Rumor: Celtics, among others, in contact with Sixers about Noel/Okafor

[LilRip]

I wouldn't love trading for Okafor or Noel, but I guess I could be convinced to like it. I'd rather trade for Jimmy Butler, then sign a guy like Dwight or Horford.

[walker834]

Draft Brown. Trade Crowder and later picks for Kevin Love.  I'm just throwing stones into the ocean at this point.

Draft Hield. Trade Bradley for ? etc, etc..

We need to make as hard a run at j. butler as we can. Drafting Murray or Chriss gets even more messy.

[MJohnnyboy]

Call me crazy here but I think a three-way deal could get done between Sixers, Celtics, and Bulls

This hypothetical just came to my mind
Celtics get: Jimmy Butler
Sixers get: #3 pick (Kris Dunn), Avery Bradley
Bulls get: Okafor/Noel (Whomever they want), 2017 Lakers pick, 2019 Kings pick, #16, Jonas Jerebko

This was just an idea that came to my head. You guys hash out the details on a potential deal. I just think something like this could really happen on Thursday.

I also wouldn't be surprised if the Celtics maybe contact the Suns and try to make an exchange for more assets first so that the Celtics could get Dunn while also having more to deal in a potential trade. I expect a hurricane of deals from trader Danny.

Yeah, O'Connor was saying the same thing on Celticsblog here: http://www.celticsblog.com/2016/6/21/11985602/nba-rumor-boston-celtics-trade-philadelphia-76ers-jahlil-okafor-noel-chicago-bulls-jimmy-butler

I say go bigger than that -

Boston: Butler, Noel

Chicago: Crowder, JJ, Okafor, #22, #23

Philly: McDermott, Rozier, Young, #3, #16

I think that's a pretty fair deal all around, especially since Philly will ultimately have to trade both Okafor and Noel eventually once they commit to Embiid. They're not paying Noel next summer.

We get our guys

Chicago gets a legit franchise center in Okafor, their guy in Crowder that they wanted at the deadline, and two more later firsts in a deep draft.

Philly gets their guy in Dunn, gets to look at two potential backcourt mates for Dunn in Rozier/Young, gets McDermott to provide shooting on the wing, and a mid first round pick they can also use on another prospect.

Who says no?

Yeah didn't notice that. I came straight here after I saw the Dunn rumor. However, I think Chicago will want better assets than late first round picks in your deal. They are going to want at least one of the gold assets Philly has, whether its the Lakers pick or the Kings pick. Since Philly is in love with Dunn, they may just have to give one of those up.

[walker834]

Trade the pick for Noel or Okafor.   We lose out on Butler.  We have more nets picks coming up to add to our team though.  We'd have later picks to make a run at Love maybe.  We can also probably forget about Durant or HOrford coming here.

It's a dangerous trade that way. We might still be able to entice Durant with the players we have but limit our options greatly as far as getting Horford or Butler. Or Durant for that matter.

Hoping for Durant is one thing.  Danny's plan is starting to look somewhat flawed though.

In ways I feel  like we should just build the best team we can.  Keep adding to our talent.  WE are still holding chips and our poker faces at this point.  We have all these options that are somewhat legitament but we don't know how true they are.  We don't want to sell ourselves short.

Does getting Okafor or Noel kill all that stuff? Not necessarily.  It is a dangerous gamble though.

[walker834]

If Noel ends up being BIll Russell its a genius move.  If Okafor ends up being Al J in a trade sense great but I dont know.   Neither guy is that that's the problem.  Noel is more on the same value of where we are drafting.  Okafor isnt Tim Duncan  here either. He is Al j and trade prospects are limited this time.

I would take a shot on Noel personally but eep. 

Value wise both guys add a dimension to our team where we don't lose a ton of value from our pick. Brown, Bender, Dunn, Hield.  They are similar players in value.

Both Noel or Okafor makes us a better team.  Limit us somewhat as far as rookie deals and contracts but open up other doors as well.  Unknown doors which is the scary part.  I don't think other teams are knocking philly's door down for either of these guys right now.  Same goes with our pick.

It's basically us and them and the unknown.  It's trading for the sake of trading that way but addressing team needs.

[Ilikesports17]

If we could get Saric AND Noel for 3 I'd be ecstatic.

Don't see it happening but Danny really seems to have leverage.

[walker834]

If we could get Saric AND Noel for 3 I'd be ecstatic.

Don't see it happening but Danny really seems to have leverage.

This is the type of sweetener we need.  As we get closer to the draft teams are going to sweeten offers and something else will happen.  2 days to go.

