Celtics free agent options

[PAOBoston]

Milsap would be swell.  reunite him with Al

Does he even have anything left in the tank at this point?

[Roy H.]

Milsap would be swell.  reunite him with Al

Does he even have anything left in the tank at this point?

9/5/2 with good defense in 20mpg.

[W8ting2McHale]

I think we need a defense first wing that can switch between the 3 & 4. And can hit a 3.

Tatum and Brown are taking bigger roles on offense. They need a backup that can give them a defensive break when the opponent has a high usage 3-4 going against them.

Brown has been taking those opponents in a lot of cases, but his increased usage on offense is detrimental to his defensive efforts. He’s a 2-way player, but when he’s guarding Giannis or someone that has 4-5” inches on him, it’s asking too much. Semi and Grant have been used in this role, but neither are the answer. Semi isn’t consistent enough on offense and while he can play the 4, he’s not good as a 3. I see Grant penciled in as a 3 in some depth charts, but is absolutely not a 3, and barely a 4.  He’s best as a small ball 5, and he’s not great at that either.

Who’s got length to play 4, and the lateral ability to stay in front of a 3? Not a scorer, but can hit a 3 on the 2nd unit when giving either Tatum or Brown a breather. Parker can be an offensive option, but a defender will play more minutes.

Who’s available that does that?

Nicolas Batum? Trey Lyles? Justice Winslow? Any of those guys? None are stars, not looking for that - just a Semi and/or Grant replacement- but cheaper than Bobby Portis or someone worth starter money.

[Big333223]

I wonder what Kyle Lowry's mindset is right now.

He's coming off a pretty decent year but he's 35 and the Raps look like they're rebuilding. Does he want to take a minimum contract to play 20 mpg for a contender? Can he be convinced the Celtics are a contender? Maybe he wants to play with the J's?

That might not be where Lowry's head is at, at all, but it'd be pretty cool.

[Roy H.]

I wonder what Kyle Lowry's mindset is right now.

He's coming off a pretty decent year but he's 35 and the Raps look like they're rebuilding. Does he want to take a minimum contract to play 20 mpg for a contender? Can he be convinced the Celtics are a contender? Maybe he wants to play with the J's?

That might not be where Lowry's head is at, at all, but it'd be pretty cool.

He won’t need to take a minimum contract. Teams like the Lakers, Clippers, heat and Sixers would offer him the MLE/TMLE.

[hpantazo]

I wonder what Kyle Lowry's mindset is right now.

He's coming off a pretty decent year but he's 35 and the Raps look like they're rebuilding. Does he want to take a minimum contract to play 20 mpg for a contender? Can he be convinced the Celtics are a contender? Maybe he wants to play with the J's?

That might not be where Lowry's head is at, at all, but it'd be pretty cool.

He won’t need to take a minimum contract. Teams like the Lakers, Clippers, heat and Sixers would offer him the MLE/TMLE.

He's easily worth the full MLE, and we still have  about 11 million left of the trade exemption that we could use in a sign and trade.

Lowry would be a really nice fit here for a couple of seasons. Him plus Al would really stabilize this young group going forward and fill two major needs on this roster in center and point guard.

[Celtics2021]

I wonder what Kyle Lowry's mindset is right now.

He's coming off a pretty decent year but he's 35 and the Raps look like they're rebuilding. Does he want to take a minimum contract to play 20 mpg for a contender? Can he be convinced the Celtics are a contender? Maybe he wants to play with the J's?

That might not be where Lowry's head is at, at all, but it'd be pretty cool.

He won’t need to take a minimum contract. Teams like the Lakers, Clippers, heat and Sixers would offer him the MLE/TMLE.

Kyle Lowry has to be one of the Knicks top options.  The Suns also might be looking for a new PG if Paul leaves, and would have ample cap room.  Between that and the Raptors likely willingness to partake in a sign-and-trade, it would be shocking if Lowry was anywhere near the MLE level.  I see 2-years at $20 million a year as his floor, with a third non-guaranteed year if he moves in a S&T.

