Danny Ainge on Toucher and Rich (Potential "Big Trade" Discussed)

[Dino Pitino]

I'd love to get Nerlens Noel, because he's got a chance to be a transcendent defender, but Okafor would be an awesome addition.  Kid has real star potential. 

Agreed about Noel. Sad that apparently Philly has made the right decision. Good for them, sucks for us.

Who cares about stardom, though. What matters is winning. Can we win a championship in the next 3-5 years with a center whose defense is subpar? He can score 25 a game and make the All Star game every year and be considered a "franchise talent", but if that doesn't lead to a championship then who cares. When is the last time a team with a defensively-weak center like him won a title? I think we'd have to go back to the Bulls 20 years ago.

I don't know. Maybe this is the new market inefficiency in a league that undervalues big men scoring buckets the old-fashioned way. Somebody please paint me a picture of a Celtics team centered around Okafor that could win it all.

The Heat didn't exactly have strong defenders in the paint. Spurs had some real stinkers at center (though did have Timmy D obviously).

You don't consider Haslem, Anthony, Turiaf, Andersen, and (in a small ball lineup) Bosh to be strong defenders? They definitely weren't defensively weak, which was the question before you nudged the goalposts. Duncan was essentially the center on defense, so yeah.

I'm wondering if Okafor is a better bet at PF, Griffin-like.

[GreenShooter]

It's about time. Now we will see fireworks!

[number_n9ne]

Part of me just wants a young big the Stevens can mold for the next 15 years a la Pop and Timmy. I think Okafor could fit that mold and I'd be excited to watch that happen over the years. The other part of me likes this because of the cap space it saves. Trading for Okafor rather than Love or Griffen means we aren't coughing up 20million a year in cap space and can have more freedom to be picky with the guys we go after to make this team a contender. We can't sell off all our glue guys for a super star because than we will just end up like the Knicks with Melo.

[Dino Pitino]

Danny Picard on WEEI makes a good point: Okafor was the subject of a huge rumor leading up to the draft, everyone in the world knew that Philly was shopping him...so how would that have been a surprise? Dude also speculates about same thing I did above, that maybe the Celtics planted this Okafor thing to obscure their real activity which they weren't happy to see being leaked. /wishfulthinking

[Kuberski33]

Isn't the bigger story that the Sixers turned down the Brooklyn pick for Okafor.

Guessing they offered more than just the Brooklyn pick.  If I had to guess...probably some combo of one or more of Rozier/Mickey/Hunter, a player from the current rotation and maybe some swap involving other draft picks from both sides. 

Okafor is going to be good, and Danny saw a chance to get a future quality big now on a rookie contract.  You give up some assets for that. 

Interesting thing to me though is Philly shopping him so soon, especially now that Jerry Collangelo is involved.  That's a bit of a red flag.

[hpantazo]

Isn't the bigger story that the Sixers turned down the Brooklyn pick for Okafor.

Guessing they offered more than just the Brooklyn pick.  If I had to guess...probably some combo of one or more of Rozier/Mickey/Hunter, a player from the current rotation and maybe some swap involving other draft picks from both sides. 

Okafor is going to be good, and Danny saw a chance to get a future quality big now on a rookie contract.  You give up some assets for that. 

Interesting thing to me though is Philly shopping him so soon, especially now that Jerry Collangelo is involved.  That's a bit of a red flag.

I think it's because they have seen lately how great Embiid can be and how well he is progressing in his recovery. Lots of reports recently, even from Ish Smith, about how he's dominating his teammates in practice. Combine that with the fact that the Sixers know Okafor and Noel don't fit together, they may need to move one of their 3 bigs before its too obvious to the rest of the league and everyone begins to low ball them. They may also have a good idea that Noel fits better with Embiid than Okafor does.

