ESPN Experts - On possible trades

[CelticPride2016]

Howard is 30 and is never going to be what people thought, but he's still a better rebounder and shot blocker than anyone on the Cs and while his scoring has plummeted, that's clearly the result of not getting touches.  Howard is only shooting about 5 free throws a game, the lowest since he was a rookie.

There's no way you give up a Brooklyn pick but a young player, some matching salaries, first rounders this year from the Mavs and Twolves and 3 of the 4 second round picks we have this year sounds good.

Mike

I think Danny has to get us Dwight Howard if that means only having to cough up some combo of Sully, Zeller, and Lee and some #1's not from Brooklyn. Howard will be a free agent. He is 30 and has had some health issues. For this year only, it might give Boston and Houston the chance to retool their respective runs for this season and appease their restless fan bases.

Shaq was assumed as washed up when he played great for the Celtics.

Dwight Howard would make us instant contenders to get to the Finals.

Would Houston do it?

Maybe.

Would Danny? I bet he would for the equivalent of an NBA Shaq like scratch ticket to try to win right here, right now. To win it all.

I'm so glad Danny stopped the tanking process last year.

Howard is able to play a lot of minutes and protect the rim. I'd even consider giving up more. Maybe Houston can be suckered into taking Evan Turner, Sully, and Zeller and imagine them with Harden getting it done.

I said that Sully was going nowhere. I was wrong. He has tailed off except for rebounding. To my eye test, he seems incapable of ever getting into shape.

D. Howard would make this season fun in itself and give it more of a "Why not us?" kind of feel. If it doesn't work out, let him go. It is getting to the point where one doesn't have to worry about a backfiring by trading any of those guys. I would not want to trade Amir, but if that's what it takes to get Howard, I'd include him.

If Houston is trading Dwight Howard, I'd try to get him. In my opinion, that should be a no-brainer. They could even have Crowder, whatever it takes. I am no expert, but Danny seems to be one, and he can figure out what is fair for both teams.

Houston can take from a pu pu platter of our good but not great players.

I would not trade Olynyk. He still has great potential. I would never include Smart, Bradley, or Isaiah. It couldn't get any sicker for defense for something like this:

pg Smart
sg Bradley
sf Crowder
pf Amir Johnson
C Howard

Olynyk and Turner are probably necessary for this year or until Smart proves he can be a facilitator. That lineup above would be almost impossible to score on, but they might find it challenging scoring a bucket.

I say go for fireworks. Howard would be a lot less of a risk than Cousins who would cost a fortune to trade for.

[D Dub]

If I'm trading for Howard, need to get one of their young players along with him.  He's too injury prone at this stage of his career, and doesn't appear interested in evolving his offensive game in the name of longevity. 

I'd ask Howard, Montiejunas for Lee, Zeller, Jerebko + two non-BK first rounders. 

That's a fair deal, considering the risk involved in taking on Howard and his $22M salary.

[D Dub]

I'd be much more interested in Kevin Martin, who is reportedly being made available.

This team needs shooting, not more bigs. 

[CelticPride2016]

If I'm trading for Howard, need to get one of their young players along with him.  He's too injury prone at this stage of his career, and doesn't appear interested in evolving his offensive game in the name of longevity. 

I'd ask Howard, Montiejunas for Lee, Zeller, Jerebko + two non-BK first rounders. 

That's a fair deal, considering the risk involved in taking on Howard and his $22M salary.

Dwight could be the new Robert Parish. Everyone said he was disgruntled, not a great team guy.

Howard was stuck with Stan Van Gundy yelling at him every other minute. Then he had that debacle in Los Angeles. Now he is teamed up with an ego head in Harden.

This could be the perfect storm.

I think Dwight has the option for $25 million next year.

He's not perfect, but he's still one of the best players in the NBA who has never been on the right team at the right time. He is exactly what could put us over the top. My other concern is point guard. I'd rather not be so dependent on Evan Turner.

Isaiah is too short, so you always need a backup just in case the opponent has his number.

Too bad Marcus got injured when he did. It'd be nice to have a better sample size of his running the offense. It looked like he was improving. The best thing that happened to the Celtics was Avery Bradley. He is no longer a liability at dribbling.

