Regarding Kevin Love staying in Boston (if he's traded here)

[CoachBo]

If we can't get him and Rondo to agree to an extension before the trade, I would not do the trade.  They both need to agree to accept less than max money so that we can manage our payroll and build a championship roster.  That is what the Miami 3 agreed to do, realizing you can't have 3 max guys playing at the same time. That is why Tom Brady agrees to take less than his market value.  If these players are serious about building championships, that is how you do it.  That is why guys like Carmelo will never win a championship.  They are all about the max.

No way I tie each of them together. Love is on the record on Boston. I have no worries he could be extended by the Celtics.

Rondo is a separate deal. I've stated my position on him already - either extension talks follow a Love deal, and the others that will follow, or I trade him.

[Celtics18]

I don't know the numbers, but I'm assuming that like Rondo, if Love were to sign an extension this summer, the number he could command would be less than if he gets to free agency this summer.

Does anyone have the details on this?

[GreenWarrior]

I don't know the numbers, but I'm assuming that like Rondo, if Love were to sign an extension this summer, the number he could command would be less than if he gets to free agency this summer.

Does anyone have the details on this?

yes, they could get more money from us than any other team.

[SparzWizard]

I keep seeing ppl say the lakers will have cap space in 2015 like its a given. They've been linked to luol deng, pau gasol, Greg Monroe and others. Chances are they use their cap space this year to make a run at contending with Kobe. No one of substance will sign only a one year deal.

Can't really see Lakers winning anything nowadays with the West's sheer dominating power.

Unless their starting lineup is something like this:

PG - Chris Paul
SG - Kobe Bryant
SF - LeBron James
PF - Carmelo Anthony
C - Dwight Howard

Lol.

[D.o.s.]

There's an article on the front page of CelticsBlog about Jerryd Bayless being the key to the Love affair.  It seems like they are old buds. 

They're both "Gunnin' For That Number One Spot."

Great documentary. TP for the reference.

[saltlover]

without an extension, you probably shouldn't trade for Love.  There will still be a very good chance he'll bail on you for the Lakers.   That's who he wants to play for.  He was raised a Laker.  He loves LA.  He played there in college.  His father played for the Lakers.  His uncles are the Beach Boys.  He even wears #42, because thats the number Connie Hawkins wore when he played for the Lakers.   It's in his blood.  He's an LA boy.

And yeah, I get that Pierce is from Inglewood, yadda yadda... But Love is a free agent in 2015 and the Lakers will have the cap space to sign him.  It seems inevitable unless you lock up Love under contract.  1 season of a potentially mediocre basketball isn't enough to build up a loyalty to the Celtics... or any team.    It would be like Dwight Howard, but in reverse.   Love wants to play for LA so he'll probably end up playing in LA.

Great post, thank you.  Love is a nice player, but a tad overrated.  Trading the farm for him without a pre-agreed extension would be a blunder.  I could see both him and Rondo bolting in free agency, leaving the C's with egg on their faces and a roster full of gaping holes...

Danny isn't stupid guys he's not gonna give up the farm or trade for him without an extension in place

I don't think you undetstand -- Love cannot agree to an extension.  Love could agree to waive his right to opt out after next year, but doing so would cost him $2-3 million in 2015-2016.  But because of the CBA, there is no extension it would make sense for Love to sign.  In fact, if traded on draft night, he would not be permitted to sign an extension at all.  And if traded in July, his extension could only take him one year beyond his option year, and would cost him about $5 million in salary over two years.

Welcome to the new CBA.  If you want to trade for a star on the last year of his deal, you have to hope you can convince him to stay after a year.  The extend-and-trade we got with Garnett is a thing of the past.  Danny has no choice but to hope Love stays if Love comes here.

[saltlover]

I don't know the numbers, but I'm assuming that like Rondo, if Love were to sign an extension this summer, the number he could command would be less than if he gets to free agency this summer.

Does anyone have the details on this?

There are no official numbers, because max contracts are based off the same revenue numbers as the salary cap, and will be finalized in July 2015.  However, based on the recent revenue projections put forward by the NBA in April, Rondo and Love would each be eligible for a max deal with $19 million as the year 1 salary, and 7.5% raises each year, for a 5-year total of $109 million.  If Love were to be traded in July, and sign an extension as part of that trade, he would be paid $16.7 million in 2015-2016 (which is just the option year of his current deal), and $18 million in 2016-2017 (compared to the $20.4 million he would get from year 2 of his free agent deal.)  He would then become a free agent, because his extension could not last beyond 2016-2017.  All told, Love would have left about $5 million on the table in the first two years, and would probably find himself at a lower salary in 2017-2018 than he otherwise would.

Rondo's max free agent numbers are the same, but his extension numbers are different.  If he signs an extension next year, he would make $13.9 million in 2015-2016, about $5 million less than his max.  His extension could only run through the 2017-2018 season, compared to 2019-2020, and would be worth an average of a little under $15 million per year, compared with the $20.5 million per year over the first three years of a max deal.  While I'm open to debate whether or not Rondo should be a "max" player, I 'm comfortable with him being worth more than 75% of that amount.  I would be completely shocked if Rondo signed an extension, as would Danny.


(Also, inevitably people bring up LeBron when talking about max deals. This requires two points.  Firstly, LeBron's max is a few million per year higher than Love or Rondo's.  So they're not the same.  Secondly, LeBron would easily command $30 million if there were no max salaries and only a salary cap.  Everyone knows this.  You can't compare player X's salary to LeBron's, because LeBron isn't making what teams would be willing to pay him.  It's said that rookie deals are good because they help save salary room.  Another good thing is having a superstar who's salary is capped, because he's essentially subsidizing the rest of your team.)