Pierce re-signs for 4yrs (3 guaranteed 4th year has options for team and Pierce)

[the_Bird]

Seem to me like Danny went after Rudy Gay and now he is gone....

No Danny was never going to pay Rudy Gay the max.  Only in Memphis where no one wants to live would they overpay for slightly above average player.

Memphis and Toronto that is.

Rudy Gay is more than an above average player, and other teams were going to offer him the max. The reason Memphis did the deal it did is because other teams had already indicated they were planning on a max offer for Gay.

I mentioned slightly. 

No they weren't and if they were he would have left.... IMO. : )

He's a restricted free agent, he couldn't have left if Memphis didn't let him.

Have you watched Memphis much?

The concern that was mentioned was that another team might have front-loaded their offer, so Memphis would be forced to come up with a big chunk of the money up-front.  Like, $20M due in September.  Sounds like Memphis may have some cash flow issues. 

[Jack_Frost]

Seem to me like Danny went after Rudy Gay and now he is gone....

No Danny was never going to pay Rudy Gay the max.  Only in Memphis where no one wants to live would they overpay for slightly above average player.

Memphis and Toronto that is.

I think Danny never tought about max contract to Rudy Gay. But Memphis'offer was unexpected. Mayeb, i say maybe, befare that Danny tried to reach Gay.

[Fafnir]

Seem to me like Danny went after Rudy Gay and now he is gone....

No Danny was never going to pay Rudy Gay the max.  Only in Memphis where no one wants to live would they overpay for slightly above average player.

Memphis and Toronto that is.

Rudy Gay is more than an above average player, and other teams were going to offer him the max. The reason Memphis did the deal it did is because other teams had already indicated they were planning on a max offer for Gay.

I mentioned slightly. 

No they weren't and if they were he would have left.... IMO. : )

He's a restricted free agent, he couldn't have left if Memphis didn't let him.

Have you watched Memphis much?

The concern that was mentioned was that another team might have front-loaded their offer, so Memphis would be forced to come up with a big chunk of the money up-front.  Like, $20M due in September.  Sounds like Memphis may have some cash flow issues. 

Either way he was going to get a 65-80 million dollar total offer at the maximum that teams were allowed to sign him.

Poison pill potential was probably the icing on the cake that got the deal done.

[hwangjini_1]

i am happy with this deal, happy for the team and for pierce.

this give ainge some flexibility for the next couple of years and a final big payday for pierce.

now ainge can focus on getting ray allen and a supporting cast for the the next run at a championship.

at the most, the window for this team is another 2 years...if that.

after that the celtics will embark upon the rebuilding project we all dread so much. having pierce on the books for a third year will not be terrible for the team since i doubt they will have a chance to win anyway. and if they do a chance, that means ainge pulled some incredible deal to bring in new talent and then pierce will be wonderful coming off the bench.

but in all probability, the team will probably be in decline anyway whether pierce is here for year 3 of his contract or not.

so as i see this, ainge is selling a year's worth of tomorrows during year 3 of the contract for another run at a championship next year.

sounds good to me.

[the_Bird]

Seem to me like Danny went after Rudy Gay and now he is gone....

No Danny was never going to pay Rudy Gay the max.  Only in Memphis where no one wants to live would they overpay for slightly above average player.

Memphis and Toronto that is.

Rudy Gay is more than an above average player, and other teams were going to offer him the max. The reason Memphis did the deal it did is because other teams had already indicated they were planning on a max offer for Gay.

I mentioned slightly. 

No they weren't and if they were he would have left.... IMO. : )

He's a restricted free agent, he couldn't have left if Memphis didn't let him.

Have you watched Memphis much?

The concern that was mentioned was that another team might have front-loaded their offer, so Memphis would be forced to come up with a big chunk of the money up-front.  Like, $20M due in September.  Sounds like Memphis may have some cash flow issues. 

Either way he was going to get a 65-80 million dollar total offer at the maximum that teams were allowed to sign him.

Poison pill potential was probably the icing on the cake that got the deal done.

That's what's interesting to me.  The total dollars Memphis was going to be spending would be the same, doing the deal now versus matching someone else's offer sheet...  but they're worried about getting the cash now.  Like, they don't have much money in the bank, or assess to credit lines, or things like that.  Sounds to me like the Memphis franchise is kind of on the edge.

[Roy Hobbs]

I'm very happy with this deal.  I'm interested to see how it's structured (i.e., does it increase, decrease, or stay level over time).

  According to the Herald, it's 4/61 and he'll make significantly less than the 21.5M he was scheduled to make.

Yeah, what I'm interested in is the first and last year salary.

In a "typical" deal, his salaries would be:

2010-11: $13,174,946 
2011-12: $14,558,315
2012-13: $15,941,684
2013-14: $17,325,053

That deal includes yearly raises of 10.5% of the first year value of the contract.

