Sean Deveney On Celtics At 7: C's 'Very Focused On 2015 Free Agent Class'
BOSTON (CBS) - Sean Deveney of The Sporting News joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Adam Jones for Tuesday's "Celtics At 7," breaking down a number of trade rumors involving the rebuilding C's.
After a great Kelly Olynyk montage set to the theme of "Jurassic Park" (put together by the Sports Hub's Mike Mayer), Deveney touched on the interest in Celtics forward Brandon Bass. Several teams are reportedly interested in the versatile big man, who is averaging 10.8 points and 5.8 rebounds for Boston this season. He has playoff experience, and more importantly, a team-friendly contract through next season.
"Two years, $13 million is what makes him attractive. He has a very manageable contract, and when you ask around the league he's a guy that can really help you make a playoff push," said Deveney. "He has playoff experience having been with the Celtics for a couple years now, and as an 11 (point)-6 (rebound) guy he can come off the bench or start, even play a little center for you when you look at smaller lineups."
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"He has some value out there, and certainly the Celtics will wait until as close to the deadline as they can to see what kind of market will develop for a guy like that. In the end I think they'll wind up making a move," said Deveney. "Whether they can get a draft pick in this year's draft is questionable. If they do it will probably be from 25-30, but if they can get something along those lines and some salary cap relief then that's a deal they would make."
While the draft picks are key to Danny Ainge's rebuilding process, so is freeing up cap space. Deveney said Ainge may be open to taking on a bad contact, as long as the money comes off the books before the summer of 2015, when big names like LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Love are set to hit the free agent market.
"For them, it's more about length than it is size. They don't want anything that goes after 2015; they're very focused on that 2015 free agent class. There should be some good players, and that's when they'd have to re-up with Rondo should both sides choose to do that," said Deveney. "That summer is when they expect to complete this turnaround and sign a big free agent, keep Rondo and with whoever they get in the draft this year, they should be in pretty good position to put those pieces together in the summer of 2015."
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Deveney said that cap space could be important in the middle of next season, when some big names could become available. Love's name has been in the dreams of Celtics fans for years, and could be one of those marquee players that becomes available.
"If you have the cap space to give him a long-term contract you'll be in a position to do a deal with the Timberwolves," he said. "Whatever you do is probably going to start with a trade, but you need to have flexibility in order to make it work."
Deveney also touched on Jeff Green's value on the trade market, and if Rajon Rondo should be considered a "max contract" player:
Celtics At 7: Sean Deveney On Trade Rumors
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