Posey will opt out, House wants to return

[P2]

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/06/15/posey_has_earned_his_keep/

But here's the bad news for Celtics fans: All three will be unrestricted free agents this summer (yes, Posey will opt out of his contract June 30). And if Boston wants them back - Posey in particular - Bartelstein will be a key figure in making it happen.

Posey signed a two-year deal last offseason paying $3.2 million this season with a player option for $3.4 million next season. The option was basically just an insurance policy for the 31-year-old Posey; Bartelstein said Posey will become a free agent.

"That's sort of been the plan all along," Bartelstein said. "The Celtics knew when they signed him for great value. They gave him the option for security reasons. They got him for a below-value deal.

Posey will be an unrestricted free agent and the most Boston can offer is a mid-level exception deal, which would be expected to start at about $5.8 million. If the Celtics offer him the full mid-level exception or something close to it over four years, they should have a strong shot at re-signing him. But they shouldn't be surprised if several teams go after him hard, too.

Wow, I can't believe that the only thing Posey wants is money. He could really help this team by not opting out, so that there will be more money to solidify the bench. But if we want to re-sign Posey, do we have to use the MLE?

I read somewhere that we can offer him 120% of his previous salary without using the MLE, but that would be only $3.85M, $2M short of the full MLE which other teams would likely offer. I don't know, but I just can't see us offering Posey the full MLE. We need that money for other bench players.

The journeyman House would probably love to return, but intriguing rookie point guard Gabe Pruitt will likely be given an opportunity to prove himself backing up Rondo. Even so, the Celtics will still need a veteran reserve point guard, and House has a year with the franchise under his belt.

[BrickJames]

Are you kidding me?  This is a business, not a charity event.

Posey's got a ring, and he's about to be a HUGE reason why the Celtics are going to throw him a second.  It's an injustice that he makes as little as Scal.

Don't give us that "I don't believe all he cares about is money" crap.  Have you watched this guy play?

[CoachBo]

Easy decision.

Give Posey the MLE and start whittling down the end of the bench.

Buh-bye, Tony Allen.

[BrickJames]

Also, House is gonzo next year - I wouldn't be at all surprised if Cassell sticks around either.

And that would be the right move.

Buh-Bye Tony Allen is right.  I really hope we can steal Mo Evans from Orlando

[greenwise]

Posey deserves the full MLE. I would also like House resigned and give Cassell's time to Pruitt

[Chris]

This is probably Posey's last chance to really cash in, he would be stupid not to take it. 

I don't think the C's will use the MLE to resign him.  They will have too many other wholes that they will want to try to fill with that money. 

However, there is still a chance they will be able to convince him to stay if they give him 4-5 years with the non-bird exception (120% of previous salary with 8% raises each year I believe).  I think they will put a cap on their offers right there, and see what other teams offer him.  If other teams are offering him 3 years at the MLE, then he may choose the C's.  If other teams give him the full MLE for 4 or 5 years, they will say "thanks for the ring, and enjoy your money".

[Brickowski]

With the possible exception of Philadelphia, I do not think there is a team out there that is significantly under the cap and that would be attractive to Posey.  And if players like Gilbert Arenas and Elton Brand opt out of their deals, they will be first in line for the big dollars, not Posey.

Posey is going to get the MLE.  The question is, how long will his deal be?  The Celtics are certainly in a position of being able to retain him if Wyc & Co. are willing to fork over the cash a 4 year deal, which means 22-23 million PLUS the associated luxury tax. Fortunately, the luxury tax problem becomes much less significant in 2009 because of the way they front-loaded Garnett's contract.

[Roy Hobbs]

I want House back.  I don't care if he's not great against on-the-ball pressure, he fits our team extremely well, as he has demonstrated through the entire regular season, and in those handful of playoff games he was allowed to play in.

If I were Posey, I'd opt out, too.  The hard part is (as Chris alluded to) determining whether it's better to have Posey at the full MLE, and a bunch of guys making the minimum, or whether it's better to split our MLE and bring in a couple of other guys to fill holes.  It's a tougher call than many think.  Hopefully, he takes his 20% raise, although I find that unlikely.

[BUTerrier]

Honestly, though I hate the whole "mercenary" attitude a lot of NBA players come in with, it's hard to fault Posey for opting out, especially since everyone involved knew he never intended it to be more than a one year deal.

It's like every other job: sure, factors like the working environment and the surrounding areas influence you, but if someone offers a significant pay bump, most people would take it. It's why I can't fault Scal for taking the Celtics' ridiculous contract offer, and it's why I can't fault Posey here.

