Ray Wants To Stay

He is really a nice guy. But he is also a great asset because he is expiring and we need to take advantage of this opportunity…Hopefully, we trade him by the deadline for a younger star…

Danny Ainge must be crazy if re resings Ray Allen.

Danny Ainge is crazy if he rssigns Ray Allen. Use his huge salary to acquire a younger player. Get rid of the older players while they have some value,otherwise will be another 18 yrs. before we win anothe pennant.

if it makes us better long term then Ray has to go. Ainge said that the old big three should have been traded to prevent us from becoming mediocre for the next 20 years. I think he will trade Ray and hope to re-sign him if he gets cut loose or next year. Love Ray – would like him to retire as a Celtic but we need to get better. Mediocrity is already starting to show up on this team. The future of this team Rondo and Perk need some players around them.

The difference between Ray and many NBA players in this case is that he’s smart enough to say it himself without his agent telling him to say it.

If you were a declining player at the tail end of his career and didn’t want to move your family out of New England, where you went to college, etc… what would you do? You’d go out of your way to say all of the right things so that the fans are on your side, and if it didn’t work out for financial reasons then you could easily pit the fans against management.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Ray wouldn’t complain about a reduced role, but my concern is that Doc would keep playing him big minutes to the detriment of the team the next few years.

His quotes are generic and hardly news. I like the guy a lot, am happy he’s on the team, would like to see him back in a Celtic uniform, but I am generally concerned about this team in two years (and possibly even next year). If there is a real chance at acquiring a talented young player with Ray’s contract then I think it has to be done.

I absolutely expected this from Ray. Exactly this. He’s a high character guy, no doubt. And he knows reality.

It’s not impossible for the Cs to trade Ray. But it will NOT be for the likes of Monta Ellis, for sure. Cs want to win this year. They can’t win without chemistry, both on the court and in the locker room. If they trade Ray, BOTH will be disrupted, and may not recover in time. This team has bonded. If Ray is traded, how do you think KG, Paul, Rondo and even Perk are gonna feel about it? Not good. And court chemistry would be shot until the new guy, whoever it is, learns to fit in. Cs don’t have time for this.

So while it’s possible Ray will be traded, it would only be for a high-character, high-value guy that the team already knows and likes. A Godfather deal (that can’t be refused). So far, I haven’t heard of one.

Either keep Ray and resign him to a very reasonable contract next year knowing that you don’t have to use the MLE to resign him if he’s OUR FA and that any SG on the market that could replace his level of play would require more than the MLE to sign them.

The other option is to trade him now to bring in at least an SG that’s a quality starter and some more bench help or get a very good SG on a less-than-ideal contract. The SG would have to be younger with plenty of productive years ahead of them. If Ray’s is traded, I believe we can’t sign him without using the MLE which may be too little and leave us with only the vet min to sign the rest of the bench.

There are other options to deal with the SG spot going forward but none of them would improve the team. As mentioned, there are no FA’s at Ray’s level that will sign for the $ Danny has available (and keep in mind that same $ will be needed to fill in the multitude of roster spots that will become available after this year unless Danny decides to resign everyone which is hopefully NOT the gameplan) and it’s very unlikely Danny will get a starting quality SG in the draft this year (unless he pulls a grandmaster move up the draft) and we don’t have a really good replacement for Ray already on the roster that could be promoted to a starter.

Personally, I like the idea of Ray coming off the bench as a 6th/7th man the next couple of years but we’d need a good player to start instead of him.

The job of the coach and the fans is to look out for the short term present. The job of the front office is to look out for both the present and the future. Look at the Sox and Theo. He traded Nomar in 04 knowing what a HUGE disruption it would bring short term but would also bring long term benefits. Ray isn’t a whining, self-absorbed A-hole like Nomar was and that makes the prospect of trading Ray all the more unsettling.

Danny knows what’s at stake concerning the overall age of the team. He knows that this year is likely the last chance to win with the current Big 3. Next year would be like watching the decline of the old Big 3 – constant injuries, sub-par play over the course of the season and immense frustration.

While we all love Ray, NOW is the time to trade him and get someone of high value and YOUNGER. We’d have half the season to integrate anyone new into the system. KG and PP are both pros and would NOT allow this scenario to be a distraction because they want #18 as much as we do. Home court is not as critical with this team so sacrificing a few wins is not an issue.

