If Davis walks, does Danny HAVE to make a trade?

[ManUp]

Celtics Depth Chart

Rondo     Delonte   Bradley
Ray               
Pierce    Green   
Garnett           
J.O'neal                 

I don't know what Danny can do with this roster. How exactly are we supposed to improve on last years team? We only have the MLE and LLE to spend. Our only real trade chips assuming we are still trying to contend are Green, Bradley, and our picks. I think losing BBD would be the straw that broke the contenders back. The MLE isn't enough to sign two high level bigs (If there are even any out there to be had). Using Green and Bradley as trade chips creates another whole at Small forward and depletes point guard depth. We need a point-guard behind Delonte because he's very injury prone. IMHO, it's just too much to fix in one off-season.

[nickagneta]

I'm not saying this is ideal scenario but we shouldn't be desperate to trade Green/Bradley if Baby walks.  If a really good presents itself to get excellent front court help knowing we could sign a Battier, Kirlenko, or Grant Hill in our back pocket then that's an option too. 

I don't see the C's being able to sign serviceable big men AND get a Grant Hill or Battier or Kirilenko.

I'm just not as crazy about Jeff Green as I used to be and some others are on this blog. I don't see him as cornerstone potential for the future and so if baby goes, heck, maybe even if Baby stays, I would rather convert him into a better vet.

Sure BYC means its harder to trade him but that doesn't mean its impossible. Signing and trading Green at say $7 million along with Bradley and Shaq's contract(convince him to retire with the other team, vet minimum contracts don't count towards incoming salary in a sign and trade, only outgoing and Shaq's salary comes off their books instead of ours) gives the C's $6.4 million outgoing and means we could trade for someone in the range of $6-8 million and it would work.

That's a quality player that I think could be much better than Green for a run at a title and would allow for the C's to spend the MLE and LLE and vet mins on a player like Hill or Battier or Kirilenko.

If Houston goes rebuilding I could see them looking to add a young piece like Green at SF and Bradley. Dallas could look to dump Brendan Haywood's contract to keep Chandler and replace Caron Butler. There are a number of teams that could match up.

I just think that with Baby walking, a last stand run at a championship is better served with a proven veteran than a guy like Green that might not work out and then getting a proven guy like backup SF in free agency because, in this year's free agent crop, that is where the quality is, not at big man.

My mistake if I wasn't clear.  What I meant was if we were to trade Green/Bradley for frontcourt help I would hope we could sign 1 of Battier, Kirlenko, Hill, and add Prince to the list too.   I don't expect to sign serviceable big men along with 1 of those wing players as you mentioned. 

I feel the same way about Green as you.   Only a handful of games during the second half of the season I was really impressed with.  Not nearly enough to get me excited, however if a good trade does not present itself I could roll with keeping him hoping he improves with a training camp here under his belt, and signing cheaper big men.  At worst we could look to trade him by the trade deadline however we would lose out on the opportunity of the wings this summer.  Tough call, but I would hope if we traded a Green/Bradley combo now we could land a big man for the present and the future, and not just a short term fix. 

Wondering, if there is a short season next year due to a lockout, will there even be a trade deadline?

I am pretty sure there was one in the 50 games season in 1999 but if the season is shorter than that, would there be one?

[cman88]

Danny/Doc are going to have to do some hard recruiting to fill the holes we have with Veterans minimum contracts...we can get a solid 5 for the MLE, but if davis leaves, that leaves a hole at the 4spot

if davis decides to walk, I think danny works out a trade for him to get peices....I feel though they are going to offer him a 1-2year deal promising another champion run that he wont have the opportunity on another team..

[snively]

Celtics Depth Chart

Rondo     Delonte   Bradley
Ray               
Pierce    Green   
Garnett           
J.O'neal                 

I don't know what Danny can do with this roster. How exacatly are we supposed to improve on last years team? We only have the MLE and LLE to spend. Our only real trade chips assuming we are still trying to contend are Green, Bradley, and our picks. I think losing BBD would be the straw that broke the contenders back. The MLE isn't enough to sign two high level bigs (If there are even any out there to be had). Using Green and Bradley as trade chips creates another whole at Small forward and depletes point guard depth. We need a point-guard behind Delonte because he's very injury prone. IMHO, it's just too much to fix in one off-season.

We only need one high-level big for the playoff rotation and some Erden-level bigs to eat regular season minutes.

Resign Delonte (LLE) and Jeff Green (QO or bird rights) and that's the playoff rotation.  Not too much to do in one offseason.

[LooseCannon]

I don't know what Danny can do with this roster. How exacatly are we supposed to improve on last years team?

Fill the bench with D-League all-stars.  Hope at least a couple of them prove to be quality rotation options after Doc has no choice but to play them.  The Mavericks had some useful minutes from JJ Barea, who was signed as an undrafted free agent.  Ainge should gamble and hope to find useful players who slipped through the cracks.

[Eja117]

I don't know what Danny can do with this roster. How exacatly are we supposed to improve on last years team?

Fill the bench with D-League all-stars.  Hope at least a couple of them prove to be quality rotation options after Doc has no choice but to play them.  The Mavericks had some useful minutes from JJ Barea, who was signed as an undrafted free agent.  Ainge should gamble and hope to find useful players who slipped through the cracks.

A desperate plan for desperate times. I love it. I'm in

[Eja117]

Just as long as we don't do something stupid like trade our worst player for Lebron or something. 

