Master "win now" plan

[LarBrd33]

Bored.  Here's my master plan to win now.

#1 - Boston trades Bass, Lee and 2015 Clippers 1st rounder for Asik

Rationalization: Already been discussed.  Not much of a leap. 

#2 - Boston trades Crawford, Bradley, Humph's expiring and the least of our 2014 picks for A. Afflalo and Jameer Nelson.

Rationalization: See this thread -  http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=68851.msg1596868#msg1596868 ... Afflalo might be available.  Orlando is rebuilding around the youngins.  Afflalo is a 28 year old efficient shooting guard in his prime that is poised to make the all-star team this year.  Who says no to that deal?  Bradley, a 2014 pick and cap relief for Afflalo seems fair to me.

... now we enter into the realm of fantasy.


#3 - Boston trades Jeff Green, Bogans (5 mil expiring), Jameer Nelson (*expiring), the best of our 2014 1st rounders, Boston's 2016 1st rounder.  Boston's 2018 1st rounder  for Carmelo Anthony

Rationalization: Am I overpaying or underpaying?  Melo can (and may) flee the Knicks this summer and leave them empty handed.  Recent news suggests he already has a short list of teams he'd go to... Bulls, Clips, Knicks.  He obviously likes Rondo.  Wouldn't joining Rondo, Asik and Afflalo be appealing to him?   Jeff Green would be an affordable replacement.  Bogans is an expiring contract.  *Nelson can be waived before July 14 and only 2 million would count on the books for the Knicks next year... so it would save them a lot of money.  We'd also give them the best of our 2014 picks (which honestly will probably be #15+) and two additional future 1st rounders.  If need be, we can include one of the Brooklyn picks.   If the Knicks are going to lose Melo for nothing... wouldn't they rather have Green, three 1st rounders and 12 million in cap relief next year?


It leaves Boston's lineup as:  PG - Rondo, SG - Afflalo, SF - Carmelo, PF - Sully, C - Asik.  That's a solid 50-60 win team imho.  That team could threaten to make a serious run this year with the correct leadership.  It's got solid defense and a much improved offense.

Here's all three trades (without draft picks) as one big 4 team trade:  http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=lm79w7z

Should be a lock for a solid playoff run this season (2013-14)

Try our luck with that team again next year in 2014-15. 

... then we enter the realm of delusion.   

Kevin Love is a free agent in the summer of 2015.  Say they keep him next year without a trade.  Say the Timberwolves once again fail to make a splash.  Say Love has told the TImberwolves he plans on leaving.

#4  Boston trades Gerald Wallace (now a 10 mil expiring contract) + Sully + Oly + whatever picks we have left (Brooklyn's 2016 and 2018 1st rounders)  for sign-and-traded Kevin Love.

Rationalization: We don't need rationalization.  I'm projecting 1.5 seasons from now.  That's ridiculous.  If Love doesn't plan on signing with the Timberwolves as a free agent, I'm sure they'd gladly take Wallace's expiring contract, Sully, Oly and multiple 1st rounders.

Final 2015/16 Roster:

PG - Rondo (29 years old),  SG - Afflalo (30 years old),  SF - Melo (31 years old),  PF - Love (27 years old),  Asik (29 years old)

You got yourself a championship window.  You're welcome, Boston. 

[More Banners]

Started this idea elsewhere, but...

Could we bring in Pau Gasol and Granger (and hopefully Asik) and make a run for the heck of it?

Rondo/Crawford/Pressey
Lee/Brooks
Granger/Lee/Player X
Gasol/Sully
Asik/KO/Vitor

Hump, Wallace, 1st for Gasol

Green, Bogans, 1st for Granger

Bass, Bradley, 1st for Asik (what the heck)

A title?  Anything is possible.

[celticmania]

Started this idea elsewhere, but...

Could we bring in Pau Gasol and Granger (and hopefully Asik) and make a run for the heck of it?

Rondo/Crawford/Pressey
Lee/Brooks
Granger/Lee/Player X
Gasol/Sully
Asik/KO/Vitor

Hump, Wallace, 1st for Gasol

Green, Bogans, 1st for Granger

Bass, Bradley, 1st for Asik (what the heck)

A title?  Anything is possible.

