Hated Tonight, and Now Woj + Shams Both Hint at Vuce Interest

[Fafnir]

Dont think we can trade for Capela now with Baynes contract gone..so get either 2..Vucevic, Randle, Adams, Katner, Noel, Dedmon, Jordan

Huh? Why couldn't we?

We have enough cap space to absorb his entire contract.

[boscel33]

I'd take Vuce in second I think he fits well into our system. I agree I absolutely hated the draft! Romeo may become a very good player but unless moves are made to loosen up the logjam of wings on this team he will never see the floor. We already have Brown, Tatum and Hayward who will want all those minutes. Assuming we get a PG Smart plays a lot of wing too. I still think there is a chance we make a move with the Cavs for the PG they drafted for dare I say Brown. Not sure if I like that move but I could understand it if Danny thinks the kid is going to be a legit player. Not interested in bringing back Rozier so we shall see what happens going forward.

I think Tatum gets moved to the 4.  Look at his pictures, he's big enough to play it and can stretch the others out.

[Pvictor11]

Been watching Vucevic highlights all Morning and I'm really fine with him as our starting center next year. He played very very well this year. Had a lot of games with 20p, 10r, 5a. He would be a really good fit here. Our wings are better than Orlando's and our backcourt will be a lot better defensively than Augustin-Fournier.
A lineup of Smart, Brown, Tatum, healthy Hayward and Vucevic would be very good imo

[Pvictor11]

Between Vucevic and Adams at the same salary, it's really a no brainer. Adams is less skilled,can't shoot, is horrible at FT, not a good passer and seems slower than Vucevic

[slamtheking]

Between Vucevic and Adams at the same salary, it's really a no brainer. Adams is less skilled,can't shoot, is horrible at FT, not a good passer and seems slower than Vucevic

but his contract comes off the books in 2 years whereas Vucevic would likely want a 4-year deal. Adams is also a better defender which would help back up our small PF options.  one other consideration, a trade for Adams will bring in more draft assets for us where as Vucevic will not.

[RodyTur10]

Dont think we can trade for Capela now with Baynes contract gone..so get either 2..Vucevic, Randle, Adams, Katner, Noel, Dedmon, Jordan.

Despite roster fit I'd sign Randle anyway. Does fit the timeline of the Jays and has legit All Star potential.
I'm okay with a trade for Adams (assuming we get picks to take on his contract).

Vucevic is a very good player, but signing him to a max is a mistake. Vucevic + Hayward + Tatum + Brown as our endgame for a title is almost pathetic. Kanter isn't good enough as a rim protector and boy will we need that.

Dedmon can stretch the floor and we know Stevens likes that, but Noel was sneaky good as a back-up for Adams. Both are fine on a low salary (less than 10 million a year). Jordan has ironically become a lot worse defensively after he solved his free throw issues, don't think he can still get the job done.

[Silky]

I am pro Vucevic. He’s underrated by most in here. He’s not the defender all is but he’s a much better and well rounded offensive player. Most importantly, he’d be a good fit in this system. He can provide the best interior scoring option they have had in a long time.

Honesty not concerned about PG. I think they are going to go with more point Hayward this year.

I suspect they’ll bring Rozier back.

I wouldn’t be surprised. But Rozier cant run an offense either so I still think they don’t need a traditional big name PG on the roster.

We can have Hayward run the offense. Have Rozier play off ball and be a hound on defense against the opposing PG.

So who goes to the bench on that god awful team?

Brown?
Tatum?

Or do you think thay vucevic can cover for hayward orbtatum defensively well enough for them to play pf?

Cause none of those scenarios will or should happen

[sawick48]

Bleh.

Sorry, nothing I've read here has given me any hope at all that adding Vuce wouldn't be a waste.

Argument about whether he'd actually leave Orlando aside, adding him means we have nobody to guard Embiid, Giannis, potentially Durant.

I know, I know, "who can guard those guys anyway?"  But isn't that the point?  If we're going to go forward not being able to stop the best of the best, why in the world then would be want to hamper our cap sheet with a $25-30M aging big for 4 years who is all but assured to regress?  If we keep the J's (Jaylen/Jayson) then in 2 years we'll have they and Vuce responsible for something like 75-90% of the cap.  And NV will by that point already be on the downside of his career with at least one year left to go on his deal. Are we winning a title in that time w/ that team? HIGHLY unlikely. And if you aren't going for a title in the NBA, what the hell are you doing?

