JETSET

I think this was already known. They would still have to take a major pay cut in their first year though.

It just comes down to if they would rather play with a 36 year old 7 ftr who has elite offensive skills but provides next to nothing on defense or play with a young well-rounded offensive player who has elite defensive skills.

How many more years can Dirk play before that large frame of his has had enough?

Moving Horford can bring you back another piece. You aren't thinking about this as a whole picture thing. For example, you can't trade Josh for Rondo right now. But you could trade Al for Rondo and keep Josh.

So ask yourself. Is Rondo/Josh/Dwight better than Teague/Horford/FA? This is a complicated mess of who can you get to take our money and how much of it do you have to give up to get them here and if you build around Horford you don't have tradable assets. If you build around Josh you get Horford as a tradable asset. If you trade Horford for a comparable PG/SG/SF, you now have the goods to sign Dwight. Don't think of it as comparing Josh and Al...its a puzzle, not a straight up comparison. By letting Josh get to free agency and letting all your talent get to F/A...the only assets you now have are Horford, Teague and an injured Williams. Even Jenkins, Scott and your two draft picks aren't real assets at this point thanks to Drew barely playing developing the rooks.

Because of the difference between the cap and the LT you can't just sign 70 million in talent but you can trade for it to fill in the gaps. Building your roster into a contender is easier building around Dwight and trading Al than letting Josh walk and hoping to sign the best of what's left after Dwight/CP3.

A trio of Rondo/Dwight/Josh would never sniff a title so I would rather keep Horford and let Teague walk. Bring in some scrubs on 1 year deals and tank for a high pick in the starstudded 2014 draft. I don't see why people keep insisting on Rondo/Howard/Smith. How do you not realize that this is a terrible combo? This would be like the Nets. The cap would be maxed out and you wouldn't have a shot at a title. Terrible position to be in. I'm tired of being a treadmill team and I don't see how every one doesn't feel the same. I don't want any part of Jefferson or Mayo either.

and who says the Celtics would trade Rondo for Horford in the first place?

We could still space the floor with Korver and Jenkins

LOL at one player providing enough spacing for a team. Rondo, Smooth, Dwight and Allen would be rendered useless on offense because the defense would just crowd the lane and dare them to shoot jumpers. That grouping would fail hard.

CP3 is tough and motivated but Rondo does more on defense and on offense, Rondo is as good a in game manager as CP3. CP3 definitely shoots better but when you match Rondo's in game management and his lockdown defense, he's smarter. He plays passing lanes better. He forces his opponent to where he wants him to go. CP3 vs. T. Allen should have been a wake up for anybody.

Are you talking about the last 2 games of the series where Paul looked for his shot early instead of spending the first half looking to get his teammates involved? Tony didn't have much of an answer for Paul in those two games as Paul scored 63 points on over 50% shooting.

Bring out the broom man. Miami by 8 at Memphis and by 18 at Miami in their only two regular meetings.

I think you are confused. The Grizzlies beat Miami by 18 @ Memphis and lost to Miami by 7 @ Miami. So the Grizz have outscored Miami by 11 on the year. Miami was out of their minds from 3 in the game they won as were the Grizz in the game they won.

This will be a tough series if it does end up being the Finals matchup.

Miami will run Memphis off the court. I honestly don't know who can beat Miami now with Westbrook gone and the Spurs once again showing their age. GSW is fun and they have both the big man play and the speed on the edges.

The Knicks and Pacers are pretenders though NY had Miami's number in the regular season. If I am betting on a cinderella this season. its GSW.

Miami will not be running Memphis off the court. That series will go 6 games minimum. They will put up a better fight than OKC did last year, that's for sure.

I want no part of Mayo. Dude is as overrated as it gets. Carlisle was ready to choke him out by the end of the season.

I think Memphis deserves more credit that yall are giving them. This is the best team defense in the league and their bigs can score on anyone. I would probably give the edge to OKC if Westbrook was healthy but Memphis is no slouch. I do think that Memphis is a tougher challenge for Miami than OKC would be due to their style of play and their bigs.

Smith will get at least 12m per season and I see Korver getting 5m per season.

If we want to fit them all in (and I do) I think we need buy in from Howard and Paul to accept 15m per season instead of 17m.

Howard and Paul are not going to take 15 million and it would be a bad idea to keep Josh.

Who is Memphis' Superstar?

Memphis doesn't have a superstar. They also haven't won a title either. They do have a good shot this year but I would still favor Miami over them if they make it to the Finals. They have also been a bit lucky with Griffin and Westbrook both being injured. I do believe that they would have handled LAC with or without Griffin but there is no telling how the OKC series plays out with a healthy Westbrook.

Is Ray Allen a superstar? The Heat added him and they will win a title with his contributions. Miami needed role players to win their title last season. Obviously there three superstars two seasons ago didn't get them their title.

You are correct. Superstars don't matter. It is odd though that only one team has won a championship in the past 30 years without having atleast one superstar.

Its a choice thing and for the record I don't want to get rid of Horford. But being realistic, Howard > Horford at the 5. Assuming Josh + Howard = defensive juggarnaut and a lesser 4 nets you a better SG/PG pairing...then yes you would move Horford. You make hard moves like that because team flexibility with the cap/LT is finite. Hard choices will be made. Not bringing back Smith is one possibility. Moving Teague is another. Pretending for a moment you could land Howard but it meant Mike Scott at the 4, Smith at the 3 but meant you could get absolute studs at the 1-2 (like Rondo and Reddick).

