Celtics attaining Howard.. I think we have an excellent shot at this.

[chambers]

 

Reasons...

*Dwight respects Doc and our whole team- he's only been to the finals once and he's sick of playing for a half contender whilst his legs get older.

*The C's have beaten up on him for much of his career- except when KG was out, and they still had a hard time then.

* Howard has stated he wants to go to a championship organisation.

*In my opinion, Doc putting Howard out there on All Star Weekend with the big four was a statement- a planting of a seed, maybe even a nurturing of a seed.

*reading an interview a few months back on some French site where Howard stated he would work with Doc and Rondo in the summer to improve his passing skills.(something which went by unnoticed as the lockout began and hasn't caught much attention).This can only be a GOOD THING!

*The Lakers have been touted as his number one choice, but with Jimmy Buss running things (the younger son of Jerry, who hired Mike Brown and dogged Brian Shaw for the job), they are much more likely to build around Bynum. I don't know why but Jimmy LOVES Bynum and him doing a straight trade for Howard is highly unlikely- the Lakers won't take on the terrible contracts of the fillers that will get thrown in ie: Gilbert, Hedo, Vince (FA now anyway).

Anyway, this is all just my opinion, but I think a lot of C's fans aren't giving our organisation enough credit.
New Jersey has a shot, but Howard seems more likely to put his faith in an organisation that has proven itself and has the superstar point guard + coach combo that we have.
You can argue that he wants the spotlight in the big city, but Boston is a big city when it comes to the NBA. Sure the weather sucks at times, but the Celtics have a winning culture, and that's what Howard, as a basketball player, wants.

[JSD]

Wow. 2012 is just about the furthest thing from my mind right now outside of not wanting any free agents signed beyond this season.

[Fan from VT]

From what I see (others add/subtract as details and info come out)

Factors in favor of getting Howard:
-C's have lots of expiring contracts to create cap room
-2 players under contract: pass first PG, and Vet swing defender/scorer pierce
-No "franchise tag" in new CBA
-C's will be helped less than others by amnesty clause because they've been fairly well managed long term.

Factors Against:
-Howard cares A LOT about commercials/enterprising; wants a "Major Media Market;" C's are not that.
#1 LA
#2 NY
#3 Chi?
-Sign and trades are allowed for ALL teams (keeping LA/NYC in play even w/out capspace)
-C's may think they still have a chance this year...add MLE/Jeff Green to stay competitive...Goodbye max cap room.
-Percentage wise, money favors staying with Bird Rights team now more than in last deal.
-Amnesty Clause = Orlando may get better faster, entice him to stay.

[barefacedmonk]

-Sign and trades are allowed for ALL teams (keeping LA/NYC in play even w/out capspace)

I don't know the exact details but the new CBA will get rid of that...its being referred to as the "Carmelo Anthony rule".

EDIT: The owners dropped it apparently so sign and trades are still there...you are right.

[chambers]

Thanks VT, good post. TP.
I still think Boston is a big market.
Heck, we got 4 (almost 5) players on the East All star team and we had 5 guys in the top 20 jersey sales last year.

He might want to go to places like NY or LA, but they have to give up a lot to get him by the trade deadline.

How does NY get Howard and have any money for anyone else left over? I feel they'd go after CP3 or a scoring guard because they have Amare as their inside threat.

What does LA do? Do they swap Bynum + Artest for Howard+ Arenas? (or something similar)

Chicago is interesting and I hadn't considered them.
Who would be top dog? Rose or Howard?

Howard has the chance to come to Boston and be the top dog on a team that has a history of great centers and championship management/coaching staff.

Orlando wiping gilbert and somehow improving is the dark horse here for me.

I think it's between LA, NJ, Orlando and us.
Maybe Chicago if they coughed up Noah or Boozer +some solid bench guys.

[Fan from VT]

-Sign and trades are allowed for ALL teams (keeping LA/NYC in play even w/out capspace)

I don't know the exact details but the new CBA will get rid of that...its being referred to as the "Carmelo Anthony rule".

From what I read it's being kept, at least in the first two years of the CBA but probably longer.

The players, though, did not get all that they had hoped for on sign-and-trade rules, sources told Bucher. For the first two years of the 10-year agreement -- with either side possessing the option to exit the CBA after six seasons -- tax-paying teams still will be eligible to do sign-and-trade deals. That opens the door for impending star free agents such as Chris Paul, Dwight Howard and Deron Williams to be moved to big-market teams such as the Lakers, Knicks and Mavericks that are already over the salary cap.

