What Front Court Free Agent Pairing Would Be Ideal?

[smokeablount]

Some of the free agents that are listed will most likely remain with there present teams. As an example, I feel Kawhi will remain with the Spurs (unfortunately). Same for Butler, I think the Bulls will go all out for him. Chandler too old, forget LaMarcus, Milsap will stay with Atlanta, some players we really don't want, Smith and Green,

I think we have a shot at Monroe, Asik, Middleton, Harris, Deandre (possibly) Love (possibly) Kanter (possibly)

In order to make a serious choice you have to decide if you're sticking with Sully or not.
So sticking with Sully I'd have to look at Middleton pretty hard, make an all out effort on Butler, and Deandre Jordan, and knock on the door of R. Lopez, but I doubt he will move.


If you decide to dump Sully.
Go at Monroe hard as the PF, and Deandre Jordan as the C. (and hope they don't get in each others way.)
Love would pair well with Jordan, but I feel Love will stay with the Cavs or jump to LA.

It's not as easy as I thought it would be LOL

This is getting somewhere.  Tons of guys won't be available to us and I think Love and Monroe are the 2 guys we realistically could get.  If we get the chance, we absolutely should sign either.

At that point, we have defensive liabilities at center and I don't think DeAndre is coming so it's either a modest offer to Asik to just play post and help defense, or be bold and try to trade Sully or Oly, #16 and potentially more (AB, #28) to move up to #6 and get Willie Cauley Stein.

I think free agency & building via the draft, or at least leveraging draft assets, go hand in hand.

[farishmj16]

It's way to hard to predict right now. Ainge tends to be pretty aggressive so i would not be surprised if Sully or KO is traded this offseason

[Celts Fan 508]

Some of the free agents that are listed will most likely remain with there present teams. As an example, I feel Kawhi will remain with the Spurs (unfortunately). Same for Butler, I think the Bulls will go all out for him. Chandler too old, forget LaMarcus, Milsap will stay with Atlanta, some players we really don't want, Smith and Green,

I think we have a shot at Monroe, Asik, Middleton, Harris, Deandre (possibly) Love (possibly) Kanter (possibly)

In order to make a serious choice you have to decide if you're sticking with Sully or not.
So sticking with Sully I'd have to look at Middleton pretty hard, make an all out effort on Butler, and Deandre Jordan, and knock on the door of R. Lopez, but I doubt he will move.


If you decide to dump Sully.
Go at Monroe hard as the PF, and Deandre Jordan as the C. (and hope they don't get in each others way.)
Love would pair well with Jordan, but I feel Love will stay with the Cavs or jump to LA.

It's not as easy as I thought it would be LOL

This is getting somewhere.  Tons of guys won't be available to us and I think Love and Monroe are the 2 guys we realistically could get.  If we get the chance, we absolutely should sign either.

At that point, we have defensive liabilities at center and I don't think DeAndre is coming so it's either a modest offer to Asik to just play post and help defense, or be bold and try to trade Sully or Oly, #16 and potentially more (AB, #28) to move up to #6 and get Willie Cauley Stein.

I think free agency & building via the draft, or at least leveraging draft assets, go hand in hand.

In a reserve role backing up Love and Monroe I would bring in Biyombo.  I think he has promise, is a rim protector, and I think is a much better athlete than Asik. 

[LarBrd33]

Some of the free agents that are listed will most likely remain with there present teams. As an example, I feel Kawhi will remain with the Spurs (unfortunately). Same for Butler, I think the Bulls will go all out for him. Chandler too old, forget LaMarcus, Milsap will stay with Atlanta, some players we really don't want, Smith and Green,

I think we have a shot at Monroe, Asik, Middleton, Harris, Deandre (possibly) Love (possibly) Kanter (possibly)

In order to make a serious choice you have to decide if you're sticking with Sully or not.
So sticking with Sully I'd have to look at Middleton pretty hard, make an all out effort on Butler, and Deandre Jordan, and knock on the door of R. Lopez, but I doubt he will move.


If you decide to dump Sully.
Go at Monroe hard as the PF, and Deandre Jordan as the C. (and hope they don't get in each others way.)
Love would pair well with Jordan, but I feel Love will stay with the Cavs or jump to LA.

It's not as easy as I thought it would be LOL

This is getting somewhere.  Tons of guys won't be available to us and I think Love and Monroe are the 2 guys we realistically could get.  If we get the chance, we absolutely should sign either.