Inversely, the deal could go down over time:

2010-11: $17,325,053
2011-12: $15,941,684
2012-13: $14,558,315
2013-14: $13,174,946

Or, the team could agree to a relatively level contract over time, such as:

2010-11: $15,250,000
2011-12: $15,250,000
2012-13: $15,250,000
2013-14: $15,250,000

It doesn't make a huge difference; I'm just curious.  My bet would be on option #1.

[kozlodoev]

Maximum salary for someone with Pierce's years of tenure is nearly $19 million. The $16.5 million number is for players with Lebron's amount of tenure.

I guess I stand corrected.  However, isn't it just the Celtics that can offer this type of max deal?

In any case, this doesn't change my view of things where I don't see anyone offering more than $15 per in the starting year to a player like Pierce.

[Fafnir]

Maximum salary for someone with Pierce's years of tenure is nearly $19 million. The $16.5 million number is for players with Lebron's amount of tenure.

I guess I stand corrected.  However, isn't it just the Celtics that can offer this type of max deal?

In any case, this doesn't change my view of things where I don't see anyone offering more than $15 per in the starting year to a player like Pierce.

No any team with 19 million dollars of cap space could offer him that sort of deal.

[CelticsWhat35]

[quote author=BballTim link=topic=39654.msg798077#msg798077


I'm not saying it's irrelevant, but to say that getting Paul's salary figure down for THIS year is the most important thing seems to be very short-sighted.  This just seems to hurt the team's chances of surrounding Rondo with young talent for his prime years.
[/quote]

  It's a matter of priorities. Is an extra few million in cap space the year KG's contract ends worth more than having a better team when we're trying to win a title?
[/quote]

You think $15 million is "a few"?  I realize that cap space doesn't gaurantee a team will be able to sign great players, but lack of cap space guarantees you WON'T.  I think the team has a chance to go for the title next year, but it's a small chance.  I don't see a small chance for one year being worth ruining your cap for the next three after that.  That's why I would've preferred that Pierce pick up his option and we resign Ray for 2 years.

[kozlodoev]

You think $15 million is "a few"?  I realize that cap space doesn't gaurantee a team will be able to sign great players, but lack of cap space guarantees you WON'T.  I think the team has a chance to go for the title next year, but it's a small chance.  I don't see a small chance for one year being worth ruining your cap for the next three after that.  That's why I would've preferred that Pierce pick up his option and we resign Ray for 2 years.

You have to remember that those 15 million are cap space only if you're actually under the cap in that particular year.

[GreenFaith1819]

Thank God for the Great News!

Now we gotta get Ray Ray back.

[CelticsWhat35]

You think $15 million is "a few"?  I realize that cap space doesn't gaurantee a team will be able to sign great players, but lack of cap space guarantees you WON'T.  I think the team has a chance to go for the title next year, but it's a small chance.  I don't see a small chance for one year being worth ruining your cap for the next three after that.  That's why I would've preferred that Pierce pick up his option and we resign Ray for 2 years.

You have to remember that those 15 million are cap space only if you're actually under the cap in that particular year.

I understand that, but considering that KG will be off the books in 2012, I would expect to be far under the cap after that season.  I keep hearing about "a few points away from a championship", but when three of your top 4 players are all on the wrong side of 30, and another starter will be out for half the year, it makes the prospects of winning the title less likely.  I hate to say this, but I would expect the Lakers to improve more (or decline less) than the Celtics next season.

Even the most optimistic fan saw this as being a 4-year window, tops.  I was probably one of them.  But now we're talking another 3 years on top of that?  I just don't get it.

[BballTim]

Maximum salary for someone with Pierce's years of tenure is nearly $19 million. The $16.5 million number is for players with Lebron's amount of tenure.

I guess I stand corrected.  However, isn't it just the Celtics that can offer this type of max deal?

In any case, this doesn't change my view of things where I don't see anyone offering more than $15 per in the starting year to a player like Pierce.

  I think the papers said the Celts could offer $96M and other teams could offer like $93M over 4 years.

[BballTim]

Maximum salary for someone with Pierce's years of tenure is nearly $19 million. The $16.5 million number is for players with Lebron's amount of tenure.

I guess I stand corrected.  However, isn't it just the Celtics that can offer this type of max deal?

In any case, this doesn't change my view of things where I don't see anyone offering more than $15 per in the starting year to a player like Pierce.

No any team with 19 million dollars of cap space could offer him that sort of deal.

  Some team that gets 1 max player (or no max players) could easily get that desperate.

[Fafnir]

Maximum salary for someone with Pierce's years of tenure is nearly $19 million. The $16.5 million number is for players with Lebron's amount of tenure.

I guess I stand corrected.  However, isn't it just the Celtics that can offer this type of max deal?

In any case, this doesn't change my view of things where I don't see anyone offering more than $15 per in the starting year to a player like Pierce.

  I think the papers said the Celts could offer $96M and other teams could offer like $93M over 4 years.

Other teams couldn't offer the same level of raises the C's could.

Most of a team's bird rights advantage comes from their ability to add an extra year.