Woj - Horford Decision Expected Saturday Evening (ATL upping offer)

[Surferdad]

Pat Riley is always crafty to build his team.
It worked out well with Lebron, but now it won't anymore.
Players devalue, they can't reload all the time.
They were lucky enough with whiteside, but I don't believe they'll be top5 without Bosh and another year of Wade.

He just lost Deng to the Lakers too. 

The Lakers are doing a far better job than the Celtics in free agency so far--by not aiming so high.

What the lakers are doing should make celtics fans very excited.  A couple of guys to help them get out of the basement and stop them from competing with the nets for the #1 pick

Zach Lowe ‏@ZachLowe_NBA  3m3 minutes ago
LAL now at point where even trading Lou and stretching Swaggy doesn't get them double-max space next summer. Even if they give 1st rd pick

TP, exactly what I said in the other thread.

[JOMVP]

Exactly. Lakers should have been focused on next year wother looking into teaming up Russell Westbrook with another top star plus having another lottery pick. Now they are stuck with trying to convince Westbrook to join a team by himself with middle tier veteran free agents. Hopefully for them Ingram develops into the player they drafted at 2.

[dreamgreen]

Atlanta will offer him the max, trade Millsap to the Suns we will take it right up the ass, that's my prediction!

[BitterJim]

Atlanta will offer him the max, trade Millsap to the Suns we will take it right up the ass, that's my prediction!

What do the Suns have to trade for him?

[jpotter33]

So, if Horford goes somewhere else, is it safe to say that replacing Horford with Howard makes them a worse overall team? Their defense was good already, but they needed to improve their offense. I don't think Howard helps them there at all. Between losing Teague and this swap, I think they're a worse team.

Things may hopefully change later this weekend, but right now, we're also a worse team just by losing Turner. Cleveland, Indiana, Atlanta and Toronto are ahead of us. Again, that may quickly change by the end of the weekend.

Assuming we get Horford (even without Durant), it's shaping up to be a more competitive EC in 2016-17.  This is my top-5, not necessarily in order of finish:

CLE - EC champion
TOR - EC finalist. Basically tread water so far with re-signing Derozan.
IND - Big upgrades - Teague, Jefferson, George
ATL - Howard, Milsap, Basemore
BOS - Horford, IT

Gotta agree with this. Except with Atlanta. I think age and the loss of Teague catch up to them. If Bosh is healthy and Wade returns to Miami, they could be better than last year, if not, probably worse. Indiana probably could slip into the top 5 and so could Detroit with a year of growth. But Boston would definitely be top 5.

Yeah, you could swap in MIA for ATL in that top-5, but I am assuming Bosh not returning and Wade either too old so less effective, or maybe going elsewhere.

I disagree with this. I think by adding Horford we're in contention with Toronto for second best team in the East easily. I definitely think Atlanta is worse, and I think everyone should cool their jets on Indiana. Their improvements aren't going to jump them up over us. I actually don't think Teague is that major of a replacement over Hill.

[BDeCosta26]

When I heard Horford had played for Donovan in Florida, I saw the handwriting on the wall. Horford met with OKC first. If they can clear cap space, Danny will come up zero.

Now it's possible Durant will shock everybody and go somewhere else. That would make Horford more playable.

But right now, to me, it looks like Danny has put too much focus on KD and Horford. Maybe aimed too high. In the process, he's missed out on a guy who was more doable--Howard.

So what's plan B, Danny?  Kanter? Or somebody else a team has to unload to clear cap space?
He can outbid Toronto for Biyombo. Or maybe Ezeli. Whatever, he needs some help up front or the team will sit at 48 wins--or less.

This is Danny ainge.  Swing for the fences for trades, bunt or hit pop fouls during the draft.  His philosophy is maddening.

We took a guy who might have the highest upside in the draft two weeks ago at #3.

Hardly seems like a bunt to me.

[RedClaw33]

In a rush this morning and not sure if this has been posted already...

 Adam Himmelsbach: Source familiar w/Celtics meeting w/ Horford says it went well & that belief is Boston has “good chance” of signing: bostonglobe.com/sports/celtics… – via Twitter AdamHimmelsbach

Hoping we land Horford at some point today.  With the way money is being thrown around he would be a steal at max money.

[BDeCosta26]

Pat Riley is always crafty to build his team.
It worked out well with Lebron, but now it won't anymore.
Players devalue, they can't reload all the time.
They were lucky enough with whiteside, but I don't believe they'll be top5 without Bosh and another year of Wade.

He just lost Deng to the Lakers too. 

The Lakers are doing a far better job than the Celtics in free agency so far--by not aiming so high.

What the lakers are doing should make celtics fans very excited.  A couple of guys to help them get out of the basement and stop them from competing with the nets for the #1 pick

Zach Lowe ‏@ZachLowe_NBA  3m3 minutes ago
LAL now at point where even trading Lou and stretching Swaggy doesn't get them double-max space next summer. Even if they give 1st rd pick

TP, exactly what I said in the other thread.