At that point, we have defensive liabilities at center and I don't think DeAndre is coming so it's either a modest offer to Asik to just play post and help defense, or be bold and try to trade Sully or Oly, #16 and potentially more (AB, #28) to move up to #6 and get Willie Cauley Stein.

I think free agency & building via the draft, or at least leveraging draft assets, go hand in hand.

In a reserve role backing up Love and Monroe I would bring in Biyombo.  I think he has promise, is a rim protector, and I think is a much better athlete than Asik.

I think it was sspence who came on here a couple months ago saying he knew someone with the Celtics... he said he heard Biyombo would be a target for us if we strike out on the big names.   Seems totally plausible.  I fully buy it. That would be a really underwhelming thing for a long time member of this forum to make up randomly.   I could totally see us signing Biyombo.  Fits a need.

 

[BudweiserCeltic]

Per who DA's top targets are things are clearer:
//The Celtics have a ton of cash and are geared up to use it. Target number one is Kevin Love. Target number two is Greg Monroe. Sources close to the process say the Celtics plan to swing for the proverbial fences this summer including runs at Gasol, Leonard and Butler too.//
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/03/03/report-celtics-top-free-agent-target-is-kevin-love-greg-monroe-no-2/

A 24 yo 6'11' double double monster like Monroe would make me super happy. (Should I add that Danny is right to prefer him to Jordan  )

Bradley, Thomas and Wallace eat a lot into our cap.  Bringing back Bass and Crowder eats into it too.   Will be interesting to see if Ainge trades Bradley/Thomas on draft day for picks and cap space.... free up the books so he can make a run at multiple free agents.

You're understating how much cap room. You mention bringing Bass though, so by your estimation Ainge would prefer to clear space by trading Thomas and Bradley, who are both better and more useful players than Bass, than by simply letting Bass go? Doesn't make sense.

As for Crowder, it's really all about timing. He could eat negligible amount to plenty, depends if he signs an offer sheet or not.

Wallace can be easily stretched to cut down his salary impact plenty, if not out right traded with a 1st round pick if there are any takers.

Making a run at multiple free agents it's not dependent on letting go of Thomas, Bradley, etc.

We have 26 mil in cap space before adding Crowder, Jerebko, Bass, #16 and #28.   

So maybe enough to sign 1 max contract guy.   Stretching Wallace would add another 7 mil in cap space, but if the plan is to go after multiple stars, we might need to make some sacrifices.   

Signing Love will cost you 20 mil in cap space.   Even if you stretch Wallace, you're only looking at maybe 7-10 mil in cap space, right?  Greg Monroe will cost you 15 mil.  I'd say that yes... making a run at multiple (quality) free agents would require dealing with Bradley and Thomas... unless you mean we'd only try to sign 1 star.   I can't see Kevin Love joining this crappy team as-is.  He'll need help.

By my estimation, with the assumption that you can dump Wallace or Stretch him, adding #16 and #28, letting Jerebko/Bass/others go, and keeping Crowder's caphold we should be in the $29-32 million range, depending on how we get rid of Wallace. And I'm sure with some maneuvering some more could be generated if needed.

That's a lot of cap space for multiple free-agents. Might not be able to fit two top sexy guys, but there it is. The key here is going for the younger ones than the vets, which is my personal intention. But we're still basing this off that only the free-agents being offered max are worth going after, I don't think that's particularly true.

That said, manufacturing extra cap space during the draft is certainly not the way to go about this. I think we have enough assets around to be creative when needed, but it needs to happen during free-agency if anything when you have a sure thing at hand, else you're shooting yourself on the foot.

Honestly, I'm not really all that interested in Love at this point.

[byennie]

On Monroe and Jordan, I don't think it works because Monroe is more effective at the 5 spot. If I'm paying him the big bucks I want him at center, where I think he can be a full-time 18/12/3 type player. Yeah, won't be a defensive stopper, but overall still very good. Jordan is a dunk and rebound machine for sure, but it's also been well documented that he's a poor team defender, so he's potentially a liability at both ends on any given night. And with him on the team, Monroe is getting no more than filler minutes at center.

Now if I could just have whatever I want in free agency, I'd love to see a Marc Gasol + Draymond Green frontcourt. Talk about interior defense that can also pass and score.

