Contract year for Baby makes for a tough decision for the Celtics.

[Fafnir]

When he was a free agent before, the Celtics wanted him so bad they said they'd match any deal.

Link?  I followed the BBD negotiations pretty closely, and I'm pretty confident that that never happened.

They said they'd match any reasonable deal, I never heard that they'd match a full MLE offer though. (which would have been the upper limit)

[Chris]

When he was a free agent before, the Celtics wanted him so bad they said they'd match any deal.

Link?  I followed the BBD negotiations pretty closely, and I'm pretty confident that that never happened.

Yeah, I know there were rumors that the C's would match a deal up to a certain level, but I don't think it was ever clear how high they would go (not knowing that scared teams off a bit).  Plus, I believe this was all speculation and rumor, not an "on the record" statement by the C's.  

[Roy H.]

I'm noticing it's the same fans here who always wanted to get rid of Baby. Ya'll don't know something good when you see it.

When he was a free agent before, the Celtics wanted him so bad they said they'd match any deal. That is obviously why he didn't have a number of takers. Period. Old, old, old story.

With Baby, these certain fans always bring up any little thing they can come up with FROM THE PAST. And they are small things, never really important.

There is nothing said here about Baby's amazing play (not surprisingly).

My opinion? Baby is a far better center than Perk, much faster on defense and has the ability to constantly improve. Not to mention he also plays his main position power forward. I would say to Baby thank you for being a big part of the win in the Championship win 3 yrs ago, in the finals last year and for stepping up this year and playing both positions and doing both well.

Revisionist history much?

He played only during game 6 of the Finals and then only when it was a blow out. (The las 14 minutes of the game) Scored 3 points in a blow out.

He only played in three games against detroit, 6 minutes, 6 minutes and 11 minutes scoring 6 total points

He played more against Cleveland but still only averaged 7 minutes or so a game, only getting big minutes due to serious Perkins foul trouble.

He earned his ring, but he didn't play a big role in the title. Only Tony Allen played less minutes among players who suited up.

It is interesting how people misremember things, assuming that BBD and Tony were big pieces of our playoff run.  The big contributors on that team were the starters and Posey.  Other guys played roles, but it was our top six that was doing almost all of the heavy lifting in the playoffs (with Leon Powe having a couple of nice performances, as well).

[Spilling Green Dye]

I'm amazed to find that I agree with most posters in this thread.  And it is a great point that how we proceed with Davis in the offseason will give a good indication about the direction that Danny wants to go with the cap, other free agents, etc.

Personally I say we DON'T trade Davis b/c the playoffs will be here before we know it and I'm confident that Davis will be able to contribute some to that cause.  He's also healthy, which is a lot more than many of our players can say!  However, Davis will (and should) seek the biggest contract he can get.  My guess is that he'll get offered $12 mil for 3 years from some team, and I prefer the Celtics do NOT match or exceed this by any means.

IMO Davis is not a starter on 90% of the teams in this league, and without "the big 4" his game will suffer (as most any player would).  I doubt we can Sign & Trade him though.  If its possible to keep him cheap then let's do it.  Ultimately though he'll probably walk, but let's not trade him yet

Mmmbaby, you bring up some decent points, but you're doing yourself a disservice by saying things like "I would say to Baby thank you for being a big part of the win in the Championship win 3 yrs ago".  That's factually untrue, and unfortunately takes away credibility from your other points. 

[mmbaby]

LOL Roy, I didn't say Baby was the reason we won or anything like that at all. I said he made a big contribution and that was in his rookie and 1st year. This is his 2nd non-rookie year.

As far as what you said about selective memory or whatever it was, I don't think I imagined that the Celtics put out that they would match any offer for him. By not mentioning their upper limit, they really made it impossible for any other team to seriously consider him.

Ya know.....sometimes I think you just don't like him. But that's just my observation. He has done so well this season that I am having trouble coming up with things to complain about concerning him.

So glad he's on our team.  

[mmbaby]

Feeling is mutual spilling green dye.

[Roy H.]

LOL Roy, I didn't say Baby was the reason we won or anything like that at all. I said he made a big contribution and that was in his rookie and 1st year. This is his 2nd non-rookie year.

As far as what you said about selective memory or whatever it was, I don't think I imagined that the Celtics put out that they would match any offer for him. By not mentioning their upper limit, they really made it impossible for any other team to seriously consider him.

Ya know.....sometimes I think you just don't like him. But that's just my observation. He has done so well this season that I am having trouble coming up with things to complain about concerning him.

So glad he's on our team.  

I don't much care for BBD on a personal level, but as a player he's a good fit for our squad so long as he remains in his current role.  He's got flaws -- he's a very poor rebounder, and his shot selection and passing could both use some serious work -- but as a sixth man, he does play a big role right now, and he mostly plays it well.  In the various trade threads about moving him, I'm generally of the opinion that it doesn't make sense to trade our most consistent bench big man.

