Would you trade for 'Melo?

[cdif911]

I'll start out by saying No, I wouldn't - just thinking out loud

but, what if the Celtics saw Carmelo as the bridge player from this team to the future Rajon led team.  After 2 years Dwight Howard can replace the rest of the old big 3.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=5ubxz6z

you could move Pierce and Nate or Ray, Nate, Baby, plus picks to make it work; I'm all for the roster we have giving it 1 or 2 more solid shots, but I do know Danny wants to win now and later and superstars like 'Melo don't come around that often.

[Roy H.]

Nope.  I wouldn't move Pierce.

[cdif911]

Nope.  I wouldn't move Pierce.

I wouldn't either, but getting a 25 ppg guy for the next 7 years has to be a little enticing

[Fan from VT]

Pierce is the only guy on the celtics i want to retire as a celtic. this would be a tough one though. I think it makes us slightly worse this year, but would greatly increase our chances of adding Dwight or someone like that in 2012...I think he'd be much more likely to be lured by a rondo-anthony core than a rondo-pierce core. If, hypothetically, you knew you would have 5 years of Rondo, Anthony, Howard at ages:
26-31 (DH)
28-33 (CA)
26-31 (RR)

then that would make it hard.

[RJ87]

I realize I'll probably get crucified for this, but yeah - I'd move Pierce for Melo in a heartbeat.

Paul still gets the job done, but how many more years does he really have left in him at a high level? I love him as much as the next C's fan, but sentimentality doesn't help win championships. With Paul & Co, we have a 2 year window - max. Younger players = longer chance of contention.

Melo's younger and a gifted offensive player. As far as his defensive shortcomings, you just hope team defense could compensate somewhat.

[Roy H.]

Younger players = longer chance of contention.

Longer but lesser, I think.

[Megatron]

Denver is looking for building blocks and a future star in exchange for Melo, the only player they would want from our roster would be Rondo, the rest of our guys are still star players, but arent going to be in the league for much longer.

[cdif911]

Why move Pierce when we are favorites to win the title as is?

so we don't have to endure another wave of Gerald Green's trying to save the franchise after this run... Danny has always said he wants to win now and later, as much as I'd hate to part with the Captain and the truth this is about as good of a deal as you could make to do it

also could Doc reach Carmelo on the defensive front? He has with Nate who was allergic to D before coming to the Celtics

[Megatron]

Why move Pierce when we are favorites to win the title as is?

so we don't have to endure another wave of Gerald Green's trying to save the franchise after this run... Danny has always said he wants to win now and later, as much as I'd hate to part with the Captain and the truth this is about as good of a deal as you could make to do it

also could Doc reach Carmelo on the defensive front? He has with Nate who was allergic to D before coming to the Celtics

So basically you would sacrifice a championship for this year and next in order to be relevant in the coming years? God awful idea.

[RJ87]

Pierce is the only guy on the celtics i want to retire as a celtic. this would be a tough one though. I think it makes us slightly worse this year, but would greatly increase our chances of adding Dwight or someone like that in 2012.

I totally agree with this. Whether we like it or not, the stars are aligning in the league. Now there's a rumor D.Will wants to go to NY in 2012 to team with Amar'e. It's becoming more and more clear that we're going to need a superstar core in place to lure an impact player in 2012. Does Rondo and a 35 yr old Pierce appeal as much as a more attractive city? I don't know, but it's a valid concern.

And as far as contention this season, a Pierce for Melo swap would likely mean we gain a little more offensively. Pierce is a better defender, but given our elite team defense I don't think the drop off in that area would be as drastic as some think.

[Megatron]

Pierce is the only guy on the celtics i want to retire as a celtic. this would be a tough one though. I think it makes us slightly worse this year, but would greatly increase our chances of adding Dwight or someone like that in 2012.

I totally agree with this. Whether we like it or not, the stars are aligning in the league. Now there's a rumor D.Will wants to go to NY in 2012 to team with Amar'e. It's becoming more and more clear that we're going to need a superstar core in place to lure an impact player in 2012. Does Rondo and a 35 yr old Pierce appeal as much as a more attractive city? I don't know, but it's a valid concern.

And as far as contention this season, a Pierce for Melo swap would likely mean we gain a little more offensively. Pierce is a better defender, but given our elite team defense I don't think the drop off in that area would be as drastic as some think.

It wouldnt be a Pierce for Melo swap, it would be a Pierce + all of our decent bench players + picks. Which would effectively end our championship hopes for this year and next, in order to just be "relevant" 2-3 years from now. Doesent sound like a good idea.

[RJ87]

Pierce is the only guy on the celtics i want to retire as a celtic. this would be a tough one though. I think it makes us slightly worse this year, but would greatly increase our chances of adding Dwight or someone like that in 2012.

I totally agree with this. Whether we like it or not, the stars are aligning in the league. Now there's a rumor D.Will wants to go to NY in 2012 to team with Amar'e. It's becoming more and more clear that we're going to need a superstar core in place to lure an impact player in 2012. Does Rondo and a 35 yr old Pierce appeal as much as a more attractive city? I don't know, but it's a valid concern.

And as far as contention this season, a Pierce for Melo swap would likely mean we gain a little more offensively. Pierce is a better defender, but given our elite team defense I don't think the drop off in that area would be as drastic as some think.

It wouldnt be a Pierce for Melo swap, it would be a Pierce + all of our decent bench players + picks. Which would effectively end our championship hopes for this year and next, in order to just be "relevant" 2-3 years from now. Doesent sound like a good idea.

The only good bench players we have right now are Glen Davis and Shaq. Everyone else has been a nonfactor this season.

Like I said, I don't believe Melo here would hurt our championship chances all that much... A trade of that nature would help us remain relevant for the foreseeable future. If I had to choose between contending now & in the near future versus contending now & going into full-on rebuilding mode in a season and a half - I'd choose the former.

[cdif911]

Why move Pierce when we are favorites to win the title as is?

so we don't have to endure another wave of Gerald Green's trying to save the franchise after this run... Danny has always said he wants to win now and later, as much as I'd hate to part with the Captain and the truth this is about as good of a deal as you could make to do it

also could Doc reach Carmelo on the defensive front? He has with Nate who was allergic to D before coming to the Celtics

So basically you would sacrifice a championship for this year and next in order to be relevant in the coming years? God awful idea.

I don't think you'd sacrifice this year though - Carmelo is a better offensive player than Pierce right now.  My proposed deal was Pierce and Nate; with Dwest back and a FA signing of say Rip Hailton, Troy Murphy etc. you don't really take a step back in contending.  You do lose intangibles, no doubt and morale would very likely suffer, but if you can win now and later, I do think it's better than winning now and not later

[Onslaught]

Carmelo is good. But I don't think he's as good as people make him out to be. It's not "THE MAN" kind of player to me. I don't see him being the number one guy on a team and taking them to the promised land.

I'd rather keep our old guys and work on younger people in a year or so.

And what was the last young team to really win it all anyway?

[Megatron]

Like Charles Barkley said earlier, Carmello isnt Jordan or LeBron, unless your team is terrible hes not worth breaking your team up for.