo, but even watching yesterday's workout video, it's apparent that he just doesn't get it.  Even in those few snippets of video, I could see some things i didn't like.  He rolls to the basket and finishes off his layup barely at rim level.  A guy his size should have the ball halfway up the square when laying it in, if not dunking it, if he doesn't want the ball thrown back in his face. 

On his jumper, he gets enough elevation to maybe slide a piece of paper under his feet.  Even 7 footers need to elevate on short-range baseline shots. Melo looks like a decent athlete, and has NBA size, but just doesn't show the signs that he's going to become an NBA player.  Maybe two or three years overseas will help.   

[eugen]

I don't know why anybody would be happy that we just dumped a project center we spent a 1st round pick on just a year ago for absolutely nothing (Greene will get cut).

That #22 pick from last year just went from "probably a waste" to "definitely 100% a waste."

This is DA's " great project" building the future based on "picks"

[bfrombleacher]

I don't know why anybody would be happy that we just dumped a project center we spent a 1st round pick on just a year ago for absolutely nothing (Greene will get cut).

That #22 pick from last year just went from "probably a waste" to "definitely 100% a waste."

From what I understand, getting under the tax line saves us millions in tax.

Don't forget the high risk nature of drafting. Only 3 or 4 picks after Melo have really "panned out" and this is a "deep" draft.

Again, a low risk, okay-upside asset for millions in savings is what this is.

This is DA's " great project" building the future based on "picks"

How else.

[D.o.s.]

It'd be interesting to see the average NBA career length for post-pick #20 draftees.

[ManUp]

I never liked the the Fab pick and never really believed he would turn into much, but this is still disappointing. It's a waste of a decent ranged pick in what was considered a very good draft. To think we couldn't even get a 2nd rounder for him just one year later. I know guys picked after Melo aren't exactly lighting the world on fire, but I still think Danny really blew the pick. I think PJIII, Moultrie, Jeff Taylor all would've made sense at 22.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

Can some1 tell me why Greene didn't get 1 minute of PT last season? There are literally no stats on the guy. He didn't look terrible 2011-2012, he must have some type of character issues? I'm sad that I see he scored 40 in a SL game, I probably would have been so hyped about him if it was for us in SL. Goes to show you gotta take it with a HUGE grain if salt. I'm starting to think if it was for us we would have 70 threads on him being the next "insert star". LOL I love CB!

He broke his ankle just before training camp after getting an invite with the Nets and being close to signing a contract with them.  He wasn't cleared to play until late February, spent some time in Puerto Rico waiting for a team to sign him, and eventually latched on with with Memphis as roster filler and emergency depth for the playoffs.

Thanks!

[lightspeed5]

we hated the fab pick at the time. we still hate it.

[Vermont Green]

OK, so Fab is gone, a disappointing #22 pick traded for an equally disappointing #28 pick but with an non-guaranteed contract.  A failed pick, yes, but nothing worth beating up DA over.

Green will probably stick around for a while, he can be cut at most anytime to get below the salary tax limit so no need to rush.  In the meantime, DA can see what other deals develop.

Someone said he was 6-9 coming out of college but grew to 6-11?  Maybe they will try to convert him to center.  He can't be any worse than Fab.

How long are his arms?  Did they grow too?

[MBunge]

Well, yet more proof that I'm a moron.  I can't believe Ainge is giving up on Melo this fast, when there are certainly other moves that could have gotten the team under the luxury tax.

On the one hand, you can credit Ainge for cutting his losses and not wasting more time on a guy who apparently can't play.  On the other hand, it's a pretty big mistake to take a guy in the first round (even in the 20s) and unload him for essentially nothing just a year later.

Mike

[LooseCannon]

Well, yet more proof that I'm a moron.  I can't believe Ainge is giving up on Melo this fast, when there are certainly other moves that could have gotten the team under the luxury tax.

I'm not convinced that there are moves that don't involve giving up a future first-round pick or taking back a player/contract that should be avoided.