Posey to make it official
From Boston.com :
Celtics forward James Posey's agent, Mark Bartelstein, said his client will opt out of the second and final year of his contract today. The move will make the versatile Posey an unrestricted free agent, but Bartelstein has also said his client wants to return to Boston. When asked about whether Posey, who averaged 7.4 points per game this season, will be re-signed, Celtics general manager Danny Ainge said Saturday: "I'd hate to say whether or not we will be able to. We'll see what happens." Free agency begins tomorrow.
Early offseason rumblings have the Lakers and Hornets among potential suitors for Posey's services. New Orleans freed up some space when it traded its No. 27 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft to Portland in exchange for $3 million cash.
Chad Ford ranks the top free agents , and has Posey at #7 among those who are unrestricted. The Patriot Ledger has a decent overview on the Celtics free agents, while BostonHerald.com links to what we should expect from free agency around the league.
No word yet on whether the Celtics intend to extend Tony Allen a $2.74 million qualifying offer. The deadline is today. If they give him the qualifying offer, the team has the right of first refusal on any free agent offers Tony might get, and he has the option of accepting the offer and playing for one season at $2.74 million. If the team declines, Tony becomes an unrestricted free agent.
As a reminder, teams can begin talking to free agents tonight at midnight, and teams can officially sign those free agents starting July 9.
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Hasn’t Ainge insinuated a few days ago that they won’t make the qualifying offer? I think Tony won’t return for that price.
If Ainge made a comment like that, I missed it. I don’t expect Tony to get a QO, though. The only way I see it is if they team wants to keep his salary slot for a potential trade .
Oh, and as far as Tony Allen is concerned: even if Ainge made the pick, as he claims, without thinking about his current roster, reassessing what is available should easily lead him to the conclusion not to extend a qualifying offer to Tony, given his roller coaster performance this season.
If someone else gets him, good for him. But since we now have some options at the wing, I think he’ll choose to wait and see whether he can resign Tony at a cheaper price. Everything we can save towards resigning Posey will be a plus.
When the Celtics signed Posey last year they gave him the option to opt out this year. I’m sure they anticipated this and have a plan in place to resign him. Of all the free agents available Posey is the best fit for this team. With all the money invested in players and a team that can compete again for the championship it would not make financial sense not to resign him. I think he’ll accept the $6-7 mill range, which might be a bit high, but I think he’s earned it. The problem will be the length of contract. I think that Danny Ainge and Mark Bartelstein have a good relationship and I think Bartelstein is a reputable agent. I can’t imagine Pose wanting to go elsewhere. I really think that not only is this doable, it’s a necessity in order to optimize the potential of the team.
If Ainge extends a qualifing offer to Allen, Tony would be foolish not to accept. He won’t see that much on the open market for next season. Ainge probably knows this and either plans on not extending the offer or has a trade in mind if he does. On Posey, how many minutes a game did he avergae last year? I know he’s very valueable and our bench was important in the playoffs for us. But having Posey did not keep the Miami Heat from free falling the year after they won the championship. Don’t get me wrong, I want to see James back and all but something tells me that Ainge feels he could replace Posey if he had too. He has the stars in place as the foundation and may have other options for good bench help out there. Hopefully they come to a agreement. Seems like a three year deal could work.
celty86, the Miami and Celtic situations are very different as far as Posey is concerned. Posey is not a franchise player and could not keep a team like Miami, where the franchise players didn’t seem to care anymore, from falling out of grace. I don’t see this happening to this Celtic team which increases Posey’s value to them. I really don’t think they get home court advantage or win it all without Posey (this year). He’s that important. I don’t see any free agents out there that could replace Pose on or off the court. You don’t see too many players diving for loose balls when your team is up by 30 points. I also don’t see as versatile a player out there. There are just too many tangibles and intangibles that make Posey invaluable to the Celtics. As to Tony Allen I would like to see him come back for one year at a reasonable salary in the $1 mill range. He can help this team alot if he can get back to where he was before the injury. On his part he could increase his value the following year.
Posey is gravy. Nice to have but not essential. While true that he contributed to last year immensely we are now talking about this year and beyond. These Celtics know what it takes to win it all. They don’t need anyone to lead them by the hand. If Posey wants four or more years…goodbye!
Three or less…please stay.
Hey Tony Allen…you’ve been replaced. Welcome to the Giddens and Walker era.
I’m not ready to dismiss TA so cavalierly. He’s nice insurance for relatively little money.
However, as has been suggested on other topics, I will defer to Ainge who is the pro and who knows these guys much better than I ever will.
by Thruthelookingglass on Jun 30, 2008 10:15 AM EDT reply actions
The five year contract of Scalabrine is coming back to haunt us. In the world of the luxury tax, Veal will effectively cost us over $6 million a year for the next two years. That’s a lot of money for a fanny patter, and could cost us valuable help.
by halfman/halfoyster on Jun 30, 2008 10:21 AM EDT reply actions
The only player on those lists who seems “get-able” and who would seem to potentially be as important a player on next years’ squad is Kurt Thomas. If we’ve got to use the MLE to re-sign Pose, use it.
by the_Bird on Jun 30, 2008 10:40 AM EDT reply actions
Sign Posey and Allen and grab Thomas. 20 odd years of suffering merits more than one championship and no serious runs. With Bynum returning, if the Lakers snatch Posey, then our day in the sun will have been all too brief.
by Celtsfansince55 on Jun 30, 2008 10:47 AM EDT reply actions
Veal has already stolen 9 mill. If he is willing to retire in return for hoisting his jersey, then I say do it.
by Celtsfansince55 on Jun 30, 2008 10:49 AM EDT reply actions
Anyone else a tad bit concerned with Ainge’s comment?
