Hooray for Optionality!!

[slightly biased bias fan]

Even the notion of optionality is ludicrous. Paul George is on the same salary as Brown and his second and final contract year is a player option.

This means that George has final say on where he is traded to if optionality means the Celtics can trade George for two players of equal value. Hypothetically, if Stevens end game was swapping George & picks for Murphy III & Williamson, George can block that trade by telling New Orleans he will be opting out next season.

The press conference was farcical.

[Roy H.]

Even the notion of optionality is ludicrous. Paul George is on the same salary as Brown and his second and final contract year is a player option.

This means that George has final say on where he is traded to if optionality means the Celtics can trade George for two players of equal value. Hypothetically, if Stevens end game was swapping George & picks for Murphy III & Williamson, George can block that trade by telling New Orleans he will be opting out next season.

The press conference was farcical.

One thing that I am not at all worried about is Paul George opting out, and I can't imagine that a team like New Orleans would be disappointed if he did so.

[Who]

If PG gives us 15ppg on good efficiency in the playoffs, where is the rest of our scoring going to come from?

I imagine they are hoping for:

(1) 25-30ppg for Tatum
(2) 15ppg each from D White, Pritchard, PG13 for 45ppg
(3) 15ppg combined from Queta / M Robinson
(4) 15-20ppg from the wings - Baylor, Hauser, J Walsh, Hugo

That is 85-90ppg from (1) Tatum, (2) the support scorers, (3) the center position + (4) 15-20ppg from the wings to get to 100-110ppg.

[LilRip]

So I do not think we should view the trade in the lens of:
1. Is JB a better player than PG?

Because they are not equal. JB is clearly superior and that is why picks were added. We can debate whether the draft haul was good enough or not (I honestly wish there was one more first added) but it is close, I think. I do not think JB had a market of promising young player + 4 picks. I think JB had a market of either promising young player OR 3 picks. If they were of equal value, then it would have been a straight trade for JB and PG. Stop comparing JB and PG.

2. PG is earning the same amount and provides no flexibility

This is also flawed. What PG brings most to the table in the trade is making the money work for a shorter time and resetting the tax. PG waiving his clause allows us to stay under the tax and allows us to reset the tax and I suspect this was discussed and agreed upon beforehand. I doubt it was Brad Stevens praying for PG to just waive it. PG will also be a trading chip for teams looking for some relief next year.

This is a future looking move.
Current timeline: You have one year of PG, you reset the tax, and then the next year, you have your flexibility. Celtics can pursue free agents (idk who) and they can spend without being punished too much.

Alternate timeline: You have 5 years of Brown and Tatum. In those 5 years, you will eventually need to shed players like White and Pritchard because the CBA is just so punishing. Can you win with Brown and Tatum and a worsening supporting cast without much draft capital to bring in reinforcements? It seems our front office did not think so

We need to accept we are in a new era. There are no more dynasties and no more long contention windows. Teams need to retool quickly or players need to start taking pay cuts. Even teams like OKC will crumble soon because they just will not be able to justify keeping all their good players. It will be a long time before we see a team as stacked as the 2024 Celtics and even then, that team is probably only going to be together for 1-2 years max.

[ozgod]

We need to accept we are in a new era. There are no more dynasties and no more long contention windows. Teams need to retool quickly or players need to start taking pay cuts. Even teams like OKC will crumble soon because they just will not be able to justify keeping all their good players. It will be a long time before we see a team as stacked as the 2024 Celtics and even then, that team is probably only going to be together for 1-2 years max.

Kyle Kuzma said as much in a rant about the CBA after the Jaylen trade.

(click to enlarge)

https://x.com/kylekuzma/status/2073144817606148455?s=20

[slightly biased bias fan]

Even the notion of optionality is ludicrous. Paul George is on the same salary as Brown and his second and final contract year is a player option.

This means that George has final say on where he is traded to if optionality means the Celtics can trade George for two players of equal value. Hypothetically, if Stevens end game was swapping George & picks for Murphy III & Williamson, George can block that trade by telling New Orleans he will be opting out next season.

The press conference was farcical.

One thing that I am not at all worried about is Paul George opting out, and I can't imagine that a team like New Orleans would be disappointed if he did so.

I highly doubt Paul George would opt out with the Celtics, but my point is that this notion of optionality is a mirage.

If PG plays well enough to begin the season, you cannot flip him anywhere he does not want to go (because of his player option). Given that George has yet to win a title, he would never accept being traded to a non-contending team.

Even the idea of creating cap room when his contract expires is a nonstarter as top players in their prime no longer hit the free agent market.

[Ilikesports17]

Even the notion of optionality is ludicrous. Paul George is on the same salary as Brown and his second and final contract year is a player option.

This means that George has final say on where he is traded to if optionality means the Celtics can trade George for two players of equal value. Hypothetically, if Stevens end game was swapping George & picks for Murphy III & Williamson, George can block that trade by telling New Orleans he will be opting out next season.

The press conference was farcical.

One thing that I am not at all worried about is Paul George opting out, and I can't imagine that a team like New Orleans would be disappointed if he did so.

I highly doubt Paul George would opt out with the Celtics, but my point is that this notion of optionality is a mirage.

If PG plays well enough to begin the season, you cannot flip him anywhere he does not want to go (because of his player option). Given that George has yet to win a title, he would never accept being traded to a non-contending team.

Even the idea of creating cap room when his contract expires is a nonstarter as top players in their prime no longer hit the free agent market.

This is a complete non-issue. If Paul George threatens to opt out if we trade him then he will simply be increasing his trade value.

[Kernewek]

Even the notion of optionality is ludicrous. Paul George is on the same salary as Brown and his second and final contract year is a player option.

This means that George has final say on where he is traded to if optionality means the Celtics can trade George for two players of equal value. Hypothetically, if Stevens end game was swapping George & picks for Murphy III & Williamson, George can block that trade by telling New Orleans he will be opting out next season.

The press conference was farcical.

One thing that I am not at all worried about is Paul George opting out, and I can't imagine that a team like New Orleans would be disappointed if he did so.

I highly doubt Paul George would opt out with the Celtics, but my point is that this notion of optionality is a mirage.

If PG plays well enough to begin the season, you cannot flip him anywhere he does not want to go (because of his player option). Given that George has yet to win a title, he would never accept being traded to a non-contending team.

Even the idea of creating cap room when his contract expires is a nonstarter as top players in their prime no longer hit the free agent market.

This is a complete non-issue. If Paul George threatens to opt out if we trade him then he will simply be increasing his trade value.

George is also not expecting to sign a max-level extension this season, which was a fairly big part of the front office equation by all available information.