Celtics are in limbo

[Donoghus]

Having plenty of cap room flexibility going forward and having a crapload of 1st round picks in the future disagrees with the limbo assessment.

Caproom is great but how many big names free agents sign with Boston in the last 20 years.. The biggest name was Dominque Wilkins in his final days.. Big name players want to win along with getting their money.. Those first round picks are not worth as much as you think .. especially the Clippers and Cavs picks

Beating a dead horse here but when have the Celtics actually had the cap room to sign a "big name" star over the past 20 years?

this year or almost any year... its called sign and trade

Easier said than done.

It also requires assets going out on the other end.   It's not like you can just say "hey, let's do a sign & trade" and things will get done.

KG & Allen extended while they were in Boston.  It speaks more to the ability of a winning culture than this misconception of Boston being a place that no FA's want to go to.

[PaulAllen]

Having plenty of cap room flexibility going forward and having a crapload of 1st round picks in the future disagrees with the limbo assessment.

Caproom is great but how many big names free agents sign with Boston in the last 20 years.. The biggest name was Dominque Wilkins in his final days.. Big name players want to win along with getting their money.. Those first round picks are not worth as much as you think .. especially the Clippers and Cavs picks

Beating a dead horse here but when have the Celtics actually had the cap room to sign a "big name" star over the past 20 years?

this year or almost any year... its called sign and trade

Easier said than done.

It also requires assets going out on the other end.   It's not like you can just say "hey, let's do a sign & trade" and things will get done.

KG & Allen extended while they were in Boston.  It speaks more to the ability of a winning culture than this misconception of Boston being a place that no FA's want to go to.

Well this year alone the the Celtics had $10 mil in player exceptions plus Bogans dead 5 mil contract

[Mr October]

I guess you could say the Celtics are in limbo. I guess you would have to say most teams in the NBA are. It's the law of averages. Only about 4-5 teams out of 30 are going to be contenders for the title any given year.

We are also 1 year into the rebuild. This is going to take some time.

Lance Stephenson is no James Harden, and James Harden is no sure fire superstar. I actually think the Rockets are in 50 win limbo. Good enough to win 50 games, but not good enough to win the whole thing. Harden isn't consistent enough on offense and his defense is bad. Howard is past his prime. And they can't afford to sign another star next year after settling on Ariza.

First round picks do still hold a lot of value. Don't mistake that with thinking that NBA teams are going to line up to give away all stars in their primes for draft picks though. That rarely ever happens. Ray and KG were considered past their prime when they were traded, and their teams were looking to tank and start over anyway.

The timberwolves do not want to tank right now. They do not want keep wallowing in the lottery for an 11th straight season, the longest drought among all the teams in the NBA. After seeing Portland and Aldridge bounce back to the playoffs this year, Flip thinks he can do the same with Love and the Wolves with just the right tweaks in the team and coaching. They don't want to surrender a Love for unknown picks and known losing.

Have patience. Every year or two a new star gets disgruntled and gets traded or hits the free agent market. Ainge has to stay ready with cap flexibility and picks. And he and Stevens have to keep developing our young talent. You never know when we can uncover a diamond of our own.

[Mr October]

Having plenty of cap room flexibility going forward and having a crapload of 1st round picks in the future disagrees with the limbo assessment.

Caproom is great but how many big names free agents sign with Boston in the last 20 years.. The biggest name was Dominque Wilkins in his final days.. Big name players want to win along with getting their money.. Those first round picks are not worth as much as you think .. especially the Clippers and Cavs picks

Beating a dead horse here but when have the Celtics actually had the cap room to sign a "big name" star over the past 20 years?

this year or almost any year... its called sign and trade

Easier said than done.

It also requires assets going out on the other end.   It's not like you can just say "hey, let's do a sign & trade" and things will get done.

KG & Allen extended while they were in Boston.  It speaks more to the ability of a winning culture than this misconception of Boston being a place that no FA's want to go to.

