Posey will opt out, House wants to return

[cordobes]

Yeah, thats what I thought. Although, isn't this a little different because Posey is currently under contract and that option year has already been worked out? I just didn't know what the letter of the law was.

Well, had he chosen to exercise his one year extension (which he didn't as the limit was today, June 15th), we would be able to offer him an early Bird deal next summer, something around $6M. But if he had exercised it with the promise of getting that deal next season, that would be illegal.

[Chris]

I want House back.  I don't care if he's not great against on-the-ball pressure, he fits our team extremely well, as he has demonstrated through the entire regular season, and in those handful of playoff games he was allowed to play in.

If I were Posey, I'd opt out, too.  The hard part is (as Chris alluded to) determining whether it's better to have Posey at the full MLE, and a bunch of guys making the minimum, or whether it's better to split our MLE and bring in a couple of other guys to fill holes.  It's a tougher call than many think.  Hopefully, he takes his 20% raise, although I find that unlikely.

I want House back too.  Although I think they still need to find another ballhandler.  Ideally they could find a big PG, or SG who can handle the ball.  That way you can play House where he feels most comfortable...off the ball.

[Who]

I want House back.  I don't care if he's not great against on-the-ball pressure, he fits our team extremely well, as he has demonstrated through the entire regular season, and in those handful of playoff games he was allowed to play in.

If I were Posey, I'd opt out, too.  The hard part is (as Chris alluded to) determining whether it's better to have Posey at the full MLE, and a bunch of guys making the minimum, or whether it's better to split our MLE and bring in a couple of other guys to fill holes.  It's a tougher call than many think.  Hopefully, he takes his 20% raise, although I find that unlikely.

I want House back too.  Although I think they still need to find another ballhandler.  Ideally they could find a big PG, or SG who can handle the ball.  That way you can play House where he feels most comfortable...off the ball.

I don't want Eddie House back if he's going to be playing shooting guard (I believe we can get better shooting guards than Eddie).

Backup point guard or nothing for Eddie House.

[Cman]

I want House back too.  Although I think they still need to find another ballhandler.  Ideally they could find a big PG, or SG who can handle the ball.  That way you can play House where he feels most comfortable...off the ball.

Is Jiri Welsh available?
 

[Chris]

I want House back.  I don't care if he's not great against on-the-ball pressure, he fits our team extremely well, as he has demonstrated through the entire regular season, and in those handful of playoff games he was allowed to play in.

If I were Posey, I'd opt out, too.  The hard part is (as Chris alluded to) determining whether it's better to have Posey at the full MLE, and a bunch of guys making the minimum, or whether it's better to split our MLE and bring in a couple of other guys to fill holes.  It's a tougher call than many think.  Hopefully, he takes his 20% raise, although I find that unlikely.

I want House back too.  Although I think they still need to find another ballhandler.  Ideally they could find a big PG, or SG who can handle the ball.  That way you can play House where he feels most comfortable...off the ball.

I don't want Eddie House back if he's going to be playing shooting guard (I believe we can get better shooting guards than Eddie).

Backup point guard or nothing for Eddie House.

Well, he doesnt really play PG now.  He covers the 2 guard, but generally, Pierce or Allen really initiate the offense...hell, they even tried to have Tony Allen play PG to avoid having House do it.

[Who]

I want House back.  I don't care if he's not great against on-the-ball pressure, he fits our team extremely well, as he has demonstrated through the entire regular season, and in those handful of playoff games he was allowed to play in.

If I were Posey, I'd opt out, too.  The hard part is (as Chris alluded to) determining whether it's better to have Posey at the full MLE, and a bunch of guys making the minimum, or whether it's better to split our MLE and bring in a couple of other guys to fill holes.  It's a tougher call than many think.  Hopefully, he takes his 20% raise, although I find that unlikely.

I want House back too.  Although I think they still need to find another ballhandler.  Ideally they could find a big PG, or SG who can handle the ball.  That way you can play House where he feels most comfortable...off the ball.

I don't want Eddie House back if he's going to be playing shooting guard (I believe we can get better shooting guards than Eddie).

Backup point guard or nothing for Eddie House.

