It`s better than this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmE1bBobHPo

i’d be open to that deal, provided there’s a plan for the center position.

I don’t think there is necessarily “fire” here. As Casperian says, Ainge is just doing his job, exploring all options.

But I do think Ray Allen is a goner, if not on draft night then at the trading deadline. They can’t realistically improve the team in a major way without moving him. I suppose that signing someone like ZaZa for the MLE would help, but they may need more than one decent big body to win next year.

You look at the two teams that made the NBA finals. Each one was 6-10 or better across all three frontcourt positions.

The Celtics are built on defense and I don’t see how they defend Howard or other big centers without Perk. What center can we get that could shut Howard or Bynum down? I didn’t think so.

  I cannot remember seeing a player in the league who could look so UBER at times and at other times so bad! When he is blazing past peeps to the rim or at the last minute dishing off for an assist, then stealing the ball from an opponent with his so fast hands and feet, he IS UBER! Then, when he is tossing bad passes, missing 6 foot jumpers, dogging it up the floor and wearing out the ball dribbling while the clock runs down, and watching his opponent PGuard dribble past him for a uncontested layup (Groan).

  I would dearly love to hear what Danny and Doc say to each other privately about the Jekyl-Hyde above.

We held on Bird, McHale and Parish and never won a title until 22 years later. Ainge was not born yesterday. I trust him.

I think the way these probably go is that Ainge calls a team inquiring about a particular asset. The other team then let’s Ainge know who they would want in return. Rumors of the discussion get leaked (after the fact) and Celtics nation then flies off the handle about who’s been “offered.”

But there’s no surprise that the Celtics generating the most interest are Rondo, Ray Allen and Perk. Rondo and Perk are young and good, and Ray is still a sharpshooter with a large deal coming off the books.

Pierce and Garnett are here to stay, but I could see any of the other three going in the “right” deal. Ray Allen only has one year left under contract, his health is a concern, and he might want more money on his next deal than the C’s want to pay a guard in his mid 30’s. Rondo still can’t shoot and might want way too much money as well (and, coming off this playoffs, his trade value may never be higher). I’d hate to see Perk go, but the ongoing health of his shoulder could be of concern to the team.

Like Jeff, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a new member (or two) of the starting five next year. I’d hate to see anything too drastic done to a 62 win team that likely would have won the title if healthy. But who know what Ainge’s long term plans are?

slamtheking is right. If KG (and Leon) stayed healthy we’re playing the Lakers and looking down the bench at Big Baby and Leon as bigs, instead of Baby starting, Leon out and Scal and Mikki are the bench. In fact we’re 50/50 to beat that Laker team with our team and that’s all you can ask for in this salary cap world.

If a point guard and a center are two difficult cogs in a lineup to find and we’ve got those two cogs in Rondo and Perk, Ainge isn’t going to unload them for a “maybe” like Thabeet. Stoudamire is not a good value compared to Perk. I wouldn’t make that trade straight up.

The changes Danny will make will be for bench parts. Our starting 5 will be back. GreenGrizz and company are wrong with their analogy. It is a different NBA than when Bird/McHale/Parish were around. Getting rid of aging parts is much more complicated and I think Danny built this team for a multiple year run and he’s still on that strategy.

I think Ainge’s target is Chris Paul. He was willing to trade Pierce for Paul a few years ago.

The essentials of the deal will be CP3 and Chandler for Ray Allen and Rondo. Some other pieces (e.g BBD, Julian Wright) may be involved.

The deal saves NO a huge amount of money. For Boston, the key to the deal is Chandler’s health. A healthy Chandler is vastly more valuable than Thrabeet, that’s for sure.

Will the Hornets bite? Time will tell.

…. knowing that he may be traded, opts out of his 2009-2010 contract and re-signs for a lesser amount? Then there would be no need to trade him and we’ll have a little more $$$ to sign someone else.

I read before that his wife told Wyc that when Ray retires, he better have another job for him in the organization because they are here to stay. The Allens want to be near the hospital that specializes in the treatment of children w/ diabetes.

Everyone has been talking about the possibility of Pierce opting out during the 2010-2011 season … I just raise the possibility of Allen doing the same thing for the 2009-2010 season.

