Help me stop worrying about Aron Baynes' importance

[KGs Knee]

Can we go over the cap to re-sign him next year?

Smitty77

Yes, via Non-Bird Right's.

But signing Baynes with this provision mean we can only pay him 120% of this year's salary as a starting salary next year.

The Non-Taxpayer MLE is over $8 mil, Baynes Non-Bird Right's only would be good for ~$5.2 mil.

[CelticSooner]

He really fits this team well. It would suck to lose him next year but if someone wants to overpay he's probably gone.

[Csfan1984]

I'm pretty sure he is gone. He came here to prove something and earn a big pay day. C's won't be able to resign him. I expect if C's get to ECF and he has a good series he gets Moz $.

[saltlover]

I’m not too worried.  Very few teams have cap room next year, and in a market that tight with cap room, Baynes is not how you spend it.  He’s a useful player for 20 minutes a night.  That’s MLE territory, and probably more of the taxpayer MLE than the big one.  Assuming he has a good experience here, the only thing keeping Boston from resigning him will be luxury tax concerns, and not another team outbidding.

[Snakehead]

Enjoy the year.  He deserves to get paid, he's good and better than a lot of other big men who get paid more than him, with his jump shot really making him valuable.  We got a steal.  Pistons were a mess and he was underrated.

Maybe they can figure out a way to pay him a bit and he loves his role here.  But I would just enjoy the year.

[SHAQATTACK]

i think he likes the team and his ibcreased role over the he past.  I believe he ll do his best to stay signed with Boston. 

[Phantom255x]

I’m not too worried.  Very few teams have cap room next year, and in a market that tight with cap room, Baynes is not how you spend it.  He’s a useful player for 20 minutes a night.  That’s MLE territory, and probably more of the taxpayer MLE than the big one.  Assuming he has a good experience here, the only thing keeping Boston from resigning him will be luxury tax concerns, and not another team outbidding.

If @saltlover feels optimistic that we can keep Baynes after going through all the calculus, then I'm confident too! 

[rochrist]

depth at center and PF are necessary for this team. I don't expect a full season from Horford, Baynes, Morris & Theis... I just don't see it happening. and morris i'd be surprised if he's contributing quality mins. till after Christmas at this point.

I could care less about the reg. season but it'd be nice to have some bigs for the playoffs that are familiar with the system if someone should go down.

What exactly makes you doubt their ability to continue to play? Baynes, for one, looks about as fragile as your average M1 Abrams tank. Theis doesn't appear particularly fragile either, and prior to this year, Morris missed a grand total of 3 games over the past 3 seasons.

[__ramonezy__]

From a team perspective I never did get 1 year contracts... a two year,l contract with a team option for the second protects the team against a host of things...

[vjcsmoke]

Baynes has been very good for us.  Love his toughness and hustle.  He's big improvement over the likes of Tyler Zeller and Amir Johnson.

I would like him to stay next year.  But I don't see him as a permanent starter.  More like a gritty 25 mpg rotation minutes big in future.  If we keep the Lakers pick we can draft one of the top bigs out of Porter, Bagley, Ayton, or Bamba who will eventually take over in a starting role.

[Big333223]

I’m not too worried.  Very few teams have cap room next year, and in a market that tight with cap room, Baynes is not how you spend it.  He’s a useful player for 20 minutes a night.  That’s MLE territory, and probably more of the taxpayer MLE than the big one.  Assuming he has a good experience here, the only thing keeping Boston from resigning him will be luxury tax concerns, and not another team outbidding.

If @saltlover feels optimistic that we can keep Baynes after going through all the calculus, then I'm confident too! 

Yep. Count me as satisfied.

I'll add, in response to the OP, the DPE gives the Celtics a lot of flexibility if Baynes does go down for a long stretch to find a replacement either by trade or free agency. I don't know that there's a replacement that would be as good as Baynes but we're not talking about replacing an all star, either.

[Androslav]

If you stopped worrying some time after Hayward's injury, as I did, you can try to do the same with Baynes.
If that doesn't help, lower your expectations of the season/games and you will find them much easier to watch.

Baynes is playing really well, he fits as an Aussie and he fills a need, but IMO he won't be the one that determines the successfulness of this or the next season.

BTW, Zeller is 19/12 per 36 minutes. Eat yourself alive Danny. YOU made this possible.

[Celtics4ever]

Baynes is an elite rim stopper.   I like we have the option of going big instead of just playing small ball.   This gives us a layer of tactical flexibility on the court that we lacked last year.

[green_bballers13]

Don’t forget about Marcus Morris

He was slated to be our number 2 big all along

Fair point about MM. I'm a little less expectant than some, but even if he meets expectation he is a 4. Not going to replace what Baynes brings as a Center, and forcing Al to bang with the real bigs does not maximise Horford's value defensively.

Sure they list him at four, but I expect him to play up a position like the rest of league. 

Kinda like how folks still don’t want to call Tatum a PF despite him being our starting four.

Eww gross. If Marcus Morris is playing meaningful minutes the season is already over.  When has a Morris brother ever been involved in winning anything other than a felony assault trial?

Marikieff is better than Marcus, but I think they're both quality players. They haven't won much, but they could be good role players. Big and athletic 4's. I'd take either over Kelly Olynyk, who occupied the spot last year.

[moiso]

Baynes is an elite rim stopper.   I like we have the option of going big instead of just playing small ball.   This gives us a layer of tactical flexibility on the court that we lacked last year.

When he can’t stop the player, Baynes simply stops the rim