Celtics planning on a lockout?

[Jeff]

here's my theory of the moment:

the Celtics know that the likelyhood of a lockout is very high after next year, so that could be having a major impact on their decisions

some fallout of that:

1. there will either be a very short season or a whole season cancelled, so the owners won't get revenue but they also won't have to pay salary - so why not give free agents 2 year deals?  It is basically like a 1 year deal.

2. based on the Finals run the team just finished, there will be enough fan interest built up to sell lots of ticket for next year - so why not bring the band back for one more victory lap?  Regardless of the basketball decision, this makes financial sense.

3. they've already missed out on the free agent class of 2010, but if they play their cards right, they could be in line to pick up free agents galore after the lockout - as of now, we'll only have Rondo and probably Pierce under contract for 2012/13.  We may need to go 3 years on Ray but as long as we don't sign many guys for longer than 2 years, we'll have all the cap room in the world.

4. that's assuming there IS a cap - or that it will work the way we think of it now.  Everything could change with the new CBA, so the more flexibility (and fewer commitments) the better.

bottom line - don't look for any long term investments unless we're getting young talent in return (which isn't likely)

[wdleehi]

That wouldn't surprise me.



Also, I bet more then a few teams will be leery of taking on any major player projects.  If there is a lockout, they will lose the valuable time to develop them. 

[Jeff]

That wouldn't surprise me.

Also, I bet more then a few teams will be leery of taking on any major player projects.  If there is a lockout, they will lose the valuable time to develop them. 

very good point

[Kuberski33]

This certainly makes sense to me. I've heard Stern say they need to do something to change the financial structure of the league because owners are more often than not getting screwed when they give out long term guaranteed deals that players don't live up to. 

Could be an ugly labor fight ahead, but like in the NFL, it's one the owners will win.  The sooner the Players Association realizes that, the shorter the stoppage will be, but I think it may take some time to get to that point.

[Chris]

Regardless of the lockout, I think the C's are preparing for a drastically new CBA, which will have a lower (and possibly harder) cap, shorter, and probably smaller contracts, that will really punish teams with too much money locked up after next year.  Basically, they are taking the same route that the Bruins took.

Now, this route really burned the Bruins when the players gave back 30% (or something like that) of their salary's as a concession, but I still think it was the smart way to go at the time. 

The C's are going to continue to be very careful with the money they give out beyond this year, and even more beyond next year (since they may look as next season as a wash, even if there is not a lockout, due to KG and possibly Sheed still being on the books at big numbers).

[Kuberski33]

Regardless of the lockout, I think the C's are preparing for a drastically new CBA, which will have a lower (and possibly harder) cap, shorter, and probably smaller contracts, that will really punish teams with too much money locked up after next year.  Basically, they are taking the same route that the Bruins took.

Now, this route really burned the Bruins when the players gave back 30% (or something like that) of their salary's as a concession, but I still think it was the smart way to go at the time. 

The C's are going to continue to be very careful with the money they give out beyond this year, and even more beyond next year (since they may look as next season as a wash, even if there is not a lockout, due to KG and possibly Sheed still being on the books at big numbers).

Will this prevent Ray from getting more than a 2 year deal anywhere?

[Chris]

Regardless of the lockout, I think the C's are preparing for a drastically new CBA, which will have a lower (and possibly harder) cap, shorter, and probably smaller contracts, that will really punish teams with too much money locked up after next year.  Basically, they are taking the same route that the Bruins took.

Now, this route really burned the Bruins when the players gave back 30% (or something like that) of their salary's as a concession, but I still think it was the smart way to go at the time. 

The C's are going to continue to be very careful with the money they give out beyond this year, and even more beyond next year (since they may look as next season as a wash, even if there is not a lockout, due to KG and possibly Sheed still being on the books at big numbers).

Will this prevent Ray from getting more than a 2 year deal anywhere?

No, I think he will get 3 years somewhere.  The C's are in a position where they are in transition, and they need to position themselves to take advantage of the new CBA when it kicks in, in order to rebuild quickly.  So it makes no sense for them to risk that flexibility in order to get a year or two of Ray.  But a team that is more set to contend for the next 3-4 years would be much more likely to make that commitment. 

