Grizzlies wont extend Mayo

[FrDrake]

The Cs are under the cap...thus no MLE is available to them.

I am perplexed by the desire by so many posters to bring back Ray.  He was a great player for them but the guy is 36 years old and absolutely showed his age this year.  Not to mention the fact that he HATED coming off the bench behind Bradley.  Thanks for the good times Ray, but DA is moving on.

I think Mayo could start over Bradley...AB could be great as a third guard and scorer off the bench.  Mayo could probably do it too but now that hes unrestricted he will want to start.

Until the C's renounce their bird rights to current players, they are still over the cap, and MLE eligible.

I agree that Mayo would be a starter upgrade over Ray and Avery - barely. And since Ray is declining, I'd be happy to roll with the younger option with potential to grow.

Fine, this may be technically true but does anyone really think that DA won't renounce most of the FA's on the roster?  He's been talking about using cap space after this season for over two years!  Sure, I'm all for bringing back KG but you can do that, renounce guys they really don't need like Wilcox, Bass, Steimer, and STILL have $12-15 mil or so of space to play with.  No way DA is going to pass that up for a the dumb old $3 MLE.

[Lucky17]

The Cs are under the cap...thus no MLE is available to them.

I am perplexed by the desire by so many posters to bring back Ray.  He was a great player for them but the guy is 36 years old and absolutely showed his age this year.  Not to mention the fact that he HATED coming off the bench behind Bradley.  Thanks for the good times Ray, but DA is moving on.

I think Mayo could start over Bradley...AB could be great as a third guard and scorer off the bench.  Mayo could probably do it too but now that hes unrestricted he will want to start.

Until the C's renounce their bird rights to current players, they are still over the cap, and MLE eligible.

I agree that Mayo would be a starter upgrade over Ray and Avery - barely. And since Ray is declining, I'd be happy to roll with the younger option with potential to grow.

Fine, this may be technically true but does anyone really think that DA won't renounce most of the FA's on the roster?  He's been talking about using cap space after this season for over two years!  Sure, I'm all for bringing back KG but you can do that, renounce guys they really don't need like Wilcox, Bass, Steimer, and STILL have $12-15 mil or so of space to play with.  No way DA is going to pass that up for a the dumb old $3 MLE.

I don't renounce KG or Green to sign Mayo. Those two alone account for $33 million in cap holds.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Can Celtics afford him? Is he really an upgrade over Ray Allen?

The can they afford thing is the question.

Is he an upgrade over Ray? Well shooting wise no, but defense and extra scorer off the bench in case a play breaks down, not to mention another guard who can run the break with Rondo, I'd say yes.

I also like Mayo as a guy who can at least bring the ball up the floor and spell Rondo for a few minutes a game. It's not the pure point backup we've been coveting, but he does have this ability and is better at it than Bradley. It would also give them the opportunity to run those two together and cross-match on defense.

Completely agree. We get him, that's a very defensive oriented back court rotation. Will not miss a beat on defense with Rondo, AB and Mayo taking the minutes at 1 and 2.

There is once again, the question of if we can afford him. Im sure some teams would try to overpay him.

Mayo isn't a good defender when matched up with SGs.

He's had some success defending point guards.

And AB showed he can match up against 2's. None the less, he's a better defender than Ray is.

[RyNye]

Why is everyone so hot on Mayo? Turns the ball over too much (3.4 per 48 minutes) and is a below average shooter (51.3 TS%).

[CelticSooner]

Maybe Dannys plan is to grab him contend right now with him and perhaps a sign and trade for Smith. Then next off-season try everything to get Dwight to come here. I have to say would be a pretty sweet team if it looked lik this.

Rondo/Bradley
Mayo/Bradley
Green
Smtih/Sullinger
Dwight

Thats a really nice team for the future.

Man that team would be nice from a defensive standpoint. Would need to sprinkle shooters around them.

[Fafnir]

Can Celtics afford him? Is he really an upgrade over Ray Allen?

The can they afford thing is the question.

Is he an upgrade over Ray? Well shooting wise no, but defense and extra scorer off the bench in case a play breaks down, not to mention another guard who can run the break with Rondo, I'd say yes.

I also like Mayo as a guy who can at least bring the ball up the floor and spell Rondo for a few minutes a game. It's not the pure point backup we've been coveting, but he does have this ability and is better at it than Bradley. It would also give them the opportunity to run those two together and cross-match on defense.

Completely agree. We get him, that's a very defensive oriented back court rotation. Will not miss a beat on defense with Rondo, AB and Mayo taking the minutes at 1 and 2.

There is once again, the question of if we can afford him. Im sure some teams would try to overpay him.