That's why I hope this is a smokescreen some how. I get we have cap space none of us thought we would, and I get we have to use it bc keeping Jaylen probably means maxing him out next offseason and the cap space won't be there anyway; but we aren't winning a title anytime soon. So why band-aid the next 2 years just to feel like we didn't lose that much on paper by adding Vuce when we can "re-tool" by going after one of the young guys in FA who may still have some potential to grow into and hope they hit it off w/ the J's together?

Basically - signing Vuce to me is giving up and admitting you worry more about how you're viewed around the league. Whereas a Randle/Brogdon/Russell signing, or even just a pursuit of those guys, indicates to me anyway that we at least have a plan in mind.

[Silky]

I'd take Vuce in second I think he fits well into our system. I agree I absolutely hated the draft! Romeo may become a very good player but unless moves are made to loosen up the logjam of wings on this team he will never see the floor. We already have Brown, Tatum and Hayward who will want all those minutes. Assuming we get a PG Smart plays a lot of wing too. I still think there is a chance we make a move with the Cavs for the PG they drafted for dare I say Brown. Not sure if I like that move but I could understand it if Danny thinks the kid is going to be a legit player. Not interested in bringing back Rozier so we shall see what happens going forward.

I think Tatum gets moved to the 4.  Look at his pictures, he's big enough to play it and can stretch the others out.

So take our potential superstar and force him to play out of position?

That seems likeba terrible idea.

[Silky]

I’m sure the interest is there in Vuc, but who knows whether he will want to leave Orlando (great weather and no taxes) or go elsewhere besides Boston.

That said, if they bring him in, I’d be ok with keeping Rozier. He’s a pretty good spot-up shooter, is careful with the ball, and will have Hayward to take a lot of the playmaking responsibilities.

Rozier
Brown
Hayward
Tatum
Vucevic

That’s a pretty good starting five. How he fills out the bench will be interesting.

If they can bring someone decent in with the RE (I guess that’s around 2yr/$10M), resign Theis, and hope Langford is ready, we could have a shot.

Bench of Smart, Theis, Langford, Semi(?), and the Room Exception wouldn’t be the worst, I guess. Maybe dump Yabu and future first for a high risk/high reward third-year player.

If Tatum and/or Brown take the leap (which is much more possible without Kyrie), we could be a dangerous team. I hope they are hungry and really dig in this offseason. Neither met expectations last season and the Celtics clearly have faith in them.

There’s really no other choice. We can’t really tank. It’ll be a terrible environment for the Jay’s and Hayward would want out.

Rozier
Brown
Hayward
Tatum
Vucevic

Is indeed a pretty good starting five, but lacks the interior defense to be able to contain a team like the Bucks or 76ers. That's a guaranteed 1st or 2nd round exit.

That is a terrible starting lineup. At BEST 7th seed in the east.

Rozier is hot trash who cannot set up teammates or run an offense and is not a good enough shooter to offset that.

Tatum, to reach his full potential, needs to be a small forward. Not a power forward

[Silky]

Team had better not resign rozier. Edwards is a better fit as a starting pg as a knock down 3pt shooter.

And they also better not try and play tatum at pf. He is a sf. That is his natural position. Dont stray from that

[Pvictor11]

I’m sure the interest is there in Vuc, but who knows whether he will want to leave Orlando (great weather and no taxes) or go elsewhere besides Boston.

That said, if they bring him in, I’d be ok with keeping Rozier. He’s a pretty good spot-up shooter, is careful with the ball, and will have Hayward to take a lot of the playmaking responsibilities.

Rozier
Brown
Hayward
Tatum
Vucevic

That’s a pretty good starting five. How he fills out the bench will be interesting.

If they can bring someone decent in with the RE (I guess that’s around 2yr/$10M), resign Theis, and hope Langford is ready, we could have a shot.

Bench of Smart, Theis, Langford, Semi(?), and the Room Exception wouldn’t be the worst, I guess. Maybe dump Yabu and future first for a high risk/high reward third-year player.

If Tatum and/or Brown take the leap (which is much more possible without Kyrie), we could be a dangerous team. I hope they are hungry and really dig in this offseason. Neither met expectations last season and the Celtics clearly have faith in them.

There’s really no other choice. We can’t really tank. It’ll be a terrible environment for the Jay’s and Hayward would want out.

