I love Ray, but this is a great deal for us.
Nocioni's contract is pretty bad.
Doesn't bother me in the least. We're not going to be under the cap any time soon, and he'll be a contributor. In 2012 he'll be an expiring contract, which will be valuable to us. In fact, it's a great contract for us to have, especially if we get Martin too.
I hate that logic, rationalizing that its okay to have a bad deal because it eventually expires.
I do agree that Nocioni fits with the team's window pretty well. Well worth taking on his salary to get Martin. But I wouldn't want him on his own.
You can hate the logic, but it's how the NBA works, and it's in our best interest to have Nocioni as a contributor AND his bad contract.
Only if your owner gives you an unlimited budget. Otherwise having bad deals keeps you from making additional moves or using the MLE to improve your team.
Besides getting large expiring contracts isn't that difficult, you just don't want to be over paying for what you get while you wait for the magical expiring status. Even then they don't always turn into gold.
The goal here is not to acquire expiring contract. The goal here is to get a really good player in Martin, and a good contributor to your team with Nocioni. Nocioni is not dead weight, he'll help us win. That his bad contract might become useful after two seasons is simply icing in the cake. Contract length here is more important.
If we have these people locked up for a couple of years, there aren't many moves you need to make with the MLE:
Pierce
Sheed
Garnett
Martin
Nocioni
Daniels (if it goes through)
Perkins
Giddens
Then you deal with Rondo and his qualifying offer next year. If he's offered a max contract (which I doubt), he'll make about 13 million in his first season. I don't envision that being a problem. And if a trade like this is made, I would think that Danny already took into account this scenario.
We'll be playing in the playoffs for the next couple of years, that extra money for the Celts. New merchandise with Nocioni and Martin jersey's will help out too.
Nocioni's contract I think it's something the Celtics' organization can easily swallow for the time being, and turn it into a positive later. Meanwhile, he's a good contributor.
As a bonus, you got a good core to continue beyond the Big 3.