Stacked Celtics need a Center - Asik's Value

[pearljammer10]

Asik does nothing for me. Id rather use Fab Melo as a rookie than overpay 5 a year for Asik.

[Who]

Asik would be terrific but there is no way that Chicago doesn't match.

Big men have too much value as trade assets. Chicago will do the same as Orlando did with Gortat. Match the offer. Keep him for the short term and then move him on in a trade to fill an alternative need.

I agree in principal.  But depending on how much he gets offered by a team willing to may him starter money, it's going to be hard for Chicago to match that money for him to be a bench player.  Especially when they already have 4 players on the team making 8 figures and Taj Gibson is soon going to command similar or more money than Asik easily.

Because Asik was a second round pick, the Gilbert Arenas provision applies.

So a team can only pay Asik $5 million per annum for the first two years. That gives Chicago a lot of wiggle room (time and financial flexibility) in terms of trading Asik over the next 24 months.

To get around that, a team would have to give Asik a poisonous type contract that pays him $10-12 million per annum in years 3 and 4 (total of $30-34 million over four years, for an average $7.5-8.5 million per annum) ... but who wants to pay Asik that much money three-four years from now? I don't think anyone does. $7-8 million, maybe (which would give a four year $24-26 million deal -- very affordable, easy to match and is trade-able down the road). $10+ million per annum, I struggle to see that type of offer from anyone (so I don't think anyone is going to make a big enough contract offer to make it not worthwhile for Chicago to match).

That Gilbert Arenas provision gives Chicago a lot of help here. Because of it, I can't see them letting Asik go just yet. Best to keep him, pay the $5 million salary and trade Asik later.

Chicago has a $70+ million payroll next season before extending Asik, which means $5 millions costs them $10.

Do you pay $10 million for a backup center?

Yes -- they need Asik as a trade asset

If the luxury tax is too cumbersome and the Bulls want to cut their payroll, they can let Korver and/or CJ Watson and/or Ronnie Brewer leave. Actually, I think they have already decided to let Watson go (or at least declined his option for the year).

Asik adds more value to the Bulls than any of those players individually do + has far superior trade value + the wings are much easier to replace in free agency and easier to find on low priced contracts. 

[Celts Fan 92]

Asik sucks SOOOOOO bad why the hell does anyone want him here? rofl I'd rather have Steamroller back he's WAY betta

No way Steamer is better

yes he is lol Asik has no basketball IQ or touch around da basket he's a better rebounder nd post defender but dats it i wouldnt overpay for dat bum asik

[Professor of Rondology]

Fab Melo WILL NOT see the court for the Celts this year- he is waaaayyy too raw of a prospect. Throw him in the D league for sure and maybe by season's end he will be able to give us something. I think Asik would be a great fit for the Celtics- he would be able to provide that beefy, defensive-minded, rebounding C that we've been missing since the Perk trade.  It would give us the flexibility to use KG at the 4 a lot more often while also giving our sans-KG defense a much-needed boost.  Hopefully the MLE will be enough to pry him from Chicago- it seems like they have a lot to deal with this off season and keeping Asik might not be a huge priority of theirs. I like the idea of Wilcox coming back (depending, of course, on his recovery)- he and Rondo seemed to be developing good chemistry before Wilcox went down, having a big who can run the floor would be fantastic (maybe JJJ will provide that someday, but I doubt that he is ready quite yet). Oh and Reggie Evans will be an UFA [because LAC has no plans to make an offer]. I would LOVE to see Reggie play for the Celts. His tenacious rebounding is exactly what we've been missing. Why not give him the Bi-Annual Exception? It's only 2 m (I think).
So then if we re-sign Jeff Green for a reasonable price we will have a decent chunk of money with which to pursue Ray's replacement- either through a sign-and-trade (involving either Ray or Bass) or straight up Free Agency (although cap holds limit our ability in that regard).  I see Jason Terry and OJ Mayo as the most exciting options at SG but players like Courtney Lee, Jamal Crawford, Danny Green, and some others also warrant some consideration.