[tazzmaniac]

Danny Picard on WEEI makes a good point: Okafor was the subject of a huge rumor leading up to the draft, everyone in the world knew that Philly was shopping him...so how would that have been a surprise? Dude also speculates about same thing I did above, that maybe the Celtics planted this Okafor thing to obscure their real activity which they weren't happy to see being leaked. /wishfulthinking

Okafor makes the most sense because Hinkie was calling around to gauge his value.  If a star like Butler or George were to be made available, their teams would make it well known so they could attract as many offers as possible.  And there would be a lot of offers.  We'd probably end up in a bidding war with the Sixers, Denver, Phoenix and possibly Minny. 

[Dino Pitino]

Danny Picard on WEEI makes a good point: Okafor was the subject of a huge rumor leading up to the draft, everyone in the world knew that Philly was shopping him...so how would that have been a surprise? Dude also speculates about same thing I did above, that maybe the Celtics planted this Okafor thing to obscure their real activity which they weren't happy to see being leaked. /wishfulthinking

Okafor makes the most sense because Hinkie was calling around to gauge his value.  If a star like Butler or George were to be made available, their teams would make it well known so they could attract as many offers as possible.  And there would be a lot of offers.  We'd probably end up in a bidding war with the Sixers, Denver, Phoenix and possibly Minny.

Wouldn't there have been basically the same bidding war for Okafor? (Philly excluded, of course...and I cannot see them targeting an "old" player like Butler anyway.) If the Bulpett report is right, we were able to outbid what would have been a lot of offers for Okafor. So why wouldn't the same apply to Butler? We don't hear about every bidding war, anyway, not that many of them are conducted publicly. Chicago might have called a handful of teams which they thought would both be interested and also have the assets Chicago most wanted back, and it just might not have leaked out. Maybe maximum discretion was demanded, and then when Butler's name did drip out in the aftermath that's why an Okafor smokescreen would go up.

[tazzmaniac]

Danny Picard on WEEI makes a good point: Okafor was the subject of a huge rumor leading up to the draft, everyone in the world knew that Philly was shopping him...so how would that have been a surprise? Dude also speculates about same thing I did above, that maybe the Celtics planted this Okafor thing to obscure their real activity which they weren't happy to see being leaked. /wishfulthinking

Okafor makes the most sense because Hinkie was calling around to gauge his value.  If a star like Butler or George were to be made available, their teams would make it well known so they could attract as many offers as possible.  And there would be a lot of offers.  We'd probably end up in a bidding war with the Sixers, Denver, Phoenix and possibly Minny.

Wouldn't there have been basically the same bidding war for Okafor? (Philly excluded, of course...and I cannot see them targeting an "old" player like Butler anyway.) If the Bulpett report is right, we were able to outbid what would have been a lot of offers for Okafor. So why wouldn't the same apply to Butler? We don't hear about every bidding war, anyway, not that many of them are conducted publicly. Chicago might have called a handful of teams which they thought would both be interested and also have the assets Chicago most wanted back, and it just might not have leaked out. Maybe maximum discretion was demanded, and then when Butler's name did drip out in the aftermath that's why an Okafor smokescreen would go up.

This past offseason the Sixers tried to get a meeting with Butler as well as Leonard.  Now with Colangelo onboard, I think they'd be even more likely to want Butler.  Butler is an established star on a good contractand would be in high demand.  Okafor is a rookie with star potential.  However in this era good offense poor defense centers are not as highly valued.  I really don't think the Sixers were looking to trade Okafor by the deadline.  Assuming Embiid's recovery continues to progress as planned, I expect the Sixers will look to trade Okafor this offseason. 

[Dino Pitino]

Ah, well in that case the Sixers definitely could have outbid us for Butler...the question is whether they would have been willing to. It's one thing for Philly to try to sign Butler as a free agent, it's another thing for Philly to give up precious future assets for him. They might have offered Chicago Okafor but not their own 1st, and before backing out Chicago might have preferred the Nets 1st to Okafor.