Well, he doesnt really play PG now.  He covers the 2 guard, but generally, Pierce or Allen really initiate the offense...hell, they even tried to have Tony Allen play PG to avoid having House do it.

House defends the point. Putting a second point guard out there with him will move onto a taller player where his defense will be a lot less effective.

House initiates the offense fine.

[Chris]

I want House back.  I don't care if he's not great against on-the-ball pressure, he fits our team extremely well, as he has demonstrated through the entire regular season, and in those handful of playoff games he was allowed to play in.

If I were Posey, I'd opt out, too.  The hard part is (as Chris alluded to) determining whether it's better to have Posey at the full MLE, and a bunch of guys making the minimum, or whether it's better to split our MLE and bring in a couple of other guys to fill holes.  It's a tougher call than many think.  Hopefully, he takes his 20% raise, although I find that unlikely.

I want House back too.  Although I think they still need to find another ballhandler.  Ideally they could find a big PG, or SG who can handle the ball.  That way you can play House where he feels most comfortable...off the ball.

I don't want Eddie House back if he's going to be playing shooting guard (I believe we can get better shooting guards than Eddie).

Backup point guard or nothing for Eddie House.

Well, he doesnt really play PG now.  He covers the 2 guard, but generally, Pierce or Allen really initiate the offense...hell, they even tried to have Tony Allen play PG to avoid having House do it.

House defends the point. Putting a second point guard out there with him will move onto a taller player where his defense will be a lot less effective.

House initiates the offense fine.

Oh, I think you are misunderstanding my point.  I was saying we should be looking at guys who are either SGs who can handle the ball, or big PGs who can defend the SG position.  That way you can have House guard the PG, but if the other team is pressuring the ball, there is someone else out there who can help bring the ball up.

[Who]

I want House back.  I don't care if he's not great against on-the-ball pressure, he fits our team extremely well, as he has demonstrated through the entire regular season, and in those handful of playoff games he was allowed to play in.

If I were Posey, I'd opt out, too.  The hard part is (as Chris alluded to) determining whether it's better to have Posey at the full MLE, and a bunch of guys making the minimum, or whether it's better to split our MLE and bring in a couple of other guys to fill holes.  It's a tougher call than many think.  Hopefully, he takes his 20% raise, although I find that unlikely.

I want House back too.  Although I think they still need to find another ballhandler.  Ideally they could find a big PG, or SG who can handle the ball.  That way you can play House where he feels most comfortable...off the ball.

I don't want Eddie House back if he's going to be playing shooting guard (I believe we can get better shooting guards than Eddie).

Backup point guard or nothing for Eddie House.

Well, he doesnt really play PG now.  He covers the 2 guard, but generally, Pierce or Allen really initiate the offense...hell, they even tried to have Tony Allen play PG to avoid having House do it.

House defends the point. Putting a second point guard out there with him will move onto a taller player where his defense will be a lot less effective.

House initiates the offense fine.

Oh, I think you are misunderstanding my point.  I was saying we should be looking at guys who are either SGs who can handle the ball, or big PGs who can defend the SG position.  That way you can have House guard the PG, but if the other team is pressuring the ball, there is someone else out there who can help bring the ball up.

My mistake, completely missed that. Went back and re-read your first post. Previously, I read your first, second and fourth sentences while completely missing the third. Don't know how that happened, my mistake. I'm with you now. I agree in the sense I'd be fine with Eddie playing SG under those circumstances although I don't for a second think it's neccessary or substantially beneficial to the team.

Not many backup shooting guard's who's ballhandling and floor leadership will be considerably better than Eddie's in the league, I doubt the C's find anything there but I'm open to suggestions. Shaun Livingston is the only tall point guard out there (free agency wise) who's capable and I see him as a long shot acquisition. So I don't really see either paths panning out.

The Posey/Pierce/Ray rotation on the wings looks very solid so I don't see the room for another wing in the rotation come playoff time. It clearly isn't that big of a regular season need as they've shown this past season with Eddie and Tony in the backcourt in that second unit.

Eddie plays enough off the ball when he initiates the offense already. That isn't a concern of mine. I don't think you get anything more out of him by having someone else bring up the ball/run the offense. I think the oppposite is true for most shooting guards unless they're very talented playmakers and talented playmaking shooting guards aren't normally backups.

