Celtics Notes: Boston Signs Forward, Interested in Damian Lillard, Hall of Famers Slam Offseason
“I don’t know if I would have given up Jrue Holiday for scoring,” Garnett said to Pierce on the All the Smoke podcast.
Man what a “slam”. These headlines are ridiculous.
These guys are amazing basketball players but they are second-rate armchair GMs.
How many DPOY annd Finals MVP did you win already ? Not that their takes are all good but please stfu and show some respect, basement dweller.
Why the aggression? First of all, I have about as much basketball playing experience as like Sam Presti, and more than top front office people like Darrell Morey or Mike Zarren, who have none. So clearly being a star is not a prerequisite for being a good GM.
Secondly, I think we have seen a substantial track record of NBA stars either making terrible decisions as GMs or influencing terrible decisions as players. Think of Kevin Durant forcing out Jared Allen so they could sign DeAndre Jordan. Think of some of the moves LeBron pushed for, like trading KCP, Kuzma in a first round pick for Westbrook. Look at Isaiah Thomas’s run as the GM of the Knicks. Look at a lot of the decisions Michael Jordan was behind with the Wiz. Some players have become great GMs too, but the point is that being a great player is not sufficient to be a good GM, and it is also not a requirement to be a good GM. And I will also point out that we are only talking about trades and things like cap management, not all the soft skills and relationships that players probably do bring to those roles.
Garnett’s take is a bad one because the point of those moves has nothing to do with on the floor production, and everything to do with boring 2nd apron math that he understandably is not spending his life studying. But to criticize the move in basketball terms is to misunderstand what the front office is doing.
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Makes plenty of sense on a multi year minimum deal. He’s probably still going to be a useful player if cheap. They plan on contending when Tatum is back. Lillard would make plenty of sense as they both ramp up. I think they will need bench scoring.
Celtics are still over the 2nd apron.
Incredibly unlikely they prioritize furthering that issue on someone who won’t even play this year.
Its not going to happen but I think the idea is bring him on a multi-year vet min deal as a guy that can spend next year rehabbing with Tatum and then be at the top of the bench after that. He’s probably not going to be the all star he was but if his shot isn’t gone he can contribute.
From what I’ve read all these guys say that rehab is super lonely and hard but if they could bring in a guy who’s going through the same thing for you to work along side it probably goes alot better.
I currently live in Portland (originally from MA) so I would love Dame on the Celtics.
I just don’t see the priority in what is very clearly a gap year.
Next year’s draft is loaded.
Tank, get a good pick. Ship in 26⁄27
How is that even relevant? They still have to fill the roster. If it is a minimum deal, it doesn’t change their situation.
Because being over the second apron is a huge deal
The NBA officially has a hard salary cap.
The 2nd apron is the cap
There is a reason every team in the league is avoiding the 2nd apron like the plague
You fill it with even cheaper players than vet minimums until you get back under it
I am 99% sure the Celtics are under the 2nd apron
As far as I can see they are still $4.4M over the 2nd apron.
Could very easily be wrong. Was listening to Bill Simmons last night and Rob Mahoney mentioned the celtics specifically and how “they are somehow still above the 2nd apron”
He could 100% be wrong.. the data is still a little fuzzy since there are so many transactions happening.
The vet minimum is like 3m and only 2m counts against the cap. There’s no rationale for not picking up Dame.
I’d sign Lillard to a 2 year vet minimum in a heartbeat. You would have to be dumb not to. Dude is a veteran game time sniper who aside from this injury showed no signs of slowing down yet.
This type of signing would be getting the wheels in motion early for contention in 2026.
Yup, I don’t understand people who are against signing Dame. Worst case scenario is it is a wasted minimum signing. Best case scenario is we get a Dame close to his pre-achilles level, who is an elite shot creator and one of the best shooters in history, on the MINIMUM. There are literally 0 downsides.
I think everyone is in agreement that if it’s for the vet minimum and Dame is okay coming off the bench and not playing starter’s minutes, it’s a good move
But neither of those things are guaranteed
He should be fine with taking the minimum if he goes somewhere because it doesn’t change how much he makes. The bucks will be paying him regardless, any more than the minimum is just money from his new team to the bucks. Coming off the bench is a question, but I doubt he’d be worried since either he’ll be back in form and start or he won’t be and will need more time to work on his rehab and post-Achilles game.
Bold take.
Every GM in the league would sign Lillard to a 2 year vet minimum, my dude.
Not really. There will be teams where it just doesn’t make sense for them. There’s no reason to sign him if you don’t think that you can contend immediately when he comes back.
Take a team like the Wizards or Jazz. Barring a massive leap this year, neither of them are gonna be close to contention in 26-27, so it’s just wasted money.
He absolutely showed signs of slowing down. But he was a superstar max player so even him slowed down is worth way more than the vet minimum and that would be a steal.
Dame would be absolutely perfect here. We struggle with late game shot creation. Boom, problem solved. He was still a top 25 player in the league last year. He’s getting paid good money for the next 5 years regardless. Why not give yourself the best chance you can at a title on a small deal? I think we’re his best fit
Top 25 before the injury, eh? Not sure about that. But I’m pretty sure that in 2026-27 coming off an Achilles injury, Brunson, Mitchell, Trae, Cade, Maxey etc will absolutely eat if Dame’s playing big meaningful minutes.
25 and 7 on good efficiency. All star. Number 16 in win shares per 48 minutes. Still looked like Dame when I watched him play. Even if he’s not the same after this injury, this shouldn’t be a big contract. You can just cut and run. If he’s the same Dame then you hit the lottery
Bro 2026 - 27 Celtics could end up being an all time team!
Dame JB JT White Pritch etc.
Get a decent center in there too.
I won’t be holding my breather but I will be hoping
bro i thought we js signed dame i got so scared but so happy
Are we gonna get reports that there’s mutual interest for the next 6 months? Jfc it’s getting annoying
It would be poetry to see Dame come here and win a championship after the Bucks gave us Jrue.
Lillard isn’t signing on a team on the opposite side of the country as his family
Sorry folks
Unless it’s Miami. I could see that. But otherwise yeah, it’s pointless to think about Dame coming here since he likely has zero desire to play here (I don’t buy that Washburn tweet for a second)
Lillard will take a vet min 2 year deal with the Celtics. Rehabs this year and then him Tatum Brown and White make a run in 2026
Celtics aren’t actually interested in Dame. They are just leaking the information that they are to try to soften how upset the fan base is over the sell-off
This article doesn’t include any names
The reason we got Jrue was because the Bucks being stupid and now we want that?
This article is pretty weak. Plus, there’s a link saying the Lakers were a leading contender for Al.
What the hell is this headline saying?
Hehe
NGL, I have below 0 interest in Damian Lillard.
Thats funny because Dame has 0 interest in you as well
If you have interest in lillard, you most likely do not watch NBA basketball
You really thought you cooked here 🤣
Low IQ redditors that know nothing about basketball? Nah man its expected
Yeah man, dude is on the NBA 75 team, but really he’s a bum 🙄
Just take the L lil bro. It will save you from more embarrassment
Give me DOLLA DAME BABY
🤓
Even if he is a shell of his former self he will be better than any other vet minimum player we could fill that spot with.