Do you think Danny would consider trading for Posey this season?

[Drucci]

Yeah, I know that I make a lot of posts about James Posey and my idea that the C's should get him back. I still think that it would make sense, and I feel like our bench is really thin when Marquis is injured because he is the core of the 2nd unit. Also, Posey would be huge for us in the playoffs. People may argue that he is not the same anymore but his FG% are as good as they were with Boston, and he plays lesser minutes, and his role is getting reduced in New Orleans. He just doesn't seem like the right fit there while he has been perfect with us and still would be. His defensive skills and 3 point shooting are still there.

So, now, my question is not "would you trade T.A and Scal for Posey?" but rather : do you think Danny would/will consider this trade this season - maybe at the trade deadline - no matter how well our team performs?

I know the length of Posey's contract was a major issue which prevented Danny from re-signing him. If we get him this season, his contract (more than 6 millions by season) will expire in 2012, like KG's and Sheed's. So I guess Danny would still see as a problem because Posey would be paid too much and age maybe quickly.

But I'm not sure that we have really better options : with our limited financial options this summer, it will be really good if we are able to re-sign all our current key bench players (Marquis, House and Shelden) + Ray. We won't have room to sign a good wing player, so why not go with Posey and say "screw the future, we don't have much options, let's gamble on his last two effective seasons like we did when we signed Sheed"?

Just wondering if I'm just dreaming about getting Posey back, or if Danny would realistically consider it, knowing that our window is limited and that we won't play a major role in the 2010 free agency. Thoughts?

[Fafnir]

No, because he's paid too much for too long. Especially since we're already starting to see his decline in New Orleans.

The Celtics need to resign or replace: Ray Allen, Marquis Daniels, Eddie House, Scalabrine, and Tony Allen.

Some of those aren't big losses, others would decimate our team. The Celtics will only have the MLE and bird rights to those players to work with. By taking on a contract like Posey's I'd worry that we'd no longer have the payroll budget to use the MLE and extend Ray Allen.

If that's the case, as I suspect, then we cannot take a contract like Posey's. Not unless we're confident he can definitely play at a high level until the end of the contract.

Are you confident Posey can do that?

[Drucci]

Some of those aren't big losses, others would decimate our team. The Celtics will only have the MLE and bird rights to those players to work with. By taking on a contract like Posey's I'd worry that we'd no longer have the payroll budget to use the MLE and extend Ray Allen.

If getting Posey means not extending Ray, then I'm all against trading for Posey. But I remember that acquiring Nocioni wouldn't prevent us from re-signing Ray so acquiring Posey wouldn't cause a problem with Ray too if I'm not mistaken.

If that's the case, as I suspect, then we cannot take a contract like Posey's. Not unless we're confident he can definitely play at a high level until the end of the contract.

Are you confident Posey can do that?

As I said in my first post, I think Posey hasn't declined. He may have lost some quickness but he is still an excellent defender and he knocks down his shots. Reports of his decline in New Orleans have been greatly exaggerated, I think. He is still in very good shape.

All I'm saying is that our poor position on this summer's market forces us to a gamble : either we wait for a "miracle" buyout before the deadline, which is a big gamble, or we trade for Posey, which is a gamble too but I think we can assume that he has 2 more good years before declining. On a 3 year contract, that seems worth the gamble to me. I mean, Danny took the gamble by signing Sheed so why not doing the same with Posey when he has shown that he's still got it?

[slamtheking]

No, no and no.

Posey's best years are behind him but his contract runs another 2 years.

If Danny makes a deal using the expiring contracts to shore up the bench, he needs to bring in someone younger/better for more than just this year since he has limited resources to resign our decent bench players, nevermind bringing in replacements for the soon-to-be jettisoned deadwood.  Granted, Posey fits the bill in terms of being under contract but he's not young and he's in decline.

If I understand who he can resign without using the MLE correctly (and the circumstances under which he'd need to use the MLE to meet salary demands), he can resign Ray without the MLE for a significant pay cut but he'll need probably the full MLE to resign both Daniels and Williams (assuming the MLE will be enough to get both).

Danny's got to replace Scal, TA, Giddens and House. I don't see House returning---we need to get someone more versatile.  With luck, this could turn out to be Hudson.  I'm not quite sold yet on Walker being able to replace TA in terms of playing time.

With that in mind, any trade has got to bring back a player (or players) that are more than a 1-year rental and can contribute in a role that's not filled well from the bench.  To me, that would be a playmaking role and a wing that can shoot/defend. 

Posey isn't the answer.

[Not Walkin Thru]

How many times do we have to walk down this Posey road?  Danny was never going to give a four year contract to an older player with a diminishing skill set.  What makes you think Danny would be interested now, when his numbers are heading south and he will be drastically overpaid for the next 2.5 years.  I am thankful for what James Posey did for the Celtics and felt like he was a difference maker than, but he isn't one now.  This was probably Danny's best non-sign.  The Celtics don't have the luxury of a "Red Sox willing to eat 1/2 of Mike Lowell's cotract" situation.