[PosImpos]

No trade needed, just overpay somebody with the MLE for one year, or sign some D-leaguers / draft a rookie and have them play significant minutes.

The big man rotation next season is not going to be great for us -- get used to the idea.

Danny is going to say all the right things about staying in contention and remaining competitive etc etc, but in truth he will treat next season like a bridge year prior to all the cap space we'll have in 2012.  

Don't expect any major moves this summer that will compromise that future cap space.  Danny is not going to acquire anybody on a long term deal or trade away any future assets for somebody who can only help us in the short term.  Glen Davis might stick around, but only because he's forced to since he had such a crappy end of season / post-season.

my guess is the depth chart looks like this next season:

Rondo / Delonte / Bradley
Ray / Delonte / vet minimum wing (e.g. Wafer)
Pierce / Green / vet minimum wing (e.g. Pavlovic)
KG / Green / vet minimum or young big (e.g. Shelden Williams)
JO / Glen Davis OR vet minimum // young big (Chris Johnson type or Juwan Howard type)

Bridge year!

[cman88]

The celtics can still contend next year though....fans on this site seem to have short memories...but granted its understandable with our last memory being beaten by the heat in 5 games...

our "big 3" can still perform at a high level, and as long as we can get some production out of our bench and Rondo/the big 3 are healthy we are still a good team...we were a healthy Rondo/botched last play from tie-ing the Heat series 2-2 and then who knows from there..

[PosImpos]

The celtics can still contend next year though....fans on this site seem to have short memories...but granted its understandable with our last memory being beaten by the heat in 5 games...

our "big 3" can still perform at a high level, and as long as we can get some production out of our bench and Rondo/the big 3 are healthy we are still a good team...we were a healthy Rondo/botched last play from tie-ing the Heat series 2-2 and then who knows from there..

Here's the thing, though.  The Big 3 may still be able to play at a very high level collectively, and Rondo will almost surely be better throughout most of the season and the playoffs next year than he was toward the end of the regular season and in the playoffs this year. 

However, the Big 3 more than ever need young roleplayers to step up and take the load off their shoulders.  In particular they need guys who can do dirty work down low in order to open up the offense.  I just don't see how the Celtics can put together that kind of a supporting cast this summer.

So unless Rondo comes back playing like he did at the start of the regular season this year and sustains that sort of play throughout the season and into the playoffs while also increasing his scoring, I don't see how the Celtics will realistically contend next season, barring some very fortuitous injuries to the key players of some of the other contenders.

[cman88]

Fair points made...I think if Rondo is healthy though, he should be able to perform at that higher level...and needs to start to look to score more

besides health, I think an important factor is whether Jeff Green can play to his potential...if he can be a 15ppg guy thats big off the bench for us, because we havent really found someone who can provide us that scoring off the bench....he was too passive this season(and still averaged 10pts.) hopefully with a training camp(if there is one) he could be utilized more and take some of that scoring pressure off the big 3 and allow PP/KG to get rest

Also, I think doc needs to be less hesitant to play rookies throughout the season. look at a guy like Landry Fields..he was a 39th pick and was able to give the knicks 9points a game...sure thats partially because of d'antonis offense...but there are rookies who can contribute out there if given playing time

[ManUp]

Celtics Depth Chart

Rondo     Delonte   Bradley
Ray               
Pierce    Green   
Garnett           
J.O'neal                 

I don't know what Danny can do with this roster. How exacatly are we supposed to improve on last years team? We only have the MLE and LLE to spend. Our only real trade chips assuming we are still trying to contend are Green, Bradley, and our picks. I think losing BBD would be the straw that broke the contenders back. The MLE isn't enough to sign two high level bigs (If there are even any out there to be had). Using Green and Bradley as trade chips creates another whole at Small forward and depletes point guard depth. We need a point-guard behind Delonte because he's very injury prone. IMHO, it's just too much to fix in one off-season.

We only need one high-level big for the playoff rotation and some Erden-level bigs to eat regular season minutes.

Resign Delonte (LLE) and Jeff Green (QO or bird rights) and that's the playoff rotation.  Not too much to do in one offseason.

In a perfect world where injuries never happen sure. Unfortunately, Delonte and JO are basically guaranteed to miss games due to injury the only question is which games or when. If BBD leaves we need two quality bigs one to replace BBD the other to backup JO and be ready to start. The problem with this team is we can't get by with a crap bench our starters aren't that good anymore.

[Marcus13]

Yes - if we're really planning on trying to win a championship this year.

I don't think that's a realistic plan, though.  It's more likely we sign a lle/overpay with the mle player and bring in an erden or harangody.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

I don't know what Danny can do with this roster. How exacatly are we supposed to improve on last years team?

Fill the bench with D-League all-stars.  Hope at least a couple of them prove to be quality rotation options after Doc has no choice but to play them.  The Mavericks had some useful minutes from JJ Barea, who was signed as an undrafted free agent.  Ainge should gamble and hope to find useful players who slipped through the cracks.

A desperate plan for desperate times. I love it. I'm in

There are a few bigs in the D-League that will probably play in the A-League for the minimum, that might make some contributions. why not try them out, give them a camp invite and see if they can make some contributions.

There's this dude,
http://www.nba.com/dleague/playerfile/scott_vandermeer/index.html

and this dude,
http://www.nba.com/dleague/playerfile/chris_holm/index.html