how do you keep a team together with salary cap and free agency

[rollie mass]

a balanced team with really good players-how will celtics react to
back up the truck isaiahi
avery who deserves to be paid ,kelly, etc
didn't the celts promise durant to keep their players
how does the team hold a young core together
will it be forced to trade players before they hit free agency
even with a happy player and coach
the amount of money too many teams have seems to sabotage the continuity of keeping a team together or even a good rebuild-
us old guys are used to longevity with celts even though it has severely been tested since the building of  big three-
by both the tearing down process and merry go round of players brought in-
as a fan you form attachments with your players that work hard and give 100%
basketball is a business being a fan isn't  unless you think in terms of nothing will get in the way of winning number 18

[Celtics4ever]

New cap or no, I do not think KO deserves anything close to a max contract given his production.

[Moranis]

First you have to figure out who is actually worth keeping and then you have to figure out what price they are worth keeping them at.  Right now, Boston has no young player that is a #1 player that would deserve the max.  Now maybe Smart makes that leap offensively or Brown fulfills his promise, but otherwise no one else.  Thomas, Bradley, Crowder, etc. are solid NBA players, but not max level guys.  If they take reasonable contracts, you re-sign them, if they don't you don't.  Think of them like Turner.  Had Turner gotten 5 million, he'd still be here, but 15 million you just have to let him go.

[Surferdad]

IT, Bradley and Crowder are all on favorable contracts now which will look like real bargains if all 3 have solid seasons.  The brinks truck comment is fair, IMO, IT woefully underpaid currently.  Nothing similar yet from Avery or Jae, but the cap is going up again.

[Csfan1984]

With current contracts and the salary cap you have to live with
two max players, (Hordford, TBD)
one highly paid guy, (soon IT)
three moderately paid guys, (Crowder, AB, and soon Smart)

The rest have to be bargains or rookie contracts. I wouldn't mind going into the tax in an overlapping scenario say transition between Crowder or AB being up in a final year and Brown getting an extention. But you have to manage smarter now with the "repeater tax". The tax is meant to limit big spending and reduce hording talent so you can't keep everyone. You just have to manage the club.

Right now the roster salary distribution is a mess.
One Max=Hordford
Three Overpays=Zeller, AJ, JJ
Four Bargains=Green, AB, Crowder, IT
Too many Rookie contracts=Smart, KO, Brown, Hunter, Rozier, Young, Bentil, Mickey, DJ.

The positive is the three overpay deals are not long term and are merely salary holders. You can drop all three for a max salary guy. And in a trade maybe Danny can reduce the rookie contracts. Then the salary management is on point.

[Bobshot]

First you have to figure out who is actually worth keeping and then you have to figure out what price they are worth keeping them at.  Right now, Boston has no young player that is a #1 player that would deserve the max.  Now maybe Smart makes that leap offensively or Brown fulfills his promise, but otherwise no one else.  Thomas, Bradley, Crowder, etc. are solid NBA players, but not max level guys.  If they take reasonable contracts, you re-sign them, if they don't you don't.  Think of them like Turner.  Had Turner gotten 5 million, he'd still be here, but 15 million you just have to let him go.

Ainge got off cheap with a few of these guys. And IT came with a golden contract. But next time, he won't be so lucky. Not after giving Zeller $8 million.

[Csfan1984]

First you have to figure out who is actually worth keeping and then you have to figure out what price they are worth keeping them at.  Right now, Boston has no young player that is a #1 player that would deserve the max.  Now maybe Smart makes that leap offensively or Brown fulfills his promise, but otherwise no one else.  Thomas, Bradley, Crowder, etc. are solid NBA players, but not max level guys.  If they take reasonable contracts, you re-sign them, if they don't you don't.  Think of them like Turner.  Had Turner gotten 5 million, he'd still be here, but 15 million you just have to let him go.

Ainge got off cheap with a few of these guys. And IT came with a golden contract. But next time, he won't be so lucky. Not after giving Zeller $8 million.

Hit the nail on the head. Worst part about giving Zeller 8 million is what expectations are created for guys that have done 20x more for this team than Zeller has. I would have kept pick 31 drafted Zubac and let Zeller go. Don't know what Danny was thinking in the draft or when he resigned Zeller.

[MBunge]

First you have to figure out who is actually worth keeping and then you have to figure out what price they are worth keeping them at.  Right now, Boston has no young player that is a #1 player that would deserve the max.  Now maybe Smart makes that leap offensively or Brown fulfills his promise, but otherwise no one else.  Thomas, Bradley, Crowder, etc. are solid NBA players, but not max level guys.  If they take reasonable contracts, you re-sign them, if they don't you don't.  Think of them like Turner.  Had Turner gotten 5 million, he'd still be here, but 15 million you just have to let him go.

Ainge got off cheap with a few of these guys. And IT came with a golden contract. But next time, he won't be so lucky. Not after giving Zeller $8 million.

