Posey to the Hornets (Boston Globe Reporting)

[LarBrd33]

Seriously everyone should stop overreacting.   This isn't even about money.  That money is going to get spent... it's just not getting spent on Posey.

I liked Posey as much as everyone else, but I think his production will be replaced.  He seemed most valuable knocking down timely threes.   His defense was good, i guess...  but it wasn't like he was locking down LeBron (that task belonged to Pierce) or Kobe (task mainly belonged to Kobe).   And it wasn't like he was the heart and soul of the team (that's KG).  He was solid off the bench, but wasn't worth our full MLE.  We will need that to fill the holes in our roster.   We need a backup point, we need another solid big man... The team just decided that the money would be better spent elsewhere.

I think Ainge deserves credit for not caving.  Previous management would have just handed out some terrible contract that would come back to bite us later on.   Good to see we aren't just handing out fat contracts to anyone who shows a little bit of production.

[winsomme]

I want to make this clear though.  I hope nobody believes this is Ainge being "cheap" or the owners being "cheap".  This isn't about lowballing Posey.  It's not about that.  Obviously they felt that the MLE would be better spent elsewhere and believed that giving Posey 4 years would be an unintelligent decision.   This team has some holes that still need to be filled and the MLE is one of the only pieces of flexibility we currently have to fill those needs.  Hopefully now we can bring in a suitable replacement or split the MLE to some players who can help us in our quest for #18.

If anyone is freaking out right now, I suggest you just take a step back and wait until we see what Ainge does with the MLE.  Posey's become a little overrated by most people here.  We'll be fine.

i definitely question the "future flexibility" rationale. the only way this makes sense is if we bring in someone who plays as well as Posey. if not, then we have lessened our chances of repeating. a trio like GPA just doesn't come along that often and they aren't going to be playing at this level for that many more years....

i definitely would rather have one or two more Titles than a team that stays competitive longer because of the "flexibilty" that not signing Posey for four years affords us....

2-3 Titles is much much better than 10 years of really good teams that don't win Titles (just ask Utah or Phoenix)....

i actually don't understand why some people are so afraid to be bad. why not get as much out of GPA as we can and then be crappy again? that's the natural ebb and flow of the NBA...

i don't think the measuring stick of a franchise or a front office is never being awful, it's not STAYING awful. i actually liked watching Danny build this team up and seeing players like Big Al and Rondo and Perk, etc....improve and mature. it's a part of the game that i like.

i don't need a Title contender every year. i like watching things get built from the ground up and losing teams are part of that process. but when you have GPA, man, you gotta go for it EVERY year......

anyway, let's see how Danny responds....

[Evantime34]

I'm pretty sure we will have a long time to speculate on who is going to replace Posey. Danny is going to wait things out and see who he can get at a lower price. You will see no knee jerk reaction to this. I like Gomes a lot as someone else has mentioned. Does the little things, has a pretty consistent jumper (which he extended to three point range this year). He is not near the defender Posey is but could become a better one. I also like Ross, Arroyo, Livingston, Barnes. I also think we will bring back TA now. If TA plays healthy he could make us say Posey who.

[Cman]

Good luck Posey.
Well, now the Cs have the full MLE to use to fill out 3 remaining roster spots.  I am curious to see how it happens.

I think there will be a lot of movement over the next few days as teams start to sign other (lesser) wing options.  Danny should be able to sign someone decent given that the Cs are the reigning champs...

[cordobes]

Big Cash James. So when does Matt Barnes sign?

Still no Barnes.  He is Scali with a better shot, but not as good defensively. 

He's a better mid-range shooter than Scali by far; but Scal has the best long-range shot (career average .347 3pt% vs .324 3pt%). I'd rather play Brian, he provides more spacing and he's better guarding PFs.

[LarBrd33]

I want to make this clear though.  I hope nobody believes this is Ainge being "cheap" or the owners being "cheap".  This isn't about lowballing Posey.  It's not about that.  Obviously they felt that the MLE would be better spent elsewhere and believed that giving Posey 4 years would be an unintelligent decision.   This team has some holes that still need to be filled and the MLE is one of the only pieces of flexibility we currently have to fill those needs.  Hopefully now we can bring in a suitable replacement or split the MLE to some players who can help us in our quest for #18.

If anyone is freaking out right now, I suggest you just take a step back and wait until we see what Ainge does with the MLE.  Posey's become a little overrated by most people here.  We'll be fine.

i definitely question the "future flexibility" rationale. the only way this makes sense is if we bring in someone who plays as well as Posey. if not, then we have lessened our chances of repeating. a trio like GPA just doesn't come along that often and they aren't going to be playing at this level for that many more years....

i definitely would rather have one or two more Titles than a team that stays competitive longer because of the "flexibilty" that not signing Posey for four years affords us....

