Greened Illusion: Lebron to the Celtics

TripleOT

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Here's another LeBron to Boston trade. Orlando gets Kyrie. Cleveland gets the number 6 pick, Vucevic, Ross, Marcus Morris, Yabusele, Nader and Semi, and Boston gets LeBron. The Cavs reload with the sixth and the tenth pick in a loaded draft, with two decent players, Vucevic and Ross on reasonable two year deals, and Morris as an affordable expiring contract.

Orlando gets an all star PG to build around. Boston builds the best roster of forwards in NBA history, the perfect team to play both defense and offense in today's NBA.

Now, if LeBron can extort the Cavs to make that trade with other picks than the 6th, like a future first from the Magic and a 27th and a future Celtic first, and the Cs can get the 6th pick for Kyrie, that would be amazing. I wonder what the Cavs do if LeBron threatens to go to the Lakers for no compensation if the Cavs don't agree to trade him to his preferred destination.
 

DJnVa

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I wonder if any of the Boston writers on twitter have any idea why Boston isn't on his list. Might have to ask a few.
 

scottyno

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Here's another LeBron to Boston trade. Orlando gets Kyrie. Cleveland gets the number 6 pick, Vucevic, Ross, Marcus Morris, Yabusele, Nader and Semi, and Boston gets LeBron. The Cavs reload with the sixth and the tenth pick in a loaded draft, with two decent players, Vucevic and Ross on reasonable two year deals, and Morris as an affordable expiring contract.

Orlando gets an all star PG to build around. Boston builds the best roster of forwards in NBA history, the perfect team to play both defense and offense in today's NBA.
And then Kyrie leaves in a year to go to a contending team and the Magic gave up the #6 pick and their best player to win 30-35 games instead of 30 in 2018-19.
 

lovegtm

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And then Kyrie leaves in a year to go to a contending team and the Magic gave up the #6 pick and their best player to win 30-35 games instead of 30 in 2018-19.
Yup, this is the problem with any Kyrie trade, and people seem to forget it over and over:
1. Kyrie can only get value if traded to a contender, because of signability
2. Contenders generally don't have good future assets
3. Dealing present assets for Kyrie brings up the signability problem once again
 

BigSoxFan

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Yup, this is the problem with any Kyrie trade, and people seem to forget it over and over:
1. Kyrie can only get value if traded to a contender, because of signability
2. Contenders generally don't have good future assets
3. Dealing present assets for Kyrie brings up the signability problem once again
Kyrie was rumored to be interested in the Knicks before he was traded to Boston.
 

TripleOT

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And then Kyrie leaves in a year to go to a contending team and the Magic gave up the #6 pick and their best player to win 30-35 games instead of 30 in 2018-19.

I agree that the team acquiring Kyrie would have to impress him quickly, or risk just renting him. If Kyrie isn't amenable to signing at his new destination, that deal could be made with Orlando without the 6th pick attached. Assuming Cleveland needed additional compensation, Boston has a lot of draft picks. A third team for Kyrie is jsut a way to make a LeBron acquisition work 1) without Kyrie here, since Irving said he wants to be the man on his own team, and 2) make the salaries work. Orlando would have to give up a couple on non-keepers in Vucevic and Ross, and get a chance to see if they can convince Irving to make Orlando into his team. Irving, Michael Porter, Aaron Gordon, Jonathan Isaacs could be an intriguing team.

If Irving wants to be The Man in a huge market, the Knicks deal could give him that. Or he could be the guy in Brooklyn, for Lin's expiring deal and D'Angelo Russell to the Cavs plus picks.
 

DJnVa

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All this is great.

Except:
1-Lebron has expressed NO desire to come to Boston.
2-We're not trading Kyrie.
 

TripleOT

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LeBron and Anthony Davis to Boston, Kyrie, Jaylen Brown, the Sacto and Memphis picks to NO, Hayward, the 27th pick and the Clippers pick to Cleveland.

LeBron to Boston for Hayward, BOS 27th, and the Clippers pick. AL and Kyrie to NO for Davis
All this is great.