Hit the nail on the head. Worst part about giving Zeller 8 million is what expectations are created for guys that have done 20x more for this team than Zeller has. I would have kept pick 31 drafted Zubac and let Zeller go. Don't know what Danny was thinking in the draft or when he resigned Zeller.

Agents aren't stupid. Zeller's contract will have zero impact on what IT or Avery's agents are going to ask for when the time comes.

I would imagine that all salary issues hinge on how Smart and Brown perform and what kind of pick we're getting in the Nets swap next year.  If they both look good and it turns out to be top 3, Ainge can package our cheap contracts for another star or trade one for a future pick and sign a free agent.  If Smart has plateaued and Brown looks like a long term project and the Nets are less terrible than expected, Ainge probably resigns the starters and trades KO to lessen the salary cap crunch.

Mike

[Csfan1984]

First you have to figure out who is actually worth keeping and then you have to figure out what price they are worth keeping them at.  Right now, Boston has no young player that is a #1 player that would deserve the max.  Now maybe Smart makes that leap offensively or Brown fulfills his promise, but otherwise no one else.  Thomas, Bradley, Crowder, etc. are solid NBA players, but not max level guys.  If they take reasonable contracts, you re-sign them, if they don't you don't.  Think of them like Turner.  Had Turner gotten 5 million, he'd still be here, but 15 million you just have to let him go.

Ainge got off cheap with a few of these guys. And IT came with a golden contract. But next time, he won't be so lucky. Not after giving Zeller $8 million.

Hit the nail on the head. Worst part about giving Zeller 8 million is what expectations are created for guys that have done 20x more for this team than Zeller has. I would have kept pick 31 drafted Zubac and let Zeller go. Don't know what Danny was thinking in the draft or when he resigned Zeller.

Agents aren't stupid. Zeller's contract will have zero impact on what IT or Avery's agents are going to ask for when the time comes.

I would imagine that all salary issues hinge on how Smart and Brown perform and what kind of pick we're getting in the Nets swap next year.  If they both look good and it turns out to be top 3, Ainge can package our cheap contracts for another star or trade one for a future pick and sign a free agent.  If Smart has plateaued and Brown looks like a long term project and the Nets are less terrible than expected, Ainge probably resigns the starters and trades KO to lessen the salary cap crunch.

Mike

It will have an impact on what they expect though. Some players will feel like giving their team a discount vs another team offering more is a sacrifice for the team. But when a guy like Zeller gets paid that kind of money why should they take a discount with said the same team. That is the impact of that signing, players won't be thinking give a discount to stay. It's pure bring in the brink they got the money they just gave a scrub 11th man $8 million per.

[CelticPride2016]

This is putting the horse ahead of the cart. We simply don't know what these players are worth. Turner is not worth what he gets from Portland. Bradley might not be worth more than $15 million but might expect $25 million. Then Danny has to ask himself can we afford two studs at shooting guard. He will have to make the decision and maybe it will become obvious as decision time approaches such as with Sully and Turner.

Resigning Zeller was a great move even if he collects dust on the bench. He will either pick up his play or be bundled in a trade. Danny likes to have all kinds of contracts making it easier to fudge through trades.

We must be fixated on long-term angst because it is deep into the Summer as we wait for Media Day.

These topics are good for the off-season, but once real practice and games start, things will fall into place.

We just got Al Horford and the #3 pick in the draft. We will be laughing out loud if the Nets are yet again a pitiful team. This is pure greed or basketball hypochondria.

I don't take any of this for granted. I am in awe of this team's turnaround and how many assets that will still be added each year. If things continue as they are, we will become a top choice for free agents.

There is the salary cap. It is true that it forces teams to budget how they operate. I think it's okay to get attached to players even if they ultimately leave. I don't feel bad having rooted for Gerald Wallace, Humphreys and Bass. Those are not bad memories. There will always be change. Losing Isaiah or Bradley will hurt more than those other guys from a fan attachment viewpoint, but I think that's just how the cookie crumbles. That's life. I think the core is almost complete and then it will become less risky to get attached.

If Sully had lost the weight and been one of our best players, he'd still be here.

You just hope such pressure doesn't stop someone from succeeding. Maybe Hunter freezes up because he knows it's a tough league. Maybe Olynyk has had that problem. Avery had it his rookie year. Olynyk is interesting because he has shown enough to give us hope, same as Marcus.

[walker834]

As you get good you have to be careful that teams can't outbid you for your free agents as well so their contracts have to be set up in a way where you are going to be in position to extend them while also being able to bring in new talent.  With the picks we have we can do both but we are going to have to careful when picking and choosing who to extend and let go etc..  Playign time and roles is important to some of these guys as well.

I'd like to see a team like the oldschool celtics where we had the same players and team for a good period of time and dynasty though. Ainge is in position where he can really build something like that.