I agree when there is smoke there is sometimes fire but usually the fire doesn’t end up looking the way you thought it would. My favorite part of sports are the drafts and trade rumors so I tend to follow these things pretty closely, almost never do you hear a rumor and then have it happen later. Usually you hear a rumor and another thing happens with the same team that is different than reported.

my goodness, we are having fun in the offseason speculating. thak you danny for keeping us on our toes. i have n o idea what would make us better because the cap always gets in my way. i also do get attached to what we have. at this point in time, i would like to keep the starting 5 and everyone else is game-but i do realize danny has to look at the future and not get stuck with a bunch of oldies.

Perk is very valuable and still has a few years left in his physical prime. As stated above his value is sky high for a Center right now based on the Orlando series, but we are thin as paper up front and his contract is fair. I don’t see him going anywhere unless the C’s medical staff knows something about his shoulder that we don’t.

Rondo has some weaknesses but the brilliance he’s shown of late cannot be understated. Might he look to break the bank in a few years? Sure. But we have KG and Pierce as cornerstones for now, so why would we trade their best assist man while the window is still open?

I can see the argument for trading Ray. He just had an awesome season statistically so theoretically his trade value is probalby peaking. But the flipside of that is his huge contract. Who would want him? Only a contender due to his age. Trading him would mean taking back most of his salary in the form of other contracts. It seems intelligent to me to make a hard push with him at the 2 for one more year and let his contract come off the books so we have flexibility to sign Rondo and others.

All of the above said… we clearly need a back up for Perk. Mikki didn’t contribute much last year—and while a training camp might help him with the rotations I’m not sure how great a fit he is. Scal isn’t gonna hack it as our back up at the 5 if we have any serious aspirations.

We also definitely need a backup for KG. We need him peaking during the second season, and that means that he shouldn’t be averaging more than 30-33 mpg. That means we need a rotation quality vet to spell him.

Pierce clearly was breaking down in the post season. He carried the team for too long during the regular season and it showed in his legs in the post season. We need a veteran to give Pierce a breather. They should be a competent defender at the very least.

In my mind the 2 is one of our deepest positions—assuming that House picks up his player option (I consider House’s maximum value to our team to be at the 2 since he is clearly most efficient catching and shooting). If House resigns he is instant O when Ray is resting and if the opposing guards are outplaying Eddie we can plug in T. A. to slow them down.

Assuming Eddie and T. A. are platooning behind Ray at the 2—that leaves Rondo backed up by Pruitt at the point. I don’t know Gabe’s game too well. I know he has a shooters mentality and he is an alright athlete, but his lack of experience mean’s he would most likely be a liability in the post season. I don’t know if Marbury is the right answer here, but if he doesn’t demand too much money I wouldn’t mind seeing him behind Rondo. Steph certainly had some good chemistry with Eddie—allowing him to play off the ball and unleash that beautiful jumper.

All in all… I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ray traded, but I think that our best chance for the next banner is to keep the starting five together and plug the holes on the bench (of which there are many). If we resign Davis, Powe and House picks up his option we are set at the 4 and the 2, in my opinion. That leaves gaping holes on the bench behind Perk, Pierce, and Rondo.

Danny certainly has his work cut out for him. But I think that if we Steph stays on board, and we find a veteran C and SF we have an amazing shot at hanging another banner. That would be my plan A.

All this chatter is just Danny Ainge doing his job and gauging the worth of his players around the league. As usually happens, he will probably end up valuing his players more than other teams, meaning a trade is unlikely.

Put me in the status quo group—we still have the best starting 5 in the league. Let’s add around the edges and take home #18.

We don’t get Rubio without giving up Rondo. I don’t believe Ray will bring us a top 4 pick. Sacremento may want to drop payroll but not enough to take Ray for a young player and #4.

Danny is constantly looking to make the team better. It’s his job. He’s also a proactive GM and will look to make things happen. That doesn’t mean he’ll do anything. Before last year he was willing to make gambles until something came of it. The team is different now. His moves must be more calculated. So all this talk about trading Perk for an unproven 2nd pick is ridiculous. A few years ago many of us were praying that we did NOT get the #1 pick. Now going after the #2 at the expense of Perk makes no sense at all as do the rumors about Ray and Rondo. What Danny needs to do is get more depth around the starting 5, not mess with the starting five. When that type of rumor surfaces then maybe there’s something to talk about.