If Ray really, really wants to retire a Celtic then he can play out the rest of the year elsewhere and then re-sign after the season. Unless, of course, it’s all about the $$$, in which case trading him was really and truly the best for the team.

AND RE-SIGN!!!!!

I respect Ray for coming out and articulating to the fans what his feeling are, a true class act, A.K.A. Ray Allen.

That being said, words and phrases such as reduced, less, not as much, home town discount, are all subjective to each individual who hears them.

What is less?
 Less money for the C’s than the Lakers, Cavs…
 50%, 40%, 35% less than he is making now?

Every team needs shooters and solid veteran leadership, Ray has that. Every team also needs younger talent to continue the quest for future championships while not forgetting about the most important championship, the next one. Danny needs to project the fine line of decline verses the fine line of trying to hit a home run if he decides to deal Ray. It is Danny’s call.

who doesn’t care about ray? he’s the epitome of a class guy and a classic nba shooting guard. that being said, he’s expendable but only for the right player. ellis has a lot of upside, too much for gs to trade, methinks. my guess is ray stays. the time for anything to happen however is now to give the team the time to adjust to someone new.

I’ll say this about Danny Ainge, he will not alter the starting 5 as long as he thinks he can win a championship. It’s all about championships now and not preparing yourself for the future. Therefore everyone, stop dreaming these unrealistic and ridiculous trade ideas.
I also believe Ray will retire a Celtic and have a great career once his playing days are over as a Celtic Ambassador/PR person.

"Scal practiced today and showed no signs of injury," Rivers said. "He shot two airballs and I was like, ‘Scal’s back.’

But he isn’t.

If he is traded, I would be willing to have him back on a two or three year deal at the MLE, similar to the deal that Sheed has. That would mean bye bye Marquis Daniels, lest we forget.

If he is not traded the C’s have bird rights and could pay him more. I’m sure he’d like the deal that Steve Nash got (2 year extension at 11 mil per year) but he’s not going to get it.

The unsentimental, unvarnished fact is that Ray’s expiring deal is the only way the Celtics have to bring in a younger impact player.

I Love Ray as a player and I do believe he fits the Reggie Miller type of player (a player who can play into his late 30’s) and still be effective.

However I do believe you have to look at what trades are out there for him and pull the trigger if its a good deal. There are few players that I would trade him for (Martin, Gay, and Butler are 3 that come to mind).

If we do end up trading him I think it would be completely possible to get him back at the end of the year at a 2 year MLE deal and he would be a great 6th man off the bench at the end of the game or hitting key free throws.

I think this team can be better next year if Ray takes less money. That way we can maybe get a guy like Gay away from the Griz and then bridge the gap and nto go into another rebuilding mode for years to come.

Needs to retire a Celtic, no questions asked.

Ray Allens shooting woes are more to do with the rest of the big three being injured, than his poor shooting. With Pierce and KG being injured, they are keying on Ray because no one else can shoot the three, which is the shoot that really kills the other team. Trading Allen now would be a big mistake, he is a 90 percent free throw shooter, and he is the only one who has not missed a game because of injury. He is willing to take a large cut in pay, so we can keep him, and still get a good young player, with the remaining money, especially if we get rid of some of the other players who are not producing. We could do a lot worse than Ray Allen, We could get one of the many malcontents that are in the NBA, and disrupt the whole team chemistry. Let him finish his career here, he reminds me of Hondo, and Russell, who played great until they were almost 40, and won 4 championships after 35, he has that kind of energy.

we all love ray but that is undeniably better

Monta Ellis can score, whoop-d-do. What else can he do? Not much from my observations. Only way trading Ray would help is if it gets us a young player who fits our system, and the team we’re trading Ray to agrees to buy out his contract. No buy out, no deal. It’s really that simple.

Like DSF767 said, get something good back, but also get Ray back. If you send Ray and as much cash as can be allowed so the team he is traded to can buy him out at full price, then the Celtics could sign him back for the rest of the year. This would have to be done with Ray’s ok. Then Ray could come back next year for the MLE ($5+ million). If someone like the Wizards wants to cut payroll, that is a great way to cut $20+ million per year.

Who are good players that could be available in a scenario like that? (Hopefully a better fit than Monta Ellis)

Look at Ray tonight! He’s on fire!