That Granger deal is awful for so many reasons

[LarBrd33]

Whoops.  Messed up a link above.  Here's the above 3 trades as one major 4 teamer:  http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=lm79w7z

Rockets get 2015 Clippers 1st rounder.
Magic get the worst of our 2014 1st rounders
Knicks get the best of our 2014 1st rounders + two more future 1st rounders (such as Boston's 2016 and 2018)

Who says no?

[More Banners]

Started this idea elsewhere, but...

Could we bring in Pau Gasol and Granger (and hopefully Asik) and make a run for the heck of it?

Rondo/Crawford/Pressey
Lee/Brooks
Granger/Lee/Player X
Gasol/Sully
Asik/KO/Vitor

Hump, Wallace, 1st for Gasol

Green, Bogans, 1st for Granger

Bass, Bradley, 1st for Asik (what the heck)

A title?  Anything is possible.

That Granger deal is awful for so many reasons

Granger an upgrade over Green?  At least he wants the ball, and a more reliable 3pt shooter.

[LarBrd33]

Started this idea elsewhere, but...

Could we bring in Pau Gasol and Granger (and hopefully Asik) and make a run for the heck of it?

Rondo/Crawford/Pressey
Lee/Brooks
Granger/Lee/Player X
Gasol/Sully
Asik/KO/Vitor

Hump, Wallace, 1st for Gasol

Green, Bogans, 1st for Granger

Bass, Bradley, 1st for Asik (what the heck)

A title?  Anything is possible.

That Granger deal is awful for so many reasons

Granger an upgrade over Green?  At least he wants the ball, and a more reliable 3pt shooter.

Well Granger looks awful right now.  The good news about your idea is that doing those 3 trades would bring on some major expiring contracts (Pau and Granger).  Probably allows you to make a run at the 2nd round of the playoffs, but more importantly once those guys came off the books... you'd be looking at having 30 million in cap space this summer to build around Rondo, Sully and Asik.  The issue with your idea is that the Lakers probably wouldn't sacrifice their own cap space (by bringing on Wallace) just for a single draft pick.  Not worth it for them.  If they stand pat, they'll have enough cap space to sign a max contract and the Lakers are ALWAYS a destination (hence Melo putting them on his short list).

[More Banners]

Started this idea elsewhere, but...

Could we bring in Pau Gasol and Granger (and hopefully Asik) and make a run for the heck of it?

Rondo/Crawford/Pressey
Lee/Brooks
Granger/Lee/Player X
Gasol/Sully
Asik/KO/Vitor

Hump, Wallace, 1st for Gasol

Green, Bogans, 1st for Granger

Bass, Bradley, 1st for Asik (what the heck)

A title?  Anything is possible.

That Granger deal is awful for so many reasons

Granger an upgrade over Green?  At least he wants the ball, and a more reliable 3pt shooter.

Well Granger looks awful right now.  The good news about your idea is that doing those 3 trades would bring on some major expiring contracts (Pau and Granger).  Probably allows you to make a run at the 2nd round of the playoffs, but more importantly once those guys came off the books... you'd be looking at having 30 million in cap space this summer.

Of course, it depends on how Granger looks...maybe not worth it.

Without it, we'd have Rondo, Lee, Green, Sully, Asik, and KO under contract for next year with two playoff series' worth of experience under their belt together?

It's worth giving up a couple of late 1sts from the stockpile to pull in Gasol and Asik for this reason alone.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

the Lakers are ALWAYS a destination (hence Melo putting them on his short list).

All other benefits aside, I'd love to be a marquee NBA free agent just to have the opportunity to shun the Fakers.

[pokeKingCurtis]

the Lakers are ALWAYS a destination (hence Melo putting them on his short list).

All other benefits aside, I'd love to be a marquee NBA free agent just to have the opportunity to shun the Fakers.

Lakers fans have their share of disappointments...mostly because they have stupid expectations.

"I'm happy to be in Indiana," George said. "I'm happy to be where I am. If I was going to leave Indiana and come to the Lakers, it just wouldn't be a smart move for me. We got a great thing going right now."

