Tag Archives: Minnesota Timberwolves

How Jamal Crawford Makes The Celtics Better

Crawford wants to add some hardware to his name before he retires

The 38-year-old veteran Jamal Crawford has reported mutual interest with multiple teams. Two of the most notable would be the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics. Since entering the league in the year 2000, he has played for eight different teams. The three-time sixth man of the year recipient knows a thing or two about playing limited minutes.

Last year with the Minnesota Timberwolves, he put up some solid numbers at age 37. In 80 games played for the team, he scored 10.3 points, while snagging 1.2 rebounds per game, and collecting 2.4 assists per game. Is there anymore he can give to any contending team?

What can he offer for the Celtics?

With a team that’s as young as this year’s Boston Celtics, this guy is worth keeping around. His ability is still up there to be able to perform on a nightly basis. He becomes more of an asset if he can help shape and develop the young core of guards on this roster, including Terry Rozier.

Terry Rozier got a small taste of being a successful starter in this league last season. While that opportunity will be very limited due to Kyrie Irving’s return this year, all eyes are on him to see if he can handle being put back on the bench and still showing ample amounts of ability.

In 16 games played as a starter, he averaged 15.6 points per game, 6.4 rebounds, and 5.1 assists. What stands out to me are the 6.4 rebounds per game stat. Not a lot of point guards grab boards excessively like that besides Westbrook.

This is where Jamal Crawford comes into play. Even though he has had a successful career, he was never a prominent starting guard. If it seems that Rozier loses confidence or doesn’t play well, Crawford can come in and assist in his development.

While most sources can agree at least 4 teams are in the mix to gain his services, he clearly wants to win a ring sooner rather than later. With only the threat of signing with the Warriors, the Celtics currently have the second-best odds of landing him to Beantown.

According to Spotrac, his highest paid season was back in the 2016-17 season with the Los Angeles Clippers. That season he was 36 years old, and still made a cool $13,253,012 million.

With just weeks away from training camp, we will shortly see how this turns out. Stay tuned to Boston Sports Extra for the latest updates on everything Celtics!

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Jimmy Butler To The Celtics Makes Too Much Sense

With the Warriors beefing up their already stacked team, It’s time for Danny Ainge and company to revisit an old friend.

As Adrian Wojnarowski reported, Jimmy Butler and all star point guard Kyrie Irving would like to team up at some point. With the east looking like a one team race, it’s up to the Boston Celtics to bring banner 18 home. The question is, what would a trade package look like?The most obvious piece to first go is Jaylen Brown. He is a very physical guy who runs the floor, and plays somewhat solid defense. Here’s where it could get tricky. The other players that come to mind would be role players such as: Guerschon Yabusele or Terry Rozier. The Timberwolves get a win win player regardless. ” Scary Terry” can shoot the midrange and pop the three very consistently. While Yabusele can be a great defensive player while he has a keen eye in the perimeter and playing in the post. He needs development for sure.What’s a good trade package without draft picks? If the Celtics could maneuver this, there might be a first round swap of some nature. After all this… is Jimmy Butler worth it? yes!He has a natural sense for winning. Thus his problems with work ethic in Minnesota. He wants to improve as a team, not as an individual. Which could explain why he’s demanded trades for years now. In addition, Brad Stevens can turn any player better then before they came on the team.With no chances of acquiring Anthony Davis, Clint Capela, or Kawhi Leonard due to various reasons. ( rose rule, cap, luxury tax, etc.) Jimmy Butler has to be the move that can push the Boston Celtics on top for the first time since 2008. While resigning Marcus Smart remains to be the top priority, Jimmy Butler to Boston needs to happen to beat the evil ones.

Proposed Trade: Kyrie Irving for Karl-Anthony Towns

The Deal

(Staff photo by Stuart Cahill)

There is a simple solution to this whole issue, and it begins with shipping Kyrie Irving and Abdel Nader to Minnesota. In return, Minnesota would hopefully send back All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns, along with veteran forward Taj Gibson. Boston would likely have to toss in the Memphis Grizzlies’ 2019 first-round pick to sweeten the pot. The proposed trade is as follows:

Minnesota Receives:

Kyrie Irving

Abdel Nader

2019 Memphis Grizzlies first-round Pick

Boston Receives:

Karl-Anthony Towns

Taj Gibson

Financial Logistics

Kyrie Irving is going into the final year of a fully guaranteed 5-year/ $94.3 million contract. Irving will carry a cap hit of $20 million into next season. For any deal to work, Boston would need to absorb a similar amount of money in contracts from Minnesota.