Lindsey Hunter is meant to be retiring this summer which is great news for Eddie House. Who else bothers Eddie enough to have a major need for another ballhandler above and beyond what the C's have already?

[gpap]

Are you kidding me?  This is a business, not a charity event.

Posey's got a ring, and he's about to be a HUGE reason why the Celtics are going to throw him a second.  It's an injustice that he makes as little as Scal.

Don't give us that "I don't believe all he cares about is money" crap.  Have you watched this guy play?

Haha...well said. Posey is about as good of a bench player as you're ever going to find in the NBA. To just offer him $3.2 million is rip off. He deserves more money. I dare say without him, the Celtics are not in the position they're in right now.  It's a team game and every player counts.

[BrickJames]

Are you kidding me?  This is a business, not a charity event.

Posey's got a ring, and he's about to be a HUGE reason why the Celtics are going to throw him a second.  It's an injustice that he makes as little as Scal.

Don't give us that "I don't believe all he cares about is money" crap.  Have you watched this guy play?

Haha...well said. Posey is about as good of a bench player as you're ever going to find in the NBA. To just offer him $3.2 million is rip off. He deserves more money. I dare say without him, the Celtics are not in the position they're in right now.  It's a team game and every player counts.

Not only that, this guy puts his heart and soul into everything he does on the court, without question.  (I apologize for the cliche, but it's true).

He hugs everybody before the game, drawing the ire and sometimes laughter of the opposing team.  He puts his body on the line night in and night out. His motives are in question?  Really?

Sorry for the somewhat brash language but the OP irritated me with his last statement that I quoted earlier.  No offense P2, but I'm sure you realize the irrationality of your reaction - this is Big Game James we're talkin' about here. 

No relation to Brick.

[Barnabas]

We really need to find a way to dump Scalabrine's salary.  He makes almost as much as Bruce Bowen, for heaven's sake! 

Ideally, we need to look for one player who can be the backup PG, SG, and SF.  Someone who can hit the three-pointer to compensate for where Rondo is lacking.  Also, someone with enough height to play SF and take Posey's place. 

Who's that player? And how can we sign such a player with the MLE?

We won't be able to dump Scal's salary till his last year.

Who's that player?  My preference would be for Sasha Vujacic.  But he is restricted.  I don't think the Lakers will let him go. 

We can get rid of Scal, but we may have to package a "desirable", low-salary player like Powe or Rondo.  Here's what I would like to see, in the best case scenario.  Posey agrees to an extension, same salary for 3 years.  We use the MLE and acquire Vujacic.  And then we package Rondo and Scalabrine and the First Round draft pick to Milwaukee for Yi Jianlian.  I believe Rondo is as valuable to a rebuilding team as Yi Jianlian is.  So maybe Milwaukee might be agreeable. 

[Roy Hobbs]

We really need to find a way to dump Scalabrine's salary.  He makes almost as much as Bruce Bowen, for heaven's sake! 

Ideally, we need to look for one player who can be the backup PG, SG, and SF.  Someone who can hit the three-pointer to compensate for where Rondo is lacking.  Also, someone with enough height to play SF and take Posey's place. 

Who's that player? And how can we sign such a player with the MLE?

We won't be able to dump Scal's salary till his last year.

Who's that player?  My preference would be for Sasha Vujacic.  But he is restricted.  I don't think the Lakers will let him go. 

We can get rid of Scal, but we may have to package a "desirable", low-salary player like Powe or Rondo.  Here's what I would like to see, in the best case scenario.  Posey agrees to an extension, same salary for 3 years.  We use the MLE and acquire Vujacic.  And then we package Rondo and Scalabrine and the First Round draft pick to Milwaukee for Yi Jianlian.  I believe Rondo is as valuable to a rebuilding team as Yi Jianlian is.  So maybe Milwaukee might be agreeable. 

1) I doubt Posey agrees to an extension at his current salary, or for a slight raise.  His agent called his deal "below market".  He won't do that again.

2) Are you suggesting Sasha be our starting point guard?  Ugh.  He averaged 1.0 assists and 0.7 turnovers this year, in 18 minutes.  Not exactly starting point guard material. 

3) I don't like the Yi trade, as noted elsewhere.