I would MUCH rather lose out on KD/Horford and make a minor move or two instead 135$M on Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng.

[Surferdad]

So, if Horford goes somewhere else, is it safe to say that replacing Horford with Howard makes them a worse overall team? Their defense was good already, but they needed to improve their offense. I don't think Howard helps them there at all. Between losing Teague and this swap, I think they're a worse team.

Things may hopefully change later this weekend, but right now, we're also a worse team just by losing Turner. Cleveland, Indiana, Atlanta and Toronto are ahead of us. Again, that may quickly change by the end of the weekend.

Assuming we get Horford (even without Durant), it's shaping up to be a more competitive EC in 2016-17.  This is my top-5, not necessarily in order of finish:

CLE - EC champion
TOR - EC finalist. Basically tread water so far with re-signing Derozan.
IND - Big upgrades - Teague, Jefferson, George
ATL - Howard, Milsap, Basemore
BOS - Horford, IT

Gotta agree with this. Except with Atlanta. I think age and the loss of Teague catch up to them. If Bosh is healthy and Wade returns to Miami, they could be better than last year, if not, probably worse. Indiana probably could slip into the top 5 and so could Detroit with a year of growth. But Boston would definitely be top 5.

Yeah, you could swap in MIA for ATL in that top-5, but I am assuming Bosh not returning and Wade either too old so less effective, or maybe going elsewhere.

I disagree with this. I think by adding Horford we're in contention with Toronto for second best team in the East easily. I definitely think Atlanta is worse, and I think everyone should cool their jets on Indiana. Their improvements aren't going to jump them up over us. I actually don't think Teague is that major of a replacement over Hill.

Not sure what you are disagreeing to.  I listed my Top-5 teams and said "not necessarily in order of finish".  Only sure thing is CLE is #1 seed.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Zach Klein @ZachKleinWSB
Multiple sources tell me Al Horford is not a fan of the Dwight Howard signing. Could play major role in decision to stay with Hawks

[oldtype]

Zach Klein @ZachKleinWSB
Multiple sources tell me Al Horford is not a fan of the Dwight Howard signing. Could play major role in decision to stay with Hawks

I mean yeah, they didn't offer him a fifth year and then signed some dude to play in his position who's a known locker room cancer. What's not to like.

[hpantazo]

Zach Klein @ZachKleinWSB
Multiple sources tell me Al Horford is not a fan of the Dwight Howard signing. Could play major role in decision to stay with Hawks

That is big news if accurate. The Hawks being out of the running would mean its down to us and OCK basically, with OKC stuck unless they can unload some contracts fast.

[cltc5]

When I heard Horford had played for Donovan in Florida, I saw the handwriting on the wall. Horford met with OKC first. If they can clear cap space, Danny will come up zero.

Now it's possible Durant will shock everybody and go somewhere else. That would make Horford more playable.

But right now, to me, it looks like Danny has put too much focus on KD and Horford. Maybe aimed too high. In the process, he's missed out on a guy who was more doable--Howard.

So what's plan B, Danny?  Kanter? Or somebody else a team has to unload to clear cap space?
He can outbid Toronto for Biyombo. Or maybe Ezeli. Whatever, he needs some help up front or the team will sit at 48 wins--or less.

This is Danny ainge.  Swing for the fences for trades, bunt or hit pop fouls during the draft.  His philosophy is maddening.

We took a guy who might have the highest upside in the draft two weeks ago at #3.

Hardly seems like a bunt to me.

Did u see last years pick?  Jaylen was projected between 5-10.  He wasn't even bpa.  And you said might.  Jesus why do people have to constantly defend Danny like it's their freakin baby or something g. Reality check!

[Kane3387]

Atlanta will offer him the max, trade Millsap to the Suns we will take it right up the ass, that's my prediction!

What do the Suns have to trade for him?

They did just draft bender and Criss

[MBunge]

Pat Riley is always crafty to build his team.
It worked out well with Lebron, but now it won't anymore.
Players devalue, they can't reload all the time.
They were lucky enough with whiteside, but I don't believe they'll be top5 without Bosh and another year of Wade.

He just lost Deng to the Lakers too. 

The Lakers are doing a far better job than the Celtics in free agency so far--by not aiming so high.

Free-Agency is not a competition on how many players a team can sign and how many bad contracts they can give out...

The Lakers are doing an incredible job of making bad free-agency decision.

The defense of what the Lakers are doing is the Philly gets their pick if it's not top three next draft, so even if they tried to tank they could still lose it, and they may realize they are years away from being any free agent's first or second choice.  They're recognizing that they've got to work their way back to good before they can even think about more than that.

Mike