Lowe's predictions on the C's

[Eddie20]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/17734638/30-crazy-predictions-2016-17-nba-season-zach-lowe

Hayward-

Utah waited for Charlotte to max him out last time around, and Hayward has a long memory. The Jazz have a ton of guys to pay, and if they down enough beers (just kidding, it's Utah!), they might convince themselves they have the wing depth to withstand Hayward bolting. His beloved college coach runs a rising team with an easy roadmap to max cap space -- and real interest in Hayward, per several league sources.

But if Utah makes a leap, the smart money is on Hayward sticking. The Jazz can offer a winning young core, an extra fifth season, and if the new CBA breaks right for them, a little more cash than home teams can dangle under the current deal.

Olynyk extennsion-

Kelly Olynyk: No. Giving Olynyk a raise over his cap hold amount would cramp Boston's plans to carve out max-cap space.

Defense-

Boston leads the league in forcing turnovers
Boston finished third last season, behind Memphis and Houston, and added a skilled big man in Horford capable of trapping ball-handlers far from the rim. Marcus Smart, a maniac, is a year older.

Boston is probably the best bet to lead the league in points allowed per possession -- i.e., total defense -- after finishing tied for fourth last season behind San Antonio, Atlanta and Indiana. That somehow feels premature. Boston still doesn't have an intimidator at the rim, and opponents might hit better than 33.6 percent from deep -- the stingy mark Boston allowed last season.

Other points of interest....

Cousins' trade-

Is this the season Sacramento finally makes DeMarcus Cousins available? Right now, Cousins is off the market. Kings owner Vivek Ranadive loves him. But this is Cousins' seventh season. He has been a spectacular offensive player for most of that time. He has been a spectacular defensive player for bits and pieces of it. He has been a well-loved, stable teammate for slices of it. He has been all three of those things at once for barely any time at all.

Noel extension-

Nelens Noel: No

Bosh-

The most likely course of action as of now in this murky, sad situation, per sources all around it: The Heat wait until after March 1 to waive Bosh so that he is not eligible to appear in the postseason for any team that signs him. At that point, Bosh's mammoth salary would vanish from Miami's cap sheet, freeing Riley to plop his rings in front of one or two stars this summer.

Bosh wants to play, and some team will absolutely sign him for the minimum -- even if it's just for this season. Bosh is still going to get all of his money from Miami, and suitors will try to coax him into signing through 2017-18.

That is Miami's financial nightmare: The Heat spend a gazillion on free agents this summer, and Bosh plays at least 25 games elsewhere in 2017-18 -- at which point, NBA rules require his salary nestle back atop Miami's cap number. That could send the Heat flying into luxury tax hell. Miami hasn't found a middle ground that would allow it to waive Bosh and proceed with financial certainty. Bosh is under no obligation to provide them with one.

Meanwhile, signing Bosh on the cheap is a no-harm, no-foul move for a team with an open roster spot and the patience for a thorough medical evaluation.

[tarheelsxxiii]

Unless Utah makes a leap this year, it has to be a near-lock that Gordy ends up in Green. Add a monster in the middle, alongside Horford, and we could be a fairly legitimate threat to come out of the East.

[jpotter33]

Unless Utah makes a leap this year, it has to be a near-lock that Gordy ends up in Green. Add a monster in the middle, alongside Horford, and we could be a fairly legitimate threat to come out of the East.

I don't think that we'll have the capability of adding both Hayward AND someone else in the middle. So the question you have to ask yourself is this - is adding Hayward in itself going to be enough? I really don't think so, which makes me think he's not worth the salary he'll get.

EDIT: Unless he can legitimately play the 4 full-time and move Horford over to the 5, though I think Horford has been looking pretty good playing the 4 for us.

[Eddie20]

Unless Utah makes a leap this year, it has to be a near-lock that Gordy ends up in Green. Add a monster in the middle, alongside Horford, and we could be a fairly legitimate threat to come out of the East.

The Bosh situation is so interesting to me. Only play him in home games, or games that he can travel to easily via ground transportation. Would he be willing? Who knows? But that seems like a good alternative as Boston is relatively close to a handful of other teams home arenas and makes traveling a lot easier. Plus, adding Bosh on this team would probably make us a legitimate threat to Cleveland.

[jpotter33]

A couple of observations I had when I was reading this earlier:

1) I disagree with the Cousins stuff. They're once again going to be far from competing for a playoff spot, especially without Rondo this year, and the promise of a Brooklyn pick should be more than enough to finally get them to part with Boogie.

