Insight into Celts' free agency approach: good players attract free agents

[Roy H.]

Some comments from Doc and Danny:

    "You sell (to free agents) what you have on your team, and that’s tough to say now because we don’t know what we’ll have on our team yet," [Doc Rivers] said. "But I don’t think it’s a hard sell — the tradition and what we’ve accomplished.

    "But you also have to have players to get other players. No matter where you’re at, it’s rare that a player is going to go somewhere where there’s no other players. So we want to make sure we have the assets and players that other players want to play with. And I think when that time comes, I think we’ll be ready for it."

    "It’s a different pitch depending on the circumstances," [Danny Ainge] said. "The money they’re going to make, the length of the contract and the amount. With every player, that list of five or six things can be prioritized in a different order.

    "I think that there are a lot of things in play. The first thing is the quality of your team and the opportunity he may have to win.

Link

Both Doc and Danny believe that free agents are concerned about a team's existing core first and foremost.  Doc's comments, in particular, are interesting:

"You sell (to free agents) what you have on your team, and that’s tough to say now because we don’t know what we’ll have on our team yet"

So we want to make sure we have the assets and players that other players want to play with.

Should we read into Doc's comments?  Is he foreshadowing a future trade when he talks about not knowing what our roster is going to look like next year?  Could the "make our core attractive for free agents" philosophy be motivation to explore a Pau Gasol trade?

[hpantazo]

Interesting comments from Doc, and I think him and Danny are right. From past comments, it sounds like players have a hard time with Rondo's attitude. Getting Pau would go a long way in making the team more attractive. If we do trade Rondo for Pau, do we still have cap space to land Dwight Howard?

[ManUp]

When Chris Paul didn't want to come here his main concern was that our team was too old. If we're planning on picking up a star player in his mid 20s I don't think getting older is the answer. The only thing I can take from that quote is that we want to have a legitimate star hear when we hit free-agency. That star may or may not be Rondo.

[greenlion]

as i remebered, even KG didn't want to go here, but once DA made the pieces fit, it all came too clear for everyone that this is the place to be, i see that happening soon after this season is over, but for now i consider all these as distractions and should be kept mum instead..

[Eja117]

I don't know. A couple years ago we could only get Sheed and couldn't even drag PJ Brown for another year.

[Roy H.]

I don't know. A couple years ago we could only get Sheed and couldn't even drag PJ Brown for another year.

Sheed was the #1 MLE target on the board, and there was a ton of competition for him.  P.J. retired.  Neither is a good example of good free agents refusing to come here.

[pearljammer10]

I smell a blow up.

[cman88]

sounds to me like they will be breaking up the big 3 IMO and exploring trades..

Eric Gordon has stated he has no desire to stay in NO...maybe the celts can offer up expiring contracts to the hornets(who want to clear salary to sell the team) if he really wants to leave.

plus, if bass opts in at 4million$ next year.

selling howard on Rondo, Gordon, Pierce, Bass plus maybe green coming back...is alot better than the Nets can offer at Deron...and pretty much no one else

[LooseCannon]

If we do trade Rondo for Pau, do we still have cap space to land Dwight Howard?

Yes. 

[lightspeed5]

all star point guards dont grow on trees

[theswitch]

all star point guards dont grow on trees

Eh, I don't know. Point guard is probably the deepest position in the NBA. You've got Rose, Paul, Westbrook, Rondo, Williams, Curry, Irving, Evans, Parker, Nash, Lowry, Lawson, Conley, Holiday, Wall, Rubio, Jennings. You could argue against a few of those but generally that's 15 or so guys who probably could be All Stars. Then you've got guys like Collison, Felton, Teague, Andre Miller, etc.

At this point, you have to try pretty hard not to have a competent NBA point guard. You can't say the same for shooting guard, small forward, or center. Power forward is ridiculously deep as well, which is why a lot of guys who should be 4's are playing the 5.

[guava_wrench]

I don't know. A couple years ago we could only get Sheed and couldn't even drag PJ Brown for another year.

Sheed was the #1 MLE target on the board, and there was a ton of competition for him.  P.J. retired.  Neither is a good example of good free agents refusing to come here.

What makes the examples even worse is that PJ came out of retirement after the all star break to play for us - meaning some impressive convincing went on. Other teams couldn't convince him.

[Jon]

Well, I wouldn't read too much into Danny's comments about the uncertainty next year. 

Even if no trades happen, the only guys under contract next year are Pierce, Rondo, Bradley, and Johnson (and Bass if he uses the player option, but that's unlikely.  That's a lot of uncertainty that has nothing to do with trades. 

[Eja117]

I don't know. A couple years ago we could only get Sheed and couldn't even drag PJ Brown for another year.

Sheed was the #1 MLE target on the board, and there was a ton of competition for him.  P.J. retired.  Neither is a good example of good free agents refusing to come here.

What makes the examples even worse is that PJ came out of retirement after the all star break to play for us - meaning some impressive convincing went on. Other teams couldn't convince him.

That's why I said for another year. And I remember how Sheed came here after they flew to his house at midnight and begged him. He was popular. I give you that

[Smokeeye123]

I smell a blow up.

I hope so, it would at least make things interesting.