[Drucci]

How many times do we have to walk down this Posey road?  Danny was never going to give a four year contract to an older player with a diminishing skill set.  What makes you think Danny would be interested now, when his numbers are heading south and he will be drastically overpaid for the next 2.5 years.  I am thankful for what James Posey did for the Celtics and felt like he was a difference maker than, but he isn't one now.  This was probably Danny's best non-sign.  The Celtics don't have the luxury of a "Red Sox willing to eat 1/2 of Mike Lowell's cotract" situation.

His numbers are heading south (and not as much as you make it sound, though, especially in FG% both from two and three point land) because he doesn't fit in New Orleans, not because he is lacking talent or skills. He still has it. He is likely to lose it in the final 2 years of his contract but right now he is as good as he was.

Slamtheking > I know that moving our expirings to acquire a younger or better wing than Posey is the scenario that makes the most sense but frankly, could you find a player that fits this description? I'd rather have a older Posey and his contract than a younger but not as effective Nocioni. And these are the 2 wings we can realistically afford this season by trading our expirings.

I don't think we can trade for a wing that is young and has an OK contract running for two or more years. We will have to take a one year rental (Raja Bell?) or a long term commitment to a bad contract (James Posey?). Since the first scenario isn't likely to happen... I think we should opt for the second one or stay put but I feel like we would regret it if we didn't do anything. Imagine Marquis getting hurt in the playoffs and not able to play. That would kill us.

So I definitely wonder if Danny is considering Posey because it seems like a legit question to me, not just an "old good memory" from the championship year!

[Celtics17]

I was a huge advocate of Posey's and I will have to admit that I haven't seen him play any this year. If he hasnt lost too much it might be a good gamble. However, with all of the top level talent becoming free agents this summer and a few teams looking to cut payroll I kind of think we can get a player for both now and the future.

[nickagneta]

I can't see this happening especially as Posey is pretty much proving Ainge's point that he wasn't worth the investment with his awful play this year. James is looking very old and still has two more years on that contract. For Danny to trade for him would publicly make it look like he made a mistake in his evaluation of this team's need for Posey and in not giving him what he wanted.

Since last year proved that if we had a healthy KG we probably might have won it all without Posey and since Posey is looking pretty bad, it's pretty clear that Ainge made the right call on Pose. For that reason, we will never see him here again while he is on that contract.

[Fafnir]

Some of those aren't big losses, others would decimate our team. The Celtics will only have the MLE and bird rights to those players to work with. By taking on a contract like Posey's I'd worry that we'd no longer have the payroll budget to use the MLE and extend Ray Allen.

If getting Posey means not extending Ray, then I'm all against trading for Posey. But I remember that acquiring Nocioni wouldn't prevent us from re-signing Ray so acquiring Posey wouldn't cause a problem with Ray too if I'm not mistaken.

Where have you read that? The budget of the team isn't unlimited, adding a contract like Posey's would certainly impose some limitations. We at the very least wouldn't be able to spend the MLE again this coming year. Worse we might not be able to afford Ray's services.

We'll have to disagree on Posey's decline. Its been pretty clear to me in the 3 NOH games that he's lost a step.

[fairweatherfan]

Nope.

[Chris]

Nope.

I wish I had more to add, but this pretty much sums it up.  Danny did not sign Posey for a reason.  That has not changed.

[Drucci]

Some of those aren't big losses, others would decimate our team. The Celtics will only have the MLE and bird rights to those players to work with. By taking on a contract like Posey's I'd worry that we'd no longer have the payroll budget to use the MLE and extend Ray Allen.

If getting Posey means not extending Ray, then I'm all against trading for Posey. But I remember that acquiring Nocioni wouldn't prevent us from re-signing Ray so acquiring Posey wouldn't cause a problem with Ray too if I'm not mistaken.

Where have you read that? The budget of the team isn't unlimited, adding a contract like Posey's would certainly impose some limitations. We at the very least wouldn't be able to spend the MLE again this coming year. Worse we might not be able to afford Ray's services.

We'll have to disagree on Posey's decline. Its been pretty clear to me in the 3 NOH games that he's lost a step.

I had created a topic about it, and the answers were positive, see it there  : http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=32995.0

I understand that if Danny traded for Posey he would admit making a mistake two years ago by not re-signing him but still I don't think Posey is as old as people describe him here. You can't judge him on the 3 games he played with the Hornets against the Celtics.

Thanks for the answers anyway, I have top abandon my dream to get back to the reality : Danny won't consider it.

[BigDanz2000]

No thanks to Posey, that ship has sailed. 

Not interested in having him back.

[Fan from VT]

It's possible because Posey's deal ends the same year as KG, which i see as the rebuild date. The big 3 will be ancient, so take no money past 11/12 except Perk, Rondo, and rookies, then use a boatload of capspace to grab a big FA via signing or trade (if a team wants to trade a guy for salary dump.) Posey's contract does not interfere with that. However, it would seriously impact use of the MLE for the next two years, as he makes MLE money but is pretty bad. But I could see it happening if we included BBD in the deal and got back Wright or Collison to shore up our backcourt.

[PosImpos]

I think Danny should trade for somebody like Posey was 2 years ago.