Marc Spears: Two teams to keep an eye out for if Celtics make changes: Rockets and Spurs

It makes sense for us considering the connections Ime has there.

Jaylen Brown would make a lot of sense here. He's not a superstar but he's a guy that understands the moment and when his team needs to score, so he kind of fits in with what Ime does here with the scoring by committe thing.

If this Tatum injury is serious they might just want some assets and then basically tank for a year...would be a smart move for them. Take on Jalen Green and Jabari or something, tank for a year, add another top 10 pick and make a move or two for when Tatum is back 100%

 

I know he’s older now but I still want Jrue Holiday.

 

Spurs going to be mentioned in every rumor with the Rockets until after the draft. This is hell.

Spurs have had such luck being gifted Wemby and now pick #2 with a clear #2, while the Rockets end up with Jalen Green over Mobley (wrong choice in a coinflip) and Jabari Smith (in a two player draft where we were supposed to get the second player in Paolo Banchero). Only luck in this process for the Rockets has been Amen not going #2 because two teams in front made the incorrect choices on coin flip picks at the time. Even getting the #3 pick in a historically bad draft resulted in the Rockets potentially picking the wrong guy in a coin flip pick.

 

If it's truly a deal that's available, and you're able to keep the acquisition cost fairly reasonable, upgrading from Jalen Green to Jaylen Brown is THE deal that needs to be made IMO. He embodies everything that Rockets are doing, and fits this team like a glove.

EDIT: I just saw @J.R. 's post with the salary numbers. I didn't realize he was set to make $60M AAV across the next 4 years. Never mind!!

 

Give me White, Pritchard or Hauser.

$53,142,264
$57,078,728
$61,015,192
$64,951,656

Hell nah. Hard pass.

Many talk about Booker being overpaid. What is that?

Same age, same salary, one less year, we can quibble over shooting/shooting numbers but better shooter, give me Booker.

 

Jaylen Brown for Jalen Green + Draft capital makes this team better immediately. I would do that in a heartbeat tbh.

 

Not at $300MM he doesn't make sense

 

Jaylen Brown is on the largest contract in NBA history, averaged 22/5/4 on 46/32/76 this year, hasn't shot above 36% from three since COVID, and can't really pass or dribble with his left hand.

No chance our FO is interested in him.

The only guy I could imagine we would have interest in is Derrick White (who is a better player than Jaylen Brown and whose contract is half the size). I think Tatum and White are the guys BOS holds onto however, because BOS also knows he's better than Jaylen.

 

Yeah that's my problem, Brown is too overpaid. IMO he's only a bit better than Sengun but gets paid almost twice as much money? Kinda crazy. If he was on a regular max contract maybe I'd be more interested. His skillset is also kind of redundant with what we already have on the roster--his best abilities are his wing defense and downhill pressure.

Derrick White would make more sense for us, but I can't figure out how we would swing the deal. They can't aggregate salaries, and he gets paid less than Jalen. I think it would have to be us sending out multiple smaller contracts. Maybe for Dillon + Holiday? Guess I can see that. Would they do it straight-up, or just with 2nd rounders, or do they ask for a FRP?

 

Every team & every player use Houston as leverage.
I can't remember a time that the Rox were rumored to get someone & actually did

 

I don't think the Rockets shoudl make any move otehr than for a credible primary threat/lead perimeter guy - Derrick White is just going sideways with another super-role player.

I don't know if Brown is it but he's probably the closest thing available after Giannis (and he certainly THINKS he is).

 

Yeah Booker is also younger. If I had to choose , I’d choose Booker over Brown

 

Torn achilles for Tatum

 

The Brown/Pritchard combo would be tempting, especially for a Jalen-oriented package.

 

Him being 35 is a major issue for me, and I'm not sure he's an upgrade over FVV at this point. Re-signing FVV shouldn't cost $100mil that his contract runs the next 3 years.

 

I mean he's definitely an upgrade over any of our other shot creators, but yeah, that contract.. Oof.

What we really need is a JT type of dude. No way they make him available though.

 

Uuuuh, NO! $300MM? NO

 

Amen is going to get $250mil off of just the low end rookie extension max. $300mil is not really that much money given how the CBA is rising. Also, if you are trading away Jalen Green in this scenario, you get $100mil discount not having to deal with someone disappearing for 6 out of 7 games in a playoff series.

 

Pritchard or White please.