Except:
1-Lebron has expressed NO desire to come to Boston.
2-We're not trading Kyrie.
Was there even an inkling that Kyrie wanted to come to Boston?

This LeBron speculation is merely if he's picking a team solely on that team's chances of getting him rings. If that's LeBron's criteria, Boston would be the best spot.
 

DJnVa

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Was there even an inkling that Kyrie wanted to come to Boston?

This LeBron speculation is merely if he's picking a team solely on that team's chances of getting him rings. If that's LeBron's criteria, Boston would be the best spot.
Kyrie is not Lebron.

I don't know, if you all are having fun with this, more power to you, but it's veered into sports radio talk--perhaps the Lebron stuff can get it's own thread, and everyone else can talk about things pertaining to the 18/19 Celtics that are a bit more...realistic?

This team is interesting as hell without the Lebron stuff, and it's overwhelming the thread despite not one single rumor tying him here. At least with Kawhi and AD there were media reports about Boston.
 

PC Drunken Friar

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LeBron and Anthony Davis to Boston, Kyrie, Jaylen Brown, the Sacto and Memphis picks to NO, Hayward, the 27th pick and the Clippers pick to Cleveland.

LeBron to Boston for Hayward, BOS 27th, and the Clippers pick. AL and Kyrie to NO for Davis


Was there even an inkling that Kyrie wanted to come to Boston?

This LeBron speculation is merely if he's picking a team solely on that team's chances of getting him rings. If that's LeBron's criteria, Boston would be the best spot.
Since when did SoSH turn into NYYfans? Can we get some more serious discussion here?
 

DJnVa

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Wait til he cubically transforms them.

But yeah, can we move on now?
 

lovegtm

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Kyrie was rumored to be interested in the Knicks before he was traded to Boston.
The Knicks are close to home for him. Every other franchise he named was a stable organization on the "not rebuilding" part of the cycle. He's not re-signing with an Orlando or Phoenix type team.
 

TripleOT

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We can move on. Just don't be too surprised after the Finals is over and this Lebron to the Celtics talk heats up.

I absolutely love the 2019 team if it were the same roster from this season, although healthy. They have enough to win a title as presently constituted. Pay Smart 4/$40m, roll one more year with TR as the backup PG, try to retain Baynes for another year, and grab a project big at 27 like they did with Perk, if they can't bundle future picks to move up and draft someone who could get on the court for limited minutes the upcoming regular season.
 

BigSoxFan

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The Knicks are close to home for him. Every other franchise he named was a stable organization on the "not rebuilding" part of the cycle. He's not re-signing with an Orlando or Phoenix type team.
Agreed. I think the Knicks are the only bad team he'd consider given the market. End of the day, Kyrie isn't going anywhere unless it's for a deal for Davis or LeBron and neither player figures to be obtainable for us barring a miracle.
 

Jimbodandy

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I won't be surprised if you bring it back up.

However if it shows up in legit sources, that's a different story.
You and I and Woj in a room with an 8ball and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring at 95db brainstorming this stuff --less awesome then TripleOT by himself.
 

Koufax

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Like inviting Lex Luthor to join the Justice League of America. Oil and water.
 

TheoShmeo

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Funny, I also considered posting that I don’t want LeBron. And I don’t. While I of course recognize his greatness, I never liked him and would have trouble rooting for him. Hell, I’m only watching parts of the Finals because I can’t stand watching James.

All of that said, I have to admit that if I was the GM of the Cs and had a realistic chance of obtaining him, I think I’d have a lot of trouble not following through.

To be clear, I think this is all fantasy land stuff. LeBron James is not walking through any door in Boston other than the visitor’s locker room. To me, the thought exercise regarding the extent to which one lets personal desires dictate or even possibly dictate actions is more interesting than a hypothetical that has virtually no chance of coming to fruition.
 

DJnVa

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I would LOVE to root for him. But man, I think this team is going to be so fun next year and I want to see it.
 

snowmanny

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I'll say it. I don't want Lebron.

This team is extremely likable and championship contending as is.
Yup. Beating LeBron would be fun.
Beating Philly would be fun. Beating both at the same time? So much fun.
 

