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Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Today's Celtics News and Rumors - Hump, Bayless,Pressey, Bradley and More

The big news yesterday was the Kris Humphries signing by the Wizards. Last week, it circulated that the Celtics were no longer interested in Humphries and yesterday morning, Kris said he could totally see himself returning to Boston. Then, later in the day the news broke that the Celtics and Wizards were involved in a sign and trade that would send Humphries to Washington with a 3 year $13 million dollar contract.

I really didn't like Kris Humphries before the trade to the Celtics. When I heard that he was part of the Nets trade I was less than happy. We were giving up our Captain and getting back Kris Humphries. Bummer. But Kris Humphries was a total professional in his time with the Celtics. He never complained when he didn't get playing time. He stayed ready and when he got his shot to play, he gave it all he had. He averaged 8.4 points and 5.9 rebounds in just over19 minutes per game, making him Boston’s leading rebounder per-minute.



He won me, and most other Celtics fans, over. I would have loved to see him return to the Celtics but I wish him luck and hope he gets a chance to shine with the Wizards. Oh, and what do the Celtics get in return for this sign and trade? It was very obvious they can't take back salary and players without giving some out, as they are over the luxury tax line and have 17 players already. The Celtics will get a trade exception worth around $4.3 million along with a future protected second-round pick.

A pressing question yesterday was whether the Celtics would waive Phil Pressey or guarantee his contract for the upcoming season. After seeing the way he played in summer league, most of us believed that he would stay with the Celtics and that's exactly what happened. The 5'11" Pressey averaged 2.8 points and 3.2 assists for the Celtics last season and 10.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 5.4 assists in 27 minutes per game in Summer League. He will be behind Rajon Rondo and Marcus Smart in the depth chart at the point, but he is a very nice 3rd option.  As Nate Robinson would say, "Heart over Height."

Jerryd Bayless filled in very nicely at both guard positions last season for the Celtics. He was a streaky shooter but played hard when on the court and never complained off it. Marc Stein is reporting that Bayless and the Bucks are closing in on a deal. As with Kris Humphries, I wish Jerryd the best.

Another little tidbit in the Celtics off season is that they officially re-signed Avery Bradley yesterday. Bradley was a restricted free agent and rather than wait for him to get an offer from another team, the Celtics agreed to resign him to a 4 year $32 million contract. There were several teams interested in signing Bradley and his defense. When looking around the league at the way players have been overpaid, Avery was sure to have gotten a significant offer that the Celtics would have had to match to keep him. By signing him outright, the Celtics have gained some flexibility going forward. From CSNNE:
The Celtics didn't wait around for another team to swoop in with an offer sheet. By signing Bradley before this happened, it allows them to trade him this year if a bigger deal comes along. Had Bradley signed an offer sheet with another team for, say, $7.5 million, Boston would have matched but not have been able to trade Bradley for a year. Just a minor detail, but who knows; maybe it played a small part in the decision. At the time, Kevin Love was still an option (and still is, technically).
So, while Danny Ainge says that he is ecstatic to have Avery back and that he sees Avery as a key part of the chase to get Banner 18, he may be sincere. But, he also may be happy to have another trade asset to use to bring on those fireworks everyone has been waiting for.

Looking around the league, the landscape is definitely changing. Miami will still be good next season, even without LeBron. Dwyane Wade has signed a 2 year contract to stay with them. They still have Chris Bosh and Mario Chalmers. And, they have signed Luol Deng, Danny Granger, and Josh McRoberts. The Bulls are going to be at the top of the East with the twin towers of Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah. They bring in another good young player in Nikola Mirotic and a scorer in McDermott and keep their young core together. Let's not forget that they have a heck of a coach in Thibs and, if Derrick Rose can stay healthy this season, they have to be among the favorites.

Atlanta is bringing in Thabo Sefolosha and also have cap room to go after another big free agent, possibly Carlos Boozer. The Hornets have landed Lance Stephenson, which ends the few brief rumors that the Celtics were after him. LeBron will get his binky, Mike Miller back as he has agreed to a 2 year contract to join his former teammate on the Cavaliers. I'm waiting for Ray Allen to join him also after Ray said he wanted to follow Lebron.

The Celtics haven't any fireworks yet, but Danny keeps gathering those assets and trade chips. The plan may be to wait on next season to let some of those assets appreciate some more. But, there is still plenty of time since any big move will have to be a trade rather than a free agent. As I've reminded you many times, it wasn't until July 31st in 2007 that Danny made the big trade for Kevin Garnett. I'm sure that there is something up Danny's sleeve, I'm just not sure what.

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