Celtics trade Fab Melo for Donte Green (non-guaranteed contract)

[LooseCannon]

That shows you exactly what management thought of Melo.  While there are cap implications, this was really just Danny declaring that he has no hope Melo will be a useful player.

It could also mean that there were more teams willing to trade for Melo than were willing to trade for Jordan Crawford.

[nickagneta]

That shows you exactly what management thought of Melo.  While there are cap implications, this was really just Danny declaring that he has no hope Melo will be a useful player.

It could also mean that there were more teams willing to trade for Melo than were willing to trade for Jordan Crawford.

I don't know about that. It could be that this was the best, most feasible salary dump the Celtics could get. Team's that have non-guaranteed contracts don't always like taking on salary to trade them. So getting someone to take Crawford's $2+ million salary might require paying that team $2 million to do it to get a $2 million non-guaranteed contract back for the C's to cut and get under the luxury tax line.

Memphis is also receiving cash considerations, which to me means they plan on keeping him this year and dumping him next year. The cash offsets what they have to pay Melo. I don't think Memphis believes in his ability so much as they were willing to give him a shot at nearly nothing because the Celtics were giving them cash to keep him on their roster.

So in a way, yeah, maybe there was more teams willing to trade for Melo, but probably not based on his talent level. It was probably based more on his salary and what the C's were willing to pay those teams to offset taking that salary.

[More Banners]

unless Faverani is a good defender , Bass is actually our best big man defender. I have a feeling the c's wll be giving up a ton of points in the paint this year.

I'm thinking the defensive philosophy should be to foul often and foul hard, so that having a lot of serviceable bigs translates into trying to fight a war of attrition.

Danny Fortson/Clone Wars merge.

[goCeltics]

Don't like the move
Wanted Jenkins or Moultrie  with the pick
Penny pinching move

[Chris]

That shows you exactly what management thought of Melo.  While there are cap implications, this was really just Danny declaring that he has no hope Melo will be a useful player.

It could also mean that there were more teams willing to trade for Melo than were willing to trade for Jordan Crawford.

This is probably the case as well.  But the fact that the C's made the trade now, shows that they had no hope for Melo.  There is absolutely no reason for them to make this deal right now, unless they see no chance that he could be salvaged. 

[blink]

Not that Fab would have helped anything .

Anyone who has hope for Fab needs to think about one thing.  If there ever were a time to dedicate yourself to developing a guy like Fab was originally billed as, wouldn't this be the year? 

That shows you exactly what management thought of Melo.  While there are cap implications, this was really just Danny declaring that he has no hope Melo will be a useful player.

I agree with this 100%.  This is the best year to keep a young player who is developing on the roster.  If Melo couldn't stick this year, he was never going to stick.  Good luck to him. 

[crimson_stallion]

So I imagine our big man rotation will be

PF: Sully      / Bass    / Olynyk  / Green
 C: Humpheries / Olynyk / Faverani

unless Faverani is a good defender , Bass is actually our best big man defender. I have a feeling the c's wll be giving up a ton of points in the paint this year.

Not true.  Statistically (and eye test) Sullinger was a FAR better defender than Bass.  In fact Ithink statistically he had a better defensive rating than even KG.  He struggled early in the season, but towards the end he was a beast on defense.

Jeff Green was also statistically a better defensive player than Bass, but I guess depends on whether you consider him a big.  Considerong he is about 3" taller than Bass and played half of his career at PF I do. 

Those two guys were both top 20 in the NBA in Defensive Rating, with Bradley making the top 2 or 3.

Bass was above average defensively, but was too inconsistent to really be an impact player defensively.  Similar deal with Lee.

[LooseCannon]

That shows you exactly what management thought of Melo.  While there are cap implications, this was really just Danny declaring that he has no hope Melo will be a useful player.

It could also mean that there were more teams willing to trade for Melo than were willing to trade for Jordan Crawford.

This is probably the case as well.  But the fact that the C's made the trade now, shows that they had no hope for Melo.  There is absolutely no reason for them to make this deal right now, unless they see no chance that he could be salvaged.

I wouldn't say absolutely no hope.  I'd say sufficiently little chance of improvement that Ainge places more value on having more flexibility.