In the final eight years of the agreement, teams can still make sign-and-trade deals as long as the math does not put them more than $4 million into the luxury tax.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7285446/billy-hunter-tells-players-get-512-percent-bri-2011-12

[Fan from VT]

Thanks VT, good post. TP.
I still think Boston is a big market.
Heck, we got 4 (almost 5) players on the East All star team and we had 5 guys in the top 20 jersey sales last year.

He might want to go to places like NY or LA, but they have to give up a lot to get him by the trade deadline.

How does NY get Howard and have any money for anyone else left over? I feel they'd go after CP3 or a scoring guard because they have Amare as their inside threat.

What does LA do? Do they swap Bynum + Artest for Howard+ Arenas? (or something similar)

Chicago is interesting and I hadn't considered them.
Who would be top dog? Rose or Howard?

Howard has the chance to come to Boston and be the top dog on a team that has a history of great centers and championship management/coaching staff.

Orlando wiping gilbert and somehow improving is the dark horse here for me.

I think it's between LA, NJ, Orlando and us.
Maybe Chicago if they coughed up Noah or Boozer +some solid bench guys.

I just don't think Howard cares about Top Dog at all.

Don't get me wrong: I'd would be ecstatic if he was on the Celtics, because even with interests outside of basketball, he's an incredible player.

But, I think he wants to make Maximum money on the team that will give him the most media exposure. Whether this is by winning a championship in a large-ish media market or just being a major player in a MAJOR media market, I don't know. But all things being equal from his perspective, I imagine that he'd be happiest being the non-torch carrying member on a team that is at least quasi-competitive in NY or LA so he has majorly easy access to movies, commercials, etc.

[chambers]

I guess the big problem for him coming north is our teams age.
I wonder if Danny will use KG or Ray to make us younger and more appealing.

How bout Rondo, Ray, Big Baby and Jujuan Johnson for David West and Chris Paul :p

I just think that Rondo lobbing the ball to Howard would give him a pretty easy shot at number one scorer in the league. So many easy points night after night. It's gotta be on his mind.

[manl_lui]

i like how you said planting a seed like this is inception, but other than that i love the points you made

[chambers]

i like how you said planting a seed like this is inception, but other than that i love the points you made

lol.
I just remember the rumors around All Star weekend that Doc was talking to Howard every second he could get. In fact he even said something about it on TV.
My guess is the whole crew got on board and told him to come north.
Fingers crossed.

[Kiorrik]

Look, I just bought a KG jersey, so apart from trading him, I don't care what happens :p

Harharhar!

[clover]

I've been waiting for the first post-agreement Howard prospects analysis.  And I want Danny focused on next year (and years forward) now, because I just don't see them having enough with JO likely to be C's only decent center and four of their five best players another year over 30 already.

Yes, Boston is a bigger-market team than its size because of the Celtics history.  And I agree that NJ isn't the sort of gamble that really fits with what Howard wants at this point.  The biggest thing that could happen this season for that eventuality would be if two out of three of 3J, Green and Bradley really blossomed--meaning that the C's had another key complementary player or two already in place.

Danny knows it's worth it to hunt for the big game, even if it takes lots of preparation and isn't nearly a sure thing.

[Liam W]

I dont live in Boston so i could not tell you if the Market is big or small. However I do know that the Red Sox are winners and the Bruins won the Stanley Cup last year so I think Boston is pretty big when it comes to winning teams.

I think with the vision + passing of Rondo and the damage Howard can do around the basket it could be a match made in heaven.

Think about this. If Rondo was the only person under contract in 2012, then the Celtics could throw massive money at Howard, and then we could do what Miami did and round out the roster with Vet's

I think it could work, I hope it happens, But idk where Dwight wants to go at this point.

I do know that the current "Big 3" are pretty much finished, and if the Celtics want to continue going deep into the Playoffs every year then Howard has to be signed at all costs.

Ainge + Doc must have a plan for 2012 otherwise It could be a downhill slide from there. A Big name is Key in 2012!

[manl_lui]

well the Nets are moving to NY soon so technically he'll be playing in Brooklyn, but the way I see it, Dwight is like Shaq 2.0, he wants publicity, so I won't be surprised if he goes to the Lakers, or NY

but seriously, this picture looks as if hes destined to play in green

[PosImpos]

Dwight is going to LA or Brooklyn.