Per Shams...C's going hard after a center

[Pvictor11]

I just read that Vucevic is 7' (probably in shoes) with a 7'4" wing span. Is this true? I did not realize he was that long. Also, he averaged 21 points, 12 rebounds and 3.8 assists last season.

I am probably going to retract all the cold water I have been pouring over him the last 24 hours. Maybe he is a perfect candidate for us to target with a big FA offer.

I didn't think he was a good signing until I checked his stats and saw some games highlights this Morning. He would be a very good fit here. He can shoots, rebound, pass, drive to the hoop against slower centers.
I would prefer signing Brogdon and having an athletic center next tô Hayward as a PF. But would be fine with Smart, Brown, Tatum, Hayward and Vucevic as plan B in case an offer for Brogdon is matched

As good as Vucevic is, he isn't that great of a defender either. Also, FWIW, he got cooked by Gasol in the previous playoff series to Toronto and was pretty much a no-show in all but one game that series.

I'd be fine with Vucevic but if his price is actually near max or even max, then forget it.

Speaking of Gasol in Kawhi leaves the Raptors maybe he would be open to signing here on short money.  Sign Kemba Walker to the max, and use one of the exceptions on Gasol. Ha

Said this before: Vooch anchored a top-10 defense and playoff team in Orlando all season. Playoffs are a different animal - but that said defense is more about scheme and effort and the sum of the parts. Few guys in the league are true defensive anchors a la Garnett.

Toronto just won the Finals. Don't care how Vucevic looked against not-that-long-ago DPOY Marc Gasol.

Add to that vooch was the primary offensive focus as well. He should be used like horford.

But team would need to getba big defensive pf beside him.

Maybe williams is that guy. That remains to be seen though, but the team absolutely MUST have a distributing point guard.

Ideallt Vooch can be had for a cheap enough price to throw am offer at a true facilitator at point. (Rubio)

I hold out hope that hayward is used to bring in a point or center on sign and trade.

Why do you want Rubio? I rather start Smart. He can be our pass first PG. Rubio is a worst defender, shooter, athlete, is older and seems softer

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

if no player will make us a contender just TANK. JB and JT are young enough to endure a few years of tanking to get some real good players. just play the youngsters. if we get killed so be it. bigger picture. do not waste money on a guy who will not make a big difference in the grand scheme.

Celtics have too much talent to really tank.  Not to mention it leads to bad habits from the current young players. 

unfortunately you may be right. we could not tank properly because of brad in the past. but no FA will come here and put us over the top now. we are in NBA hell. no TANK? no contention? sad. draft was terrible IMO.

Get a grip with this tanking garbage. I'm not going to watch a team that plans on tanking as I'd have better things to do, like rearranging my sock drawer.  Are you?

lol yeah but it will be FUN! i read it here from multiple posters! come on! you did not enjoy those 2014 and 15 seasons? we loved them on the game board! 

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

I don't think there's a discussion needed whether Vucevic is good enough, but the question should be: is Vucevic the guy the Celtics need? And just as important, is that the best use of our cap space to work our way back up?

exactly. great questions. that is one of my main points. don't just spend to spend if we are in NBA hell anyway.

[gpap]

I don't think there's a discussion needed whether Vucevic is good enough, but the question should be: is Vucevic the guy the Celtics need? And just as important, is that the best use of our cap space to work our way back up?

exactly. great questions. that is one of my main points. don't just spend to spend if we are in NBA hell anyway.

I'd like to hope we're not in NBA hell, and I think Vucevic would be a fine pick-up. Another question though is who's going to be our starting power forward?

[BMark]

I don't think there's a discussion needed whether Vucevic is good enough, but the question should be: is Vucevic the guy the Celtics need? And just as important, is that the best use of our cap space to work our way back up?

exactly. great questions. that is one of my main points. don't just spend to spend if we are in NBA hell anyway.

I'd like to hope we're not in NBA hell, and I think Vucevic would be a fine pick-up. Another question though is who's going to be our starting power forward?

Wyc has said in the past he will loosen the pursestrings for a contender.  Given the current roster does paying Vucevic advance the team significantly towards that goal? Probably not

[ETNCeltics]

I disagree with those who are opposed to adding Vooch. Even if he isn't any sort of missing piece, he's a talented big man, something we currently have zero of. If we're going to see if J&J - one or both - can be cornerstone players, they need to have a reasonable team around them. Throwing them out there with Robert & Grant Williams as their bigs isn't reasonable.

My only hesitation to signing Vooch is he'll get the max, and does paying him that much, considering potential upcoming extensions for J&J, prevent us from signing a max FA in 2021? If it would, I'd be all in on acquiring Stephen Adams since his deal is up in 2 years.

