I know nobody has thought of moving Ray Allen this offseason, but...

[Michael Anthony]

Sarcasm aside, he has a lot of trade value because of his huge expiring deal and the fact that he can still ball - you can sell him to your fans a little bit. Three way proposal with NYC & DET:

DET Sends Hamilton, Prince
DET Gets Allen, #1

NYC Sends Curry, #1
NYC Gets Tony, Scal, House, Pruitt

BOS Sends Ray, Tony, Scal, House, Pruitt
BOS Gets Hamilton, Prince, Curry

Assuming Detroit signs Boozer this off season ($14M) and resigns Kwame & Amir, they will be right up against the cap in 09/10. Peeling Rip & Prince off their balance sheet gives them a great chance to land a max contract guy in the Big Off-season, and a chance to compete next year with two top 20 draft picks:

Stuckey - Bynum
Allen - Afflalo
Herman
Boozer - Maxiell
Kwame - Johnson

New York unloads Curry, almost enough said. The key is it allows them to resign Nate Robinson ($6M) and David Lee ($8m) while leaving them flexibility to sign TWO guys around $15M each in the Big Off-season.

Boston is just ridiculous at this point:

Rondo - Marbury/Vet Minimum PG
Hamilton - Giddens (Obviously Pierce backs this up too)
Prince - Pierce - Walker
Garnett - Moore - Powe (By playoffs moves up)
Perkins - Curry - Joe Smith/Vet Minimum Big

The move lets Rondo assume greater control of the offense, with great floor spacing, amazing length, and stellar defense on the first unit, Plus, it gives us a Ginobili like superstar off the bench - imagine Pierce against second teamers!

I think Curry has something left to prove, Hamilton can play some point, and Pierce can play some four. Docs head would explode.

[ManUp]

I don't like the trade.

We downgrade to Hamilton, pickup Prince who we don't really need, and are stuck with Curry.

The Pistons free up more money like they want to, and the Knicks aren't trading a 1st  rounder.

[Brickowski]

I do like that trade as a basketball trade, but not the financial aspects.

In today's economy, I think the most likely result is that Ray resigns in Boston for much less money for 2-3 years.  The days of max contracts for free agents in their 30's is over, and Ray will get the MLE unless he wants to go to a losing team.

Conversely, the Celtics aren't going to take back any long term, high dollar deals. I'm not sure about Prince's deal, but Rip just got a fat extension.

[banner17]

am I reading this right, Paul pierce, the captain, coming off the bench? I don't care if paul is 50 yrs old and has one leg cut off. if he is on this team, he is starting

[Drucci]

Why does every Celtics fan seems keen on trading Ray Allen? I'm just shocked to see that he is involved in every trade proposal... the guy is the most consistent player of our team, the best shooter of his generation (and in the top 3 all-time), a classy player on and off the court, and you want to trade him to get Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince to put Pierce on the bench? Wow... and the idea of bringing Curry is also beyond me.

[Cman]

In today's economy, I think the most likely result is that Ray resigns in Boston for much less money for 2-3 years.  The days of max contracts for free agents in their 30's is over, and Ray will get the MLE unless he wants to go to a losing team.

I agree with Brick here -- while Ray is enticing trade bait because of his expiring contract, the fact is that he may be even more valuable a commodity once resigned to smaller dollars.  His skills are the type of skills that won't decline as fast as other players (for example, Reggie Miller played until he was close to 40).

On a side note, I think it is completely legit to explore trade options with Ray Allen.  Yes, he is a great player, but couple that with the fact that he has an expiring contract, and you have to kick the tires a bit to see what/who any potential trade will bring back.  Furthermore, yes, we are in the middle of the playoffs, but that shouldn't prevent speculation about what happens in the offseason.

[Jon]

Absolutely do not trade Ray Allen.  

I don't think that people realize that the two big reasons that this whole Big Three experiment has worked is because 1) the Big Three have all sacrificed their individual games to make this work and 2) their individual games and talents actually compliment each other.  

If we bring another star in here to replace Ray Allen, there's no guarantee that that player will be willing to sacrifice his game or that his particular skill set will compliment those of Pierce and Garnett.  To compound the problem, the C's don't have the luxury of time to make adjustments and more trades in case the new star doesn't fit in.  

As for the above trade, it's doubly horrible.  Not only does it get rid of Ray, it breaks one of the cardinal rules of basketball: it trades quality for quantity.  And in a sport where only 5 players play at a time and you only need 8 or 9 total in the playoffs, that's a horrible idea.  Hamilton is a step down from Allen, and unless the NBA is going to adjust rules to allow us to play 6 players on the court at once, all that's going to happen from this trade is that we'll now be able to play two players worse than Ray Allen next to Paul Pierce whenever we please.  

Don't trade Ray.  We know that he and Paul and Kevin can win a title together.  We don't know that about Paul and Kevin and [fill in the blank star].  And it's not like we need to take advantage of Ray's expiring deal.  If the C's re-sign him (even to max money for a year), they'll be able to trade him the following year if it becomes apparent that this current mix doesn't work.  

But until it becomes clear we can't win a title with what we have now, I wouldn't be anxious to move onto the next phase of things.  In all likelihood post Big Three Boston will be far worse than it is now.  

[twistedrico]

I think we should keep Ray and give the Big 3 one more shot at a title.  Of course we would need to address some other areas too!

[2short]

Agree w/ brick, drucci and others on this one.
Ray Allen was our mvp the first part of the season.  He shows no signs of slowing down, would love to resign him for a bit less.  I'd like nothing more than the big 3 to end their careers here.  And while it might never happen if nba stars would move to the bench later in careers they could be more effective and play longer.  Scal by the way has stated when his contract is up with c's he's going to beg to resign and whatever price.
curry...
if we are talking trade for a ny big, lee for sure but curry he'd try and eat rondo!

[xmuscularghandix]

stupid.

[Change]

I think our roster remains the same with exception to Marbury, Moore, and TA trade. And yah, the Big3 will retire as Celtic's especially Ray. He actually improved from last productions and his best value is mentoring our young guards (JR & Bill).

So no trading our Big3, beside it will be cheaper resigning Ray than keeping those big contract if we trade him.

[Mad Hatter]

please....no more Ray Allen trade talk........i can't take it anymore.....lol

[prov1ml34]

am I reading this right, Paul pierce, the captain, coming off the bench? I don't care if paul is 50 yrs old and has one leg cut off. if he is on this team, he is starting

I was thinking the exact same thing while reading the original post, you beat me to it....Anyway, you have GOT to be kidding me!?

[Eja117]

The only problems I sorta see are NY maybe not wanting all the mediocre players they'd be getting, and I don't think any GM on Earth would want Curry much

[TheReaLPuba]

Ray Allen is the perfect fit for this team and the "Big 3".

There is no other pure shooter I'd rather have to compliment our team.

Ray from deep...Pierce with his mid range game...and KG with his defense and interior scoring just fits together nicely.

Why do we want to take a risk on Curry who has never been in shape in his entire life?!?