Windhorst Stirring the Pot

[Big333223]

Windhorst has a piece up on ESPN about the Celtics' place in all the trade drama and it says... not much. There's no solid information and nothing we don't already know.

It remains the Celtics' preference to trade for Davis in June, around the draft, and then re-sign Irving in July, locking both in as their cornerstones for the future. But if Irving's commitment isn't rock solid, things get complicated.

The Celtics might feel they need to execute a Davis trade to secure Irving's commitment. But for Boston to make a massive trade offer for Davis, it might first need to have Irving's commitment to re-signing. It's a chicken-and-egg scenario.

This doesn't actually sound hard to pull off. Tell Kyrie you're going after AD and will Kyrie stay if the C's get him and when Kyrie says yes, you make the deal for AD.

Also this:

Boston is investigating the asking price of a few intriguing young players around the league, perhaps with an eye on acquiring more of New Orleans' preferred trade chips, sources tell ESPN. That could simply be due diligence or the groundwork for something big in the near future.

Ainge always working the angles. I almost don't even want to speculate on what the Celtics' offer is going to be because who knows how many teams are going to be involved and what Ainge's thinking really is.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/25894543/kyrie-irving-free-agency-influencing-deadline-moves

[Fafnir]

I suggest you listen to his podcast with Jackie Mac and Ramona Shellburne. It basically goes through this article for the most part and provides context for everything that is going on. They were live reacting to the KP trade so both he and Mac try and figure out what this means for BOS/NYK and the league.

Jackie Mac reports mid cast iirc, saying she is texting with a Celtics source about what they were thinking about Kyrie.

[footey]

Thanks for posting this.

The article also implies that Ainge could be gauging the market for Irving in case he wants to get Davis now; but that is pure speculation, and feel it would be management suicide for Ainge to do that, as it would most certainly get back to Kyrie.  Danny is not that stupid.

[Eddie20]

What immediately comes to mind...

The team wants to get something out of Rozier, so they trade him to a team that has been rumored to want him (Suns) for a player they had interest in (Josh Jackson). So maybe a package of Rozier, Yabusele, and a 1st rd pick (LAC or our own) for Jackson.

What this ultimately does it allows us to trade both Tatum and Brown for Davis, while at the same time having a player to slide into the position next season. A 2/3 rotation of Hayward (hopefully at 100%), Jackson, and Smart isn't the worst thing in the world when playing alongside Horford, Davis, and Irving. This also allows Jackson a half season to learn our system this season and make specific improvements over the summer to fit that role. The team during exit meeting always tells their players what they want them to work on and improve on over the summer.

Just a thought based upon a bunch or rumors.

[footey]

What immediately comes to mind...

The team wants to get something out of Rozier, so they trade him to a team that has been rumored to want him (Suns) for a player they had interest in (Josh Jackson). So maybe a package of Rozier, Yabusele, and a 1st rd pick (LAC or our own) for Jackson.

What this ultimately does it allows us to trade both Tatum and Brown for Davis, while at the same time having a player to slide into the position next season. A 2/3 rotation of Hayward (hopefully at 100%), Jackson, and Smart isn't the worst thing in the world when playing alongside Horford, Davis, and Irving. This also allows Jackson a half season to learn our system this season and make specific improvements over the summer to fit that role. The team during exit meeting always tells their players what they want them to work on and improve on over the summer.

Just a thought based upon a bunch or rumors.

Great thought, Eddie.  I'm surprised no one has brought up the fact that we can maximize trade value of Rozier now by doing something along these lines. It would also create more salary to send to NO for Davis for matching purposes.  TP.

[slamtheking]

What immediately comes to mind...

The team wants to get something out of Rozier, so they trade him to a team that has been rumored to want him (Suns) for a player they had interest in (Josh Jackson). So maybe a package of Rozier, Yabusele, and a 1st rd pick (LAC or our own) for Jackson.

What this ultimately does it allows us to trade both Tatum and Brown for Davis, while at the same time having a player to slide into the position next season. A 2/3 rotation of Hayward (hopefully at 100%), Jackson, and Smart isn't the worst thing in the world when playing alongside Horford, Davis, and Irving. This also allows Jackson a half season to learn our system this season and make specific improvements over the summer to fit that role. The team during exit meeting always tells their players what they want them to work on and improve on over the summer.

Just a thought based upon a bunch or rumors.

Great thought, Eddie.  I'm surprised no one has brought up the fact that we can maximize trade value of Rozier now by doing something along these lines. It would also create more salary to send to NO for Davis for matching purposes.  TP.

it's definitely a good angle to take (if indeed Danny is considering it) but I would think Danny would be looking to include Jackson in the deal to NO rather than one of Tatum/Brown since both have shown much more than Jackson has (never mind the pre-draft issues the C's had with Jackson).  would not surprise me to see Rozier gone by the deadline for someone young still under contract for 2-3 years.

[PhoSita]

#1 thing to remember when we talk about Brian Windhorst.


He works for LeBron.