Mayo isn't a good defender when matched up with SGs.

He's had some success defending point guards.

And AB showed he can match up against 2's. None the less, he's a better defender than Ray is.

OJ May is a far worse offensive player compared to Ray and isn't much better on defense against SGs, if it all. Less defensive awareness and size traded for less dribble penetration given up.

Plus he's a weak rebounder for a SG.

[FrDrake]

The Cs are under the cap...thus no MLE is available to them.

I am perplexed by the desire by so many posters to bring back Ray.  He was a great player for them but the guy is 36 years old and absolutely showed his age this year.  Not to mention the fact that he HATED coming off the bench behind Bradley.  Thanks for the good times Ray, but DA is moving on.

I think Mayo could start over Bradley...AB could be great as a third guard and scorer off the bench.  Mayo could probably do it too but now that hes unrestricted he will want to start.

Until the C's renounce their bird rights to current players, they are still over the cap, and MLE eligible.

I agree that Mayo would be a starter upgrade over Ray and Avery - barely. And since Ray is declining, I'd be happy to roll with the younger option with potential to grow.

Fine, this may be technically true but does anyone really think that DA won't renounce most of the FA's on the roster?  He's been talking about using cap space after this season for over two years!  Sure, I'm all for bringing back KG but you can do that, renounce guys they really don't need like Wilcox, Bass, Steimer, and STILL have $12-15 mil or so of space to play with.  No way DA is going to pass that up for a the dumb old $3 MLE.

I don't renounce KG or Green to sign Mayo. Those two alone account for $33 million in cap holds.

Green is already an unrestricted FA just like Mayo.  The C's did the same thing as the Griz by not offering him the qualifying offer last fall.

I'm pretty sure also that KG's number will go down to a more reasonable 10-12 mil.  That leaves about $12-15 mil available which DA is going to want to use.  He's not going to stand pat people...the idea of bringing back all these veterans from last year (bass, wilcox, ray, steimer)...it aint' happening.  The cap room is much more valuable.

[LarBrd33]

The Cs are under the cap...thus no MLE is available to them.

I am perplexed by the desire by so many posters to bring back Ray.  He was a great player for them but the guy is 36 years old and absolutely showed his age this year.  Not to mention the fact that he HATED coming off the bench behind Bradley.  Thanks for the good times Ray, but DA is moving on.

I think Mayo could start over Bradley...AB could be great as a third guard and scorer off the bench.  Mayo could probably do it too but now that hes unrestricted he will want to start.

Until the Celtics renounce all of their cap holds, they are not under the cap.

And considering Ainge is on record as preferring to bring back players via Bird Rights over signing FAs, I wonder whether Mayo is really a target.

Yup

Yup

TP

[Lucky17]

The Cs are under the cap...thus no MLE is available to them.

I am perplexed by the desire by so many posters to bring back Ray.  He was a great player for them but the guy is 36 years old and absolutely showed his age this year.  Not to mention the fact that he HATED coming off the bench behind Bradley.  Thanks for the good times Ray, but DA is moving on.

I think Mayo could start over Bradley...AB could be great as a third guard and scorer off the bench.  Mayo could probably do it too but now that hes unrestricted he will want to start.

Until the C's renounce their bird rights to current players, they are still over the cap, and MLE eligible.

I agree that Mayo would be a starter upgrade over Ray and Avery - barely. And since Ray is declining, I'd be happy to roll with the younger option with potential to grow.

Fine, this may be technically true but does anyone really think that DA won't renounce most of the FA's on the roster?  He's been talking about using cap space after this season for over two years!  Sure, I'm all for bringing back KG but you can do that, renounce guys they really don't need like Wilcox, Bass, Steimer, and STILL have $12-15 mil or so of space to play with.  No way DA is going to pass that up for a the dumb old $3 MLE.

I don't renounce KG or Green to sign Mayo. Those two alone account for $33 million in cap holds.

Green is already an unrestricted FA just like Mayo.  The C's did the same thing as the Griz by not offering him the qualifying offer last fall.

I'm pretty sure also that KG's number will go down to a more reasonable 10-12 mil.  That leaves about $12-15 mil available which DA is going to want to use.  He's not going to stand pat people...the idea of bringing back all these veterans from last year (bass, wilcox, ray, steimer)...it aint' happening.  The cap room is much more valuable.

But how do you round out the roster?

By using Bird Rights to bring back players, you still have the MLE (because you're over the cap) to add help.

If you renounce rights to free up cap room, once you use $10-$12 million (about half the cap room) to resign Garnett, you only have $12-$15 million and veteran minimums to fill the remaining half-dozen slots around KG, Pierce, Rondo, Bradley, and the incoming and last year's rookies.