[smokeablount]

Some of the free agents that are listed will most likely remain with there present teams. As an example, I feel Kawhi will remain with the Spurs (unfortunately). Same for Butler, I think the Bulls will go all out for him. Chandler too old, forget LaMarcus, Milsap will stay with Atlanta, some players we really don't want, Smith and Green,

I think we have a shot at Monroe, Asik, Middleton, Harris, Deandre (possibly) Love (possibly) Kanter (possibly)

In order to make a serious choice you have to decide if you're sticking with Sully or not.
So sticking with Sully I'd have to look at Middleton pretty hard, make an all out effort on Butler, and Deandre Jordan, and knock on the door of R. Lopez, but I doubt he will move.


If you decide to dump Sully.
Go at Monroe hard as the PF, and Deandre Jordan as the C. (and hope they don't get in each others way.)
Love would pair well with Jordan, but I feel Love will stay with the Cavs or jump to LA.

It's not as easy as I thought it would be LOL

This is getting somewhere.  Tons of guys won't be available to us and I think Love and Monroe are the 2 guys we realistically could get.  If we get the chance, we absolutely should sign either.

At that point, we have defensive liabilities at center and I don't think DeAndre is coming so it's either a modest offer to Asik to just play post and help defense, or be bold and try to trade Sully or Oly, #16 and potentially more (AB, #28) to move up to #6 and get Willie Cauley Stein.

I think free agency & building via the draft, or at least leveraging draft assets, go hand in hand.

In a reserve role backing up Love and Monroe I would bring in Biyombo.  I think he has promise, is a rim protector, and I think is a much better athlete than Asik.

I think it was sspence who came on here a couple months ago saying he knew someone with the Celtics... he said he heard Biyombo would be a target for us if we strike out on the big names.   Seems totally plausible.  I fully buy it. That would be a really underwhelming thing for a long time member of this forum to make up randomly.   I could totally see us signing Biyombo.  Fits a need.

 

I don't think pairing Monroe and Love makes sense, but I'd be all for signing either one and then Biyombo as a rotational rim protector, trying to get a wing scorer either in free agency or by packaging picks and potentially AB / Sully / Oly for that wing scorer or a very high pick.

[Irish Stew]

Making a play for all the usual big name suspects will probably prove to be unrealistic and unproductive, but we still have to do it anyway in case of a miracle signing. In the end, for this year I wouldn't be unhappy with signing Middleton and Biyombo, using our draft choices, and signing Crowder to a reasonable contract. Not ideal but it is a step forward to maybe 45-50 wins. We also need to stay vigilant in case Noel becomes available.

[Rosco917]

Some of the free agents that are listed will most likely remain with there present teams. As an example, I feel Kawhi will remain with the Spurs (unfortunately). Same for Butler, I think the Bulls will go all out for him. Chandler too old, forget LaMarcus, Milsap will stay with Atlanta, some players we really don't want, Smith and Green,

I think we have a shot at Monroe, Asik, Middleton, Harris, Deandre (possibly) Love (possibly) Kanter (possibly)




In order to make a serious choice you have to decide if you're sticking with Sully or not.
So sticking with Sully I'd have to look at Middleton pretty hard, make an all out effort on Butler, and Deandre Jordan, and knock on the door of R. Lopez, but I doubt he will move.


If you decide to dump Sully.
Go at Monroe hard as the PF, and Deandre Jordan as the C. (and hope they don't get in each others way.)
Love would pair well with Jordan, but I feel Love will stay with the Cavs or jump to LA.

It's not as easy as I thought it would be LOL

This is getting somewhere.  Tons of guys won't be available to us and I think Love and Monroe are the 2 guys we realistically could get.  If we get the chance, we absolutely should sign either.

At that point, we have defensive liabilities at center and I don't think DeAndre is coming so it's either a modest offer to Asik to just play post and help defense, or be bold and try to trade Sully or Oly, #16 and potentially more (AB, #28) to move up to #6 and get Willie Cauley Stein.

I think free agency & building via the draft, or at least leveraging draft assets, go hand in hand.

In a reserve role backing up Love and Monroe I would bring in Biyombo.  I think he has promise, is a rim protector, and I think is a much better athlete than Asik.

I agree with this line of thinking, players like Biyombo, Ed Davis are solid rim protectors. If unspectacular in other areas. Rim protection can also come from the power forward position. If picking up one of these players to help with interior defense, that may be what we'll have to settle for until a big name center can come our way.