Well this year alone the the Celtics had $10 mil in player exceptions plus Bogans dead 5 mil contract

When has any team actually swung a sign and trade for a max star, when they hadn't had full max cap room to use to force a sign and trade or an outright signing? That would be 21 million this year, and around 17-20 in years past.

If the Celtics continue to wallow in 25 win land with no significant upside, it is true they will not attract a star free agent. Players will want to go to Boston only if they think they can win.

Look at the Lakers. Los Angeles is a magnet city for stars. But they wont even go there if they can't win. Kobe's contract kills their flexibility to form a contender.

Stars want to get paid and they want a shot at contending for a title. We will see if the Celtics can make it happen. Love continues to be their only star option to pursue. Next summer will be very interesting.

In the meantime, i look forward to seeing all the young guys evolve their games under Brad Stevens this year.

[Future Celtics Owner]

We have plenty of picks and expiring contracts. We just signed the #6 pick and James Young.

Only time will heal

[Jailan34]

Having plenty of cap room flexibility going forward and having a crapload of 1st round picks in the future disagrees with the limbo assessment.

Caproom is great but how many big names free agents sign with Boston in the last 20 years.. The biggest name was Dominque Wilkins in his final days.. Big name players want to win along with getting their money.. Those first round picks are not worth as much as you think .. especially the Clippers and Cavs picks

Beating a dead horse here but when have the Celtics actually had the cap room to sign a "big name" star over the past 20 years?

Do you think its an accident that we haven't we don't clear cap space to sign max agents? Like our management just never thinks "hey maybe we try to sign a big free agent this off season?" They don't prepare for it because it won't ever happen. I can't believe we're capable of doing it until it actually happens. People can argue that point all they like, it doesn't change the fact they we've never signed a big time free agent and we wont ever be a destination unless we have a great player other players want to play alongside.

[colincb]

The more I look at the state of the Celtics and how the NBA free agency and the trading scene has transpired this team is in serious limbo..

So what can the Celtics really do now? not much.. they can offer Lance Stevenson 12 mil a year.. sign Evan Turner with a mle.. what will that do longterm?

It looks like all of their assets are just undetermined.. The value of Jeff Green, Jared Sullinger, KO and even Marcus Smart are lesser than what most of us anticipated. Most thought that a Sully few draft picks and fillers would land Love but not at all the case.. They still have a shot at Love but not until the deadline..

Basically I think Ainge plays the year out and sees where this team is at the trade deadline.. If they play above expectations and make a playoff push then maybe Love will be an option.. Minnesota holds the cards right now because there is not rush to trade him now.. If he lasts until the deadline then the Celtics original offer looks good... On the other hand if they look like rebuilding phase 2.0 then they have no choice but to trade Rondo.. He will be big in the open market and will probably get a max somewhere, although the Celtics can pay him the most but I doubt he wants to go through a rebuilding period.

So maybe one of these players can really take their value to another level? Jeff Green averging 20 ppg.. Sullinger a double double averge.. The picks ? however I think draft picks are the most overrated asset the Celtics own.. They are good for team who are willing to dump salary but if you look around there are no teams willing to dump all star caliber players to save money at this point.. The Celtics best shot was the 6th pick in a good draft... that has passed unless someone really likes Smart.

For the most part the Celtics offseason is over, time to play it out and see where it goes...

It's not limbo or doom, it's the journey. Rebuilding takes a lot more time than blowing things up and patiece is a virtue as we saw borne out during Pitino's reign of impatience.

I'm not adverse to trading Rondo for value, but I doubt he's going anywhere otherwise Cs are back to 0 stars when you need to have 3 (or 2 HOFers with one being a Center like Shaql, except there are no dominant centers in the NBA currently). Might have to overpay RR if he looks like Rondo of old next season, but our cap is our friend after 2014-15 and it is likely to shoot up in the future through new TV money and a new CBA more friendly to the players. If Rondo doesn't want to stay (or doesn't return to form), then we have a different animal. However, Rondo's been pretty positive about staying if we're improving. Unless you're a pessimist at heart, it's pretty clear that we're improving and have future assets in a lot of  picks and cap room coming.