LeBron doesn't sign his check, but Windhorst knows where his money comes from.

[jpotter33]

What immediately comes to mind...

The team wants to get something out of Rozier, so they trade him to a team that has been rumored to want him (Suns) for a player they had interest in (Josh Jackson). So maybe a package of Rozier, Yabusele, and a 1st rd pick (LAC or our own) for Jackson.

What this ultimately does it allows us to trade both Tatum and Brown for Davis, while at the same time having a player to slide into the position next season. A 2/3 rotation of Hayward (hopefully at 100%), Jackson, and Smart isn't the worst thing in the world when playing alongside Horford, Davis, and Irving. This also allows Jackson a half season to learn our system this season and make specific improvements over the summer to fit that role. The team during exit meeting always tells their players what they want them to work on and improve on over the summer.

Just a thought based upon a bunch or rumors.

Interesting thought. On the flip side, it could be the other way around with us trying to find some other young talent that NOLA might want so that we can include that in the trade, given that it's unlikely that we'll be able to include Rozier in the trade with his restricted free agency.

[Jiri Welsch]

With Irving’s comments just now, it seems that Kyrie is doing most of the stirring.

[bdm860]

What immediately comes to mind...

The team wants to get something out of Rozier, so they trade him to a team that has been rumored to want him (Suns) for a player they had interest in (Josh Jackson). So maybe a package of Rozier, Yabusele, and a 1st rd pick (LAC or our own) for Jackson.

What this ultimately does it allows us to trade both Tatum and Brown for Davis, while at the same time having a player to slide into the position next season. A 2/3 rotation of Hayward (hopefully at 100%), Jackson, and Smart isn't the worst thing in the world when playing alongside Horford, Davis, and Irving. This also allows Jackson a half season to learn our system this season and make specific improvements over the summer to fit that role. The team during exit meeting always tells their players what they want them to work on and improve on over the summer.

Just a thought based upon a bunch or rumors.

Interesting thought. On the flip side, it could be the other way around with us trying to find some other young talent that NOLA might want so that we can include that in the trade, given that it's unlikely that we'll be able to include Rozier in the trade with his restricted free agency.

Thinking about it from this angle, the C's could also flip Rozier to get salary for a Davis trade without increasing salary this year.

3-way trade, BOS-PHX-CLE.

BOS gets Nance ($2.3m this year, $12.7m next year)
CLE gets Jackson (2 years left on rookie contract)
PHX gets Rozier

Nance is considered a poison pill contract because of the increase in salary this year to next due to his extension kicking in next year, but it works under the ESPN trade machine.  And the poison pill stuff is just for trade purposes, not luxury tax purposes (if I'm interpreting the CBA correctly).

Why for Cleveland, they cut salary, and get a player on a rookie contract with upside, and also potentially get to screw LeBron (by helping C's get Davis later).

Why for Phoenix, they get the PG they've been after

Why for Boston, they get a serviceable player this year on a cheaper contract (lowering luxury tax issues), while getting a $12.7m salary next year they could send out for Davis (allowing team to keep Smart/Hayward/Horford/whoever you were sending out for salary purposes).

Same idea would work with Miami (Winslow), but I have a harder time reasoning why Miami would do it (unless they also want to cut salary, swapping Winslow for Jackson).

I actually have a hard time reasoning why CLE would do it (as Nance is the least of their salary concerns), or Phoenix (they could just make an offer for Rozier in the summer, without giving up any assets, and probably get him), but just thinking of creative ways to work around the trade rules and create value.

[Big333223]

Thinking about it from this angle, the C's could also flip Rozier to get salary for a Davis trade without increasing salary this year.

3-way trade, BOS-PHX-CLE.

BOS gets Nance ($2.3m this year, $12.7m next year)
CLE gets Jackson (2 years left on rookie contract)
PHX gets Rozier

Nance is considered a poison pill contract because of the increase in salary this year to next due to his extension kicking in next year, but it works under the ESPN trade machine.  And the poison pill stuff is just for trade purposes, not luxury tax purposes (if I'm interpreting the CBA correctly).

Why for Cleveland, they cut salary, and get a player on a rookie contract with upside, and also potentially get to screw LeBron (by helping C's get Davis later).

Why for Phoenix, they get the PG they've been after

Why for Boston, they get a serviceable player this year on a cheaper contract (lowering luxury tax issues), while getting a $12.7m salary next year they could send out for Davis (allowing team to keep Smart/Hayward/Horford/whoever you were sending out for salary purposes).

Same idea would work with Miami (Winslow), but I have a harder time reasoning why Miami would do it (unless they also want to cut salary, swapping Winslow for Jackson).

I actually have a hard time reasoning why CLE would do it (as Nance is the least of their salary concerns), or Phoenix (they could just make an offer for Rozier in the summer, without giving up any assets, and probably get him), but just thinking of creative ways to work around the trade rules and create value.

My instinct is there is no deal involving the Celtics in the next week but that kind of deal wouldn't surprise me and could wind up looking very smart.