Trade idea: Cody Zeller, a legit starter

[Androslav]

I always liked Cody Zeller as a player.
Good soldier, fairly athletic, rebounder, experienced, solid lob threat, sets fine screens, moves laterally, has some touch and a pedigree.
However, Horford, Zellers's injuries and his contractual unavailability cooled me off.
Now, with our center spot minutes being there for the taking I am intrigued by him more than before.

His contract situation:
2019-20  $14,471,910   
2020-21  $15,415,730

This means that his contract goes one year beyond this season.
Since the summer of 2020 Free agency pool looks absolutely horrific, especially with the recent extensions, that is a good and market fair contract to have. Remember cap space is almost worthless next year. He wouldn't be a burden since that summer we will just want to extend Tatum. If we fast forward to January 13th we can propose Charlotte trade package of:

Theis ($5,000,000) +
Kanter ($4,767,000) +
and 2020 Milwaukee's 1st (or 2 2nds but I doubt it would work)
for
Cody Zeller ($14,471,910)

The trade would be viable cap-wise since it falls in the $6,533,334 - $19.6 million trade category (the outgoing salary plus $5 million) and IMO It would give us starter quality big even beyond this year.

What's your take?

[gpap]

Meh, I don't think Cody Zeller moves the needle. We already had one Zeller and he kinda sucked. Cody is probably a little better but not someone I'd trade for. Just my opinion of course.

[Fierce1]

I prefer Tristan Thompson over Cody Zeller.

Thompson has played in the Finals multiple times.

Celts need a big man who's playoff tested.

Right now the NBA is wide open, especially in the east.

I think the Bucks are the only legit contender in the east.

Who knows what happens if the Celts and Bucks meet in the east finals.

[ETNCeltics]

Zeller is interesting in that he may have found a 3 pt shot, 4-9 so far this year. I'd prefer him to TT. If he continues to show a proclivity for the 3, his price will go up a bit.

Ultimately, I think our Big move is to bring back Baynes.

[Fierce1]

Zeller is interesting in that he may have found a 3 pt shot, 4-9 so far this year. I'd prefer him to TT. If he continues to show a proclivity for the 3, his price will go up a bit.

Ultimately, I think our Big move is to bring back Baynes.

Trade rules will not allow the Celts to re-acquire Baynes this season.
So Baynes is not an option for the Cs.

Cody Zeller only 11 playoff games played.

TT has 78 playoff games played.

[NKY fan]

I always liked Cody Zeller as a player.
Good soldier, fairly athletic, rebounder, experienced, solid lob threat, sets fine screens, moves laterally, has some touch and a pedigree.
However, Horford, Zellers's injuries and his contractual unavailability cooled me off.
Now, with our center spot minutes being there for the taking I am intrigued by him more than before.

His contract situation:
2019-20  $14,471,910   
2020-21  $15,415,730

This means that his contract goes one year beyond this season.
Since the summer of 2020 Free agency pool looks absolutely horrific, especially with the recent extensions, that is a good and market fair contract to have. Remember cap space is almost worthless next year. He wouldn't be a burden since that summer we will just want to extend Tatum. If we fast forward to January 13th we can propose Charlotte trade package of:

Theis ($5,000,000) +
Kanter ($4,767,000) +
and 2020 Milwaukee's 1st (or 2 2nds but I doubt it would work)
for
Cody Zeller ($14,471,910)

The trade would be viable cap-wise since it falls in the $6,533,334 - $19.6 million trade category (the outgoing salary plus $5 million) and IMO It would give us starter quality big even beyond this year.

What's your take?

I would only do the trade if both Theis and Kanter have health issues. Otherwise we are trading "depth" for very marginal improvement

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I've thought of Zeller recently too. The Hornets are always better with him on the floor. He is a good team defender and communicator. He has the agility to defend on the perimeter and has good timing getting vertical to defend the rim. He sets good screens and can roll or pop. He's a smart player that would fit right in with any team.

The problem is that he cannot stay healthy. He's averaging 50-60 games a year after his rookie season. If we had relatively dead salary, I'd be all for it, but we'd need to trade some combination of Smart, Theis, Kanter, and Langford to do it. That's a steep price for someone whose injury history makes him unreliable.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Zeller is interesting in that he may have found a 3 pt shot, 4-9 so far this year. I'd prefer him to TT. If he continues to show a proclivity for the 3, his price will go up a bit.

Ultimately, I think our Big move is to bring back Baynes.

Trade rules will not allow the Celts to re-acquire Baynes this season.
So Baynes is not an option for the Cs.

Cody Zeller only 11 playoff games played.

TT has 78 playoff games played.

None of those playoff games were due to Tristan Thompson. They were due to Lebron James. Zeller would have just as many if he played in Cleveland for his career.

Comparing a stat like that is crass when evaluating the overall talent of a player.

[Fierce1]

Zeller is interesting in that he may have found a 3 pt shot, 4-9 so far this year. I'd prefer him to TT. If he continues to show a proclivity for the 3, his price will go up a bit.

Ultimately, I think our Big move is to bring back Baynes.

Trade rules will not allow the Celts to re-acquire Baynes this season.
So Baynes is not an option for the Cs.

Cody Zeller only 11 playoff games played.

TT has 78 playoff games played.

