If the trade chatter is to believed, Danny seems to be looking for a younger star-caliber player in return for Ray Allen. That would be an obvious Plan A and that's why you are hearing a lot about Boston's interest in guys like Iggy, Martin, and formerly Caron Butler. But as the song goes, ...you can't always get what you want. Which is why there is always Plan B.
Now Plan B is always saved till the last minute. And in truth there are probably 3-4 versions of Plan A and half a dozen Plan B options that open and close as the week passes by. But here is an example of a situation that Danny might be inclined to keep a close eye on as the deadline progresses and other teams see their Plan A's fall through. The following is from Chris Sheridan:
Wizards looking to move $2.6 million, avoid luxury tax - TrueHoop Blog - ESPN
As I mentioned in today's live chat, the Washington Wizards are not done dealing. And their next priority is moving $2.6 million in salary to get below the luxury tax line.
For practical purposes, that means they are trying to include Mike James and his expiring $6.47 million contract in a package with Antawn Jamison ($11.6 million) and/or Mike Miller ($9.8 million), and they'd do a lopsided trade that favored the other team if it got them under the tax.
In his chat, he responded to one person saying:
Allen's expiring deal and a No. 1 is not enough for Jamison and Miller. But if Boston also took back Mike James and gave up Glen Davis, that would re-load the Celts and get the Wizards under the tax line. By he way, it has been understated how much Miller is in play as a guy the Wizards would take back little in return for if it got them under the tax line of $69.9 million.
Keep in mind that this is just an idea by an ESPN writer, but I think it gives a good example of a Plan B. Neither Jamison or Miller could be classified as "young." With that said, Jamison does give the Celtics rebounding and stretches the floor from the 4 spot (you know, like Sheed was supposed to). Mike Miller gives us yet another shooter. Keep in mind too that the Wizards would be just the kind of team that wouldn't mind buying out Ray Allen, giving him a chance to return to Boston. Adding in Glen Davis makes some sense since he'd be pushed to the bench with the arrival of Jamison anyway.
The bad news is that Jamison's contract is on the books for over $13M next year and $15M the next year. Nobody knows what that the next collective bargaining agreement is going to have in store for teams, so loading up contracts like that is a dangerous proposition. Then again, with the window closing on this nucleus, ownership might be willing to roll that dice. Besides, that contract would be rolling off the books at the same time as KG's and Sheed's would be. Giving us the option to either let them expire all together or shop them around as expiring deals in 2012.
Now this isn't the Plan A for the Wizards either. They'd rather pick up J.J. Hickson and Big Z from Cleveland for Jamison. But the Cavs have their eyes on Stoudemire. So you can see how one or two dominos might create a number of moves as teams move from their Plan A's to their Plan B's.
Update: The LA Times is reporting (hat tip CelticsHub) that the Cavs have another Plan B in place already:
If Cleveland and Phoenix are unable to work out a deal, the Cavaliers reportedly have agreed to acquire Indiana forward Troy Murphy for Ilgauskas and Hickson.
The point is that the Wizards are still in firesale mode and it would be wise for the Celtics to at least kick the tires on what's left in Washington.