“I’d hate to say whether or not we will be able to. We’ll see what happens.”
What I would’ve liked to hear him say is something like:
“We realize how valuable he is and will make every effort possible to resign him.”
I know it’s just a quote but that really makes me uneasy…
celticsfansince55- Not very fair to say he stole 9 mil. He was given 9 mil to perform a job. He has given it 100% since he has gotten here and has been a model citizen and team player. I am willing to bet if all our employers based our paycheck completely on success of our results versus our efforts, we could all be accused of stealing our paychecks.
Pretty sure ‘steal’ is just a figure of speech.
Not very ‘fair’ to say that he ‘stole’ $9,000,000…but at the same time, he didn’t do much to earn it.
Yes, he’s been a team player, etc., etc., etc.
The C’s are the ones who signed Scal to that $$.
Still, it’s totally ridiculous for him to make that much money.
Even 1/9th of that money would be ridiculous for what he gave back (or was able to give back) to the club.
TrueGreen,
I hear what you’re saying and i didn’t mean to imply that Posey is a franchise player, which he, of course, is not. The C’s are concerned about going 4 years and Posey could well get an offer for that long. I’m sure that is the basis of Ainge’s comments. As for possible replacements, what about James Jones from Portland or Mickael Pietrus from Golden State? Steve Blake is a free agent too in case the C’s are looking beyond Eddie House for a backup to Rondo.
Anyone else a tad bit concerned with Ainge’s comment?
“I’d hate to say whether or not we will be able to. We’ll see what happens.”
What I would’ve liked to hear him say is something like:
“We realize how valuable he is and will make every effort possible to resign him.”
I know it’s just a quote but that really makes me uneasy…
If someone offers Posey a deal above the MLE and he chooses to take it, we simply cannot offer him more.
As for Scal’s contract, not having him will not put us under the salary cap, so it wouldn’t help us at all with the ability to sign other players, especially given in mind that the ownership hasn’t been shy about splashing the extra cash for quality players. I don’t see what the big deal is with his contract.
mpcu40-considering the fact that he has busted his tail all year long at practices, shootarounds, strength training, offseason committments, and such, the only difference in his effort and the starters, is about 30 minutes of playing time in 100 games. That’s 50 hours in the entire year of work less than the starters. I think KG’s 25 million is much more obscene that Scal’s 3 mil. Before you go off on productivity, I realize he isn’t near the player we thought we were getting when we signed him, however he hasn’t been given the consistent chance to be that guy. From what I see in him, he could be contributing plenty to earn that 3 mil if he had the playing time. If he played all year like he does when he gets consistent minutes he would be much closer to that worth. Maybe not quite, but IMO he is no less valuable than TA and his 3 mil contract. Even with no PT.
It ain’t Scali’s fault we bought a lemon – it’s Danny’s!!! Scali tried to make himself into sweet lemonade but he consistently turned out sour on the court. It happens. The weight room every other day and 20 pounds lighter might have squeezed ouit some his flat sour taste but who knows.
Posey is playing smart and nothing is wrong with that. I just we hope we keep him BUT NOT on a long term contract as that makes for laziness. I refuse to give up on TA but in the words of Bob Dylan “It ain’t dark yet….but it’s gettin there”
Peace
Master Po: Posey is playing smart and nothing is wrong with that. I just we hope we keep him BUT NOT on a long term contract as that makes for laziness.
I don’t think Posey is that type of player. From the media it seems the sticking point is the length of contract. For arguments sake let’s say it is. Losing Posey makes the Celtics worse next year and probably for longer as well. If we are going to win another championship we need Posey. There is no one else available that can replace him for us. On the other hand, he may not be as valuable to another team. It’s the fit. I don’t think he can help the Lakers as much as he can help us. I don’t think he would enjoy playing for the Lakers as much as he likes playing here. I just don’t see how we can’t work this out. Of course we know nothing about what’s going on behind the scenes. We owe it to ourselves and Posey to give him a fair, maybe above fair contract. He came here and delivered. The Patriots are cold when it comes to this stuff. The Celtic reputation is based on loyalty. If we want good players to come here in the future we need to show loyalty to a player that deserves it. Posey qualifies here. I think he should be here as long as PP, RA, and KG are here. Posey enhances their value. These owners seem willing to pay the money when it’s worth it. I think this will get done.
Why didn’t House even get listed on Chad Ford’s free agent page?
by turboocco on Jun 30, 2008 7:52 PM EDT reply actions
Truegreen – here are the facts as I see them.
Posey appears to be by all accounts to be a great teammate.
He absolutely delivered this season!
He not only delivered, he was never a distraction and just seemed rock solid from every aspect of the game. Love him love him lovve him.
But……. one season does not make him indespensible, nor does it make him a lifelong bleeding greem Celtic loyalist? No, it just makes him someone who did his job and earned his money for one season and someone who deserves respect.
Do I want DA to re-sign Posey for next year? 100% yes. It is beyond the realm of possibility that his age, a long term contract, and two championship rings makes him a bit less hungry in thenext few years? No it is not.
Does it mean that will necessarily happen? No, of course not. But why take that chance unless we have to….and we don’t. Don’t fall in love with last year…fall in love with the future and that calls for a level head.
Peace amigo
Po

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