[Chris]

The Celtics will remain in limbo until moves to get some stars present themselves.  This is the nature of the NBA.  For the teams that don't have stars, it is a waiting game.  Some teams try to speed it up, either by tanking year after year, or by going all-in for players who are not really stars, but those rarely work out. 

Unfortunately, it is stars league, and until you have those guys on the roster, it is hard to build a team to do anything but hover.

[Donoghus]

Having plenty of cap room flexibility going forward and having a crapload of 1st round picks in the future disagrees with the limbo assessment.

Caproom is great but how many big names free agents sign with Boston in the last 20 years.. The biggest name was Dominque Wilkins in his final days.. Big name players want to win along with getting their money.. Those first round picks are not worth as much as you think .. especially the Clippers and Cavs picks

Beating a dead horse here but when have the Celtics actually had the cap room to sign a "big name" star over the past 20 years?

Do you think its an accident that we haven't we don't clear cap space to sign max agents? Like our management just never thinks "hey maybe we try to sign a big free agent this off season?" They don't prepare for it because it won't ever happen. I can't believe we're capable of doing it until it actually happens. People can argue that point all they like, it doesn't change the fact they we've never signed a big time free agent and we wont ever be a destination unless we have a great player other players want to play alongside.

This team was so p*ss poor managed during the Gaston regime that, no, I don't believe our management has necessarily planning for it especially back then when Pitino was spending like a drunken sailor on the likes of Travis Knight or the team got caught up in the mirage that was the '02 team (a fun team but not one on long-term success).    When the team was in "win-now" mode of 2007-2012, there was no point to clear cap space.  They were just trying to add pieces here & there to stay in contention.  (Does Sheed or O'Neal count as decent signings?)

We extended KG & Ray after trading for them.    The fact that they decided to stay in Boston longer than their original deal tells me that players will play in Boston when there is a winning culture in place.   A lot of the "never come to Boston" stuff is just nonsense/easy cop outs by people who don't digger deeper into what this franchise has been like since the mid 90s. 

Ainge appears to be trying to clear the deck here with a focus on summer '15 or summer '16.  He looks to still be in the asset collection game while establishing some flexibility.  Now if they go into a summer with real money to throw at a big name and strike out (see Houston this summer) than maybe I'll start buying into this whole concept of Boston not being a FA destination.

[Celtics4ever]

You like the team good or bad when your a fan of the team.   Yes, the future is not what we wanted with another tank year a possibility.  But watching young guys is fun to me.   It's not as good as contending but it is still Celtics Basketball and I for one will take that.

[DraftSmart33]

One bad season and the "Celtics are in Limbo". 

The Celtics didn't have cap room this offseason not matter how you want to convince yourself they did.  In fact with essentially zero moves they are pressed against the cap right now.  Lance Stephenson is a head case and in my opinion not worth the risk.  Why would we tie up money in a rebuild in the first place?  Let the kids develop, get the time on the court and assess at the end of the season.  Relax.  There is a plan.  This isn't going to be the 90's all over again.

[Fred Roberts]

The Celtics are simultaneously set to be youthful and exciting, yet ready to pounce on favorable transaction opps that come along.

If having flexibility to make moves means limbo, then you take limbo more often than not.

[CelticsFanFromNYC]

The Celtics are simultaneously set to be youthful and exciting, yet ready to pounce on favorable transaction opps that come along.

If having flexibility to make moves means limbo, then you take limbo more often than not.

On the $$$$$$!! Were  on the Youth developing movement that actually has nice projects to work on. At the same time we have been piling assets (players and picks) to be  ready to make trades if needed to contend sooner then later

[BudweiserCeltic]

Make the playoffs this year and see the free-agents crawling to our door. #HASHTAGSOMETHING