That said, many people exaggerate how good he is, how vital he has been in the past, the value the organization places in him, etc.  When somebody says something that I don't think is true, I'm going to challenge it, especially when those "facts" are being used to call other people out of touch with reality.

[Donoghus]

Let him play out his current contract. We're too banged up to trade him.

My guess is that we'll let him walk after this season.  He'll chase the money and Danny is smart enough to realize that you don't overpay for a benchplayer, especially a guy who has pretty much already reached his ceiling.   He'll never be a superstar and he's not the type that can be a starting PF on a title contender (unless there is some serious starpower around him).

[Roy H.]

Let him play out his current contract. We're too banged up to trade him.

My guess is that we'll let him walk after this season.  He'll chase the money and Danny is smart enough to realize that you don't overpay for a benchplayer, especially a guy who has pretty much already reached his ceiling.   He'll never be a superstar and he's not the type that can be a starting PF on a title contender (unless there is some serious starpower around him).

I think that's probably right.  BBD will be hard to replace in his role, but every year at least a couple of competent big men seem to fall through the cracks.  For instance, I'd prefer Anthony Tolliver at 2 years, $4 million than BBD at 4 years, $20 million.

[Fafnir]

Let him play out his current contract. We're too banged up to trade him.

My guess is that we'll let him walk after this season.  He'll chase the money and Danny is smart enough to realize that you don't overpay for a benchplayer, especially a guy who has pretty much already reached his ceiling.   He'll never be a superstar and he's not the type that can be a starting PF on a title contender (unless there is some serious starpower around him).

I think that's probably right.  BBD will be hard to replace in his role, but every year at least a couple of competent big men seem to fall through the cracks.  For instance, I'd prefer Anthony Tolliver at 2 years, $4 million than BBD at 4 years, $20 million.

Oh man I don't even want to think about Tolliver here. I know he's putting up decent numbers in Minnesota this year but man oh man....

[mmbaby]

All opinions are valid here and BBD is the kind of person one seems to love or (dislike).

Personally, I love him and follow his career with a passion. I don't believe he's reached his ceiling. We've all seen his vast improvement this season and his ability to work on and correct problems that have come up. Maybe he will serve the NBA as a bench player, but I just don't think that's what's going to happen. I really think he is going to 1. obtain a starting position (whether next season or the season after), 2. struggle for awhile and then, 3. become a really good starter. After that we'll have to wait and see.

I'm not putting him up there with KG yet and may never do that, but I do feel he has further to go and has not reached his ceiling.

[Donoghus]

All opinions are valid here and BBD is the kind of person one seems to love or (dislike).

Personally, I love him and follow his career with a passion. I don't believe he's reached his ceiling. We've all seen his vast improvement this season and his ability to work on and correct problems that have come up. Maybe he will serve the NBA as a bench player, but I just don't think that's what's going to happen. I really think he is going to 1. obtain a starting position (whether next season or the season after), 2. struggle for awhile and then, 3. become a really good starter. After that we'll have to wait and see.

I'm not putting him up there with KG yet and may never do that, but I do feel he has further to go and has not reached his ceiling.

How much would you be willing to offer BBD for his new contract?

[wdleehi]

I think the Celtics want to keep him.



And I think the new NBA systems has the possibility of allowing this because I think Davis is the type of player that is going to take the financial hit while the top players lose nothing. 



But, as the current system is set up, to sign him now to a deal he would take (likely an overpay since he  is going to wan to see what he can get in the open market) is foolish without know the future cap rules (or cap size).


He is not a star.  If the Celtics lose him, it hurts, but it doesn't cripple. 

[wdleehi]

All opinions are valid here and BBD is the kind of person one seems to love or (dislike).

Personally, I love him and follow his career with a passion. I don't believe he's reached his ceiling. We've all seen his vast improvement this season and his ability to work on and correct problems that have come up. Maybe he will serve the NBA as a bench player, but I just don't think that's what's going to happen. I really think he is going to 1. obtain a starting position (whether next season or the season after), 2. struggle for awhile and then, 3. become a really good starter. After that we'll have to wait and see.

I'm not putting him up there with KG yet and may never do that, but I do feel he has further to go and has not reached his ceiling.

He is the type of player that is going to be payed for what he has proven, not based on any remaining potential. 

[Chris]

All opinions are valid here and BBD is the kind of person one seems to love or (dislike).

I think this is an overstatement.  I think the vast majority of Celtics fans like Baby, but just don't see him as much more than a roleplayer.

The fans who dislike him, and the ones who love him are at the far ends of the bell curve.