This other concern could make a Howard trade difficult if they want Turner and Olynyk. Rozier isn't ready.

This is getting extremely interesting.

I'm not one who usually likes to partake in trade conjecture.

How about Jordan Mickey at PF and Dwight Howard at center? Good luck to anyone thinking they can get to the rim.

We are going to a top contender sooner or later. It's either going to be this year (via fireworks), next year, or in three or four years if Danny can't pull any major trade trigger. That's my homer, easy to make, captain obvious prediction.

[CelticPride2016]

Or we get Durant or a similar top free agent. Boston is one of the best locations for free agents to check out. It's a top notch city.

[Evantime34]

In terms of defense our biggest weaknesses are defensive rebounding (23rd in the league in defensive rebounding percentage) and rim protection. Dwight solves both problems and when locked in takes our defense from very good to "win a couple rounds" in the playoffs elite.

[CelticPride2016]

In terms of defense our biggest weaknesses are defensive rebounding (23rd in the league in defensive rebounding percentage) and rim protection. Dwight solves both problems and when locked in takes our defense from very good to "win a couple rounds" in the playoffs elite.

Danny wanted to build a fast, offensive-minded team. The great thing about Danny is he's willing to change directions. Defense never seemed to matter. It was more about containment.

We must be two or three players away from Golden State.

The rim protecting center we both described. The gunner (Isaiah is too short, but what about a Durant or Reggie Lewis? A young Joe Johnson or Pierce, a scorer.).

And point guard.

Zeller is another Bass and that is exactly the kind of player becoming obsolete as a Celtic. People need to add in to the team effort. It becomes about a whole team and not hero ball.

We might already have two-thirds of the above needs already on the team.

No one on our roster would provide what Dwight Howard does.

If he is healthy and can run and play team ball and wants to win a title for legacy, DO IT RIGHT NOW, DANNY! 

[GetLucky]

I'm not strongly for or against getting Howard; it would depend on the cost. However it would be an interesting litmus test for Stevens, as it would be the first Celtics player in the CBS era that comes in with a brand bigger than the team's identity.

[CelticPride2016]

I'm not strongly for or against getting Howard; it would depend on the cost. However it would be an interesting litmus test for Stevens, as it would be the first Celtics player in the CBS era that comes in with a brand bigger than the team's identity.

Lots of people complain that we are missing a superstar to get over the hump our mediocre goodness seems incapable of jumping above in the playoffs.

Other than Bogans, who has Stevens had a problem with in regards to vets?

Bass, Humphries and Wallace seemed to like him.

I think Rondo and Green even tried to do what Brad wanted. It's just you can't teach old dogs new tricks.

Howard is in that KG, Paul, Ray area of wanting to win it all.

He may not cost that much and definitely not what Cousins would force us to hand over to Sacramento.

Morey is a "moneyball" gm too, so he might not mind trading Superman for some nice pu pu platter items and #15-20 picks. Maybe that Philly second round pick we have is something he places value on.

A Houston-Boston trade would be very interesting. It wouldn't be Danny fleecing Brooklyn.

Is Morey sincerely contemplating a trade involving Dwight Howard? That could be the $22.36 million question.

[j804]

Stevens could make it work, don't watch much Houston games but is he healthy at least and doesn't take games off?

[saltlover]

Lots of people complain that we are missing a superstar to get over the hump our mediocre goodness seems incapable of jumping above in the playoffs.

Other than Bogans, who has Stevens had a problem with in regards to vets?

Bass, Humphries and Wallace seemed to like him.

I think Rondo and Green even tried to do what Brad wanted. It's just you can't teach old dogs new tricks.

Courtney Lee wasn't a very happy camper during his 3 months with Brad.  Janeer Nelson seemed like he was about to be banished like Bogans before he was traded.

Of course, both of those guys thought they had signed up for something other than they got (the last few years of Pierce/KG/Doc or a contending squad in Dallas), so some of their strife was understandable.  That said, it wasn't always rosy in those relationships.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

Lots of people complain that we are missing a superstar to get over the hump our mediocre goodness seems incapable of jumping above in the playoffs.

Other than Bogans, who has Stevens had a problem with in regards to vets?

Bass, Humphries and Wallace seemed to like him.

