Could Pau Gasol be on option this offseason? (Trade Exception)

[Moranis]

What is the point of acquiring Gasol on this team?  Unless there is a major move where Boston acquires a second star to pair with Rondo, then acquiring Gasol makes absolutely no sense as he isn't going to get Boston to contender status next year and is too old to be a part of the next title core. 

[mmmmm]

If we are going to trade for a 10-11M big man, I'd rather try for Sanders, since he is young and cost-controlled for several years.

EDIT:  This being predicated on the idea that if Milwaukee gets the #1 pick and take Embiid, they might want to move Sanders.

[gpap]

What is the point of acquiring Gasol on this team?  Unless there is a major move where Boston acquires a second star to pair with Rondo, then acquiring Gasol makes absolutely no sense as he isn't going to get Boston to contender status next year and is too old to be a part of the next title core.

I disagree with this.

I think you can assemble a respectable roster including a mix of good, young players along with a couple veterans to field a good product on the court.

You don't need mega superstars in place just to acquire a decent player like Gasol.

For example, if you acquire Gasol and then add another solid veteran like say Deng (for example) and resign Bayless, you then have a good mix of veteran players and young players (Sully, Bradley, Pressey, your 2014 picks, etc)

Now if the question is "Can that team take down Miami?" the answer is "probably not."

But, I'd much rather start putting a competitive team on the court than one looking to catch lightning in a bottle and be able to repeat the 2007 miracle of dealing for another KG like superstar.

[gpap]

If we are going to trade for a 10-11M big man, I'd rather try for Sanders, since he is young and cost-controlled for several years.

EDIT:  This being predicated on the idea that if Milwaukee gets the #1 pick and take Embiid, they might want to move Sanders.

Not a bad idea. With Sanders, you just sorta wonder if he's going to make it in the NBA or if he's just a million dollar talent with a ten cent brain.

[Fafnir]

Adding Pau Gasol and Deng doesn't do anything for the C's.

Why tie up your cap space for two veterans who both are probably looking at their last big contract or last contract in their prime respectively. Neither is good enough alone to push the C's to anything other than low seed playoffs. Rondo and the rest of our current talent would have to do the heavy lifting to be anything more than that.

What if Rondo then leaves? What's the future of THAT team? Better to be flexible to add a piece along to Rondo if he is resigned or fully turn the roster over to Sullinger, the 2014 pick, and other young pieces.

[D.o.s.]

If we are going to trade for a 10-11M big man, I'd rather try for Sanders, since he is young and cost-controlled for several years.

EDIT:  This being predicated on the idea that if Milwaukee gets the #1 pick and take Embiid, they might want to move Sanders.

Not a bad idea. With Sanders, you just sorta wonder if he's going to make it in the NBA or if he's just a million dollar talent with a ten cent brain.

[PaulAllen]

What is the point of acquiring Gasol on this team?  Unless there is a major move where Boston acquires a second star to pair with Rondo, then acquiring Gasol makes absolutely no sense as he isn't going to get Boston to contender status next year and is too old to be a part of the next title core.

I disagree with this.

I think you can assemble a respectable roster including a mix of good, young players along with a couple veterans to field a good product on the court.

You don't need mega superstars in place just to acquire a decent player like Gasol.

For example, if you acquire Gasol and then add another solid veteran like say Deng (for example) and resign Bayless, you then have a good mix of veteran players and young players (Sully, Bradley, Pressey, your 2014 picks, etc)

Now if the question is "Can that team take down Miami?" the answer is "probably not."

But, I'd much rather start putting a competitive team on the court than one looking to catch lightning in a bottle and be able to repeat the 2007 miracle of dealing for another KG like superstar.

Danny would never assemble a bunch of second tier aging players to compete for the 6th seed.. Adding Gasol would ONLY happen if it was a trade deadline move and the Celtics were competing for the title... at the current state of the Celtics, even heading into next year, there is zero chance of this happeing

[Moranis]

What is the point of acquiring Gasol on this team?  Unless there is a major move where Boston acquires a second star to pair with Rondo, then acquiring Gasol makes absolutely no sense as he isn't going to get Boston to contender status next year and is too old to be a part of the next title core.

I disagree with this.

I think you can assemble a respectable roster including a mix of good, young players along with a couple veterans to field a good product on the court.

You don't need mega superstars in place just to acquire a decent player like Gasol.

For example, if you acquire Gasol and then add another solid veteran like say Deng (for example) and resign Bayless, you then have a good mix of veteran players and young players (Sully, Bradley, Pressey, your 2014 picks, etc)

Now if the question is "Can that team take down Miami?" the answer is "probably not."