Plus, Posey's not some Shawn Marion, "I don't care where I play as long as I get paid a lot and am the #1 guy" clone. I have no doubt that if the offers are close and the choice is between Boston and a bottom-feeder, he'll take Boston. But if, say, the Lakers offered him a 5 year MLE (and I'm not saying they could; I'm just picking an example of a championship-caliber team besides Boston), and we only offered him 5 years at the Non-Bird exception, it's not like I'll call him a traitor for leaving. Sometimes you have to step up and pay the players who are important to you, and I have no doubt Boston's owners will do that within every ounce of their power for Posey

[CoachBo]

Good points, Roy, if the first eight or so stay the same. I wonder, though, if that remains the case.

It's pretty clear that we're going to have to have a scorer to back up Rondo while he learns the game. His offensive disappearances make us way too easy to defend in the half-court. I think retaining Posey and House is an investment in that. Personally, I think you have to reward Posey this summer for being an integral part of this club.

But if not, then we're going to have to make some moves.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Easy decision.

Give Posey the MLE and start whittling down the end of the bench.

Buh-bye, Tony Allen.

At the contrary. If we spend all the MLE on Posey, there's a good chance we keep Tony just because he doesn't take away any of the exceptions we can use to sign other players.  I wouldn't give up on Tony just yet, even though it has been spot minutes here and there, I think he has been quite decent and composed during the playoffs (sure not a big enough sample to really determine). But I wouldn't be surprised if he plays much much better from next year on.

With that said I want House back too. I loved it when we signed him and I love PG's that can shoot.

[Donoghus]

Can't say I'm shocked by this development.  Posey signed that deal prior to last season knowing that he had that option as a fallback in case of injury or sub-par performance.  Luckily for him and us, neither occurred and he's now set to reap the benefits by opting out.  It's gonna cost money to keep him here but I'm hoping the C's can work something out without obliterating the MLE on him.

I'd love to have House back.  I just think he's been the consummate professional through this (at least publicly) and has been a sparkplug off the bench whenever he's been given the opportunity.  Plus I own a House #50 t-shirt so I'd like to see that thing put to good use for another season.

[CoachBo]

Easy decision.

Give Posey the MLE and start whittling down the end of the bench.

Buh-bye, Tony Allen.

At the contrary. If we spend all the MLE on Posey, there's a good chance we keep Tony just because he doesn't take away any of the exceptions we can use to sign other players.  I wouldn't give up on Tony just yet, even though it has been spot minutes here and there, I think he has been quite decent and composed during the playoffs (sure not a big enough sample to really determine). But I wouldn't be surprised if he plays much much better from next year on.

With that said I want House back too. I loved it when we signed him and I love PG's that can shoot.

No argument on House; plenty on Tony. I don't like unintelligent, mental mistake-prone players and I frankly don't think there's room for Tony on this roster. I'd like to send him on his way and use the roster spot on a more intelligent contributor.

[rondohondo]

I'm not shocked by this at all either, but why start announcing these things now? The teams full focus should be on winning game 5 and getting the championship, anything else is a distraction until that goal is complete. Why have his celtic teammates worrying about next year when we still have this year to finish??

[nickagneta]

I think we can probably do better than Eddie House as a vet backup PG and save some cash in the meantime. If we have to pay of course the player is Anthony Carter but I find Roger Mason from Washington an intriguing backup PG that gives us a gut with a good handle, good AST/TO ratio, can score as well and is big so that he can handle some of the bigger PGs that Rondo can't. I also like Kenyon Dooling and Beno Udrih.

I think Posey is a no brainer but if I was the GM there's no way I give a 32 year old SF a 3-4 year $17-$24 million guaranteed contract. if he was 27-28 years old yes but not at 32.

The problem is there aren't a whole lot of defensive SF out there that can give you what Posey can. Chicago over the last couple of years has looked to include Andres Nocioni in every package they can. If ever we could get a package for him that would be cool but I seriously doubt a sign and trade on T Allen, Powe, Pruitt and a draft pick would do it. As a matter of fact it wouldn't. But a player at that age and that ability(defensive but can do other things as well) would be a perfect fit for the cash Posey is going to want.

If we can't land Posey or choose not to I'd take a flyer on DeMarr Johnson form San Antonio if he physically checked out. If not the only other guys that interest me for James' slot are Bonzi Wells and Matt Barnes.

I think we can pretty much say bye-bye to T Allen, Scot Pollard, PJ Brown(retirement), and probably Eddie House.