Abdel Nader is entering into the 2nd year of a 3-year contract with a 4th-year team option. The contract is worth $4.1 million total with $2 million guaranteed. The salary cap hit for next season stands at $1.3 million.

Karl-Anthony Towns is going into the final year of his rookie contract with the Timberwolves. In 2015, Towns signed a fully guaranteed 4-year/ $25.7 million contract. He will carry a cap hit of $7.8 million into next season. This figure is much lower than that of Irving’s contract, which is where Gibson comes into play.

Taj Gibson is entering into the final year of a fully guaranteed 2 year/ $28 million contract. He will carry a cap hit of $14 million into next season.

If this deal went through, this is what the cap hit for each team would look like for the 2018-19 season:

Boston:

$21.8 million against the salary cap.

Minnesota:

$21.3 million against the salary cap.

Financially, this deal works just about evenly, with Boston set to absorb a mere half a million more than Minnesota.

Boston Makes This Trade If…

Kyrie Irving is serious about disbanding from the team to join forces with Jimmy Butler. A healthy Irving is just about as good as any point guard in the league, and with him in town Boston is a formidable opponent against just about anyone. There isn’t a whole lot of sense in making a move like this unless he truly is planning on leaving. Danny Ainge will have a sit down with Kyrie at some point, whether that is before the season or before the trade deadline. If Ainge feels he’s going to lose his star point guard at the end of the season, he will not hesitate to pull the trigger on a deal.

What better value can the franchise get in return than an All-NBA caliber big man? Towns is 22 years old and has been in the league for 3 years. He is averaging 21.6 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game for his career. Towns adds a major boost to the team’s thin front court while solidifying the starting lineup for years to come.

Taj Gibson gets thrown into the deal as a salary filler. But he could still provide a veteran presence to a young Celtics squad. Gibson had a bounce back year in Minnesota after struggling with the Thunder. He averaged 12.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game last season.

Minnesota Makes This Trade If…

Jimmy Butler is serious about leaving the team to play alongside Kyrie Irving. This deal works so well because both players seek to join forces with one another. Minnesota Head Coach Tom Thibodeau loves Butler and utilizes the versatile 2-way guard as the focal point of his offense. The last thing Thibodeau wants is to let his star walk. By making a deal that brings in Irving, Butler gets exactly what he wants while bolstering the team’s backcourt for the foreseeable future.

Kyrie is already considered a top 3 point guard in the league. Last season Irving averaged 24.4 points, 5.1 assists, and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 40.8% from three. This trade would likely satisfy both stars and give the franchise a boost towards contention in the Western Conference.

Abdel Nader gets included in the trade as a young prospect with a respectable amount of potential. He didn’t see the court much last season with the Celtics, but he shined bright as a rookie in the G League. Nader took home the G League rookie of the year with averages of 21.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game. He has a long way to go to make it in the NBA, but the potential is undoubtedly there.

The Memphis Grizzlies’ 2019 first-round pick conveys to the team if it falls between picks 9-30. If it does not convey in 2019, it becomes top-6 protected in 2020. If it yet again fails to convey, the pick is fully unprotected in 2021. The inclusion of such a reasonably valuable pick would be the icing on the cake in this proposed trade offer. Adding another lottery talent to a roster centered around Jimmy Butler and Kyrie Irving could tremendously help the franchise contend for years.

Will a Deal Get Done?

This deal is a win-win for both franchises. Both teams get a young All-Star caliber talent that will bolster their roster for years to come. Kyrie and Jimmy will be satisfied with the opportunity to play alongside one another. Such a deal relies heavily on how much pressure Irving and Butler put on their respective front offices to make it happen. That being said, don’t be surprised if trade rumors start picking up surrounding the two teams. Karl-Anthony Towns may be closer to Boston green than we think.