But, I'd much rather start putting a competitive team on the court than one looking to catch lightning in a bottle and be able to repeat the 2007 miracle of dealing for another KG like superstar.

but what is the point of putting together a better team if it is never going to be a contender and seriously hurts the ability for Boston to become a contender, by both reducing draft position and eliminating cap space for the next few years.  Also, Boston isn't going to go into luxury tax range for a non-contender (which is what will happen if you add Pau and Deng even if you trade Green to Cleveland for Deng).  So you pay Pau and Deng at least 25 million combined over the next three, with Wallace, with Rondo (if you can even convince him to re-sign), with Bradley, Sullinger, the 2014 rookies, etc. Boston doesn't have cap space until at least 2016 and seriously hurts its draft status in the process.

It is silly for this team to acquire players like Pau.  Now if Boston were to land Kevin Love or Carmelo Anthony to pair with Rondo, then bringing in a guy like Pau Gasol makes perfect sense.

[saltlover]

If we are going to trade for a 10-11M big man, I'd rather try for Sanders, since he is young and cost-controlled for several years.

EDIT:  This being predicated on the idea that if Milwaukee gets the #1 pick and take Embiid, they might want to move Sanders.

I think the OP was looking for a way to add a good player that wouldn't cost much other than salary (under the theory that if the Lakers were looking to move away from Gasol anyway to preserve cap space, they wouldn't require too much compensation in return.)  Since Sanders' salary next year reportedly greater than the trade exception, a deal for him would be necessarily more complex and expensive in terms of assets.

I'm not saying I wouldn't prefer Sanders to Gasol, or Gasol to Sanders -- but I don't think that's a fair comparison to the OP's idea.

[saltlover]

Adding Pau Gasol and Deng doesn't do anything for the C's.

Why tie up your cap space for two veterans who both are probably looking at their last big contract or last contract in their prime respectively. Neither is good enough alone to push the C's to anything other than low seed playoffs. Rondo and the rest of our current talent would have to do the heavy lifting to be anything more than that.

What if Rondo then leaves? What's the future of THAT team? Better to be flexible to add a piece along to Rondo if he is resigned or fully turn the roster over to Sullinger, the 2014 pick, and other young pieces.

In the case of Gasol, I think it depends how long that deal is for -- if it's two years with an option/unguaranteed for a third year, that's fine.  If it's four years all guaranteed, then no thanks.

Assuming Parker isn't our draft pick, I'm fine with Deng, since he's an upgrade to Jeff Green.  Of course, it depends for how much, but $11-12 million seems fine, considering we're paying Green $9.2 million.  (Edit: This assumes that Cleveland would S&T Deng for Green.  Considering Deng probably goes to another team anyway, I think Cleveland says yes.)

Will that keep Rondo?  Probably.  I don't think he likes losing, and this team with Deng and Gasol replacing Green and Humphries (since why are you getting Gasol and keeping Hump?) is a better team.  Since doing that probably only costs you second rounders, or the protected Philly pick at most, you've also got any improvements by Sully and Olynyk, potentially Bradley, improved health (and maybe jump shooting??) from Rondo, and whatever value this year's picks can bring.  Is it dethroning the Heat or upending the Pacers?  Likely no. Can it compete for the 3 slot in the East?  Probably.  I think Rondo doesn't look around too much if he sees Danny make real improvements in the team.

Now, does this team compete for championships in the long run?  Probably not, unless we hit a homerun in the draft (either by winning the lottery or having the right guy fall to us who winds up being the best player in the draft beginning in year 2).  Or unless Brad Stevens is that transcendent of a coach.  So maybe it's not a good idea.  But I do think it keeps Rondo, because it will look close enough to a good idea when compared against this season.

[gpap]

Adding Pau Gasol and Deng doesn't do anything for the C's.

Why tie up your cap space for two veterans who both are probably looking at their last big contract or last contract in their prime respectively. Neither is good enough alone to push the C's to anything other than low seed playoffs. Rondo and the rest of our current talent would have to do the heavy lifting to be anything more than that.

What if Rondo then leaves? What's the future of THAT team? Better to be flexible to add a piece along to Rondo if he is resigned or fully turn the roster over to Sullinger, the 2014 pick, and other young pieces.

In the case of Gasol, I think it depends how long that deal is for -- if it's two years with an option/unguaranteed for a third year, that's fine.  If it's four years all guaranteed, then no thanks.

Assuming Parker isn't our draft pick, I'm fine with Deng, since he's an upgrade to Jeff Green.  Of course, it depends for how much, but $11-12 million seems fine, considering we're paying Green $9.2 million.  (Edit: This assumes that Cleveland would S&T Deng for Green.  Considering Deng probably goes to another team anyway, I think Cleveland says yes.)

