the big question...

[vgulab]

If the Celtics became NBA champions this year what would you Celtics fan rather do?

1. Keep the starting lineup same for next season(resign Ray and not trade Perk) and try to get a nice young guy with the 19th pick not trading for others picks. The question will be do you believe that if we win it this year the window for the big 3(now big 4) can be another year or this is last?

and

2. We know PP,KG and Rondo aint going nowhere but do you want Danny to trade Perk od Ray if he gets a good offer? with other words should Danny think for the future and try to start rebuilding or winning a title means that he shouldn't?

     2a) Do you want him to trade Perk or Ray for players who can make us better?
     2b) Do you want him to trade Perk or Ray for younger players or draft picks?

[Roy Hobbs]

Well, I think you *always* make trades if you can make it better.  However, I doubt that will be possible by trading Ray or Perk.  Rather, I think we could only make trades to make us younger, and potentially better down the line.

That being the case, I'd prefer to bring back the same core, and supplement it through the draft and free agency.

[SamuelAdams]

You keep the core and add to the bench.

[LB3533]

I think you ride it out and milk it for however long the guys can stay healthy for the playoffs.

If health proves too much to be of a decline that it hinders playoff progression then its time to rebuild.

[More Banners]

Trading away Max and Gerald Henderson didn't hurt us the following 2 years ('85, '86), and they were top rotation players.

It's about what you get back as much as what you give up.

There aren't many trade chips, so I expect something around the fringe.  BBD could go and be easily replaced (i.e. James Singleton and Hakeem Warrick both played for 1/3 the money this year and are FA's), but I don't expect a blockbuster.  I suspect Danny is afraid to screw up the good thing they've got going right now.

[fairweatherfan]

I think at the very least we remove all doubt about re-signing Ray Allen; he'll deserve to retire a Celtic, and more pragmatically, it's really hard to say this starting 5 can't contend next year if they win it this year.  Of course if someone offers him ridiculous $ we'd have to let him go, but we should try a lot harder to keep him.

We can move some bench pieces around but short of a Godfather offer for a game-changing player we don't mess with the core.

[droopdog7]

Yeah, I think you ride it out until they show they cannot win the title.  So resign Ray and TA for sure.  We also have the 20th pick, so that could potentially add another contributer.  Maybe we can find us a back up point (which ins't impossible if you look at last year's draft class). 

[slamtheking]

In light of the team actually having a switch to turn on and them getting this far (and in all likelihood getting to the Finals), I think keeping the core players and taking another run at the title is the move to make.

Resign Ray and TA for 2 more years.  The top 8 players in the rotation are under contract for next year with only PP, Perk and BBD up for contract negotiations. 

Danny can supplement the bench with either a very good bench player with the MLE (thinking Travis Outlaw or Mike Miller) or get 2-3 decent bench players by splitting it.  Add a vet min player or 2 depending on how the MLE is used (or resign one of our other FA's so as not to dip into the MLE and get someone that knows the system) and fill with youth for development (#19, #52, Lafayette and/or Gaffney).  No reason to suspect the team couldn't contend next year barring a catastrophic injury to a starter.

Based on the current playoff run, I'd be stunned if Danny didn't take one more run at the title with this group.

[Jon]

Definitely keep the core together.  Quite frankly, we don't know the next time we'll ever be this good again.  For all we know, LeBron and Bosh end up on the same team, and after a couple years together and adding parts, end up winning 5 titles in a row, essentially negating any chance we have to rebuild around Rondo. 

If they win this year (and I'd say even if they simply make it to the Finals), we should probably keep this core together another year. 

Besides, there's only so much rebuilding we're going to be able to do with KG and Wallace here another two years.