One obvious reason to make the deal right now is if Ainge needs a roster spot because he has something lined up where he expects to bring in a player who is more valuable than Melo.  That's not the only possible reason, but it is one that we will probably find out pretty soon if it is true.

[Mencius]

I still don't see the urgency of making this deal right now.  If you're going to dump Melo, why not dump him later?

The only explanation is that they actually think that some other guy they could sign for the minimum would be a better investment of a roster spot, now and in the future.  If so, they basically admit that the pick was a complete waste.

Fab was a bad gamble and wasted pick, but good on Danny for cutting his losses early on.

I realize the most likely outcome of this trade is to simply cut Greene and you're under the threshold with no complications.  But I wonder if there's any possibility that Danny might actually want to give Greene a good look before cutting him.  When does his contract become guaranteed?  Can we give him a look in training camp before his contract his guaranteed?  I mean, talent-wise, he's better than most 15th men (and better than Fab), and we could do with extra SF depth instead of masquerading 2 guards as backup SFs. It'd be a bit of a risk, since Danny would absolutely have to do another deal to get under the tax line, but if he decided he liked Greene enough to guarantee his contract, we'd essentially be in the same situation we were in before with Fab, only with a better player, who makes 300K less than Fab, and who could still be traded later in the season. 

Just thinking out loud, as the most likely outcome is that he simply gets cut.

[LooseCannon]

I realize the most likely outcome of this trade is to simply cut Greene and you're under the threshold with no complications.  But I wonder if there's any possibility that Danny might actually want to give Greene a good look before cutting him.  When does his contract become guaranteed?  Can we give him a look in training camp before his contract his guaranteed?  I mean, talent-wise, he's better than most 15th men (and better than Fab), and we could do with extra SF depth instead of masquerading 2 guards as backup SFs. It'd be a bit of a risk, since Danny would absolutely have to do another deal to get under the tax line, but if he decided he liked Greene enough to guarantee his contract, we'd essentially be in the same situation we were in before with Fab, only with a better player, who makes 300K less than Fab, and who could still be traded later in the season. 

As far as I can tell, Donte Greene's contract is fully unguaranteed and becomes guaranteed on January 10, when all unguaranteed contracts become fully guaranteed.

[Lucky17]

Just thinking out loud, as the most likely outcome is that he simply gets cut.

Or, gets traded to a team under the cap that is lacking SF depth.

[Mencius]

...
What bothers me is Ainge used a 1st round pick on a guy he must have known was a 2-3 year project and then he dumped him for nothing a year later.  That just looks like bad management to me.

I don't like taking players solely based on their physical upside.  I'd prefer to take guys who can actually play basketball.  That said, since he had two picks that year, and rolled the dice with one of them, even if you say he knew he was a 2-3 year project, you can still have reasonable expectations of improvement within that 2-3 year period.  It's pretty clear that after a year of being in the system, Danny didn't think that Fab's rate of improvement, and what he projected for Fab's future merited keeping him.  I totally agree.  Fab was a gamble that just didn't pay off.  It happens.  I'm glad he's cutting bait early on.  It's probably fortunate that he's got ownership solidly in his corner, because this kind of failed gamble might cost less secure GMs their job. 

I wouldn't at all be surprised if the gamble aspect of picking Fab wasn't thoroughly discussed with ownership before the draft, and they knew and were on board with the strategy of picking one proven player, and one 'swing for the fences' player, although after seeing Fab, swing for the fences doesn't accurately describe him (it's just still a head scratcher).  Perry Jones III seemed more like a swing for the fences move, but... water under the bridge.

[Mencius]

Anyone who has hope for Fab needs to think about one thing.  If there ever were a time to dedicate yourself to developing a guy like Fab was originally billed as, wouldn't this be the year? 

That shows you exactly what management thought of Melo.  While there are cap implications, this was really just Danny declaring that he has no hope Melo will be a useful player.

I completely agree with this.

[hwangjini_1]

so which jersey will melo wear in the HOF? 

[fairweatherfan]

so which jersey will melo wear in the HOF? 

I wish you'd've said "uniform" so I could say "janitor's".  Gotta lob that softball up a little higher next time