Would people still pay IT a max?

[Celtics4ever]

I think we should trade IT for Klay Thompson so the warriors can resign Durant and Curry.   We would have to throw in some pieces but Thompson plays on both ends and can score and would do well next to Fultz.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Good grief people, it's one thing to say IT is not getting a max from the Celtics.

But to say IT is not worth a max despite having a 29/6 season and an overall great postseason... really?

He's 100% worth and getting a max from a team out there if he leaves Boston.

IT is worth the max. But who knows for how long will he be worth it. By his next contract kicks in, he will be 30!

The question is would we still want to pay him when he's 33-34 the max? He's very good, but also very limited, and you don't want to pay a very limited player, who may very well be on the decline by the time the contract is on it's final two years max money.

[Phantom255x]

Good grief people, it's one thing to say IT is not getting a max from the Celtics.

But to say IT is not worth a max despite having a 29/6 season and an overall great postseason... really?

He's 100% worth and getting a max from a team out there if he leaves Boston.

IT is worth the max. But who knows for how long will he be worth it. By his next contract kicks in, he will be 30!

The question is would we still want to pay him when he's 33-34 the max? He's very good, but also very limited, and you don't want to pay a very limited player, who may very well be on the decline by the time the contract is on it's final two years max money.

Same arguments could be made for the likes of Horford and Conley.

They still got max, and Conley got 5/150!

He's getting the max. Question is, what team gives it to him.

And I think IT can be productive until ages 32-33. Maybe not a 29/6 player at that time but still a great 25 PPG scorer.

[Rosco917]

I think we should trade IT for Klay Thompson so the warriors can resign Durant and Curry.   We would have to throw in some pieces but Thompson plays on both ends and can score and would do well next to Fultz.

That is a good idea, if it can be pulled off.

I need a player that can be of some value on the defensive end of the floor. A player that doesn't need to be,
"baby sat for" on D.

[Dino Pitino]

Some team out there will give him the max out of desperation. Hope it ain't us. The ride has been super fun, but the Celts can't hitch their future to Isaiah. This season has been his peak. This is as far as he can take you.

[keevsnick]

No. And its not that he doesn't deserve it, he absolutely does. Its just that I fear you'd end up paying for past production rather than future production. At the end of next year Isaiah will be 29 and eligible for a 5 year 179 million max. He could get 40 million a year at age 34. Given his stature there's very little chance that's not a terrible deal. If he loses even half a step athletically he's toast, because he does not provide value defensively or on the boards.

So given that you have the top pick which projects as the best guard prospect since at least Irving, who has massive offensive and defensive upside, why do that?

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Good grief people, it's one thing to say IT is not getting a max from the Celtics.

But to say IT is not worth a max despite having a 29/6 season and an overall great postseason... really?

He's 100% worth and getting a max from a team out there if he leaves Boston.

IT is worth the max. But who knows for how long will he be worth it. By his next contract kicks in, he will be 30!

The question is would we still want to pay him when he's 33-34 the max? He's very good, but also very limited, and you don't want to pay a very limited player, who may very well be on the decline by the time the contract is on it's final two years max money.

Same arguments could be made for the likes of Horford and Conley.

They still got max, and Conley got 5/150!

He's getting the max. Question is, what team gives it to him.

And I think IT can be productive until ages 32-33. Maybe not a 29/6 player at that time but still a great 25 PPG scorer.

But they aren't liabilities defensively, Isaiah is.

Even on an advanced age, we can assume that Mike Conley and Al Horford would still be able to defend their positions. IT at his prime is already a defensive hole that we have to make up for, what happens when his offensive outputs diminish?

You pay the man if we want to keep him, but you don't give him the max. If he wants the max, we let him walk. Tough, but that's the smart thing to do.

[blink]

Some team out there will give him the max out of desperation. Hope it ain't us. The ride has been super fun, but the Celts can't hitch their future to Isaiah. This season has been his peak. This is as far as he can take you.

This is exactly how I feel.  Great season IT, incredible actually.  He is going to get paid, but those last 2-3 years of that max contract really scare me. 

[PhoSita]

I really don't think there's a choice.

You've got to hold onto your superstar player.

He's flawed but he's the guy we got.  We've got the assets to build a good young team around him.

That should be the goal.

[Rosco917]

We have to stop trying to put a round peg into a square hole. IT as a focal point, and starting PG, playing long minutes and being a player that needs to be baby sat on defense is just that. It's a path the opposition can plan for, and take advantage of, leading to a victory, (and especially in the playoffs)

I want to see just who offers him a full, and long term max contract. He may get one...just don't let it be the Celtics.

His value is being a spark plug off the bench, he would be killer 20 minutes a game player coming in for suitable starting PG. If he can't understand that trade him while we can get something for him.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

I really don't think there's a choice.

You've got to hold onto your superstar player.

He's flawed but he's the guy we got.  We've got the assets to build a good young team around him.

That should be the goal.

I disagree, and for one reason. We have a choice.

We have a choice, we have the #1 pick coming in, and either we trade or keep that, theoretically speaking, that player could be your superstar.

And we also have cap room to, again in theory, get another one.

We will have a year to figure this out, but if whoever we get in Free Agency and the #1 pick pans out, we'd have to really think about if we should be giving IT the max or not.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Some team out there will give him the max out of desperation. Hope it ain't us. The ride has been super fun, but the Celts can't hitch their future to Isaiah. This season has been his peak. This is as far as he can take you.

This is exactly how I feel.  Great season IT, incredible actually.  He is going to get paid, but those last 2-3 years of that max contract really scare me.

Agreed here. It's really the final two years that is going to make this tough.

If he was 26-27, this is a no brainer, but to pay him a ton of money with his liabilities, and being 34, is tough.

That's why I asked if we could front load the contract. I don't know if the CBA allows that, but this would be a heck of a lot easier if we can get the biggest cap hit on the first year, and it decreases as the years pass.

[Chris22]

Fultz should replace IT, and Brown or Hayward should replace Bradley. Then try to get George or Durant.

[Tr1boy]

How about a 5 year / $140 million contract?

That's a flat rate of $28 million per year with a Player Option on the 5th year. That 5th year, we can consider his "compensation" for what he has done this season for us and for the franchise by still paying him clos to top dollar as he will be 34-35 by that time (and who knows if he's still an All-NBA talent by then).

I mean, I'm alone on this boat, but if it will be a flat $28 million cap hit, I'm down signing him on that contract. I think that covers the "non-max" argument, but also pays him enough for what he has done (to me atleast), especially on the final years of that contract.

4 year 100 million (25 per season) is the most i can see danny/wyc shelling out...by the end of the contract it will be time to extend Brown/Fultz

either IT4 takes this...or Celtics will try to trade him.   Or awkwardly finish out the season with a 1 year rental for another playoff run

[Rosco917]

Give IT some room to take the high road, and except an offer of less money than he "should" to win a ring in Boston.

Let him have the room to say, "I'm a Boston Celtic first last and always, I want ring in Boston. I'll do what ever the organization feels is best for the team. It's not alway about dollars for me." Hey, you never know, maybe he and his agent don't get the interest they think they will.

If he leaves room open to come off the bench, as the NBA's best 6th man...give it to him. Because with him coming off the bench, playing behind a suitable two way PG, he'll actually lead you into a finals appearance.

The guy is an offensive weapon, used properly.