[BDeCosta26]

I'd love to get Nerlens Noel, because he's got a chance to be a transcendent defender, but Okafor would be an awesome addition.  Kid has real star potential. 

Agreed about Noel. Sad that apparently Philly has made the right decision. Good for them, sucks for us.

Who cares about stardom, though. What matters is winning. Can we win a championship in the next 3-5 years with a center whose defense is subpar? He can score 25 a game and make the All Star game every year and be considered a "franchise talent", but if that doesn't lead to a championship then who cares. When is the last time a team with a defensively-weak center like him won a title? I think we'd have to go back to the Bulls 20 years ago.

I don't know. Maybe this is the new market inefficiency in a league that undervalues big men scoring buckets the old-fashioned way. Somebody please paint me a picture of a Celtics team centered around Okafor that could win it all.

The Heat didn't exactly have strong defenders in the paint. Spurs had some real stinkers at center (though did have Timmy D obviously).

You don't consider Haslem, Anthony, Turiaf, Andersen, and (in a small ball lineup) Bosh to be strong defenders? They definitely weren't defensively weak, which was the question before you nudged the goalposts. Duncan was essentially the center on defense, so yeah.

I'm wondering if Okafor is a better bet at PF, Griffin-like.

Nah, he's far too poor defensively to ever be able to defend 4's adequately, especially in the world of the small-ball stretch 4. He's gonna struggle guarding 5's as it is, nevermind his lack of a real jumper.

If Ainge is gonna "revisit it this summer" why would he leak to Bulpett that it was Okafor. I really don't think he was their target. Butler makes much more sense.

[Moranis]

I'd love to get Nerlens Noel, because he's got a chance to be a transcendent defender, but Okafor would be an awesome addition.  Kid has real star potential. 

Agreed about Noel. Sad that apparently Philly has made the right decision. Good for them, sucks for us.

Who cares about stardom, though. What matters is winning. Can we win a championship in the next 3-5 years with a center whose defense is subpar? He can score 25 a game and make the All Star game every year and be considered a "franchise talent", but if that doesn't lead to a championship then who cares. When is the last time a team with a defensively-weak center like him won a title? I think we'd have to go back to the Bulls 20 years ago.

I don't know. Maybe this is the new market inefficiency in a league that undervalues big men scoring buckets the old-fashioned way. Somebody please paint me a picture of a Celtics team centered around Okafor that could win it all.

The Heat didn't exactly have strong defenders in the paint. Spurs had some real stinkers at center (though did have Timmy D obviously).

You don't consider Haslem, Anthony, Turiaf, Andersen, and (in a small ball lineup) Bosh to be strong defenders? They definitely weren't defensively weak, which was the question before you nudged the goalposts. Duncan was essentially the center on defense, so yeah.

I'm wondering if Okafor is a better bet at PF, Griffin-like.

None of those guys on the Heat were starting centers.  So yeah, Okafor starts and you have a defender on the bench.  Same thing as the heat. 

[Csfan1984]

Are we missing the 3 way trade part with Okafor. As in Philly pulled out but Okafor was the guy going to team x for their superstar going to C's. Seems the original report is being lost here.

[Dino Pitino]

3 out of 3 of RealGM's posters with inside sources now indicate that it wasn't really Okafor we were after. Another such poster on SoSH says the same thing. No such posters anywhere say that it was Okafor. Anyone with sources here? How about Reddit?

[hpantazo]

3 out of 3 of RealGM's posters with inside sources now indicate that it wasn't really Okafor we were after. Another such poster on SoSH says the same thing. No such posters anywhere say that it was Okafor. Anyone with sources here? How about Reddit?

I really, really doubt it was ever Okafor that Ainge was after. Those rumors are senseless. Okafor is not a star, which Ainge did say the offer was for a star, and we wouldn't need to offer a 'hefty package' as Ainge said , along with the Brooklyn pick, for Okafor. That's crazy. We also wouldn't need a 3rd team to do that. The target was Jimmy Butler imo.