[Birdman]

Get Vucevic and Randle if cap lets us..
Vucevic
Randle
Tatum
Brown
Smart

Robert Williams
Gordon Hayward
Romeo Langsford
Semi Ojeyle
Grant Williams
Carsen Edwards

[alt]

Vucevic improved a lot defensively, especially since he was coached by Scott Skiles and then Frank Vogel. Awful defender his first four years in the league but has been steadily improving - last season he hustled a lot and was easily an above average defender,  vulnerable in certain situations like switches, pretty good at closing lanes, contesting his man and of course a tremendous rebounder.

That said, he didn't anchor anything - Orlando had quality defenders in the line-up : Gordon is great, Isaac will be, Iwundu is terrific, Khem Birch also well. More of a team effort. And the one thing they were truly elite at was defensive rebounding. Hard do score second chance points on them.

If Vucevic improved defensively with Skiles/Vogel, he improved a lot offensively with Steve Clifford. The improvement on his 3pt shooting is obvious, but I was more impressed with his passing. He's become a very good passer/playmaker. Orlando had lots of defensive talent but very little offensive talent. If they weren't bottom of the league, it was mostly due to Vucevic playmaking.

That said, I'd be very skeptical of giving Vucevic a large long-term contract:

* Age, will play next season at 29
* Pretty sure he has peaked defensively. Very doubtful he'll keep up the hustling he showed last season in a contract year.
* Not sure he'll be able to sustain his 3pt shooting. And he was good but not exactly spectacular.
* Related, he's very reliant on shots from the top.
* While his offensive game gained a lot of variety last season, he isn't a 1st option. He's more a Horford type of player offensively -complementary playmaker/scorer- because he isn't that good at creating shots for himself in volume/efficiency.

[arctic 3.0]

While I think Vuc would be a solid addition to our lineup, I think Steven Adams would be preferable.
A defensive beast who’s could anchor a lineup of wings/swings.

Wondering if a sign and trade with Horford would work?
Cap experts?

[saltlover]

While I think Vuc would be a solid addition to our lineup, I think Steven Adams would be preferable.
A defensive beast who’s could anchor a lineup of wings/swings.

Wondering if a sign and trade with Horford would work?
Cap experts?

It would not, and it’s unnecessary, as we have the cap room to absorb Adams’ contract.

[otherdave]

If M Brogdon is #1 priority and can be had for 23 million, that leaves 12 for Thomas Byrant - although Wizards probably match.

Anybody for Willie Cauley Stein for 10 to 12 million?

All three of these names are RFA - which are very hard to pry away from original team,
but I really like Brogdon and Bryant, and they fit the timeline.

[blink]

While I think Vuc would be a solid addition to our lineup, I think Steven Adams would be preferable.
A defensive beast who’s could anchor a lineup of wings/swings.

Wondering if a sign and trade with Horford would work?
Cap experts?

It would not, and it’s unnecessary, as we have the cap room to absorb Adams’ contract.

...and hopefully get some other compensation back from OKC for helping them with their cap space.

[blink]

If M Brogdon is #1 priority and can be had for 23 million, that leaves 12 for Thomas Byrant - although Wizards probably match.

Anybody for Willie Cauley Stein for 10 to 12 million?

All three of these names are RFA - which are very hard to pry away from original team,
but I really like Brogdon and Bryant, and they fit the timeline.

I really like Brogdon too, but if he comes here either Smart or Brown would probably need to go somewhere else. 
Too much salary.  I don't want to lose either Smart or Brown, but Brogdon is a good player.

[Celts Fan 508]

If M Brogdon is #1 priority and can be had for 23 million, that leaves 12 for Thomas Byrant - although Wizards probably match.

Anybody for Willie Cauley Stein for 10 to 12 million?

All three of these names are RFA - which are very hard to pry away from original team,
but I really like Brogdon and Bryant, and they fit the timeline.

I think Brogdon could be signed for $19 million and Randle for $16 million, find some way to add a defensive center like R Lopez and we will probably go further than we did this season. 

[arctic 3.0]

While I think Vuc would be a solid addition to our lineup, I think Steven Adams would be preferable.
A defensive beast who’s could anchor a lineup of wings/swings.

Wondering if a sign and trade with Horford would work?
Cap experts?

It would not, and it’s unnecessary, as we have the cap room to absorb Adams’ contract.

So, theoretically, we could absorb Adams contract w/o sending out any assets...
That would be cool, though I think OKC could get some good value for the big man.