[Ilikesports17]

If we could get Saric AND Noel for 3 I'd be ecstatic.

Don't see it happening but Danny really seems to have leverage.

This is the type of sweetener we need.  As we get closer to the draft teams are going to sweeten offers and something else will happen.  2 days to go.

It's terrific because ever since trading trading the big 3 really Danny has just been waiting for a time where he is able to control the leverage and 3 days before the draft it appears he's finally got it.

[byennie]

The Noel contract matters little, because if we take care of business he's going to resign- and we aren't going to run out of cap space by paying him ~$24M next summer when the cap is over $100M. We have IT, Bradley, Smart, Crowder, Mickey, Rozier all making about that much combined. He's a MA native, and he'll be the starting center on a very good team in the East, and we can pay him the most.

In a vacuum it can be argued any which way, but the master plan matters. Trade #3+filler for Noel, and then get Durant's wink-wink to send Sacramento the motherlode of draft picks for Cousins. It's a lot of IFs, but that's a contender with a long window.

#16, #23, BKN17, BKN18, MEM19, Amir, KO, Rozier
for Cousins

That's FIVE 1st rounders, 3 with high lottery potential, plus 2 young players.

Roster
---------------------
Durant- $26M
Cousins- $15.8M
Bradley- $8.3M
Thomas- $6.6M
Crowder- $6.5M
Jerebko- $5.0M
Noel- $4.4M
Smart- $3.6M
Young- $1.8M
Mickey- $1.2M
Hunter- $1.1M
----------------------
$80.5M

Starters: IT/ Bradley/ Durant/ Cousins/ Noel
Bench: Smart/ Hunter/ Crowder/ Jerebko/ Mickey
Waiver Wire: Young

That's a contender with:
League's best top 3 scorers (IT/ Durant/ Cousins)
3 All-NBA level defenders (Smart/ Bradley/ Noel)
2 more very good defenders (Cousins/ Crowder)
Two starter level 3-and-D types (Bradley/ Crowder)
Two utility men (Jerebko/ Mickey)
$10M to spend

A guy can dream, right?

[walker834]

If we could get Saric AND Noel for 3 I'd be ecstatic.

Don't see it happening but Danny really seems to have leverage.

This is the type of sweetener we need.  As we get closer to the draft teams are going to sweeten offers and something else will happen.  2 days to go.

It's terrific because ever since trading trading the big 3 really Danny has just been waiting for a time where he is able to control the leverage and 3 days before the draft it appears he's finally got it.

Philly offers something like this I do it.  Even if it's noel and comes down to that and no other offers are made I might do it but shhhh for now.

What we need is some team to step up or us as far as our pursuit of players.

The issue is Danny always tries for the better deal.  It might not happen this time where we have to step up somewhere or just make a deal like this.

For now I feel like I'm at the whiz haggling over the price of a stereo.  Thinking out loud.

[Beat LA]

Draft Brown. Trade Crowder and later picks for Kevin Love.  I'm just throwing stones into the ocean at this point.

Draft Hield. Trade Bradley for ? etc, etc..

We need to make as hard a run at j. butler as we can. Drafting Murray or Chriss gets even more messy.

Why?

[walker834]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjQKFoUdk4g


This basically explains the internet in a nutshell and life apparently for some people. Haggling over the  price of a stereo.  Nobody beats the Wiz.  Nobody. That store and the internet just became a whole new meaning to me.

[colincb]

Our own Kevin O'Connor has another angle on this that has also been put forward by some of our astute forum brethren:

The hot stove rumor mill is starting to sizzle for the Boston Celtics. Former Providence head coach Tim Welsh reported on CSN's Sports Tonight that the Philadelphia Sixers are pushing to complete a trade for Boston's third pick before Thursday's NBA Draft.

"Philly has told Kris Dunn's camp and his agent they are trying to push the buttons to have this happen before the draft," Welsh said. "They've been in Providence locked in to the city talking to everyone that's ever encountered Kris Dunn. They are putting the full court press on the Celtics to acquire the third pick. It could go down in the next two days, so we'll see. Boston has the upper hand in knowing what Philly wants."

A #WelshBomb might not carry the same weight as a #WojBomb, but this is intriguing. Welsh was one of the first to report Philly's interest in Dunn and having been connected to Dunn since before he committed to Providence, it's apparent he's plugged into the situation.

Welsh said the Celtics prefer Nerlens Noel to Jahlil Okafor in a trade package, which shouldn't come as a surprise. Noel is simply a better player in the positionless NBA.

