Are We Becoming the Knicks Fans of Yester-Year?

[GreenEnvy]

However, I do think that the Celts are in a lot different situation.  The Knicks essentially wasted two seasons, and gave away multiple draft picks, all in the hopes of landing Lebron.  The Celts, on the other hand, haven't really sacrificed all that much.

I agree.
But this summer, we'll be faced with our first challenge of sacrificing for free agency with Jeff Green. I've seen more than a few posts stating that we shouldn't look to resign him because it'll bite into our 2012 cap. If Danny Ainge takes the same approach this offseason, it'd be rather dangerous.

Well, he's a restricted free agent, so there's a good chance that he'll decide to play here for the qualifying offer, preserving our space in 2012.  The only way I could see the Celts re-signing him before they had to would be if he backed way down off his demands of 5 years, $50 million.

Well, we are only on the hook for roughly $30 million (Pierce $17M, Rondo $11M, Bradley $2M) in 2012. Assuming nobody offers Green an huge contract, maybe we should sign him before his value goes up. A full season with training camp in green could raise his value. Like he did with Rondo, if Ainge sees Green fits into this system, he may look to prematurely give him his payday.


And even at that 5yr/$50M number, thats a starting salary of around $8M, and a $9M figure in 2012. That would still have us under $40 million in 2012. Assuming there isn't a gigantic reduction in the salary cap in the new CBA (or a hard cap), that leaves us plenty of room for a max free agent, especially if max contracts are reduced.

Ainge, by design, set us up great for the 2012 free agency class. Last time I checked, the three major FA's are Paul, Williams, and Howard. One is not like the other two.

You're forgetting cap holds + 2011 1st round pick + 2012 1st round pick + Clippers' 2012 1st round pick.

At some point people need to accept that Green at 10mil a year is probably not gonna happen.

Assuming the C's don't trade any of those picks, that's not even $5 million in salaries, bringing the total to under $44M.
The real question is what does Ainge do after this season with guys like West and BBD. Does he let them go BECAUSE of 2012? And what cap holds do you see us keeping? KG and Ray at max salaries?

And if some team (like Sacramento - probably relocating, can build around him with Evans and Cousins) steps up and offers Green that type of contract, should Ainge just let him walk? I don't.

[Donoghus]

However, I do think that the Celts are in a lot different situation.  The Knicks essentially wasted two seasons, and gave away multiple draft picks, all in the hopes of landing Lebron.  The Celts, on the other hand, haven't really sacrificed all that much.

I agree.
But this summer, we'll be faced with our first challenge of sacrificing for free agency with Jeff Green. I've seen more than a few posts stating that we shouldn't look to resign him because it'll bite into our 2012 cap. If Danny Ainge takes the same approach this offseason, it'd be rather dangerous.

Well, he's a restricted free agent, so there's a good chance that he'll decide to play here for the qualifying offer, preserving our space in 2012.  The only way I could see the Celts re-signing him before they had to would be if he backed way down off his demands of 5 years, $50 million.

Well, we are only on the hook for roughly $30 million (Pierce $17M, Rondo $11M, Bradley $2M) in 2012. Assuming nobody offers Green an huge contract, maybe we should sign him before his value goes up. A full season with training camp in green could raise his value. Like he did with Rondo, if Ainge sees Green fits into this system, he may look to prematurely give him his payday.


And even at that 5yr/$50M number, thats a starting salary of around $8M, and a $9M figure in 2012. That would still have us under $40 million in 2012. Assuming there isn't a gigantic reduction in the salary cap in the new CBA (or a hard cap), that leaves us plenty of room for a max free agent, especially if max contracts are reduced.

Ainge, by design, set us up great for the 2012 free agency class. Last time I checked, the three major FA's are Paul, Williams, and Howard. One is not like the other two.

You're forgetting cap holds + 2011 1st round pick + 2012 1st round pick + Clippers' 2012 1st round pick.

At some point people need to accept that Green at 10mil a year is probably not gonna happen.

Assuming the C's don't trade any of those picks, that's not even $5 million in salaries, bringing the total to under $44M.
The real question is what does Ainge do after this season with guys like West and BBD. Does he let them go BECAUSE of 2012? And what cap holds do you see us keeping? KG and Ray at max salaries?

And if some team (like Sacramento - probably relocating, can build around him with Evans and Cousins) steps up and offers Green that type of contract, should Ainge just let him walk? I don't.

I think that they have to pick & choose their spots with cap space.  Keep a core and don't overpay role players.  


I think we have a better chance of seeing Delonte in green for '11-12 than we do BBD.  Even without the prospect of having to resign Perk now, I still think we let BBD walk.  

[clover]

I think that anybody who has convinced themselves specifically that Dwight Howard is coming here is going to be in for a big letdown.  I don't think he'll sign here.

However, I do think that the Celts are in a lot different situation.  The Knicks essentially wasted two seasons, and gave away multiple draft picks, all in the hopes of landing Lebron.  The Celts, on the other hand, haven't really sacrificed all that much.  I suppose the Perk trade could fall into that category, assuming that Danny did that because he was worried that Perk would walk.  However, even if that's the case, the team we put on the floor every night is a contender, so it's different in kind than the Knicks situation.

Again, though, I don't think Howard is coming here.  That doesn't mean that cap space won't be useful, though; cap space can be utilized to gain draft picks and to accelerate the rebuilding process, even if we don't sign a big-time free agent.

I think it is more likely Howard will go with some one of the other 29 teams than with Boston.  But I also think Danny will smartly position his team to welcome him in perchance he has the opportunity to land him.