(07-31-2021, 05:19 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: Interesting wrinkle...Trade article from the Boston perspective from The Athletic thinks Moses Brown or a protected second may be the incoming in the JRich deal. If true regarding Brown, it would guarantee his $1.7mm contract for next season and take $775k out of cap space:
The Celtics and Mavericks are expected to finalize Dallas’ side of the deal in the coming days, which will likely either be recently acquired center Moses Brown or a protected draft pick, per sources. The Celtics received a 2023 second-round pick from Atlanta in their first trade of the afternoon.
This trade sets the table for the Celtics to walk away if the price for Evan Fournier gets too high. His range has been quoted by league sources as anywhere from $12 million to $20 million next week if there is a bidding war in free agency. Replacing Fournier with the expiring deal of Richardson could then open up a potential max salary slot next offseason in what would likely be the big swing to push the team into clear contention before Jaylen Brown enters the final year of his contract.
After giving up Thompson for Dunn, who was a shell of himself in limited minutes after nearly two seasons off the court due to injury, and Fernando, who hasn’t shown much progress to becoming a rotation player yet, Stevens once again was willing to sacrifice value to open up financial flexibility. That’s something his predecessor rarely did for most of the post-big-three-era rebuild.
GM Stevens has so far paid the 16th pick in the draft to exchange essentially even talent players, taking in the significantly older one, then sacrificed a viable backup center for two players who couldn’t stay on the floor two months ago. Richardson will be absorbed into the remainder of the Gordon Hayward trade exception, while Dunn goes into the $4.7 million Enes Kanter exception. The Celtics then created a new $9.26 million Thompson trade exception in the process that will expire in one year.
Thompson was revered by his teammates for his off-court leadership, yet he butt heads with the coaching staff and organization throughout a rough 2020-21 season and was widely expected by sources around the team to be traded away before the conclusion of free agency. Dunn comes in with a reputation for stellar perimeter defense and some offensive downhill attacking ability but was not moving well when he returned in April and couldn’t crack a rotation that needed a defensive guard like him.
There have been rumblings Dunn could get flipped again, though Dallas does not want to take him in the Richardson deal, per sources familiar with the discussions. The two most viable possibilities would be to package Dunn with one of the team’s recent 14th picks to acquire Cleveland forward Larry Nance after a solid year-plus of dancing around that deal, or tagging him onto a Marcus Smart for Lonzo Ball sign-and-trade amid chatter that the Celtics could pursue the Pelicans guard. There are a variety of possibilities and Boston is trying to expand the number of avenues it can go down in the next two weeks.
The Celtics now sit approximately $4.36 million below the tax line if Moses Brown is shipped out and Jabari Parker is waived, according to The Athletic’s Danny Leroux. That figure goes down to $2.66 million if Brown stays but Parker goes.
I thought Brown was an interesting low cost gamble for the Celtics. I did not believe anything I saw with OKC last year. I think they did it with a lot of mirrors. I do not think he is close to the player who put up some monster numbers in some games. But he is young and athletic. So an interesting gamble.
If there are any truth to the reports that Boston may have an interest in Myles Turner than I could see a scenario where Brown doesn't have a fit. They already have Horford who is primarily a center know and they also have Robert Williams who has flashed in the past. If that scenario, they wouldn't have a need for Brown.
Although maybe they have not interest in Turner.
Edi- Didn't know Bruno Fernando was in the deal to Boston too. Skipped over that. Probably a similar player to Moses Brown. Brown more raw and longer. Fernando a little more skilled and stronger.
I would prefer Moses over a second round pick, I think. Especially if it meant if he replaced Powell or Boban. Both are currently better than Brown now, but Brown at least offers some hope of providing something we are missing. Could he currently produce similar to what Gafford did for washington? Brown is probably a little bit more raw, but I like taking chances on young, athletic, cheap big guys.