Noel has tremendous potential on defense as a rangy shot blocker and he's an explosive leaper who would give the Celtics a serious lob threat.

Okafor is a potential star low post scorer, but he doesn't exactly fit Boston's style as a lazy defender and rebounder. One advantage to Okafor, however, is he has two more years than Noel on his contract.

At face value, this makes sense; the Celtics might see Noel as a player that can take their defense to an even higher level. But as good as Noel already is, he doesn't have the upside that Jaylen Brown or Dragan Bender does. He'll also be a restricted free agent next summer and could earn a max contract.

Anytime you're talking about Danny Ainge and the Celtics, you have to think big. The Celtics have dreams of signing Kevin Durant this summer and acquiring Noel or Okafor doesn't exactly move the needle towards making that happen.

But Jimmy Butler would.

Butler's name has been involved in rumors for months and the Celtics' interest goes back even further. Chicago's frontcourt is a barren wasteland, so it'd make sense if they have interest in Noel or Okafor. Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol are past-their-prime free agents. Taj Gibson and Nikola Mirotic are merely role players. Bobby Portis is unproven.

Throw in a name like first-team all defensive guard Avery Bradley, and maybe you spike Chicago's interest. Add in more draft picks from Boston and/or Philly, and maybe they're willing to pull the trigger.

Though Butler is one of the best two-way players in the NBA, building around a disgruntled superstar might not be the best course of action when Chicago is about to enter a transition phase.

What's intriguing about Welsh's report is the sense of urgency from Philadelphia to complete a trade before Thursday's draft.

It'd also make sense for the Celtics to escalate negotiations since the completion of a blockbuster deal would send a signal to Durant and other free agents that Boston is on the rise. But if the Bulls are actually involved in talks -- keep in mind, this is just speculation -- then there's really no incentive for them to push it.

The offer would probably have to be overwhelming, but the Bulls are at least willing to listen. They said so themselves.

"I think John (Paxson) made it pretty clear we've got to take a look at everything," Bulls general manager Gar Forman told the media in April when asked Butler being an untouchable player. "We've got to explore all options and I don't think there's anything that's off the table when you have a disappointing year like this."

 

[BDeCosta26]

**** at these one-sided draft proposals. 

Okafor for the #3 pick is fair value for both sides.  People need to lay off the crack pipe with the sixers needing to throw in much more. Indeed, they may have enough to get BOTH Simmons and Dunn but time will tell.

Now, that doesn't mean we need to do the trade because maybe we prefer the player we can get at #3.  Up to Danny, assuming any of this is true.  But so annoyed at ridiculous fans.  You can bet that any trade a fan would make is going to be one-sided.

But many experts agree that Philly will have to send out more than Oakafor.

Obviously everyone is entitled to their opinion.  But it flies against pretty basic logic.  If okafor was in this draft, he'd be in the conversation for the top 2 and I think he'd pretty much be a slam dunk for #3.

Now maybe Danny doesn't like him.  Or maybe he doesn't think he fits.  In that case don't even consider a trade. But the value is about right for #3.  That's all I'm saying.

I'm not so sure that's true. I think Okafor would be a top 5/6 pick in this draft, but it's not like he has Simmons/Ingram potential. Just like he didn't have KAT potential last year.

Beyond that, It's a different situation. Okafor isn't a "prospect" being judged without any NBA experience. His rookie year is over. What we learned from that year is that, for one, he'll NEVER be able to defend any switches onto 4's in this league (a vital requirement for a CBS big), nor has he shown an ability to efficiently headline an offense, which he had the chance to do in Philly. Kid consistently takes on double or triple teams in the post instead of passing out to the open shooter, and he's too poor of an outside shooter to be effective without the ball.

After a year in the NBA, we've learned that Okafor is nothing more than a new age Al Jefferson. Would you trade your best asset for a 20 year old Big Al? I didn't think so.

[Beat LA]

Draft Dragan Bender? He's noel but can score.

Welsh said the overseas workout was awful.

I get he doesn't fit as an interior presence or rebounder yet but we do have Sully and KO and Amir.  GEtting all them PT would be a challenge and they don't really fit.  But Bender can play that Love spot and he's more versatile than that.  He can also play the Noel spot. 

Yeah....  Not feeling so good about our prospects right now.  Bender apparently has a ways to go.

KO is neither an interior presence nor a rebounder, Sully should have been gone a long time ago, we should not pick up Amir's team option, and we should jettison Jerebko, as well, imo, and don't even mention Zeller.  Ugh.