Idea: Robin Lopez to Boston

[nickagneta]

If New Orleans wants to shed Lopez' salary all they have to do is cut him. Next season he is only $500K guaranteed and the following season fully unguaranteed. We should know more before July 5th, the date next year becomes fully guaranteed.

[goCeltics]

not interested in getting better next year, ainge needs to make this team even worse, sounds odd, but wiggins/randle etc are the real prize for the c's

[LooseCannon]

If New Orleans wants to shed Lopez' salary all they have to do is cut him. Next season he is only $500K guaranteed and the following season fully unguaranteed. We should know more before July 5th, the date next year becomes fully guaranteed.

They are looking at dumping his salary for this summer to clear cap space to chase after Tyreke Evans.

[nickagneta]

If New Orleans wants to shed Lopez' salary all they have to do is cut him. Next season he is only $500K guaranteed and the following season fully unguaranteed. We should know more before July 5th, the date next year becomes fully guaranteed.

They are looking at dumping his salary for this summer to clear cap space to chase after Tyreke Evans.

I know that's why I said all they have to do is cut him. All they would be on the books for is half a million and not the $5 million they will have to pay him if he is still on the roster on July 5th.

[pearljammer10]

I mean if they were to do that I would do it in a second. Adding a 25 year old center around the MLE price you cant go wrong as an asset. Plus he could start for us currently.

[saltlover]

If New Orleans wants to shed Lopez' salary all they have to do is cut him. Next season he is only $500K guaranteed and the following season fully unguaranteed. We should know more before July 5th, the date next year becomes fully guaranteed.

They are looking at dumping his salary for this summer to clear cap space to chase after Tyreke Evans.

I know that's why I said all they have to do is cut him. All they would be on the books for is half a million and not the $5 million they will have to pay him if he is still on the roster on July 5th.

It's tricky for New Orleans tho.  Evans is restricted, and his deal can't even be signed until the 10th.  Do they think Sacramento will decide to match within the next week or so?

[Rondo2287]

I would love Robin Lopez on this team.  Dude has been a binky of mine for over a year.  Solid Defense, Good finisher around the rim, high energy.  Love it.

[Who]

I think Robin Lopez would be great on this Boston team.

Balance out the lineup. Keeps everyone else in roles they are comfortable with and can be successful in ... and I think they is very important for developing young players.

[Evantime34]

I don't think we are going to take on salary without sending any out. The reason Lopez is on the block is to clear cap space. I don't see us paying the luxury tax to bring in Robin Lopez.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Would love to have Robin Lopez.

[BleedGreen1989]

I don't think we are going to take on salary without sending any out. The reason Lopez is on the block is to clear cap space. I don't see us paying the luxury tax to bring in Robin Lopez.

Very good point but I think we can all agree that Ainge is not done making moves. I certainly see him making some cost cutting moves before the season starts.

Chances are slim we land Robin anyways but I feel he would be an awsome fit.

[Cman]

As I say in almost every thread in which I post lately, the Celtics can take on more salary than they are in the Nets trade, so all a third team that wants to salary dump needs to do is hop on (assuming the Celtics want to take on the salary).  They're allowed to take back at least $8 million in salary, and probably more, depending how much Bogans is getting paid.  There's no need to worry about trade exemptions, finding someone to take Lee, Bass, Humphries, etc.  If the Celtics wanted Lopez for the price New Orleans was asking,  he could be a Celtic.

That's true.

Question is: do you want to cash in that chip for Robin Lopez?

Yes. Lopez' contract would be a very tradeable contract.
Plus, he would be a nice complement to the other pieces we have.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Love RObin LOpez.

A solid player all around, not good but not terrible either. Underrated tough and does the little things well.

Would love to have him.

[Moranis]

The real question with this, is what are the better assets moving forward: Robin Lopez or Courtney Lee and 2 second round picks.  I'm not sure, but it very well might be Lee and the 2 second round picks, and thus I see no point in making this trade.  I would however, trade Lee to Memphis for a trade exception if they would do it as I think not paying Lee and getting a trade exception are better assets long term.

[connor]

I don't think we are going to take on salary without sending any out. The reason Lopez is on the block is to clear cap space. I don't see us paying the luxury tax to bring in Robin Lopez.

Very good point but I think we can all agree that Ainge is not done making moves. I certainly see him making some cost cutting moves before the season starts.

Chances are slim we land Robin anyways but I feel he would be an awsome fit.

Well in this scenario we'd be moving Lee for an exception, which we then turn into Lopez so it'd be a wash wouldn't it? Lee makes something like 5m and so does Lopez (and a year shorter on the contract too).

Yes. Lopez' contract would be a very tradeable contract.
Plus, he would be a nice complement to the other pieces we have.

The fact that Lopez is very tradeable is what people who don't like this trade are missing and also why I don't think we really have a chance at picking him up.

Lopez could be our starting center this year (solid enough to be respectable, but not good enough to actually win us games), then next year we could flip his expiring deal to a contender for far more than what we'd be giving up in this proposed trade.

5m expiring deal on an 11 and 5 guy could net you more than Lee and a 2nd rounder or two, in my opinion (although I really wish we hadn't tossed away those 2 2nd rounders to get Olynyk now).