2-3 Titles is much much better than 10 years of really good teams that don't win Titles (just ask Utah or Phoenix)....

i actually don't understand why some people are so afraid to be bad. why not get as much out of GPA as we can and then be crappy again? that's the natural ebb and flow of the NBA...

i don't think the measuring stick of a franchise or a front office is never being awful, it's not STAYING awful. i actually liked watching Danny build this team up and seeing players like Big Al and Rondo and Perk, etc....improve and mature. it's a part of the game that i like.

anyway, let's see how Danny responds....

Winsome, it's not just about future flexability.   PJ Brown retired, Eddie House is questionable, Tony Allen seems gone, Sam Cassell was a bust...   we need a backup big man, we need a backup point guard and we need someone who can play solid defense off the bench.   I don't agree with people who think giving all our alloted money to James Posey will suddenly put this team in the best position for #18.   I think passing on Posey was the best long-term and possibly short-term move as well. Lets wait to see how we use that MLE.   Seriously... Posey is overrated right now.  I thought the full MLE was too much to begin with.  I liked the initial offer of giving him 4 years at his non-bird rights (starting at 3.8 million) and using that MLE to sign some additional help.  Unfortunately Posey demanded more.  And this was probably the best decision for the Celtics.   The 2008-09 team was going to be different no matter what happened with Posey... but now we have a shot at maybe bringing in players who can help our quest at #18.  

[Jon]

to some it up:

A Lawyer Milloy Type feel

Only there's no Rodney Harrison on the free agent market to replace him. 

[yupitsme]

The good news I can tell everybody is we still got #17. Let's not get greedy =D.

[SShoreFan 2.0]

just found this out / haven't read any the other posts so bear with me.


This bites.


Thank you

[KevinGamble]

I'm cool with this.  4 years is too much for him.   He's become rather overrated by people on this board and obviously he's overrated by a lot of the league as well.  Kudos to Ainge for sticking with it.  Now we can use part of that MLE to sign Bill Walker to a 3 year deal (preserving his bird rights in the event he "breaks out") and use the rest to split to a couple players who can help us next season. 

Tommy Point!

Posey was a marvel to watch and was just what a new and talented team needed to get where we got.  There were plenty of games we looked sloppy and Posey was the only one taking control of the garbage truck.  we will be a more experienced team next year and shouldn't need a crutch like that as much. 

Hey with the big three, you have to make sacrifices elsewhere.  Ainge will bring in competitors. 

Go Celts!!

[SamuelAdams]

Good for James. He also chose to leave so I put it on him. Boston teams have learned not to overpay for talent, no matter the emotion, with very good results.

 I will still stand and applaud when he shows up here next year.  Meh

So glad he is out west where he can torment the Fakers some more.

We need younger legs around the Big3.

[cordobes]

I'm fine with this for some reason...we need cap flexibility for 2010.

We're not having cap flexibility for 2010. This has nothing to do with cap flexibility.

[Bri5152]

Not sure if this has been posted all ready. My apologies if it has, but according to espn (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3492206), the deal is worth an estimated $25 million. And that the reason we didn't offer more than 2-3 years at the mid-level is because of our future luxury tax.

[fairweatherfan]

Yup, good for James, and in the long run, good for us...the Hornets were willing to give him 4 years and we were not.  I don't even think the main case against giving the 4th year was declining skills, I think he'll be effective throughout the contract...I think finances drove this decision, and we made the right decision.

I was and am a huge Posey backer, from Week 1 of the season I saw how much he contributed to this team, but we can do without him, and we can certainly do without overpaying him.   And I like the Hornets, it's not like he went to the Lakers or Pistons. 

So, a fond farewell to our 6th man - best of luck James.  Now let's move on and put together the rest of #18.

[Jon]

I'm cool with this.  4 years is too much for him.   He's become rather overrated by people on this board and obviously he's overrated by a lot of the league as well.  Kudos to Ainge for sticking with it.  Now we can use part of that MLE to sign Bill Walker to a 3 year deal (preserving his bird rights in the event he "breaks out") and use the rest to split to a couple players who can help us next season. 

Tommy Point!

Posey was a marvel to watch and was just what a new and talented team needed to get where we got.  There were plenty of games we looked sloppy and Posey was the only one taking control of the garbage truck.  we will be a more experienced team next year and shouldn't need a crutch like that as much. 

Hey with the big three, you have to make sacrifices elsewhere.  Ainge will bring in competitors. 

Go Celts!!

I'd say anti-Tommy Point.  Not to be mean, but what does signing Bill Walker for three years do?  Even if he is the next Vince Carter, he's most likely not going to get there until the Big Three are too old for us to contend.  And while we could split the midlevel, remember, this isn't football where there's a 53 man roster.  We can only play 5 players at once and only need 8-9 in the playoffs.  Thus, signing a bunch of average players really doesn't help that much. 

I'd much rather them try to turn the midlevel into an impact player.  Who that is, I don't know.