Then again, they're also pretty incompetent and might think that they could re-sign him in two years. So who knows.

2) The LaMarcus Aldridge issue was interesting. Lowe was positing that there could very well be an outside chance of the Spurs trading Aldridge if they under-performed this season in order to start building a core more age-appropriate for their star in Leonard. Though it's unlikely, you'd have to think that we'd be a prime landing spot in that case with all of our young talent. I love the idea of a frontcourt of Crowder, LMA, and Horford.

[jpotter33]

Unless Utah makes a leap this year, it has to be a near-lock that Gordy ends up in Green. Add a monster in the middle, alongside Horford, and we could be a fairly legitimate threat to come out of the East.

The Bosh situation is so interesting to me. Only play him in home games, or games that he can travel to easily via ground transportation. Would he be willing? Who knows? But that seems like a good alternative as Boston is relatively close to a handful of other teams home arenas and makes traveling a lot easier. Plus, adding Bosh on this team would probably make us a legitimate threat to Cleveland.

It's being reported that Riley is being **** and most likely not going to release Bosh until after the playoffs deadline. Apparently there's some financial incentive to doing it that way, but I have to imagine that he'd tick off a lot of players and agents by doing this.

http://heatnation.com/team-news/miami-heat-wait-playoff-deadline-waive-chris-bosh/?utm_content=buffer728c2&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

[tankcity!]

Am I the only one who finds his Chris Bosh section sickening? If they do not waive him until March just so he can't play in the playoffs is terrible. I hope it isn't true.

[tankcity!]

Unless Utah makes a leap this year, it has to be a near-lock that Gordy ends up in Green. Add a monster in the middle, alongside Horford, and we could be a fairly legitimate threat to come out of the East.

I don't think that we'll have the capability of adding both Hayward AND someone else in the middle. So the question you have to ask yourself is this - is adding Hayward in itself going to be enough? I really don't think so, which makes me think he's not worth the salary he'll get.

EDIT: Unless he can legitimately play the 4 full-time and move Horford over to the 5, though I think Horford has been looking pretty good playing the 4 for us.

So Cousins is the solution to everything

[alldaboston]

Unless Utah makes a leap this year, it has to be a near-lock that Gordy ends up in Green. Add a monster in the middle, alongside Horford, and we could be a fairly legitimate threat to come out of the East.

i dont think so. He really loves Utah from all the accounts i've read, and i would be surprised to see him anywhere else but Utah next season.

And I also think we should start giving Utah the props they deserve. they're a really good team guys. incredibly elite defensive team, good offensive options, lots of dept, pretty young too. they've got a really great thing going on there. That 50 win threshold might not be out of reach for them. They've been so plagued with injuries, though, that it's hard to ever see them as a complete product.

Finally, i think we should target our free agent money to someone like Blake Griffin first. I could see him getting frustrated with LA, especially if they dont do any better this year again. he would be a great fit next to Horford. Both of them have developed good jump shots, blake has a nice post game too, explosive guy, pretty [dang] good passing for a big too. a frontcourt of Crowder, Blake, and Horford would be insane.

[tankcity!]

A couple of observations I had when I was reading this earlier:

1) I disagree with the Cousins stuff. They're once again going to be far from competing for a playoff spot, especially without Rondo this year, and the promise of a Brooklyn pick should be more than enough to finally get them to part with Boogie.

Then again, they're also pretty incompetent and might think that they could re-sign him in two years. So who knows.

2) The LaMarcus Aldridge issue was interesting. Lowe was positing that there could very well be an outside chance of the Spurs trading Aldridge if they under-performed this season in order to start building a core more age-appropriate for their star in Leonard. Though it's unlikely, you'd have to think that we'd be a prime landing spot in that case with all of our young talent. I love the idea of a frontcourt of Crowder, LMA, and Horford.

Hard to say because the Kings are really unpredictable. I mean they could've gotten so much for him from  the Lakers alone and they didn't do it. I mean Cousin's value has depreciated because his contract is going to expire soon. Another situation I find depressing. My dream scenario was Westbrook and Cousins coming to the Celtics, but it has been quashed.

[tankcity!]

Unless Utah makes a leap this year, it has to be a near-lock that Gordy ends up in Green. Add a monster in the middle, alongside Horford, and we could be a fairly legitimate threat to come out of the East.

i dont think so. He really loves Utah from all the accounts i've read, and i would be surprised to see him anywhere else but Utah next season.

And I also think we should start giving Utah the props they deserve. they're a really good team guys. incredibly elite defensive team, good offensive options, lots of dept, pretty young too. they've got a really great thing going on there. That 50 win threshold might not be out of reach for them. They've been so plagued with injuries, though, that it's hard to ever see them as a complete product.