[Who]

It leaves Boston's lineup as:  PG - Rondo, SG - Afflalo, SF - Carmelo, PF - Sully, C - Asik.  That's a solid 50-60 win team imho.  That team could threaten to make a serious run this year with the correct leadership.  It's got solid defense and a much improved offense.

Yep, I think that starting lineup is a 55-60 win team and a legitimate title contender. I would do those trades. That would be a fantastic team.

#4  Boston trades Gerald Wallace (now a 10 mil expiring contract) + Sully + Oly + whatever picks we have left (Brooklyn's 2016 and 2018 1st rounders)  for sign-and-traded Kevin Love.

Final 2015/16 Roster:

PG - Rondo (29 years old),  SG - Afflalo (30 years old),  SF - Melo (31 years old),  PF - Love (27 years old),  Asik (29 years old)

That would take an already excellent team to another level. Dominant.

That would almost definitely be the best team in the league.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

the Lakers are ALWAYS a destination (hence Melo putting them on his short list).

All other benefits aside, I'd love to be a marquee NBA free agent just to have the opportunity to shun the Fakers.

Lakers fans have their share of disappointments...mostly because they have stupid expectations.

"I'm happy to be in Indiana," George said. "I'm happy to be where I am. If I was going to leave Indiana and come to the Lakers, it just wouldn't be a smart move for me. We got a great thing going right now."

TP for sharing that quote—hadn't heard it before. It's nice to know that not everyone slobbers over the chance to play in L.A.! 

[AB_Celtic]

Green, Bogans, 1st for Granger

That Granger deal is awful for so many reasons

Granger an upgrade over Green?  At least he wants the ball, and a more reliable 3pt shooter.

Green's actually beating Granger in every shooting category (FG%, 3pt%, eFG%, TS%) except free throws this season. Admittedly a small sample size for Granger, but I'd definitely rather keep Green and the first.

[pokeKingCurtis]

Green, Bogans, 1st for Granger

That Granger deal is awful for so many reasons

Granger an upgrade over Green?  At least he wants the ball, and a more reliable 3pt shooter.

Green's actually beating Granger in every shooting category (FG%, 3pt%, eFG%, TS%) except free throws this season. Admittedly a small sample size for Granger, but I'd definitely rather keep Green and the first.

Granger is having a down year.

But here's a quote from a certain somebody:

"He doesn't work hard enough (in the offseason)," Bird said. "He's not a guy who'll push himself to the brink like a lot of our guys do. He works hard but he doesn't push himself. That's why he starts slow every year and he just works his way back. Now this year, he's been hurt, so it's a different deal."

They're basically identical, Green and Granger.

I'd say Granger might be very debatably, marginally better but there's not a first round pick's worth of difference.

Hell, with Jeff Green being younger and more athletic I would think their values might be more or less identical (if not, Jeff Green might even have the edge).

Definitely no firsts. Hell, I wouldn't do Jeff Green for Granger straight up.

[nickagneta]

While I hate Melo as a player, I do have to admit that if he could be temper his ball hogging ways, this would be a great team.

That's kind of a big if but still, it would be fun to watch. Or aggravating, depending on how Melo decided to play. I would be hoping for fun.

[Moranis]

Here is my most realistic win now trades (they all work financially with combining as needed

Trade 1
Boston - Jack
Cleveland - Gasol
LA - Bynum, Bogans

Trade 2
Boston - Anthony
NY - Green, Humphries, 2014 Brooklyn 1st (top 5 protected), 2015 Boston 1st (top 5 protected), 2017 Boston 1st (lottery protected)

Trade 3
Boston - Asik
Houston - Bass, Bradley, 2015 LA 1st

That leaves Boston
PG - Rondo, Jack
SG - Lee, Crawford, Brooks
SF - Anthony, Wallace
PF - Sullinger, Olynyk
C - Asik, Faverani

Jack fills in for Rondo till he comes back to keep the ship in shape and then moves to the bench as the veteran leader at the point the 2nd unit sorely needs.  Rondo of course is the floor general and defensive anchor in the backcourt, while Asik provides the defensive anchor down low that is sorely missing.  Sullinger provides the interior scorer, while Anthony provides the go to #1 scorer that is presently lacking while Lee and Crawford provide the shooters around a guy like Anthony that are needed.