ESPN Experts - On possible trades

[Moranis]

http://espn.go.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/14365711/5-5-experts-break-new-york-knicks-memphis-grizzlies-other-teams-hit-trade-market-nba

Haberstroh thinks Boston should be active.  Basically says Boston's pockets are full of quarters and would be a good team to make change for a dollar.  Specifically mentions Zeller, who is barely playing, as the most efficient pick-and-roll player in the league last year.  Mentions Cousins as a possible trade target.  Later on he also identifies Gallinari as a guy that would be a good fit. 

No one else really mentioned Boston but it was interesting to see who they think might get moved and what a possible trade might look like.

[ssspence]

Interesting to see so much talk of Memphis tearing it down. I wonder if three 1sts over the next two years plus Sullinger would be enough to pry Gasol away?

[D Dub]

Feels like its shaping up to be a buyers market.   Lots of teams selling; NY, Chi, LA, Sac, Mem, Phi ...but the only real team mentioned as a partner everytime seems to be us.   

[Quetzalcoatl]

I'd be interested in Marc Gasol, Okafor, Noel, Butler and Cousins.  I don't think we're getting any of them, though. 

We'll probably trade for Gallinari on Feb 1st.  He's better than Crowder, the Nuggets stink and he's not in their long term plans.  He is the exact kind of player that teams stubbornly hold on to, though. 

[LarBrd33]

Feels like its shaping up to be a buyers market.   Lots of teams selling; NY, Chi, LA, Sac, Mem, Phi ...but the only real team mentioned as a partner everytime seems to be us.

If i'm a big market team like Chicago, New York or LA, and feel like a title is unlikely this year, I give considerable thought into trading one of my star vets for a top draft pick... and free up cap space to be a major player this Summer.   Problem is, with the cap raising almost every team will have cap space this summer.  And perhaps teams like Boston could avoid taking on big money for the same reason... they can be a player in free agency this summer.   I think Ainge wants to have cap space for two max contracts... just in case.   You aren't winning a title with Danilo Gallinari as your best player.  At least give yourself a shot at signing Durant and Al Horford even if it's crazy unlikely.

[hpantazo]

I would love to target Galinari. He's rounded back into form after his knee issues and looks pretty good right now. He's still young, and would fit very well into CBS' system, and provide much needed shooting and even a go-to scorer.

[PhoSita]

Memphis should wait until after they find out what Mike Conley does to decide on trading Marc Gasol.

They probably should try like heck to trade Z-Bo for an expiring contract and pick up a 1st round pick, though.

[PhoSita]

I would love to target Galinari. He's rounded back into form after his knee issues and looks pretty good right now. He's still young, and would fit very well into CBS' system, and provide much needed shooting and even a go-to scorer.

My issue with Gallo is I think he's a 4 in Brad's system, and we already have too many of those. 

If we were to end up with a center like Whiteside or Cousins, though, Gallo could be really good next to him.  Thomas - Bradley - Crowder - Gallo - Cousins seems like it could be a heck of a lineup.

[oldtype]

I would love to target Galinari. He's rounded back into form after his knee issues and looks pretty good right now. He's still young, and would fit very well into CBS' system, and provide much needed shooting and even a go-to scorer.

Would love to see small-ball lineups with Amir-Crowder-Gallo-Avery-IT

[ssspence]

Feels like its shaping up to be a buyers market.   Lots of teams selling; NY, Chi, LA, Sac, Mem, Phi ...but the only real team mentioned as a partner everytime seems to be us.

If i'm a big market team like Chicago, New York or LA, and feel like a title is unlikely this year, I give considerable thought into trading one of my star vets for a top draft pick... and free up cap space to be a major player this Summer.   Problem is, with the cap raising almost every team will have cap space this summer.  And perhaps teams like Boston could avoid taking on big money for the same reason... they can be a player in free agency this summer.   I think Ainge wants to have cap space for two max contracts... just in case.   You aren't winning a title with Danilo Gallinari as your best player.  At least give yourself a shot at signing Durant and Al Horford even if it's crazy unlikely.

Agree. I don't see him trading for any veteran with multiple years less unless they'll immediately be one of the top 2-3 players on the team. The Gallinari example feels kind of like the floor to me, not that I feel Danilo really fills a major hole on the team.

But I could see him trading for someone like Conley or Anderson (final year of contract).

[hpantazo]

Feels like its shaping up to be a buyers market.   Lots of teams selling; NY, Chi, LA, Sac, Mem, Phi ...but the only real team mentioned as a partner everytime seems to be us.

If i'm a big market team like Chicago, New York or LA, and feel like a title is unlikely this year, I give considerable thought into trading one of my star vets for a top draft pick... and free up cap space to be a major player this Summer.   Problem is, with the cap raising almost every team will have cap space this summer.  And perhaps teams like Boston could avoid taking on big money for the same reason... they can be a player in free agency this summer.   I think Ainge wants to have cap space for two max contracts... just in case.   You aren't winning a title with Danilo Gallinari as your best player.  At least give yourself a shot at signing Durant and Al Horford even if it's crazy unlikely.