[GetLucky]

I wonder what Kyle Lowry's mindset is right now.

He's coming off a pretty decent year but he's 35 and the Raps look like they're rebuilding. Does he want to take a minimum contract to play 20 mpg for a contender? Can he be convinced the Celtics are a contender? Maybe he wants to play with the J's?

That might not be where Lowry's head is at, at all, but it'd be pretty cool.

He won’t need to take a minimum contract. Teams like the Lakers, Clippers, heat and Sixers would offer him the MLE/TMLE.

He's easily worth the full MLE, and we still have  about 11 million left of the trade exemption that we could use in a sign and trade.

Lowry would be a really nice fit here for a couple of seasons. Him plus Al would really stabilize this young group going forward and fill two major needs on this roster in center and point guard.

Sign and trade would hard cap up, which probably makes it impossible to resign Fournier.

[Vermont Green]

I look at this as tiers.  My tier 1 is young'ish players who could be part of a core.  Collins for sure is in this group, maybe Ball, and possibly even Markkanen.  Any of these would require a significant sign and trade, probably involving both Smart and Thompson (we would need to clear salary as we would be hard capped).  I don't see any of these as likely.  If we can get Markkanen in a S&T for say Thompson and Langford or something like that, that is pretty good.  I am not really in for Ball but I would be happy with Collins or Markkanen but see any of these as very unlikely.

Next tier is the players that may not be stars (or stars anymore) but we could get with the Taxpayer MLE (about $6M I think).  I say taxpayer as if we use the non-taxpayer (more like $9M), we end up hard capped.  I see players like Bobby Portis, Lowry (maybe a stretch), Rose all in this range possibly.  If we could get Markkanen in this range, great but I doubt a young big like him goes for that.  It would be a big raise for Portis over what is got with his last contract.  He would be potentially a really good fit but he would have to play as a PF.

The next tier are all the older, in my opinion too old names that get thrown out.  Gay, Green, Milsap, Markieff Morris, Rose.  I am really not all that interested in any of these guys.  Let them go to the Lakers, Nets, Buck, whatever.

The final tier are players like Olynyk and Mills.  These guys will probably still get some decent money but are not even starters on the Celtics.  I don't have much interest in these players either.

Rich Signing (up to $20M):     Collins for Smart, Thompson, and probably more
                                            Ball for Smart, Thompson

Medium Signing (+/- $14M):  Markkanen for Thompson and Langford
                                            Lowry for Thompson and Langford

MLE (Non-Tax, $6M):              Bobby Portis

[W8ting2McHale]

I wonder what Kyle Lowry's mindset is right now.

He's coming off a pretty decent year but he's 35 and the Raps look like they're rebuilding. Does he want to take a minimum contract to play 20 mpg for a contender? Can he be convinced the Celtics are a contender? Maybe he wants to play with the J's?

That might not be where Lowry's head is at, at all, but it'd be pretty cool.

He won’t need to take a minimum contract. Teams like the Lakers, Clippers, heat and Sixers would offer him the MLE/TMLE.

He's easily worth the full MLE, and we still have  about 11 million left of the trade exemption that we could use in a sign and trade.

Lowry would be a really nice fit here for a couple of seasons. Him plus Al would really stabilize this young group going forward and fill two major needs on this roster in center and point guard.

Sign and trade would hard cap up, which probably makes it impossible to resign Fournier.

Do we even need Fournier if we have Lowry? If that happens I would say just give Newsmith some minutes and let him grow into that role. Right now it looks like we really need Fournier to be that 3rd or 4th scoring option, but Lowry or someone similar mitigates that.

[stes]

 

I think we need a defense first wing that can switch between the 3 & 4. And can hit a 3.

Tatum and Brown are taking bigger roles on offense. They need a backup that can give them a defensive break when the opponent has a high usage 3-4 going against them.