BigSoxFan

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Funny, I also considered posting that I don’t want LeBron. And I don’t. While I of course recognize his greatness, I never liked him and would have trouble rooting for him. Hell, I’m only watching parts of the Finals because I can’t stand watching James.

All of that said, I have to admit that if I was the GM of the Cs and had a realistic chance of obtaining him, I think I’d have a lot of trouble not following through.

To be clear, I think this is all fantasy land stuff. LeBron James is not walking through any door in Boston other than the visitor’s locker room. To me, the thought exercise regarding the extent to which one lets personal desires dictate or even possibly dictate actions is more interesting than a hypothetical that has virtually no chance of coming to fruition.
You would have trouble rooting for a top 2 or 3 all-time great who has never gotten in trouble off of the court and doesn't do anything bad on it other than some excessive whining? You guys are weird.

If there were even an inkling of this happening, I would be refreshing this thread about 1000 times a day. I get the whole wanting to see what the 2017-2018 team can accomplish when healthy but I'm most interested in Green 18.

#teamlebron
 

TheoShmeo

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You would have trouble rooting for a top 2 or 3 all-time great who has never gotten in trouble off of the court and doesn't do anything bad on it other than some excessive whining? You guys are weird.

If there were even an inkling of this happening, I would be refreshing this thread about 1000 times a day. I get the whole wanting to see what the 2017-2018 team can accomplish when healthy but I'm most interested in Green 18.

#teamlebron
I don’t like LeBron. I’ve been rooting against him hard for years and am happy to have him as a villain. Conversely, I enjoy rooting for players on the Cs who I like or am at least neutral on. Similarly, I would not have not wanted A-Rod or Peyton Manning on any of my teams. You may think that’s a weird perspective but I think your comments are equally odd given the personal taste element in all of this.

That said, way more than I care about any individual player, I’m a fan of the Celts. As a result, if the team did the wholly unexpected and brought LeBron to Boston, I would get over it rather quickly. And in Ainge’s shoes, I would pursue James as long as the deal made the Celts better and didn’t sacrifice the future.
 

HomeRunBaker

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You would have trouble rooting for a top 2 or 3 all-time great who has never gotten in trouble off of the court and doesn't do anything bad on it other than some excessive whining? You guys are weird.

If there were even an inkling of this happening, I would be refreshing this thread about 1000 times a day. I get the whole wanting to see what the 2017-2018 team can accomplish when healthy but I'm most interested in Green 18.

#teamlebron
I hate all the LeBron trade scenarios as they are pure fiction since he isn't going to be here......but I love LeBron the player and LeBron the adult off the court. I don't really understand anyone who can't appreciate what he does but that's not for me to understand.
 

BigSoxFan

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I hate all the LeBron trade scenarios as they are pure fiction since he isn't going to be here......but I love LeBron the player and LeBron the adult off the court. I don't really understand anyone who can't appreciate what he does but that's not for me to understand.
Yeah, I just don't get it. I really don't think LeBron has done anything to warrant this kind of blanket reaction but I guess that's what makes sports interesting. We all see different things.

Now back to our regularly-scheduled Celtics 2018-2019 thread...
 

the moops

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Yeah, I just don't get it. I really don't think LeBron has done anything to warrant this kind of blanket reaction but I guess that's what makes sports interesting. We all see different things.

Now back to our regularly-scheduled Celtics 2018-2019 thread...
Same here. But I also would have wanted Arod on the Sox. Not so much Manning though, for that would have been a downgrade :)
 

mcpickl

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I wonder if any of the Boston writers on twitter have any idea why Boston isn't on his list. Might have to ask a few.
Ryen Russillo references this a lot.

He never explains exactly why, but whenever someone tries to sell the idea of Lebron to Boston, he always says Lebron will never play for Boston.

No idea what the exact reason is, but Russillo is pretty plugged in on the NBA, especially Boston. He must have it pretty solid that Lebron just has no interest in playing here.
 

Koufax

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Lex Luthor does not want to join the good guys. He's had his butt whipped here a few times, and he knows haters like us will boo him if he shows up.
 

Eddie Jurak

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As good a fit as he would be as a player, he only makes sense here if coach LeBron and GM LeBron announce their retirement.
 