I think Rondo and Green even tried to do what Brad wanted. It's just you can't teach old dogs new tricks.

Courtney Lee wasn't a very happy camper during his 3 months with Brad.  Janeer Nelson seemed like he was about to be banished like Bogans before he was traded.

Of course, both of those guys thought they had signed up for something other than they got (the last few years of Pierce/KG/Doc or a contending squad in Dallas), so some of their strife was understandable.  That said, it wasn't always rosy in those relationships.

I don't remember a problem with Jameer, I thought he played well for us. Lee felt he deserved more minutes and a starting role, Danny and CBS chose a different direction. Yeah Lee did come over for the new big 3 but Jameer knew his stay would be short lived and he wasn't part of the big 3s anway.

[saltlover]

Lots of people complain that we are missing a superstar to get over the hump our mediocre goodness seems incapable of jumping above in the playoffs.

Other than Bogans, who has Stevens had a problem with in regards to vets?

Bass, Humphries and Wallace seemed to like him.

I think Rondo and Green even tried to do what Brad wanted. It's just you can't teach old dogs new tricks.

Courtney Lee wasn't a very happy camper during his 3 months with Brad.  Janeer Nelson seemed like he was about to be banished like Bogans before he was traded.

Of course, both of those guys thought they had signed up for something other than they got (the last few years of Pierce/KG/Doc or a contending squad in Dallas), so some of their strife was understandable.  That said, it wasn't always rosy in those relationships.

I don't remember a problem with Jameer, I thought he played well for us. Lee felt he deserved more minutes and a starting role, Danny and CBS chose a different direction. Yeah Lee did come over for the new big 3 but Jameer knew his stay would be short lived and he wasn't part of the big 3s anway.

He wasn't here long (3 weeks?) but by the second week he was complaining about playing time, subsequently benched, and then traded within a week.

[Big333223]

I'd rather try to get Cilnt Capella than Dwight Howard. He's a bad fir for Brad's offense, his ego it a bad fit for this team's philosophy, he's 30 and declining, and he's going to demand a max contract next season that's going to take him until he's 35 years whic - with his injury histoy - means strapping yourself into a Joe Johnson/Gilbert Arenas level of bad contract.

And then if you don't resign him, you're trading away assetts for half a year of Dwight Howard. Pass.

[CelticPride2016]

Lots of people complain that we are missing a superstar to get over the hump our mediocre goodness seems incapable of jumping above in the playoffs.

Other than Bogans, who has Stevens had a problem with in regards to vets?

Bass, Humphries and Wallace seemed to like him.

I think Rondo and Green even tried to do what Brad wanted. It's just you can't teach old dogs new tricks.

Courtney Lee wasn't a very happy camper during his 3 months with Brad.  Janeer Nelson seemed like he was about to be banished like Bogans before he was traded.

Of course, both of those guys thought they had signed up for something other than they got (the last few years of Pierce/KG/Doc or a contending squad in Dallas), so some of their strife was understandable.  That said, it wasn't always rosy in those relationships.

I don't remember a problem with Jameer, I thought he played well for us. Lee felt he deserved more minutes and a starting role, Danny and CBS chose a different direction. Yeah Lee did come over for the new big 3 but Jameer knew his stay would be short lived and he wasn't part of the big 3s anway.

He wasn't here long (3 weeks?) but by the second week he was complaining about playing time, subsequently benched, and then traded within a week.

I felt that Jameer Nelson was the worst possible pg to replace Rondo and everyone could see it. He never fit in. Lee was in the old dog can't learn new tricks category. I don't remember any problems Stevens had with Rondo or Jeff Green. Nor with Bass or Humphries. Stevens gives everyone a chance. Jameer must have been part of the cost of getting rid of Rondo for Crowder.

Lee was a scrub though maybe that was Doc's fault. He'd run plays with him as if he was Ray?

I learned a lot about how Stevens approaches the game from watching Rondo. Rajon was truly trying to do it the Stevens' way. But it was too late. He'd already become set in stone with style from his formative years.

Bass almost fit in. Sully is the last of the players from the past being evaluated. Sullinger has done well learning the system, but he apparently refuses to lose weight. He can't hit threes. Maybe if he was in shape, he'd be a better shooter. Sully is eating his way off the team, imho.