Will that keep Rondo?  Probably.  I don't think he likes losing, and this team with Deng and Gasol replacing Green and Humphries (since why are you getting Gasol and keeping Hump?) is a better team.  Since doing that probably only costs you second rounders, or the protected Philly pick at most, you've also got any improvements by Sully and Olynyk, potentially Bradley, improved health (and maybe jump shooting??) from Rondo, and whatever value this year's picks can bring.  Is it dethroning the Heat or upending the Pacers?  Likely no. Can it compete for the 3 slot in the East?  Probably.  I think Rondo doesn't look around too much if he sees Danny make real improvements in the team.

Now, does this team compete for championships in the long run?  Probably not, unless we hit a homerun in the draft (either by winning the lottery or having the right guy fall to us who winds up being the best player in the draft beginning in year 2).  Or unless Brad Stevens is that transcendent of a coach.  So maybe it's not a good idea.  But I do think it keeps Rondo, because it will look close enough to a good idea when compared against this season.

Yup. Pretty much what I was going for. Guess I don't necessarily fall into the camp of "it's either we are able to win a championship or keep rebuilding."

Don't get me wrong, anything less than a championship is a disappointment.

But at the same time, I'd rather be a winning team than a losing team.

I'd rather be discussing playoff seeding during the season instead of evaluating Kelly Olynyk's development

And like you said a team with the likes Deng and Gasol would be alot better than a team with Green and Humphries/Bass

And yes, I was also thinking in the area of a 2 year deal for both guys.

Would I offer either guy a 4 year deal?

Hmmmm.....probably not.

[Fafnir]

Two years of Pau still eliminates the ability to add a piece to the team when Rondo's a FA. And Deng already turned down 3 years at 10-11 million so he's going to cost more than that.

Its just a bad plan to put some B level players around a cast of Rondo + talent that we don't know is good enough yet.

[Moranis]

Two years of Pau still eliminates the ability to add a piece to the team when Rondo's a FA. And Deng already turned down 3 years at 10-11 million so he's going to cost more than that.

Its just a bad plan to put some B level players around a cast of Rondo + talent that we don't know is good enough yet.

Yep.

My spots philosophy is simple, can the current group of players someday win a title with only minor adjustments?  If the answer is yes, you are in a good place, if the answer is no, then there is no point maintaining the status quo, especially if the status quo is a mid-level team.  It is much better to lose and get better draft picks than win a little bit and go nowhere in the title picture.

[Chris]

I think this would be very interesting IF the C's can find a way to get a star (like Melo).

Of course, I also am not sure you could actually get Pau to fit in the TPE.  Yeah, he isn't the player he used to be, but he is still averaging 18 and 10 in a system that doesn't really feature his strengths.  While he won't get a 4 or 5 year max deal, I think he will be in line to get something like 3 years/$45 million. 

[saltlover]

Two years of Pau still eliminates the ability to add a piece to the team when Rondo's a FA. And Deng already turned down 3 years at 10-11 million so he's going to cost more than that.

Its just a bad plan to put some B level players around a cast of Rondo + talent that we don't know is good enough yet.

I completely disagree.

1) Given the team's current salary situation, it's unlikely that they will have room in 2015 to add a max player directly through cap room.  If they don't re-sign Bradley, and Jeff Green opts out, and they don't add any other 2015-2016 cap commitments aside from their first round picks, then they might, but it's far from a given.  If they don't have the cap room, they're going to need a sign-and-trade to accomplish it, so Gasol wouldn't be taking up much extra room, thanks to Rondo's cap hold, Wallace's contract, and the cost of the young players we want to keep (Sully, Olynyk, and the 4th and 17th picks this year take up over $10 million of 2015-2016 cap space).

2) If you're going to sign-and-trade, you need to have salaries that somewhat match.  If Gasol signed to a two-year deal (or one with a third year that's unguaranteed or a team option), he becomes an expiring contract which can be used to help match salaries, without requiring a long-term commitment.  Assuming he's still a B-level player, he may be a relatively attractive salary to take back from the team losing the free agent we're after, since he will be able to help them remain competitive (if that's their goal) or will have more value on the trade market than another expiring contract like Gerald Wallace.  This will mean we have to compensate the star's original team less in other assets (future draft picks/young prospects) than we otherwise would have.

3) B players have value on their own.  They're not C players, which we have a lot of.  The right B player can help take a team to another level, if they offer what that team needs (like David West in Indiana).  And if they don't have that extra complimentary value, they can still make our team better.  A good enough team, and Rondo doesn't look elsewhere in free agency.  A really good team, and maybe Rondo signs an extension next year.  If you go through another year like this, waiting for the right player to become available, you run the risk not only that you don't get him, but that some other A-type player convinces Rondo to leave and join him.  To me, that's riskier than having Gasol for a year more than you intended.

Anyway, I think Gasol is moot, since I think he either re-signs in LA, or ends up on a team with cap room, since the Lakers will ask for too much in a sign-and-trade.