Latest Simmon's Article on Celts

[birdbrady]

I actually would take Presti over Ainge as a GM.  But you'd think the gap between Presti and Ainge is like the gap between Jerry West and Dan Issel as GMs.  Or to make people better understand it: the gap between Michael Strahan's teeth.  It's not.  And like I've said ten zillion times, no one is talking about Sam Presti and all his "under the radar moves" (like drafting Ibaka late) IF HE DOESN'T GET THAT DURANT PING PONG BALL.

This is such an important point.  I had a discussion with a friend yesterday about the Simmons article and other GMs/teams.  I brought up the Spurs and Duncan.  Does anyone kneel at the altar of Popovich if the Celtics don't get screwed in the lottery and the Spurs don't get Duncan?  I don't think so.

Presti has done a good job. But he has been lucky too, like every NBA GM has been.  That's the point of the the lottery system. 

Well, Pop is a great coach and the Spurs have a great system.  Duncan was all luck, no doubt.  But Duncan isn't Duncan anymore.  the Spurs are legit.  They don't just draft a bunch of young guys and just tell them to go out there and do whatever you want.  Pop makes sure they play disciplined ball and within their means.  That's why they have been competitive with a bunch of late round picks, and are in GREAT position moving forward.  That's what Ainge and Doc want to do.  The Spurs have managed their cap, have great young pieces, and all they need is to pull one rabbit out of their hat once again and they are a title team.

There are actually people out there that are demanding that Ainge turns this team into the Charlotte Bobcats, Washington Wizards, Sacramento Kings, Milwaukee Bucks, or whatever perennial lottery loser you want to put here.

Back in 03-05, there were people CLAMMORING Pierce get traded for Corey Maggette or Stromile Swift ten times over.  Yes, Bill Simmons was one of those thinking of every trade scenario that had the Celtics getting Maggette for Pierce.  He thought the Celtics were 'half-[butt] rebuilding' and needed to become the Bobcats to win the championship.  Thankfully, Ainge didn't believe that.  Ainge was only trading Pierce for Chris Paul in 2005 or Pau Gasol in 2007.  You don't bank the future of your team on ping pong balls.  For every Oklahoma City, there's like I said, the Bobcats, Wiz, Kings, Bucks, etc etc etc.  The Bulls threw an entire decade away before they got Rose.  Did Ainge tank in 07? Yes, that made sense.  But other than that the team competed (playoffs 04, division title in 05).  Just like it made sense for the Spurs to tank in 87 and 97 despite always being good for the last 35 years.  Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.  It's ok to do it one year, but you don't want it to become a habit or you end up like the Warriors (40 years of dreadfulness.)

[TripleOT]

Being stuck with perks 8mill albatross contract for his 5ppg on a rebuilding team would've been great move for ainge

There's a bunch of teams that would love to pay Perk $8m a season.  BTW, he makes $7.1m this year according to Hoopshype. 

Valuing Perk based on his rebounding and scoring stats is idiotic.  Anyone who has watched the Thunder knows what he brings to that team. I guess some people don't understand that basketball is a team game and a complete team needs it's individual players to bring different thinks to the game.

They're 40-10 with Perk in the line up.  Even the biggest Ainge butt kisser has to acknowledge that Perk must have at least a little something to do with that record.

The Celtics' biggest need right now is a big man who can muck it up and play physical basketball in the paint.  To get someone to do that game in and game out for $7.1m is not easy. 

Question for the Perk haters - would you rather have Perk on the Cs, or JO and Sasha, whose salaries match?   

[tfwhiteiii]

Being stuck with perks 8mill albatross contract for his 5ppg on a rebuilding team would've been great move for ainge

There's a bunch of teams that would love to pay Perk $8m a season.  BTW, he makes $7.1m this year according to Hoopshype. 

Valuing Perk based on his rebounding and scoring stats is idiotic.  Anyone who has watched the Thunder knows what he brings to that team. I guess some people don't understand that basketball is a team game and a complete team needs it's individual players to bring different thinks to the game.

They're 40-10 with Perk in the line up.  Even the biggest Ainge butt kisser has to acknowledge that Perk must have at least a little something to do with that record.

The Celtics' biggest need right now is a big man who can muck it up and play physical basketball in the paint.  To get someone to do that game in and game out for $7.1m is not easy. 

Question for the Perk haters - would you rather have Perk on the Cs, or JO and Sasha, whose salaries match?   

That's not a fair question to ask as those guys are signed for just a few more months, whereas Perkins is signed through 2015 where he is due 7.1, 7.9, 7.9, 8.5, 9.1.  I doubt Perkins is still on OKC by then as they will have to pay Ibaka and Harden.  Very good chance Perk is amnestied by then.

Ainge was right in that he foresaw Perkins declining.  Also, Ainge has continually said, and I have heard him say this on WEEI a month ago, that he refuses to overpay for role players when he does not have stars in place.  They were not even talking about Perkins then, he just brought that up.  He learned his lesson  from Mark Blount.

I have no problem with him trading Perkins, it's what he got for him.  Everyone should have a problem with that.  Jeff Green just wasn't good, and Perkins value was much higher at the time.  We might have just been better off keeping Perkins and letting him walk for nothing than trading for Jeff.  We at least had a shot at winning it all last year, and that went out the window once we traded our starting center (even on one leg) for a mediocre, non-impact wingman.

(by the way, there is not a 'bunch of team that would love to pay Perkins 8M'  He's one of the worst starters in the league.  It's arguable he's even better than Jermaine.)

[freshinthehouse]

where has this idea come from that no Marquee free agents will sign in boston??

its true that the celtics have never signed any marquee free agents in the past...but have we ever really been in a position to do so??

we've always been stuck in salary cap hell, or had cheap ownership to go after any marquee free agents. Wyc/Ainge wont follow the same path as Gaston..

TP.  We haven't had significant cap room since the 90s. 

[footey]

What would it take for us to have enough cap room to sign D Wills and Howard? Would we have to trade Pierce for an expiring contract? Obviously we would have to trade Rondo as well, but that would be unwise unless done in conjunction with signing D Wills.