Can we really be a player in free agency this summer though? Have we ever even been in consideration for any top free agent ever? I know the argument is we never had cap space to go for one, but we are not a top FA destination with the cold weather, taxes, general Boston environment, etc. We would have to sell the heck out of CBS being the main attraction here, and can we really risk the future of this team to take that chance? I'm not saying its not a good option, I'm just not convinced. For example, what is the realistic chance that Durant signs with us this summer? 10% at best?

On the other hand, if Ainge wants to add Galinari and a center like Whiteside, he can easily get it done without losing any key pieces to the current team, and that lineup could be a contender.

I think the interesting question that will come up at some point before the trade deadline is, should the Celtics trade for Carmelo Anthony? He will be on the block, and we are the team in the best position to deal for him.

[LooseCannon]

I'm not saying that location is never a factor, but it isn't always a big factor.  The Celtics should go after players who care most about winning and avoid chasing after stars who make thing like nightlife and weather a priority.

A bigger concern for some stars is that their PPG is going to go down and they will expected to try harder on defense.  Will Boston look attractive to someone like Kevin Durant if it looks like he won't score more than 25ppg in Stevens' system?  if he doesn't care about kissing future scoring titles goodbye because he wants to win, that's someone who the Celtics should go after and who should rate the Celtics higher than the average star.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I would love to target Galinari. He's rounded back into form after his knee issues and looks pretty good right now. He's still young, and would fit very well into CBS' system, and provide much needed shooting and even a go-to scorer.

My issue with Gallo is I think he's a 4 in Brad's system, and we already have too many of those. 

If we were to end up with a center like Whiteside or Cousins, though, Gallo could be really good next to him.  Thomas - Bradley - Crowder - Gallo - Cousins seems like it could be a heck of a lineup.

Why do you think that?  Because he's 6'10"?

[Eddie20]

Feels like its shaping up to be a buyers market.   Lots of teams selling; NY, Chi, LA, Sac, Mem, Phi ...but the only real team mentioned as a partner everytime seems to be us.

If i'm a big market team like Chicago, New York or LA, and feel like a title is unlikely this year, I give considerable thought into trading one of my star vets for a top draft pick... and free up cap space to be a major player this Summer.   Problem is, with the cap raising almost every team will have cap space this summer.  And perhaps teams like Boston could avoid taking on big money for the same reason... they can be a player in free agency this summer.   I think Ainge wants to have cap space for two max contracts... just in case.   You aren't winning a title with Danilo Gallinari as your best player.  At least give yourself a shot at signing Durant and Al Horford even if it's crazy unlikely.

Horford has really fallen off this year. He's really struggling to rebound and his overall numbers have regressed over the last 3 years. He seems a step slow, which was one of his primary strengths before. I would hesitate on giving him a max deal that would see him under contract from age 31-34. Right now, and going forward, I would have Gallo as the better player.

Sidenote: Can you imagine how devestating a "small" ball (even though they're all 7 feet or close to it) frontcourt of Olynyk, Durant, and Gallo would be? So much spacing.

[LarBrd33]

Feels like its shaping up to be a buyers market.   Lots of teams selling; NY, Chi, LA, Sac, Mem, Phi ...but the only real team mentioned as a partner everytime seems to be us.

If i'm a big market team like Chicago, New York or LA, and feel like a title is unlikely this year, I give considerable thought into trading one of my star vets for a top draft pick... and free up cap space to be a major player this Summer.   Problem is, with the cap raising almost every team will have cap space this summer.  And perhaps teams like Boston could avoid taking on big money for the same reason... they can be a player in free agency this summer.   I think Ainge wants to have cap space for two max contracts... just in case.   You aren't winning a title with Danilo Gallinari as your best player.  At least give yourself a shot at signing Durant and Al Horford even if it's crazy unlikely.

Can we really be a player in free agency this summer though? Have we ever even been in consideration for any top free agent ever? I know the argument is we never had cap space to go for one, but we are not a top FA destination with the cold weather, taxes, general Boston environment, etc. We would have to sell the heck out of CBS being the main attraction here, and can we really risk the future of this team to take that chance? I'm not saying its not a good option, I'm just not convinced. For example, what is the realistic chance that Durant signs with us this summer? 10% at best?

On the other hand, if Ainge wants to add Galinari and a center like Whiteside, he can easily get it done without losing any key pieces to the current team, and that lineup could be a contender.

I think the interesting question that will come up at some point before the trade deadline is, should the Celtics trade for Carmelo Anthony? He will be on the block, and we are the team in the best position to deal for him.

I see no reason to believe we can't be a player in free agency.   Celtics are a prestige franchise.  Nationally they have one of the 5 largest fanbases.  It's not a small market.   They have an elite coach, an elite front office, should make the playoffs and could even threaten to win close to 50 games this year without a single star.   Every top-level free agent should be taking our calls. 

We were never a player in free agency in the past, because the team literally never had cap space.   This last offseason was our first year with cap space.  We didn't have many options to add a star so Ainge set us up to maintain our flexibility this summer.  Also, I doubt free agents around the league really took Boston all that seriously.  We had a flukey late season run and then were curb stomped by the Cavs.  But we're showing enough this year that should suggest that we're a competent team or role players that just needs a couple stars to make us legitimate.

The problem with Gallo is that taking on his money might ruin your chance at luring two free agents this summer.