Weekly dose of dreaming: get Melo, draft Embiid

[slamtheking]

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=m79utu3

Coming in: Carmelo Anthony (sign & trade, 4 years/$95.8 million)

Going out: Jeff Green, Brandon Bass, Joel Anthony, Kelly Olynyk, 2015 BOS 1st rounder, 2016 BOS 1st rounder,
2014 BOS-owned 2nd rounder (from BKN).

C's paid less for KG who was a much better player.  Also, Denver got less than this when Melo was
considered to be a better player than he is now.

If Carmelo tells the Knicks he's leaving, all the Celtics would have to do to land him is make it worth NYK's
while to take some contracts back in order to clear Boston's cap. Bass and Anthony are expirings;
they can throw up Jeff Green's name on billboards until they make some real noise next offseason, and whatever negative value they'd swallow by taking on Green's contract is at the very least neutralized with the acquisition of Olynyk and three picks.

It'll take more than that to convince the Knicks to trade Melo to an inter-division rival.  "throw up Jeff Green's name on billboards" will be
more like throw up ON Jeff Green's name on billboards if that deal happened

Do whatever it takes to draft Embiid.

Same as saying "do whatever it takes to win Powerball".  If C's don't get a top 3 pick in the lottery, no one is going to trade one to them. 
top 3 picks are staying with whoever wins the lottery.  only exception is maybe the top team making a deal with either of the next
2 teams to pick up a big asset and drop only 1 or 2 spots so that they still get one of Embiid, Parker or Wiggins.

Take Kyle Anderson at 17 (is he the next Lamar Odom?).

is he? no.  unless you have some inside scoop about him dating a Kardashian.  OK player but think we can do better with that pick

Rajon Rondo/Jerryd Bayless/Phil Pressey
Avery Bradley/Chris Johnson/[Jerryd Bayless]
Carmelo Anthony/Kyle Anderson/Gerald Wallace
Jared Sullinger/Kris Humphries/[Gerald Wallace]
Joel Embiid/Vitor Faverani/[Kris Humphries]/Colton Iverson

Thoughts? Is this a contender?

nope, not a contender for the championship.  division winner, sure.  second round of playoffs, possibly, but that's about it.

I think a lotsome of us here at CelticsBlog are like me: we like to think big, and we expect big things from
Celtics management over the next few years.

fixed that for you.  no problem with thinking big.  no requirement that you restrict yourself to reality.  more than likely
the 'fireworks' people hope for this offseason will probably not happen until after NEXT season at the earliest if at all.
while what you've proposed would certainly qualify as 'big', it doesn't make the team all that much better and the biggest asset
you're trying to acquire, Embiid--not Melo, has no chance of happening without sheer luck in the lottery.  not that Melo will happen
either but he's been exposed in NY as not being a much of a sure thing to get a team to the next level.

However I've noticed a growing population of forum members
who try to greatly temper expectations so they're not disappointed with next year's roster.
That's fine, but I think it's so pronounced in some posters' outlooks that any trade/free agent discussion
is dampened with statements like "that'd be great, but a lot of things would have to go our way."

about the same number of people as usual. 
most people want to read something realistic and intelligent that accomplishes something of value
--> either making the team immediately better or positioning it better for future improvement.
there's only a small volume of posters that are enthusiastic about reading deals that have little connection with reality
or just want to make trades for the sake of making trades.  at least from what I've seen posted in people's comments.

[Celtics4ever]

Embiid would be ok but Melo in a C uniform is a bad dream to me.

[PhoSita]

 However I've noticed a growing population of forum members who try to greatly temper expectations so they're not disappointed with next year's roster. That's fine, but I think it's so pronounced in some posters' outlooks that any trade/free agent discussion is dampened with statements like "that'd be great, but a lot of things would have to go our way."

We can talk all day about the things we'd love to see happen.  It'd be exciting if the Celtics win the lottery and the guy they draft turns into the next generational talent.  That would be awesome.

I'm more interested in figuring out how to improve the Celtics over time while assuming that some things go their way and other things don't.  That reality is a mix of good and bad.  Because, for one thing, that's more likely, and for another, it's a more engaging mental exercise.

Things will obviously be really good for the Celtics if they're really lucky, or they can bamboozle the other GMs in the league into making stupid moves.  So I'm not really worried about that situation arising.  I'm more concerned with figuring out ways that the Celtics can still be in good shape even if they don't catch a lot of breaks.  That makes me feel better about the future.

[incoherent]

This kind of thing is the only off season that I would find acceptable, we either go all out and form a contender-ish type team... OR ...  we dont sign anyone past 2015 and we full on tank 1 more year.

These 2 options are pretty much all I hope that happens.  If we could get Melo I would absolutely do it and not gamble on 2015.