[LarBrd33]

The Cs are under the cap...thus no MLE is available to them.

I am perplexed by the desire by so many posters to bring back Ray.  He was a great player for them but the guy is 36 years old and absolutely showed his age this year.  Not to mention the fact that he HATED coming off the bench behind Bradley.  Thanks for the good times Ray, but DA is moving on.

I think Mayo could start over Bradley...AB could be great as a third guard and scorer off the bench.  Mayo could probably do it too but now that hes unrestricted he will want to start.

Until the C's renounce their bird rights to current players, they are still over the cap, and MLE eligible.

I agree that Mayo would be a starter upgrade over Ray and Avery - barely. And since Ray is declining, I'd be happy to roll with the younger option with potential to grow.

Fine, this may be technically true but does anyone really think that DA won't renounce most of the FA's on the roster?  He's been talking about using cap space after this season for over two years!  Sure, I'm all for bringing back KG but you can do that, renounce guys they really don't need like Wilcox, Bass, Steimer, and STILL have $12-15 mil or so of space to play with.  No way DA is going to pass that up for a the dumb old $3 MLE.

There was chatter early in the year that was mostly BS from Wyc about how we'd have enough to bring in "two max contract" players.  It wasn't even true.  Ainge has backed off that considerably since then.  In a recent interview it doesn't sound like he has any interest in renouncing our players.  It doesn't make sense to renounce them.

25 million doesn't go very far.  Far better off just holding onto bird rights and bringing back KG, Ray, Jeff Green, Bass, Krstic, etc... you'll likely exceed 25 mil doing it... and thus getting more bang for your buck since our top 4 free agents are definitely 4 of the top free agents available.

[LarBrd33]

Question:  Is it possible to do double sign-and-trades?

In other words, Memphis is content with letting Mayo walk.  Boston is content with letting Bass walk.  Instead of renouncing the bird rights to either player, can both teams just work out a double sign-and-trade?  Boston signs and trades Bass while Memphis signs and trades Melo?  That legal?  Someone clarify.

If Legal, that would sidestep the need to "renounce" anyone for  cap space.

[FrDrake]

...from Lucky17....
But how do you round out the roster?

By using Bird Rights to bring back players, you still have the MLE (because you're over the cap) to add help.

If you renounce rights to free up cap room, once you use $10-$12 million (about half the cap room) to resign Garnett, you only have $12-$15 million and veteran minimums to fill the remaining half-dozen slots around KG, Pierce, Rondo, Bradley, and the incoming and last year's rookies.

Agreed this will be a challenge.  But this didn't stop Miami from signing Lebron and Bosh because they were worried about whether M. Miller would sign.  OKC never signed a big name FA but they used cap space to their advantage for years by taking bad short-term contracts on along with first-round picks.  Cap Space is very valuable!  More valuable than veteran role players like Bass and Pietrus.  

DA's gone on record to saying as much and so has Wyc....this is the first time DA's ever had the opportunity to operate under the cap and he intends to use it.

[tyrone biggums]

Julio Lugo - The binky of Theo Epstein, filled a position of need was overrated and overpaid by the Red Sox, last name has 4 letters...paid for his potential

O.J. Mayo - The binky of Danny Ainge, fills a position of need, is overrated and will be overpaid due to his potential, last name also has four letters,

DON'T DO IT DANNY!!!!

Plus apparently a guy who barely had 3 assists per game now views himself as a point guard...which is pretty funny.

[MBunge]

OJ May is a far worse offensive player compared to Ray

This past season, Ray was 34 minutes a game, 14.2 pts on 45% shooting and 10.7 attempts.

Mayo was 27 minutes a game, 12.6 pts on 40% shooting and 11.2 attempts.

Both saw their productivity dip in the playoffs.

Ray will be 37 at the start of next season.  Mayo will be 25.

And Mayo his first two seasons in the league put up much better offensive numbers than Ray this past season.

Mike

[Lucky17]

Question:  Is it possible to do double sign-and-trades?

In other words, Memphis is content with letting Mayo walk.  Boston is content with letting Bass walk.  Instead of renouncing the bird rights to either player, can both teams just work out a double sign-and-trade?  Boston signs and trades Bass while Memphis signs and trades Melo?  That legal?  Someone clarify.

If Legal, that would sidestep the need to "renounce" anyone for  cap space.

It's possible, but highly complicated. Each new signee would have base-year compensation status, meaning the team trading them could only take back up to 50% of the outgoing salary.

Unless the new CBA is radically different than the old on this matter? I'll look.