So here's my vision [with salaries in brackets]:
Rondo [11] - Vet Min Backup PG [2]
Bradley [1.6] - OJ Mayo[7?]/Jason Terry[6?] - E'Twaun Moore [.8]
PP [17] - Jeff Green [6?] - Kris Joseph [.5]
KG [10] - Reggie Evans [BAE-2] - JJJ [1.2]
Asik [MLE-5?] - Wilcox [2?] - Sullinger [1.1] - Melo [1.1]
Total salaries come to below 70 m, allowing us to use the MLE and BAE.
Anybody see any flaws/reasons this wouldn't work?

[action781]

Asik would be terrific but there is no way that Chicago doesn't match.

Big men have too much value as trade assets. Chicago will do the same as Orlando did with Gortat. Match the offer. Keep him for the short term and then move him on in a trade to fill an alternative need.

I agree in principal.  But depending on how much he gets offered by a team willing to may him starter money, it's going to be hard for Chicago to match that money for him to be a bench player.  Especially when they already have 4 players on the team making 8 figures and Taj Gibson is soon going to command similar or more money than Asik easily.

Because Asik was a second round pick, the Gilbert Arenas provision applies.

So a team can only pay Asik $5 million per annum for the first two years. That gives Chicago a lot of wiggle room (time and financial flexibility) in terms of trading Asik over the next 24 months.

To get around that, a team would have to give Asik a poisonous type contract that pays him $10-12 million per annum in years 3 and 4 (total of $30-34 million over four years, for an average $7.5-8.5 million per annum) ... but who wants to pay Asik that much money three-four years from now? I don't think anyone does. $7-8 million, maybe (which would give a four year $24-26 million deal -- very affordable, easy to match and is trade-able down the road). $10+ million per annum, I struggle to see that type of offer from anyone (so I don't think anyone is going to make a big enough contract offer to make it not worthwhile for Chicago to match).

That Gilbert Arenas provision gives Chicago a lot of help here. Because of it, I can't see them letting Asik go just yet. Best to keep him, pay the $5 million salary and trade Asik later.

So, that essentially is my question for the Bulls.  If another team (say, Blazers, Cavs, or Hornets) offers Asik 3 years - $22 mil, which is a pretty reasonable amount, do the Bulls match or no?

[Professor of Rondology]

Asik > Steamer.  We won the NBA title with Perk as our starting center- how's his touch around the basket and basketball IQ? We need rebounding and defense from our big men, our priorities should not be finesse or intelligence.  Any advantage Steamer might have on offense is negated by his inability to defend the pick and roll. And when the pick and roll makes up 50% of the offense in today's NBA, that makes a BIG difference.  I love Steamer, and want him back- but only as a backup/depth option (and also to compete with the other young bigs in practice)- he is simply not ready to be a starting center in the NBA.

[Celts Fan 92]

once again rofl @ Omer Brick hands Asik being our startin center I'd be heated if Danny paid $5 mil for dat bum

[billysan]

Camby on  1 year deal . We keep flexibility for next year and get a great rebounder and shot blocker.

This ...

This is not a bad idea.

I do think there will be couple of guys around for the vet min in any case and really after we re-sign Wilcox thats all we will need at center for depth. Wilcox needs to give us a minimum of 25-30 mpg this year or we should look elsewhere.

Asik does nothing for me. Id rather use Fab Melo as a rookie than overpay 5 a year for Asik.

This is rather extreme, but if he shows anything at all defensively in summer league and camp then why not let him play 5-10 mpg at some point for a few games like we do with Steamer?

If nothing else, it will show what Melo needs to work on while giving him some experience. If he cant hang then its off to the D league with him.

At the same time, we need a good 15 mpg from JJJ and 25-30 from Green of combined SF/PF minutes. If Sullinger can give us 10 mpg thats plenty of big minutes.

This will lighten the load on KG considerably.