RedOctober3829

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What would a sign and trade look like? I believe Kyrie/Morris/Yabusele come close to matching the money plus I'm sure a boatload of picks. The other obvious fit would be (ahem) the Warriors. They'd have to go S&T route and I think to match salaries would have to be Klay/Livingston/Cook/Bell or simply Draymond and Igoudala for LeBron. It's fantasy land to think he lands in either place however as I've been saying Boston is the best fit but man imagine LeBron with Steph and KD.
 

the moops

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Lex Luthor does not want to join the good guys. He's had his butt whipped here a few times, and he knows haters like us will boo him if he shows up.
Lebron, for his career, has averaged 29.3 ppg against the Celtics. That is only bested by his 29.4 ppg against Utah.
Haters like you who boo would be outnumbered by 1000's and you woud quickly be turned a fan once he wins a few unwinnable games because of his awesomeness
 

Van Everyman

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Love this. Two summers ago, before Horford signed here, who would’ve predicted this? Lebron putting the Celtics in the conversation is such a tremendous validation of what Ainge has built.
 

bankshot1

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All things being equal, I'd rather beat LeBron than root for him as a Celtic.

But I would.

I like where Ainge has the Celts going as is.

If he ends up on the Warriors, shame on the NBA, and shame on him.
 

InstaFace

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Ryen Russillo references this a lot.

He never explains exactly why, but whenever someone tries to sell the idea of Lebron to Boston, he always says Lebron will never play for Boston.

No idea what the exact reason is, but Russillo is pretty plugged in on the NBA, especially Boston. He must have it pretty solid that Lebron just has no interest in playing here.
Might it be a lingering sense that Boston is a place with a lot of racists? Al Horford obviously made a statement otherwise in voting with his feet but it might be a factor in some players' minds.
 

Ed Hillel

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Holy shit, the Warriors. They could do it with Iggy/Livingston/Bell, but I don’t know if Gilbert will play along. He might spite himself a bit to screw LeBron.

I mean come on.
 
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Ed Hillel

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Come on - tell me you wouldn’t laugh if LeBron went to the Warriors
The league would at least HAVE to address the max contract problem...right? It would be a big problem for the league if it happens. Maybe they’ll offer Gilbert something to not play along.
 

DJnVa

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Love this. Two summers ago, before Horford signed here, who would’ve predicted this? Lebron putting the Celtics in the conversation is such a tremendous validation of what Ainge has built.
You mean Stephen A Smith.
 

Hagios

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I think someone should start a thread with a poll of LeBron's possible destinations ... I'm voting for LA. LeBron, Paul, and Kawhi on the same team is pretty scary. I think LeBron likes older players better than young kids and that will keep him from choosing Philly.
 

Ed Hillel

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You wanna ride or die with Stephen A Smith be my guest. lol
SAS is a top notch NBA source, and I’m not being facetious. If he says LeBron is meeting with those teams, LeBron is meeting with those teams. It’s crazy to me people think Boston wouldn’t be on his list. We were probably Durant’s second choice two years ago, and all Danny has done since then is improve the roster extensively.
 

InstaFace

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The only NBA source who has Associated Press status with me (i.e., news orgs will run an AP story without fact-checking it, whereas they check anything else from anywhere before running it) is Woj. Everyone else talking player movement needs independent verification. Agents are too experienced at using talking heads as playthings to advance their leverage in the conversations they're really interested in, and talking heads are too eager to using any information edge, real or imagined, to make themselves seem like insiders, for us to take it all at face value.

I have little doubt that a real source, e.g. someone from Team Lebron, told SAS directly or indirectly that he'd consider Boston. I have a lot more doubt that the man himself is indeed sincerely considering Boston.
 

the moops

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Holy shit, the Warriors. They could do it with Iggy/Livingston/Bell, but I don’t know if Gilbert will play along. He might spite himself a bit to screw LeBron.

I mean come on.
Why would CLE do that? They would be better off letting him walk and have his salary removed from their books then take on that money.

And either way - that Iggy/Livingston/Nell trio does not make enough money for that trade to work