Why do people think Brandon Bass will leave?

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Sign + trades exchanging Camby and Bass make some sense for both teams.

true. we need a veteran good big and we seem to have plenty power forwards now.

[Jon]

Personally, I don't see a big reason to hold onto him, unless he's willing to take either short money (1-2 year deal) or a 3 year deal at about what we were paying him last year. 

At the very least, he doesn't want to do either.  Time will tell if he has better options.

Personally, I think Sullinger and/or Johnson can do a lot of what Bass can do.  While I appreciate that Bass performed his job so well, let's remember that his job was essentially to hit wide open jumpers and wide open dunks/layups.  Being a 5th option with Rondo and 3 Hall of Famers has its perks.

Now you can argue that Bass filled this role better than anyone in the Big Three Era (save perhaps Shaq); however, let's also not pretend that Bass is any sort of reliable scorer that could be depended on to create his own offense or carry the team.

Thus, I think that if the C's were willing to bite the bullet early and deal with some early growing pains, Johnson and/or Sullinger could be worthy replacements and potentially even better. 

Johnson is a good jump shooter out to 15-18 feet.  He also finishes around the basket well.  Thus, he could potentially perform two of Bass's roles well.  And unlike Bass, Johnson is more of a shot blocking threat.

Sullinger is also a good jump shooter.  And while perhaps not a athletic as Bass, he possesses a wider array of post moves.  He potentially could be an option on offense to create his own shot. 

So again, I wouldn't totally dismiss what Bass gave us.  What he did he did very well.  However, I don't think he's irreplaceable.  And if he's not irreplaceable, we shouldn't pay him like he is.  I'd love to see him back, but not at any sort of salary that would jeopardize our future flexibility. 

[Celtics18]

Personally, I don't see a big reason to hold onto him, unless he's willing to take either short money (1-2 year deal) or a 3 year deal at about what we were paying him last year. 

At the very least, he doesn't want to do either.  Time will tell if he has better options.

Personally, I think Sullinger and/or Johnson can do a lot of what Bass can do.  While I appreciate that Bass performed his job so well, let's remember that his job was essentially to hit wide open jumpers and wide open dunks/layups.  Being a 5th option with Rondo and 3 Hall of Famers has its perks.

Now you can argue that Bass filled this role better than anyone in the Big Three Era (save perhaps Shaq); however, let's also not pretend that Bass is any sort of reliable scorer that could be depended on to create his own offense or carry the team.

Thus, I think that if the C's were willing to bite the bullet early and deal with some early growing pains, Johnson and/or Sullinger could be worthy replacements and potentially even better. 

Johnson is a good jump shooter out to 15-18 feet.  He also finishes around the basket well.  Thus, he could potentially perform two of Bass's roles well.  And unlike Bass, Johnson is more of a shot blocking threat.

Sullinger is also a good jump shooter.  And while perhaps not a athletic as Bass, he possesses a wider array of post moves.  He potentially could be an option on offense to create his own shot. 

So again, I wouldn't totally dismiss what Bass gave us.  What he did he did very well.  However, I don't think he's irreplaceable.  And if he's not irreplaceable, we shouldn't pay him like he is.  I'd love to see him back, but not at any sort of salary that would jeopardize our future flexibility. 

I agree with this.  I would like to see us go with sort of a sink or swim mentality with Sully and Triple J.  I know it's a risk to have to rely on unproven young guys, but we do have Kevin Garnett and hopefully another vet big (Wilcox, Camby, Kaman, Krstic).  We bring back Stiemsma who, although opinions vary vastly, has proven he can chew up some minutes. 

Let's go with a little youth and development on the front line.  Isn't that one of the main reasons we brought back KG, to bring these guys along?  It's hard to bring them along if they don't get a chance to see the floor. 

Contend and rebuild at the same time.  I think it can be done.

[saltlover]

I would like to keep Bass, but this contract that he signs will be the biggest, monetarily, of his life.  If he can get $8 mil/year from some team, and only 6/year from the Celtics, probably also at a shorter duration, I can't blame him for leaving.  That said, last year was the first time he had a major role on a winning team, and maybe he liked that.  But this is his one chance to maximize his value, and I would be surprised if comes back, unless there aren't any interested teams.

[mctyson]

I would prefer, if Bass were to leave, that we work out a S+T that nets us either an expiring deal, trade exception, or relatively valuable contract that can be traded for another player.

If both Bass and Ray leave, the best case scenario for us is S+T with the teams they are going to.  If we can get enough expiring money and maybe one player of value, we have the future picks plus maybe JJJ to net Josh Smith.