Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
Two months to go before Halloween deadline for extensions for Class of 2010 draftees. John Wall & Larry Sanders only two with deals so far
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) August 26, 2013
Other 2010 first-rounders GMs cite as extension candidates: DFavors, DCousins, GMonroe, GHayward, PGeorge, EBledsoe, ABradley & GVasquez
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) August 26, 2013
The Celtics have a decision to make with Bradley: Roll the dice on restricted free agency, or extend his contract within the next two months and avoid that. I laid out the scenario back in May… which read, in part:
We know he’s not getting max money, so the Celtics have plenty of room to lock him up. The number doesn’t affect this year’s cap in any way, since he’s still bound by his current deal. The only restriction the C’s face is the number of years (again, almost guaranteed to be four at the most) and the size of the raises (no more than 7.5% annually).
His qualifying offer is about $3.5 million. For those who don’t know, the qualifying offer is the offer the Celtics HAVE to make if Bradley does indeed hit restricted free agency. By making that offer, the Celtics would trigger one of three scenarios for Bradley:
- Accept the offer, play for one year at that rate, and the become an unrestricted free agent.
- Solicit offers from other teams, which the Celtics would have the right to match (within three days of Bradley signing the offer sheet).
- Negotiate an extension with the Celtics.
Of course, the Celtics can try to avoid any gambles with Bradley by extending him before the deadline to do so passes two months from today. Like I said back in May, though…
Of course, it takes two to do the extension tango, and Bradley’s agent isn’t necessarily going to just let his client take a huge hometown discount after the way Bradley’s playoffs ended. His agent knows Bradley’s value is higher along side Rondo, and that stats drive contract talks. As much as the C’s can point to this year’s postseason as the “well, his value might not be as high as we thought”… his agent can take a chance on a full season of Bradley at his natural position and say “let’s see what the market bears in restricted free agency.”
If I was Bradley’s agent, I’d advise him to wait, even if he desperately wants to stay on the C’s. Of course, it’s his call, but there’s a chance another team can up the bidding next season. Besides, Bradley can benefit from another year of working on his game, as well as the motivation to up his own value.
Beyond that, Bradley might want to see how this roster shakes out too. If he’s not going to be part of a team that includes Rajon Rondo, he might want to consider going somewhere where a pure point guard is securely locked in place. A little self-awareness will go a long way in realizing he is better off the ball than with it. So he might want to take a wait-and-see approach just to make sure he’s not put in a bad spot.
Let’s face facts here: This is a job for these guys. They have a very short window to make enough money to last them a very long time. Bradley’s agent won’t let him put himself in a position where he risks losing money on his NEXT contract.
So there’s a lot to consider when it comes to Bradley. I’m sure the Celtics would love to throw a four-year deal that starts somewhere around $4-5 million at Bradley and lock him up a low money for a long time. But Bradley’s team may tell Danny Ainge “look, we want to stay, but we also want to see how a couple of things shake out first.”
Speaking of taking time to think and make a good decision… that would have helped Larry Sanders out a bit at the tattoo parlor:
Guess who will never forget that it’s “i” before “e” except after “c”?
Finally: Check out my 5 things to watch during the Celtics season for SheridanHoops.com. Here’s a preview:
Six years ago, the Boston Celtics opened what was supposed to be a three-year championship window after the acquisitions of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. Along with Paul Pierce, the new “Big Three” won one title and could have won two more if they had remained healthy.
Like NASA getting extended use out of an aging Mars Rover, the Celtics trudged along as contenders for a few more years. The three-year window was open for a fourth year. Then a fifth. But the inevitable finally struck last season. The most difficult season since the Garnett trade ended with injuries and great disappointment.
When that last Jenga block holding up the tenuous Celtics infrastructure – Doc Rivers – was pulled from the stack and sent to the Los Angeles Clippers, the entire thing came crashing down. Garnett, the man most responsible for breathing new life into the team, is now a Brooklyn Net. He took with him Pierce, a man some would call the greatest pure scorer in team history, and this generation’s iconic Celtic. Jason Terry departed, too.
The Celtics as we knew them are in ruins.
Now, the architects of this team need to inspect the pillars left behind and determine whether they are strong enough to support a rebuilt team, or if they, too, need to be torn down so a new team can be built from the ground up. Here are five things to watch for as the team tries to figure that out.
Please head over the SheridanHoops.com to read the rest.
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