Adding Posey guarantees nothing. Contending is all we can hope for and whether his team has Pietrus, Maggette or Posey or none of the above, they will contend because of the 5 guys that start not the guys that might come off the bench.
One bad midlevel exemption contract can kill a team.
Don't forget Perk and Rondo will be asking for $10 million a year contract extentions in the next two years. Don't believe me? Look at what Beno Udrih just got. Look at what Samuel Dalembert is making. Giving Posey a 5 year full MLE could kill this team when they most need money to resign these guys.
Most will say that Ray Allen will be traded in his last year and another high priced productive guy may come in. But will ownership continue to pay luxury tax penalties while extending Rondo and Perk big time while holding onto the Big Three or the Big Two and a high priced replacement? Especially if Posey is sitting on the bench collecting $7 million and $8million a year contracts while doing next to nothing for this team.
Does anyone remember just how poorly Posey played in the first three playoff series?
Vs Atlanta he averaged his season averages but got torched defensively.
Vs Cleveland he averaged 5 pts, 3.5 rebs and shot 33% from three while being so bad against LeBron that Doc made the switch to Pierce on LeBron exclusively. At one point in one game Pierce came out replaced by Posey on LeBron. LeBron had been stifled that game. Pierce was in the game in less than 90 seconds later because LeBron put up like 7 or 8 points on Posey in that time because he was by Posey on the first step every time.
Vs Detroit 5.5 pts, 2.7 rebs while shooting 31% from three.
Is everyone forgeting the shooting slump Posey was in for a good portion of the last two months of the year?
Does everyone expect these things to get better?
He had a greta Finals against possibly Boston easiest matchup of the postseason and suddenly he is indispensible?
For what we paid for James Posey, we got a bargain. We need another bargain not a contract that could turn ownership off so bad in later years that they say to not resign Perk or Rondo or to dump salary because he's not paying double on bad contracts anymore.
This is afterall the first time this ownership group allowed Danny to spend money. There's no guarantee that lasts.
Danny has his contracts set up very intelligently right now with Powe, Davis, and Pruitt epiring at the end of this year, Scal and Ray after 2010, Pierce, Rondo, and Perk after 2011 and KG after 2012. If we assume that Perk and Rondo get extended the year Scal and Ray come off the books then it would make all the sense in the world to give Posey a 3 year contract that is where his value maxes out.
And that's where Danny should take a lesson from Bill Belichick and the Patriots. That have had it right every time. The keep competitive because they cut ties loose once the player has crested in is dollar value return to the team. Posey might already have done that here. I think with a three year contract we can at least equal that return for the length of that contract. After that, this team is taking a beating contractually concerning BGJ.
Make the stand Danny. It's 3 year max or we find someone else. there is now the structure for a larger strategy to be effective and Danny needs to stick by it and not cave on Posey.
You see Steve brought up Miami and it's a good example. Yes they won and then got old fast and now looks to be bouncing back quick. The Celtics won't do that. Miami's Finals MVP star the year after they won it all was 24 years old. Our Finals MVP star will be 31 when the next season starts.
We can't count on getting old, getting exceptional lottery luck(something this team has never had and should never rely on ever having), and getting another top 20 player in the league in return when we trade an old star of ours. Miami traded one of the top 5 centers of all timein order to get Marion. An aging Pierce or Allen and probably even Garnett will never net a player of Marion's quality coming back to us in return.
We need to be smart. The tarting five we have is the best in the league bar none. We have three hall of famers still able to dominate a game, a young bruising 23 year old 5 year veteran defensive beast of a center that is still developing and a 22 year old PG that might already be the best defensive PG in the league, is developing a solid jumper and is a tremendous facilitator and looks to be a 14-16 pt/7-9 assist/4-5 rebound/2-3 steal player for the next decade or more.
Those are the pieces that need to be kept before foolishly spending money on a bench player who's contract could, I said could, have an impact on the thought process of ownership when it comes to making future monetary decisions.
3 years for Posey yes. He demands more, say thanks, we love ya James, but we're going in a different direction because we have to do what's right by the Celtics and our long term fanbase, not by James Posey.
I know lots of rambling and long winded crap but take in the whole picture. Is Posey really that important to this team. I think the the starters are the only guys on this team who deserve a contract over 3 years, anything else leads to bad decisions which tend to beget more bad decisions and before you know it a decade is gone and you're still wondering when the next banner is coming.
Topic: Win it all next year vs. economic suicide (Read 38789 times)