josh smith flew to LA to practice with the celtics

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Has anyone considered the possibility of J-Smoove pulling a Howard and forcing his hand to Boston? Maybe we can even get him for pennies on the dollar if he tells Atlanta he won't sign with anyone else.

The problem is, the Lakers still gave up a heck of an asset to get Howard, and the C's might not have that.

problem with that is smith is not on howards level. Howard is THE BEST CENTER in the league. Smith Although is my favorite forward he is not the best the NBA has to offer.

Right.  But the C's still have to give up salary to match him.  And Atlanta may not want to take it on.

I see your point, but if im Atlanta don't i want to get some young assets instead of just letting him walk with nothing in return?

Danny's hand was forced like this with the Perk trade. He knew we weren't going to resign Perk so we took back some young assets even though our preference was obviously James Harden. We didn't get our first option but looking back on it now it seems we certainly won that trade in the long run.

The problem is, if Jeff Green or whoever the C's are sending for salary does not turn out to be a bargain, or the young guys the C's are sending are not absolute studs...then Atlanta could probably get better value just by taking on teams bad contracts with the cap space they would have.

And this is where the catch 22 comes in.  For Atlanta to want to deal with Boston, who don't have expiring contracts, it means the C's will have to either pay a premium in other assets to make up for the contracts Atlanta is taking on, or it means that the contracts Atlanta is taking on, are players who are really exceeding their contracts value...in which case, I am not sure I want Smith that badly.

I think there are scenarios where this could happen.  But its going to be difficult.

OR the Celtics could get creative with a 3 team trade.  Trading Green for Josh Smith, with Atlanta getting an expiring contract, some talent, and some picks.  Ainge is pretty well known for his creativity.  See how he pulled off the Courtney Lee trade with bubble gum, duct tape, and a ball of yarn? ;-)

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these trade ideas are so unncessary. i dont understand why people wont give this team a chance. our roster almost seems so surreal, one fit in with another, and they all get along, its perfectly synchronized. we dont need to trade avery away, because it would be like trading perkins away, rondo really respects him. we don't need to trade this guy or that guy. we have enough super stars as it. all our role players fit in perfectly. this team is in good shape, and adding a superstar, doesn't mean it will make our team better.

This might be true.

I do like the fit and choices for lineups.

I agree that Terry and Green are what puts our second unit over the top, and Wilcox could be quite good in a role there as well.

and I like that Terry and Green happen to be able to slide in next to Rondo, Pierce, and KG, if only for fun, to make one heck of a matchup-hell lineup.  And that still leaves Bradley, Bass, and Wilcox (plus several guys to develop). 

That's an amazingly well balanced top-8 of a rotation.  I would only give up so many pieces of the top-8 of a contending rotation for a borderline allstar out of concern for chemistry. 

This group will have an opportunity to show what it can do.

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I like the team the way it is as well, it seems to be an awesome group...still IMO to me there is a big if.

I feel good about Bass, JET, WILCOX and AB will make a triumphant return to save the day   

What worrys me or the BIG unknown , will JEFF GREEN be the 40million man or a huge letdown.

Love the team ... all I'm say in is IF GREEN disappears off the stat sheet ... And Danny knowing Josh would be willing to be a Celtic .... Green might not be in GREEN very long. 

I'm not worried about IF Danny can make it happen , sure he can ,  I'm sure he is working on several possible angles should he need to make a move.  Thats his job.

IMO..Green is a MAN under the gun folks.

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I like the team the way it is as well, it seems to be an awesome group...still IMO to me there is a big if.

I feel good about Bass, JET, WILCOX and AB will make a triumphant return to save the day   

What worrys me or the BIG unknown , will JEFF GREEN be the 40million man or a huge letdown.

Love the team ... all I'm say in is IF GREEN disappears off the stat sheet ... And Danny knowing Josh would be willing to be a Celtic .... Green might not be in GREEN very long. 

I'm not worried about IF Danny can make it happen , sure he can ,  I'm sure he is working on several possible angles should he need to make a move.  Thats his job.

IMO..Green is a MAN under the gun folks.

Nah. 

Bass is the guy under the gun IMO:  an undersized role player in a starting slot, with a more skilled $40M swing F coming off the bench and highly rated rookie draft pick expected to make a push for minutes as well, surely next season if not this one.

Green will either prove a bargain or nobody will want him.