Rozier
Brown
Hayward
Tatum
Vucevic

Is indeed a pretty good starting five, but lacks the interior defense to be able to contain a team like the Bucks or 76ers. That's a guaranteed 1st or 2nd round exit.

That is a terrible starting lineup. At BEST 7th seed in the east.

Rozier is hot trash who cannot set up teammates or run an offense and is not a good enough shooter to offset that.

Tatum, to reach his full potential, needs to be a small forward. Not a power forward

I don't think it's a 7th seed. Orlando Just went to the playoffs with Vucevic and a supporting cast that is A LOT worse than ours, on offense and defense. So,I think this lineup is better than that. I would Just swap Rozier for Smart. I feel Rozier won't be here next year.
I personally would prefer to spend money on Brogdon and have an athletic center, but I don't see the Bucks letting Brogdon go to a rival, so I like Vucevic as an alternative, in case we don't get a better PG

[gpap]

I usually only come on here during the offseason and trade deadlines so my apologies if this has been brought up but in just browsing I didn't see it here yet, but both Woj and Shams reported on interest the C's have in going after Vucevich in FA.

That's be the perfect topping on this crap-sundae.

I think Danny panicked after everything w/ Kyrie and Al, plain and simple. I don't think he knew what to do tonight so he played half upside and potential (Langford) and half playoff team pushing for wins (GW) and it ended up netting us a wing who can't shoot and plays like a poor man's Melo and a woefully undersized 4 who either needs to gain 2 inches or drop 20 lbs and add speed in order to be able to guard anybody in the nba.

And then the Vuce news.  I for the life of me will never understand why we'd trade a $5M center who can play defense and is coachable, just to clear space for a (will be) 29 year old  Center who granted has skills offensively, but will be a poor replacement for Al on offense and/or Baynes on D. 

Am I crazy?  Just punt rebounding (it clearly wasn't enough of an issue for you to worry about addressing with any of your 3 picks tonight).  Worry about the youth movement and building a core that can grow together and maybe get to the point of contending for a title in 2-3 years.  If I'm wrong tell me but isn't that the most logical path to take at this point?  And if so, wouldn't the only FAs who fit that profile this offseason be one of either Randle, Brogdon, or (my preference) D'Lo?

I have respect for Vuce's game but he's been around or above a 20 PER player since his 2nd year in the league and it's just made no difference for his team (nevermind the fact that prior to this past season he had 2 years in a row where his DRtg was higher than his ORtg).

Someone talk some sense into me?

Let's see where this goes. I didn't necessarily mind last night. I think a shooting guard, point guard and power forward are areas of need with Kyrie and Horford gone and Ainge got that done with Langford, Grant Williams and Carsen Edwards. I also love that he shed Baynes' salary.

Right now, we have $23 million in cap space. I think we could have up to $35 million in cap space if we boot Morris and Rozier.

I think Vucevic is a great target and a practical one as we NEED a center and have always like him. There could also be another free agent Danny is looking at. We also NEED a power forward as both Tatum and Hayward are small forwards.

So, it could be one of two starting lineups. Ainge offers the $23 per yr to Vucevic, resigns Morris and Rozier and we go with
Rozier/Brown/Hayward OR Tatum/Morris/Vucevic

OR....he frees up more cap space by renouncing Rozier and Morris and either goes after another free agent or trades for one with the excess cap space. Tobias Harris would be another guy I would target as a power forward.

Either way, much to Ainge's credit, he could end up making this a very productive offseason after it started out so poorly with AD dealt to LA and Horford leaving.

June 30th can't get here fast enough to find out the direction of the team. However if I had to guess, I don't think and hope that Ainge DOESN'T want to embark on another rebuild. Maybe more of a re-tooling of the roster

[footey]

What is Orlando's salary cap situation like?  Are they going into luxury tax territory if they sign Vuc to a max?

[Sophomore]

Between Vucevic and Adams at the same salary, it's really a no brainer. Adams is less skilled,can't shoot, is horrible at FT, not a good passer and seems slower than Vucevic

but his contract comes off the books in 2 years whereas Vucevic would likely want a 4-year deal. Adams is also a better defender which would help back up our small PF options.  one other consideration, a trade for Adams will bring in more draft assets for us where as Vucevic will not.

With G Williams and Adams at the 4 and 5, opposing teams are going to leave Boston with bruises.

And consider this lineup: Smart-Brown-Ojeleye-GWill-Adams. That's a lot of beef. (Not saying it's a *good* lineup. Just really an outlier lineup.)