Globe article: Jaylen tells Ainge "I'm ready to play and I'm ready to win."

[ederson]

I don't know why you put so much stock on what an bball says.....

What did you expect hi to say ?? I only care about $$ and to have a good time ??

Melo said he wanted to win and then resigned with the Knicks!!!

But the truth is that so far the kid has shown that his head is in the right place

[td450]

In the final game, there were a few brief glimpses of the future with Jaylen. When he first came into the game, you could see he was sore, and the game was going very badly, but after a minute or two, he started to play with level of intensity I hadn't seen before.  He made a few nice plays, but more importantly, you could see he had another gear, both competitively and athletically, and he was slowly figuring out how he could impose his will on a game.

I think he has a chance to be a dominant player.

[johnnygreen]

I think the SG and SF positions are setting up nicely for the Celtics, with low cost veterans ahead of talented rookies, which helps their transition into the league. I can see Jaylen taking the next step into the starting role next season. I also think Danny should hold onto Bradley (for next season only) and slowly transition Fultz into the league (like Jaylen) , where he learns the PG position behind Thomas and the SG position behind Bradley.

[obnoxiousmime]

I predict the Celtics DO NOT sign Hayward.  According to the rules, he can make more money/years by resigning with the Jazz, who are a playoff team with a number of other good young players.  Hayward has started a family, quality of life is good in Salt Lake.

I sure hope he "resigns" with the Jazz!

This has been covered before, but the money should not be that much different. The reason being Hayward could get a 3 year + option and be a free agent again when he's 30 years old. Then he will be a 10-year player and can sign a new contract for an even bigger max deal.

The whole 5th year and extra overall money was supposed to keep players on their original teams, but the problem is some of the ones who will take advantage of it are older ones (e.g. Chris Paul, 32 years old) or the ones that are concerned about their own potential for injury (e.g. Blake Griffin).

The effect is that any player who you would really want to sign to that five-year deal, for example stars with clean injury histories and still in their prime during the five years, might be better served signing short-term deals and getting raises as opposed to being locked into a 5-year deal. And players you DON'T feel comfortable signing to a 5-year deal are probably asking for it.

Isn't it ironic? Don't you think?

No doubt. 

However, this in part, depends upon where a given player thinks the salary cap is going.  Will it continue to rise at the rate of the last 2 years? If you think the cap will rise at a lower pace, or not at all, you may be better off financially by signing a longer term deal now rather than risk injury in Year 3 of a 3-year deal which would limit the size of the subsequent late-career deal.

Players like Hayward are always in the max territory, so it would have to be a very serious injury, or some freak thing like what happened to Bosh. Also, since he has the player option he could always activate it for that fourth year.

Even if the salary cap stabilizes, it won't be going down. I don't think that's a legitimate concern.

Yes, he could technically sign a 5-year and then sign another 5-year when he's 32, if he was really trying to squeeze all the money out of Utah. I don't think even Utah would be that desperate and financially irresponsible though. As a team that's already going to bump into cap issues this season re-signing their own guys, Hayward going nuts on a max deal would really hurt their ability to add talent around him.

[kozlodoev]

Players like Hayward are always in the max territory, so it would have to be a very serious injury, or some freak thing like what happened to Bosh. Also, since he has the player option he could always activate it for that fourth year.

Wrong. Players like Hayward are rarely if ever in max territory. What you're observing right now is an artifact of being the best player on the market at times when teams find themselves with unprecedented amount of cap space because of one-time jumps in the the total salary ceiling.

Several years ago, Hayward would have been looking at a Monta Ellis type of deal. Ellis signed for 5 years, $55 million total in 2008. He did that coming off of his age-22 season in which he averaged 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game.

Ellis' potential max was $14.65 million per season, or nearly $100 million over the duration of a five-year contract. He signed for half that -- and has never come close to making as much money again (relative to the cap).

When the cap stops jerking up and returns to its more customary incremental annual increases, I fully expect players like Hayward (and Al Horford, for that matter) will not be worth nearly as much. If Hayward is smart, he won't be leaving (too much) money on the table.

[Smokeeye123]

I like Crowder but I think he would feel slighted if Brown or Hayward started over him and some emotional/lockerrom issues could rise up with that. He has a very sensitive personality.

Part of me hopes he gets traded to the Pistons or another team so that he can be a starter.

[CelticsBR]

It will be very nice to see Jaylen in SL. He did well last time but he was way more effective getting to the FT line  than shooting or doing anything else. This time, expectations should be of total control of the game.

[LilRip]

I really hope Jaylen leapfrogs Crowder as a starting SF. Crowder is a more than decent player so for JB to get his spot means he's got something special in his sophomore year.

What if we sign Hayward though?

I can see him starting at SG (because I assume we need to move Bradley to have enough cap space to sign Hayward).

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

I predict the Celtics DO NOT sign Hayward.  According to the rules, he can make more money/years by resigning with the Jazz, who are a playoff team with a number of other good young players.  Hayward has started a family, quality of life is good in Salt Lake.

nobody knows his personal situation and what his mindset is.

[Chris22]

I predict the Celtics DO NOT sign Hayward.  According to the rules, he can make more money/years by resigning with the Jazz, who are a playoff team with a number of other good young players.  Hayward has started a family, quality of life is good in Salt Lake.

nobody knows his personal situation and what his mindset is.

Surferdad does.

[csfansince60s]

I predict the Celtics DO NOT sign Hayward.  According to the rules, he can make more money/years by resigning with the Jazz, who are a playoff team with a number of other good young players.  Hayward has started a family, quality of life is good in Salt Lake.

nobody knows his personal situation and what his mindset is.

I agree....none of us do.

I'll bet CBS and DA know.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

I predict the Celtics DO NOT sign Hayward.  According to the rules, he can make more money/years by resigning with the Jazz, who are a playoff team with a number of other good young players.  Hayward has started a family, quality of life is good in Salt Lake.

nobody knows his personal situation and what his mindset is.

Surferdad does.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

I predict the Celtics DO NOT sign Hayward.  According to the rules, he can make more money/years by resigning with the Jazz, who are a playoff team with a number of other good young players.  Hayward has started a family, quality of life is good in Salt Lake.

nobody knows his personal situation and what his mindset is.

I agree....none of us do.

I'll bet CBS and DA know.

and they definitely will be gauging his interest. If we do not get hayward do we target another FA this offseason? Like many have said we do not just want a free agent to have a free agent because we did not get our main guy.  don't need a cap space filler if he does not fit our plans. wait til next year and develop kids.  I am hoping the fact he played for CBS helps us in his decision making.

[Chief]

I predict the Celtics DO NOT sign Hayward.  According to the rules, he can make more money/years by resigning with the Jazz, who are a playoff team with a number of other good young players.  Hayward has started a family, quality of life is good in Salt Lake.

nobody knows his personal situation and what his mindset is.

I agree....none of us do.

I'll bet CBS and DA know.

and they definitely will be gauging his interest. If we do not get hayward do we target another FA this offseason? Like many have said we do not just want a free agent to have a free agent because we did not get our main guy.  don't need a cap space filler if he does not fit our plans. wait til next year and develop kids.  I am hoping the fact he played for CBS helps us in his decision making.

Danny signs these 1 year helpers, at large money, as possible trade tools. If he does it again, hopefully we can do better than Zeller.

[dreamgreen]

I predict the Celtics DO NOT sign Hayward.  According to the rules, he can make more money/years by resigning with the Jazz, who are a playoff team with a number of other good young players.  Hayward has started a family, quality of life is good in Salt Lake.

Could do a S&T for him so he can get all the money. My prediction is AB and Rozier for him.