If getting banner #18 was the only goal, and for most teams a one year window is a luxury, then the C’s stand pat on the starters and upgrade the bench. This would likely result in a much weaker team in 2-3 years as the other starters retire and we get nothing in return.

The whole idea of trading any starter now would be for the goal of keeping the future going. The one thing no one should forget is what happened to the C’s in the early 90’s because Danny sure won’t. The big three retired but the future was gone with the deaths of Len Bias and Reggie Lewis. There was no one left who was good enough to build on. That’s why Rondo isn’t going anywhere. At his age, he has nothing but upside and he will continue to mature and improve, especially if he spends some off-season time with the Couse.

Ray Allen, though, isn’t getting any better just older. Being 34 and with an expiring contract, he’s MOST valuable to the C’s by bringing in a younger guy. That may lessen this years title chances a smidgen but will help to set us up for the long term.

I think that to mitigate Ray’s departure, Marbury is resigned and probably Big Baby. Trading Ray Allen will not adversely affect our title chances next year. Health issues are what would take us down, as two bad knees did this year.

Something beautiful happening on draft night.

a minor trade where we’re able to move TA or Scal for a pick to a team that doesn’t want to commit to a 3 year rookie contract would be a terrific move. not too likely with Scal but someone might take a shot on TA being a low-risk 1-year rental over a low 1st rounder. If TA plays like good-TA, they have a good player they can resign at a rate they can negotiate to their liking OR TA stinks and they’re rid of his contract at the end of the year (avoiding another 2-years of obligatory rookie salary).

Pruitt’s another option for that type of trade too.

Being a GM for a baseball, football or basketball team? Since you can only have 15 guys suit up for a basketball game game and two rounds of drafting vs. the numbers you face in baseball with 40 plus rounds of drafting, farm system or football with all the college drafting and taxi squads, injuries, etc…Being a basketball GM just can’t compare to the complexity of the two other sports.

I’d look at these trade rumours as indicating Danny Ainge is very unlikely to make a trade.

Danny is looking for a sweetheart deal. The perfect trade, one where he gets a huge amount back after giving up relatively little. So, I’d look at these rumours and say, Danny is only willing to part with one of the starting five if he gets a home run deal. Nothing less. Home run or nothing.

Every year the Celtics make about 5 or more roster moves and this year most likely will be the same. 1986 and 2008 we had great quality big men and guards lets hope it happens again in 2010.

Are we ungrateful if we propose trade ideas that involve our starters?
Is it blasphemous to think about the possibilities?

Or is it all just in good fun, and we only play a game of “what if”, where nobody gets hurt? I mean, everyone does it, right?

Personally, when the first Ray Allen trade idea of this summer came up, I didn´t want to hear about it. I simply refused to talk about trading one of our starting five. Then all these trade rumors came out of nowhere, and they all sounded pretty nonsensical to me.
But after a week of daily trade talk, backed up by chatter from so-called experts and sources, and Wyc`s statement about a max contract yesterday, you start to wonder if there´s more than just smoke (see this article).

I find it hard not to get caught up in all the trade talk, considering the possibilities and my perception of Danny Ainge, but one week ago, all I really wanted from this off-season was a backup big and a wing.

If Danny convinced NO to trade Paul for Rondo and Ray. He’s great. If he convinces them to trade Paul, Chandler and say Julian Wright for Rondo and Ray, we all need to meet up in Boston, walk over to the Gardens and thank him personally.

If we lose Ray Allen, why couldn’t we go after a shooter like Ben Gordon? Sure he’s going to want to get paid, but didn’t he say he’d take less money to go to a contender? Personally, I think Ben is basically the same type of player when Ray first came into the league. Obviously the kid can shoot and he is more athletic than Ray and can play some defense.

Our starting lineup is fine. Get the starting 5 to stay healthy. Don’t mess with them if at all possible. Just focus on upgrading the bench to NBA level and we will be going to the 18th parade around this time next year.