How much better would Hayward make us anyway. I really don't see the hype around this player. I'd rather save the last max cap space for a superstar, since this team can't win a championship without at least one superstar.

[alldaboston]

Unless Utah makes a leap this year, it has to be a near-lock that Gordy ends up in Green. Add a monster in the middle, alongside Horford, and we could be a fairly legitimate threat to come out of the East.

i dont think so. He really loves Utah from all the accounts i've read, and i would be surprised to see him anywhere else but Utah next season.

And I also think we should start giving Utah the props they deserve. they're a really good team guys. incredibly elite defensive team, good offensive options, lots of dept, pretty young too. they've got a really great thing going on there. That 50 win threshold might not be out of reach for them. They've been so plagued with injuries, though, that it's hard to ever see them as a complete product.

How much better would Hayward make us anyway. I really don't see the hype around this player. I'd rather save the last max cap space for a superstar, since this team can't win a championship without at least one superstar.

yeah, i agree. i think you started writing this reply after i made my edit talking about Griffin. i think if we go for Blake it would be a much wiser choice. of course that depends if Blake is even ok with leaving LA. aside from basketball, he also has his business interests too (hollywood, commercials, etc)

[jpotter33]

Unless Utah makes a leap this year, it has to be a near-lock that Gordy ends up in Green. Add a monster in the middle, alongside Horford, and we could be a fairly legitimate threat to come out of the East.

I don't think that we'll have the capability of adding both Hayward AND someone else in the middle. So the question you have to ask yourself is this - is adding Hayward in itself going to be enough? I really don't think so, which makes me think he's not worth the salary he'll get.

EDIT: Unless he can legitimately play the 4 full-time and move Horford over to the 5, though I think Horford has been looking pretty good playing the 4 for us.

So Cousins is the solution to everything

Honestly, yeah, I think so. He would just fit so perfectly both with his position and style of play.

 If you suggest a trade along the lines of DMC and Collison for Amir (or preferably Zeller and JJ rather than trading Amir), Brown, Rozier, Boston/Brooklyn 2017 pick, and the Memphis pick, which is seemingly fair, especially as long as they're holding onto him, then you get a lineup that is ridiculously stacked, balanced, and deep:

PG: IT, Collison
SG: Bradley, Smart
SF: Crowder, Green
PF: Horford, JJ
C: Cousins, KO

That's banner 18 right there, baby!

[tankcity!]

Unless Utah makes a leap this year, it has to be a near-lock that Gordy ends up in Green. Add a monster in the middle, alongside Horford, and we could be a fairly legitimate threat to come out of the East.

I don't think that we'll have the capability of adding both Hayward AND someone else in the middle. So the question you have to ask yourself is this - is adding Hayward in itself going to be enough? I really don't think so, which makes me think he's not worth the salary he'll get.

EDIT: Unless he can legitimately play the 4 full-time and move Horford over to the 5, though I think Horford has been looking pretty good playing the 4 for us.

So Cousins is the solution to everything

Honestly, yeah, I think so. He would just fit so perfectly both with his position and style of play.

 If you suggest a trade along the lines of DMC and Collison for Amir, Brown, Rozier, Boston/Brooklyn 2017 pick, and the Memphis pick, which is seemingly fair, especially as long as they're holding onto him, then you get a lineup that is ridiculously stacked, balanced, and deep:

PG: IT, Collison
SG: Bradley, Smart
SF: Crowder, Green
PF: Horford, JJ
C: Cousins, KO

That's banner 18 right there, baby!

I think he would be key in beating GS. He could guard multiple positions and they have nobody who would be able to stop him.

[celticsclay]

Unless Utah makes a leap this year, it has to be a near-lock that Gordy ends up in Green. Add a monster in the middle, alongside Horford, and we could be a fairly legitimate threat to come out of the East.

The Bosh situation is so interesting to me. Only play him in home games, or games that he can travel to easily via ground transportation. Would he be willing? Who knows? But that seems like a good alternative as Boston is relatively close to a handful of other teams home arenas and makes traveling a lot easier. Plus, adding Bosh on this team would probably make us a legitimate threat to Cleveland.

I can't imagine the Heat will stick to that. It just sounds like a horrible PR move, especially if Bosh starts publicly saying he really is ready to go and wants to move on while thanking the Heat and their fans. Sure make him wait till February, but don't force him to miss the playoffs. He is 32 and probably would have 3-4 playoffs left if everything worked out.