I do think if Ray and Danny cannot agree on a reasonable two year deal though, that a sign and trade will be worked out.

[Q_FBE]

The league must understand that its cost structure is way too high and must come down. People cannot rely on home equity loans to pay for season tickets anymore.

The stock market is a reminder that money does not grow on trees.

So I think the NBA has to tackle this Era of deflation head on and may take a missed season to make the players understand that they are overpaid spoiled brats.

They need to go an NFL model where the money is not guarenteed except for signing bonusses to be amortized over the life of a contract and a HARD CAP.

Plus the draft should be expanded to 4 rounds and there should be farm teams like the Portland Red Claws where players can be called up.

It would not hurt if the NBA were contracted to 24 teams either which could happen to filter out weaker franchises. Would anybody be sorry if the Clippers, Kings, Raptors, Caveliers, Bobcats, or the Timberwolves went away?

In an completely unrelated matter, the league needs to revisit the rule book and clean up the enforcement of the rules for the good of the game. I was not impressed with the quality of the product presented and only bothered to hang in because the Celtics did. 

[eugen]

The mayor player project, starts from the great coach. Please keep: Doc + big three+ Rondo+Big baby= Boston

[nickagneta]

Let's not forget that LeBron could very well decide that a three year deal in Cleveland makes the most sense for him. He gets another one or two chances to get that title with the current group(which by the way is as close as he will get to being able to get to the Finals over the next year or three unless he goes to Chicago)then can get his huge long term contract of 5-6 years at the age of 28-29.

If that's the case the C's should be looking to be a team that keeps salary off the books hoping to get LeBron in the summer of 2013. So two year deals make huge sense from this point as if in 2012 all we go to bat with is Rondo, Baby, Perk and Pierce and a bunch other guys and have a bad season to get in the lottery. Then, 2013 with cap space to sign LeBron, and having Rondo, Perk, Baby and the #1 pick plus some guys they have developed since(2010, 2011 and 2012 1st rounders all on rookie contracts still) would be a great way to get instantly back into championship mode.

[JSD]

I'd like to see the Celtics overpay Allen to sign a 2 year deal.

[Kiorrik]

Too bad that I've never gotten into this financial part of the game. However, I must say that everything sounds mighty intriguing right now, and my interest in it has definitely grown.

Nick, you mentioned getting LeBron; won't there be like, 29 other teams that will do their best to keep him? Do you really think he would pick -us-?

[nickagneta]

Too bad that I've never gotten into this financial part of the game. However, I must say that everything sounds mighty intriguing right now, and my interest in it has definitely grown.

Nick, you mentioned getting LeBron; won't there be like, 29 other teams that will do their best to keep him? Do you really think he would pick -us-?

I don't know.

Let's assume in three years the Cleveland situation is such that they still haven't won a world title. We could all be right back to where we are now in 2013. Who will have space to sign him? Who will have the core in place to make the team a contender once LeBron gets there? And so on. It will be this year all over again only this time it would be a foregone conclusion that LeBron is gone from Cleveland.

So if LeBron signs a 3 year deal this summer, the C's could be in a great position to siugn him in 2013 if they are smart about what they do this year, including planning properly for the lockout by limiting free agent signings to 2 years and keeping all their draft picks or even purchasing more.

[Kiorrik]

Yeh, see, to my uneducated mind, it seems a bit far away, and a bit vague to plan for an possible LeBron signing.

Then again, I guess it's not as much planning for LeBron, as much as it is planning for flexibility in general, right?

[Kuberski33]

It would not hurt if the NBA were contracted to 24 teams either which could happen to filter out weaker franchises. Would anybody be sorry if the Clippers, Kings, Raptors, Caveliers, Bobcats, or the Timberwolves went away? 

It will never happen, but I'd love to see the league contract 6 teams.  You'd see a better quality of play and more competitive balance.  Under the current structure, one major injury kills your team and it takes far too long for lousy teams to get good.  You need to clear your books, hope you can attract a star or more realistically, you need to get lucky in the draft.  Right now there are too many teams that suck and have no real hope of turning anything around.  In the meantime their fans pay major league prices to see a crappy product.  Not long ago, that was us!