Brown has been taking those opponents in a lot of cases, but his increased usage on offense is detrimental to his defensive efforts. He’s a 2-way player, but when he’s guarding Giannis or someone that has 4-5” inches on him, it’s asking too much. Semi and Grant have been used in this role, but neither are the answer. Semi isn’t consistent enough on offense and while he can play the 4, he’s not good as a 3. I see Grant penciled in as a 3 in some depth charts, but is absolutely not a 3, and barely a 4.  He’s best as a small ball 5, and he’s not great at that either.

Who’s got length to play 4, and the lateral ability to stay in front of a 3? Not a scorer, but can hit a 3 on the 2nd unit when giving either Tatum or Brown a breather. Parker can be an offensive option, but a defender will play more minutes.

Who’s available that does that?

Nicolas Batum? Trey Lyles? Justice Winslow? Any of those guys? None are stars, not looking for that - just a Semi and/or Grant replacement- but cheaper than Bobby Portis or someone worth starter money.

I don’t know about his health status, but Otto Porter seems like a good option for that role out of free agency. Long, good shooter. Will he command more than the MLE? Maybe S&T into our remaining TPE, which I think is a bit higher than the mid level? I would also like to give Winslow a spot, because he’s more of a playmaker, but these options should not mutually exclusive.

[Birdman]

I always like Trey Lyles..he can be had on a cheap contract..heck he is better than Grant & Semi

[Big333223]

I wonder what Kyle Lowry's mindset is right now.

He's coming off a pretty decent year but he's 35 and the Raps look like they're rebuilding. Does he want to take a minimum contract to play 20 mpg for a contender? Can he be convinced the Celtics are a contender? Maybe he wants to play with the J's?

That might not be where Lowry's head is at, at all, but it'd be pretty cool.

He won’t need to take a minimum contract. Teams like the Lakers, Clippers, heat and Sixers would offer him the MLE/TMLE.

He's easily worth the full MLE, and we still have  about 11 million left of the trade exemption that we could use in a sign and trade.

Lowry would be a really nice fit here for a couple of seasons. Him plus Al would really stabilize this young group going forward and fill two major needs on this roster in center and point guard.

Sign and trade would hard cap up, which probably makes it impossible to resign Fournier.

Do we even need Fournier if we have Lowry? If that happens I would say just give Newsmith some minutes and let him grow into that role. Right now it looks like we really need Fournier to be that 3rd or 4th scoring option, but Lowry or someone similar mitigates that.

Lowry is 35 and 6'0". Fournier isn't a great defender but he's 6'7", pretty mobile, and 29. If we're making a choice between the two, Fournier is clearly the choice.

[W8ting2McHale]

I always like Trey Lyles..he can be had on a cheap contract..heck he is better than Grant & Semi

I think he’s better than both of those guys put together. 6’9” is used to playing 15-20 minutes for the Spurs, and hits the 3 in the 37-39% range. Otto Porter is more used to a starter/borderline starter role and will want more money. Justice Winslow is better as a role player than a starter, but he’s shorter and doesn’t hit the 3 as well as the first 2 guys.

Either of the 6’9” Morris twins could fit the bill, and Marcus has played here before, but he wants and expects to shoot too much and will want too much money as well. I didn’t like him taking shots away from the J’s last time around. Maybe his brother would except the role more willing and at a lower cost? He was a bargain for the Lakers last year.

[MattyIce]

I always like Trey Lyles..he can be had on a cheap contract..heck he is better than Grant & Semi

I think he’s better than both of those guys put together. 6’9” is used to playing 15-20 minutes for the Spurs, and hits the 3 in the 37-39% range. Otto Porter is more used to a starter/borderline starter role and will want more money. Justice Winslow is better as a role player than a starter, but he’s shorter and doesn’t hit the 3 as well as the first 2 guys.

Either of the 6’9” Morris twins could fit the bill, and Marcus has played here before, but he wants and expects to shoot too much and will want too much money as well. I didn’t like him taking shots away from the J’s last time around. Maybe his brother would except the role more willing and at a lower cost? He was a bargain for the Lakers last year.

yes and marcus morris is on the 1st year of a 4/64 mill contract