Forget Howard , lets go after big AL

[Tr1boy]

A trade that I think both sides will be happy with

To Hornets: Sullinger, Lee,  Turner,  Young, 1st (non lotto), 3 2nd picks
To Celtics: Big Al, Batum, Aaron Harrison, Troy Daniels

Starting

Big AL
KO
Batum
AB
IT

Amir
Jerebko/Mickey
Crowder
Hunter/Harrison
Smart

For the 2nd unit you could always play AB or Batum some extra mins. As well as IT with Smart

The potential Big Al, KO inside outside (also a variety of shooters to choose from) could make our team even more deadly.  Defense is not Big Al strong suit but he has come a long way and is at least competent now.  Will get help from the other 4 strong defenders. Batum also a big addition

Forget about next season, this is a move to get us far into the playoffs.

[PhoSita]

I think Big Al, unfortunately, is near the end of the line.

[SHAQATTACK]

Big Al. .....is better choice than The Clown.

[CFAN38]

My apposed to going after big al with the thought that he is a hired gun fr the playoffs. I doubt the hornets have any interest in moving batum. Maybe lee , Cs 2016 1st and a 2016 second for big al

[crimson_stallion]

My lord, why in god's name would you want Al Jefferson over Dwight Howard???

Per 36:

Howard is averaging 16 and 13 along with 60% FG, should make us significantly better on both ends of the court. 
 
Jefferson is averaging 18 and 9 along with 48% FG, probably helps us on offense but would destroy our glorious defense.

Yeah he's not as injury prone and yeah he's contract is significantly lower, but neither of those things concern me enough about Dwight tot he point where I'd take Jefferson over him.  I feel like Jefferson is a very minor (if any) upgrade over what we have now.

I also really doubt that we'd get Jefferson AND Batum for what is essentially Sully, a late first and filler.

[Tr1boy]

My lord, why in god's name would you want Al Jefferson over Dwight Howard???

Per 36:

Howard is averaging 16 and 13 along with 60% FG, should make us significantly better on both ends of the court. 
 
Jefferson is averaging 18 and 9 along with 48% FG, probably helps us on offense but would destroy our glorious defense.

Yeah he's not as injury prone and yeah he's contract is significantly lower, but neither of those things concern me enough about Dwight tot he point where I'd take Jefferson over him.  I feel like Jefferson is a very minor (if any) upgrade over what we have now.

I also really doubt that we'd get Jefferson AND Batum for what is essentially Sully, a late first and filler.

In the end that bum rockets GM is going to keep raising the bar

So danny LEe, Sully and 4 1sts right??

Danny - Hangs up the phone

you can't deal with that GM

[LilRip]

Talk about your broken down big men. Big Al is more of an injury risk than Dwight.

[greenhead85]

No.

If Dwight is not available, I think a very good (if not even better) alternative is Serge Ibaka. Amir and Tyler Zeller  + non-Brookyln 1st round picks for Serge.

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=jljwvde

OKC has Enes and Adams. Adding two more bigs to compensate for Ibaka departure I guess would suffice.

Ibaka practically solves our rim protection problem.

[MJohnnyboy]

No.

If Dwight is not available, I think a very good (if not even better) alternative is Serge Ibaka. Amir and Tyler Zeller  + non-Brookyln 1st round picks for Serge.

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=jljwvde

OKC has Enes and Adams. Adding two more bigs to compensate for Ibaka departure I guess would suffice.

Ibaka practically solves our rim protection problem.

OKC's not getting rid of him. Especially not now.

[crimson_stallion]

My lord, why in god's name would you want Al Jefferson over Dwight Howard???

Per 36:

Howard is averaging 16 and 13 along with 60% FG, should make us significantly better on both ends of the court. 
 
Jefferson is averaging 18 and 9 along with 48% FG, probably helps us on offense but would destroy our glorious defense.

Yeah he's not as injury prone and yeah he's contract is significantly lower, but neither of those things concern me enough about Dwight tot he point where I'd take Jefferson over him.  I feel like Jefferson is a very minor (if any) upgrade over what we have now.

I also really doubt that we'd get Jefferson AND Batum for what is essentially Sully, a late first and filler.