None of those playoff games were due to Tristan Thompson. They were due to Lebron James. Zeller would have just as many if he played in Cleveland for his career.

Comparing a stat like that is crass when evaluating the overall talent of a player.

I'm not saying Tristan is the reason for those playoff games.
What I'm saying is Tristan has the playoff experience.

Cody Zeller just doesn't have the playoff experience.

More playoff experience means less mistakes when the stakes are high.

[Androslav]

I've thought of Zeller recently too. The Hornets are always better with him on the floor. He is a good team defender and communicator. He has the agility to defend on the perimeter and has good timing getting vertical to defend the rim. He sets good screens and can roll or pop. He's a smart player that would fit right in with any team.

The problem is that he cannot stay healthy. He's averaging 50-60 games a year after his rookie season. If we had relatively dead salary, I'd be all for it, but we'd need to trade some combination of Smart, Theis, Kanter, and Langford to do it. That's a steep price for someone whose injury history makes him unreliable.

We need just Kanter and Theis for money to work.
Smart is off-limits we all know that. He is our 30 mpg PO contributor.
Langford is still a great unknown so I wouldn't get rid of him that easily.
I'd throw in a proposed 1st and thats it.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I've thought of Zeller recently too. The Hornets are always better with him on the floor. He is a good team defender and communicator. He has the agility to defend on the perimeter and has good timing getting vertical to defend the rim. He sets good screens and can roll or pop. He's a smart player that would fit right in with any team.

The problem is that he cannot stay healthy. He's averaging 50-60 games a year after his rookie season. If we had relatively dead salary, I'd be all for it, but we'd need to trade some combination of Smart, Theis, Kanter, and Langford to do it. That's a steep price for someone whose injury history makes him unreliable.

We need just Kanter and Theis for money to work.
Smart is off-limits we all know that. He is our 30 mpg PO contributor.
Langford is still a great unknown so I wouldn't get rid of him that easily.
I'd throw in a proposed 1st and thats it.

It's definitely a good idea. I like Zeller. I think he'd be a good Celtic.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Zeller is interesting in that he may have found a 3 pt shot, 4-9 so far this year. I'd prefer him to TT. If he continues to show a proclivity for the 3, his price will go up a bit.

Ultimately, I think our Big move is to bring back Baynes.

Trade rules will not allow the Celts to re-acquire Baynes this season.
So Baynes is not an option for the Cs.

Cody Zeller only 11 playoff games played.

TT has 78 playoff games played.

None of those playoff games were due to Tristan Thompson. They were due to Lebron James. Zeller would have just as many if he played in Cleveland for his career.

Comparing a stat like that is crass when evaluating the overall talent of a player.

I'm not saying Tristan is the reason for those playoff games.
What I'm saying is Tristan has the playoff experience.

Cody Zeller just doesn't have the playoff experience.

More playoff experience means less mistakes when the stakes are high.

It might mean that. I guess I'm dubious that Thompson would make less mistakes. It's not like he has ever been a high IQ player on either side of the court. He had a stretch on defense in one playoff run, but for the rest of his career almost every stat indicates he's been bad on defense and one-dimensionally average on offense.

[gpap]

Zeller is interesting in that he may have found a 3 pt shot, 4-9 so far this year. I'd prefer him to TT. If he continues to show a proclivity for the 3, his price will go up a bit.

Ultimately, I think our Big move is to bring back Baynes.

Trade rules will not allow the Celts to re-acquire Baynes this season.
So Baynes is not an option for the Cs.

Cody Zeller only 11 playoff games played.

TT has 78 playoff games played.

I'd rather have Thompson over Zeller. And I have no idea why Baynes keeps coming up. There's always that one former Celtic that I guess keeps coming up for months after they're gone (Ryan Gomes, Mikhael Pietrus, Kelly Olynyk and now Baynes.)

[Fierce1]

Zeller is interesting in that he may have found a 3 pt shot, 4-9 so far this year. I'd prefer him to TT. If he continues to show a proclivity for the 3, his price will go up a bit.

Ultimately, I think our Big move is to bring back Baynes.

Trade rules will not allow the Celts to re-acquire Baynes this season.
So Baynes is not an option for the Cs.

Cody Zeller only 11 playoff games played.

TT has 78 playoff games played.

None of those playoff games were due to Tristan Thompson. They were due to Lebron James. Zeller would have just as many if he played in Cleveland for his career.

Comparing a stat like that is crass when evaluating the overall talent of a player.

I'm not saying Tristan is the reason for those playoff games.
What I'm saying is Tristan has the playoff experience.

Cody Zeller just doesn't have the playoff experience.

More playoff experience means less mistakes when the stakes are high.

It might mean that. I guess I'm dubious that Thompson would make less mistakes. It's not like he has ever been a high IQ player on either side of the court. He had a stretch on defense in one playoff run, but for the rest of his career almost every stat indicates he's been bad on defense and one-dimensionally average on offense.

I just don't think Brad will trust Cody Zeller in the playoffs.
Brad will just end up playing small ball if his best option at Center is Cody Zeller.

Besides, I don't think Cody Zeller is available.
He's the best Center on the Hornets.

[ChillyWilly]

Zeller is a Trex rebounder. He doesn't have a nose for the ball. Poor passer his court vision is avg for a 7 footer at best. You would get frustrated with him quickly. Don't see how he fits what Brad wants to do.