If moving Horford returned you a starting lineup of

Rondo (12 mil 2013)

Reddick (8 mil)

Smith (14 mil)

Scott (1 mil)

Howard (18 mil)

That's 53 million committed. You'd still have Lou, Jenkins, 2 draft picks eating up to about 62 million. 3 roster spots and 8 million to go. You aren't stuck with Scott starting in that lineup if you aren't impressed with him and can get a serviceable vet. But a starting lineup with Rondo, Smith, Howard is a defensive nightmare for almost every team in the league.

You would have to consider that. That team would be so incredible defensively and you'd still have money for a bench.

It's true that Howard is a better C than Horford, but it is also true that Horford is a better PF and overall player than Josh. It's also true that Horford will cost less than Josh.

Are you kidding.

Rondo is the smartest PG in the game. He will never pass it to Josh to make a bad spot. Moreover, there will be more players on the floor. Maybe Korver. Maybe Allen?

Secondly, just imagine that we did have that five. Defensively, we're a beast.

Rondo is not the smartest PG in the game. I will take Paul's BBIQ over Rondo's any day of the week. Rondo routinely passes up easy layups to kick it out for a 15 ftr or 3 pt attempt to pad his assist numbers. Rondo routinely slouches during the regular season as well.

A team of Paul,Horford,Howard would own those 3 on the offensive end and they would be better on the defensive end. Josh is a tweener. He's not quick enough to stay with the elite SF's but he's not big enough to defend elite PF's.

Only two free agents can help a team win a title? That is an awful argument. Any single player could help his future team win a title.

No they couldn't. Giving Josh or Jefferson $15 million per year or more pretty much guarantees that this team will never win a title as long as they are on the team. You have to have superstars to win titles. Paul and Howard are the only 2 superstars that are available this offseason.

He was a spoiled kid as a child it sounds like and he has zero work ethic. He's had everything handed down to him and never had to work for anything. There is no reason for him to change his attitude because he gets everything he wants as it is.

What a #*&$*# post

Good that Ferry is open but I think he will be a day late and a dollar short without Paul and Howard. There is nothing better than Teague in FA or draft as a PG. Maybe Trey Burke but how long before he is better? We could have had Rudy Gay at SF whose better out there in FA or draft? Maybe Porter down the line. My point is he better be open to trades because the FA market is not goin yield a big improvement outside of Howard and Paul. Draft may not help even if we move up. Trading me be best option for elite talent.

Rudy is one of the most overpaid players in the league. That would be like having Josh on a max contract.

How many titles have those two guys gotten? There are better cheaper options out there.

Alex, you can't be serious. There are only two free agents this year that can help a team win a title and they are Dwight and Paul. Dwight carried a Magic team to the finals with Jameer Nelson as the PG. Paul and Horford plus a bunch of 3 pt shooters and a solid wing defender would equal the best team Howard had ever played on. This trio is by far our best chance at winning a title. I have to question the BBIQ of anyone who thinks differently.

Jefferson is going to get more than 11 million per year. He will be closer to a max than 11 million. At that price tag, you are expected to be a star and not just a piece of the puzzle unless the team is satisfied with what we have been for the past 6 years.

Look at the teams that have won rings since 2000. Every team had a defensive stopper in the post other than the Heat.

Mavs - Chandler

Lakers- Bynum

Celtics - Garnett (Perkins was actually good that year)

Spurs - Duncan

Lakers - Shaq

Pistons - Wallace and Wallace

A frontcourt of Horford and Jefferson won't get it done.

Let me tip in on this.

1. He's a prima donna.

Only at contract time. If we sign him, we'll be signing him for his 4-5 prime years. After that, we reevaluate.

2. The Josh question is huge. I guess, yes we keep Josh and play him at the 3. The Atlanta Knights were successful with Josh supposedly at the 2. I think this is where good coaching comes in and mandate that Josh abides.

3. Big men do get injured. But thus far.. fingers crossed... NO foot injuries. That back is a big question but hey.. grandmaMa was successful with no lift.

4. IF comes here and leaving 30 mil on the table, he wants to come here.

Smith is gone. Horford would be the one staying to make the trio happen. Horford is the obvious choice to pair with Howard/Paul. His game fits their strengths much better than Josh does

I agree with Leadership 100%. Dwight >>>>>> Jefferson. Comparing Dwight and Jefferson is like trying to compare Teague to CP3. Jefferson does not do enough on defense. He is a terrible pick and roll defender. I remember watching our first game against Utah this season and Jefferson was lazy and rarely closed out on Horford off of the pick and roll. Horford had his best game of the season that night with 34 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 blocks. He owned Jefferson all night on offense.

Why on earth would anyone want to pair Smith with Howard over Horford with Howard? It makes zero sense. A pairing of Smith/Howard would end up with Smith taking a ton of long 2's and missing badly on 70% of those shots. Horford shoots the midrange shot at 42% while Smith shoots it at 30%. Horford would also fit with Paul better as he can pick and pop off the pick and roll or roll hard to the basket for an oop or solid post position. Horford is easily the better companion for Paul/Howard and he will cost less. He also has a better attitude and doesn't have to be "the guy".

So long Smith, it was nice knowing ya.