In the end that bum rockets GM is going to keep raising the bar

So danny LEe, Sully and 4 1sts right??

Danny - Hangs up the phone

you can't deal with that GM

Possibly, but that's fine - if he wont take an offer that is remotely reasonable, then you you don't do the deal. 

No biggie. 

We'd be better with Dwight for sure, but were tied for the 3rd seed without him, so we are by no means desperate. 

Everybody knows Dwight as a household name so he's not a Crowder/Thomas type who is likely to slip under the table in a crazy one sided deal.  Chances are if we want him, we probably are going to have to give up SOME value.  As long as the expected return is reasonable, then I'm OK with that.  If it's not, then walk away. 

i honestly think Danny has the high ground in this negotiation for that reason.  We can afford to be without Dwight, but would prefer to have him.  The Rockets on the other hand are pretty desperate to do away with him, since the West is so top heavy that the Rockets have no hope of home court advantage unless they change something.

Regardless of whether a deal happens or not though, I still wouldn't go after Jefferson.  I know we really need a center, but I don't see him as the right guy for this team.  His game is far too one dimensional IMHO for him to have any positive impact on this team's win record.  Unless we could get him for David Lee and a 2nd round pick (unlikely) I just wouldn't have any interest.   

[SparzWizard]

I prefer Al Horford over Al Jefferson or Dwight Howard.

[MJohnnyboy]

I prefer Al Horford over Al Jefferson or Dwight Howard.

This. Horford is the jack of all trades that I think would help the most out of the three. I predict there will be some serious talks between the Hawks and the Celtics before the deadline.

[crimson_stallion]

No.

If Dwight is not available, I think a very good (if not even better) alternative is Serge Ibaka. Amir and Tyler Zeller  + non-Brookyln 1st round picks for Serge.

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=jljwvde

OKC has Enes and Adams. Adding two more bigs to compensate for Ibaka departure I guess would suffice.

Ibaka practically solves our rim protection problem.

OKC's not getting rid of him. Especially not now.

Yeah, there is no way in hell OKC gives up Ibaka for a weak deal like that.  Any player of Ibaka's caliber or better is likely to require either a very good young talent (e.g. Thomas, Crowder) or a Brooklyn pick, or both.

Only exception is if the team specifically wants the player gone (or if they are a FA and want to walk), in which case the team might take a bit less. 

I think we all need to remember as well, that draft picks are going to decrease a LOT in value over the next few seasons.  When the cap was at $56m teams were struggling to fit talent in that cap, and so the prospect of being able to get rookie contract guys who could contribute right away was hugely valuable.  Now that the cap is climbing towards $100M (and beyond) money is going to be getting thrown around left, right and center.  The value of these rookie contracts is still there, but it's nowhere near what it would have been a year or two ago.

[Eddie20]

Batum is really good. They want to build around him.

[crimson_stallion]

I prefer Al Horford over Al Jefferson or Dwight Howard.

This. Horford is the jack of all trades that I think would help the most out of the three. I predict there will be some serious talks between the Hawks and the Celtics before the deadline.

i would prefer Dwight over Horford. 

Dwight has declined over the years, but he's still putting up very impressive numbers and still has the ability to be dominant on defense and on the boards, and even occasionally on offense.

Horford has also declined over the last few years, but he's putting up only mildly impressive numbers this year, and is really only 'good' as a rebounder, defender and scorer.  Like Dwight, he's also very injury prone.

IMHO Dwight is the bigger impact player - he has the potential to be an absolute game changer in the playoffs because even in his current (declined) state, he still has the ability to completely control the paint.

Horford on the other hand is kinda like a rich man's Kelly Olynyk in that there isn't any one thing that he is really dominant at, but he'll just make your team better by quietly doing a lot of things well.   

Given the choice, I'll take the guy who has the potential to dominate. Teams with lots of solid guys but no dominant ones usually do very well in the regular season, and drop off the face of the earth come playoff time - Atlanta being the perfect example.  Teams with guys who can dominant certain aspects of the game tend to be the kind of  teams that make hard runs in the Playoffs.

With Thomas dominating on offense and Dwight dominating the paint, I think that this team could be really deadly - and a front court duo of Olynyk+Dwight honestly feels like a match made in heaven.