My prediction:
Celtics trade Avery Bradley, Jonas Jerebko and the 2016 Dallas 1st to Orlando for Victor Oladipo and Channing Frye
Then the C's trade David Lee, Tyler Zeller, Terry Rozier and the 2016 Boston 1st to Atlanta for Al Horford
IT/Smart/Oladipo
Oladipo/Smart/Turner/Young or Hunter
Crowder/Turner/Young
Horford/Olynyk/Frye/Mickey
Sullinger/Amir/Olynyk/Mickey
I like that now and going forward. Though I'd be happy with just the move for Horford.
That'd be fun.
Well, Ainge has a habit of targeting guys no one thinks he's targeting, and Oladipo is on the market. He has a year and a half left of a rookie contract and has really played pretty well since being drafted. Might be the best player of that draft so far, though Giannis has a higher ceiling.
Apparently Orlando is looking for a little more veteran leadership and they're afraid of giving out huge contracts to their young guys over the next couple years. Bradley is a great veteran presence, while only being like 25, has continuously improved every year in the league, fits their roster better because he doesn't need the ball in his hands the way Payton, Oladipo, Jennings and Fournier do, provides elite level defense and is cost-controlled over the next 3 years at a very reasonable 8 Million. Jerebko provides them exactly what they're looking for from Frye, except he's younger and has a much better contract. If they want cap space, they can just deny his team option. He's on a very team friendly deal. Plus, with a mid-1st like the Dallas pick, you can add another young guy under team control for at least 4 years.
For us it makes sense too. Oladipo is a similar to AB in that he plays VERY good defense, he can play off the ball and hit 3's at a decent rate, and his personality fits right into the "Celtic Hustle" mentality that drives our team. Yet, he's a little younger, and is better at all the on-ball things Avery struggles with, plus he's 6'4 while being a plus defender, allowing him to guard long 2's like Klay Thompson Avery normally couldn't guard. His ceiling is higher than AB's. He Allows IT to play on/off the ball when opportune. Plus, he could free up our reliance on Turner. If we had a 3 guard rotation where all 3 guys were capable ball-handlers, but two were still great defenders, it would lighten up our reliance on Turner. Next year Smart takes over the 2nd team offense free of Turner and gets ready to take the next step. You can switch Smart and Oladipo between the 6th man roles and both could thrive. Frye makes sense as a Jerebko replacement because he could easily give us 15-20 MPG of floor spacing and hustle plays, but his contract is almost the same as AB's current deal, and Oladipo would be up for a raise before Frye's deal is done.
Still, to me that's the kind of move Danny might try. Stevens loves guards who can play on and off the ball, and Ainge loves getting a deal on guys that can do more than their current role allows. Oladipo fits perfectly with this core of guys and has a higher ceiling than AB does. If he could be had for an AB-swap and a pick or prospect and a pick, I think that's a deal Danny would like.
Topic: The Official NBA Trade Deadline: Prediction Thread (Read 4642 times)