If (and a big if here) you traded Ray Allen, would you be happy with this trade?

[diconzo]

BOS gets: Omer Asik, Taj Gibson, Ronnie Brewer

CHI gets: Ray Allen

I would only do this for Boston if a mid-season injury happened to one of the big 3 and we had no shot at the title that year. We would get a young frontcourt, and a defensive stopper to be on our bench for years to come.

Chicago would do it to fill a giant hole in their starting 5 and would likely have Ray pretty cheap if he resigned there. They would give up a lot of depth, but having a reliable shooting guard would make up for it.

I'm not sure if the salaries would match up, but it would set us in a good spot to have depth and cap space. Just to let you all know I don't hate Ray and when his name came up in trade rumors in 2010 I was furious. We would have to have something like Rondo tearing his ACL and another key player go down to even consider trading one of the big 3. But this trade would benefit us a lot and isn't that unrealistic.

[syfy9]

I actually kind of like this trade in a worldy stand point. Brewer adds defensive toughness and an athlete to run with Rondo. Taj is an amazing defender and has great potential, being 2-4 years old in this league. Asik is a solid role player, and if we were forced to trade Ray (Like he wouldn't resign, stuff like that, etc.), I would consider this trade above most.

[diconzo]

I actually kind of like this trade in a worldy stand point. Brewer adds defensive toughness and an athlete to run with Rondo. Taj is an amazing defender and has great potential, being 2-4 years old in this league. Asik is a solid role player, and if we were forced to trade Ray (Like he wouldn't resign, stuff like that, etc.), I would consider this trade above most.

Yeah I wouldn't want to trade the big 3. More like a last case scenario if our championship hopes are shattered and there's not a chance left.

[Junkyard Dawg]

As much as I hate to admit it, this is a variation of a trade I've been toying with in my head for months.

My reasoning being that if we felt compelled to trade Ray, my own (and I think many C's fans) would be to get a young PF who has a serious chance of starting (after KG leaves) back in return.

I haven't seen Gibson play much but I've heard that Thibs likes him a lot and that speaks volumes to me. 

So I'd never be happy trading Ray Ray, he should have been a Celtic his whole career, but this might be the one semi- realistic trade I would personally consider.

[slamtheking]

If, and this is a big if, the Danny were in dismantling mode, I'm not sure I'd be on board with this unless Danny had a SG that can shoot ready to take Ray's place.  Not necessarily as good as Ray but someone to take that spot on the floor.  Brewer is not a shooter.

Also, I don't see Asik or Gibson as quality starters in the league but more as part of a good bench.  I'd hate to see Danny use one of his bigger trade chips just for bench players.

[paulcowens]

This doesn't sound like a horrible trade, but I don't want to trade Allen unless it's with KG for Howard.  Allen sounds like he wants to stay with us for a while, fading into the background gracefully, and that sounds very good.  Plus, I suspect that our bench problem is, more than anything, a coaching problem.

[Jon]

It wouldn't be terrible, but it wouldn't be good either.  

The rule of thumb in the NBA is to never trade a star for depth (i.e. a few good players).  In the NBA, your stars can play 40 mpg, having depth isn't really all that much of a luxury like it is in baseball, football, and hockey.  

Now, obviously things would be different here.  Trading Ray at this point would be more or less waving the white flag and moving toward rebuilding.  

Here's the problem though, none of the players you mentioned are really building blocks for the future.  Worse, Gibson and Brewer's contract goes one year beyond Ray's, and Asik would require a qualifying offer if we didn't want him to walk after this season.

What does all of this mean?  It means that arguably the most valuable part of Ray's contract (the 10 million dollars it will clear when it expires) won't happen.  

Instead, we're stuck paying nearly 10 million to 3 role players, rather trying to spend that on a mega free agent in the summer of 2012.

Now, could we simply let Brewer, Gibson, and Asik walk after the 2012-2013 season and spend their money in 2013?  Sure, however, what's the point in doing that when we can just hold onto Ray and get it a year earlier?

Plus, we'd have people always asking the question, what if? if we didn't give the Big Three at least one more shot in the playoffs.  

It's worth blowing that final chance for major building blocks.  But it's not worth it for 3 role players who hinder our cap flexibility.  

The simple fact of the matter is that with Ray and KG, the most valuable way the C's can utilize them for the future is likely to let them expire.  It's very unlikely any team is going to give a future star for either of them.  And if a team isn't willing to do that, it's not worth acquiring role players whose salaries add up either KG's or Ray's and destroying all future cap flexibility. 

[Marcus13]

No.  I really feel like Ray has three years left as an above-average roleplayer so I dont waat to deal him for three below-average roleplayers

[anthony83]

 Allen is untransferable, he should retire as Celtics.

 GREAT RAY.

[Chris]

I think the C's would have to do this trade, but I don't think the Bulls would go anywhere near it.  They would love to have Ray, but Asik and Gibson is too much to give up for a 1 year rental of a guy like Ray. 

[Jon]

I think the C's would have to do this trade, but I don't think the Bulls would go anywhere near it.  They would love to have Ray, but Asik and Gibson is too much to give up for a 1 year rental of a guy like Ray. 

But neither guy is true building blocks.  Could they be potential starters or rotation players on the next great Celtic team?  Yes, in a best case scenario. 

But retaining them until that happens just isn't possible if the C's want to ever make a run at big free agents.  They already have Rondo at over 10 million, Pierce at 15 million, a Jeff Green contract, and then another 10 million or so to hang onto those 3 guys?  That's 35 million, plus another 6-8 million for Green by the 2012-2013 season.  That puts us at 40-45 million in a league which may have a salary cap around there.

Trading for them would be trading for our future supporting cast before we got our future superstars.  And we just can't do that in any deal. 

The only way that Ray and/or KG should be traded is if they are going to net us a guy who can be a future superstar this team can build around.  Their salaries are so big and would require us to take back so much salary that it'd absolutely cripple our cap chances.  And we can't cripple them unless we actually get a superstar. 

[Inside-Out]

As much as I don't want to restart "trade Ray" talk...

I just noticed that Minny is stacked with big bodies, and quite limited on SG's.  They're actually quite a stock of talent over there; perhaps Adelman can make something of them, but Ray at SG sure would help smooth things out.

Assuming Beasley, Love, and Darko are their starters/keepers, would bringing in

Anthony Randolph (aquired from NY, possible star talent)
Pekovic or Tolliver (young centers with potential to be solid)

be worth letting Ray go?

My thought is that if this year is a fairly long shot/bridge year anyway, which I think it is if we don't solidify the center position with more talent/health than a minimum or one-year contract would provide, this sort of trade doesn't give us much worse of a chance this year, perhaps better, and surely adds talent for the future.

Any thoughts (while waiting out the lockout)?

[pearljammer10]

I dont know much about Asik but I know Brewer and Gibson would be great for us.. It would be tough to let Ray go at this point however. Ray is the type of player that can still be effective into his late thirties. He can be a powerful asset as a 6th man or player off the bench for us as he finishes out the last leg of his career. Unless we were overwhelmed with an offer I dont think Id trade him.

[jdz101]

Taj Gibson was completely useless before this year and even now he'll have spurts of minutes where he consistently turns the ball over and gives up buckets. Our problem is offense. Giving up the greatest ever 3 point shooter for 3 below par offensive players is a bad move.

[greenpride32]

I don't see how CHI trades two young and serviceable assets (the two guys not named Brewer), for a guy who's in the twighlight of his career.  I think maybe 2 years ago you could still consider Ray a trade deadline final piece type of guy.  But he's going to turn 36 this season if he hasn't already.