SQ #10--The Fate of Sheed’s Contract

Summer Quandaries #10
Aug 10—51 Days to camp

The Fate of Sheed’s Contract

The Boston print media’s stories today suggest that Danny has not found a deal for Sheed’s contract, at least not one that he likes. I’ve looked through the matching salaries of every team, lower salaries of teams that could absorb the extra, and salaries up to $10M that would be available for Sheed plus the D-leaguers—three times, and I can’t find anything that looks both feasible and appealing. I thought, and still do I guess, that Danny would just sit on this through camp and Sheed would just retire if nothing emerged. The only downside might be if Ainge is looking for another FA signing for the minimum and feels the player might be put off by the apparent lack of a roster spot. I still think we might see another (some more) partially guaranteed signing(s) and let the cream rise in camp.

The best of the at-least-possible deals that might see Sheed moved include Jared Jeffries (6’11” and covers all 5 positions but with only catch and dunk offense), Noccioni (hard-nosed player I was high on a couple of years ago but may be slipping some), and perhaps Charlie Bell plus Brandan Wright from Golden State (no real room for Bell and a flyer on Wright who was more available before Udoh went out for 6 months). The last one doesn’t address the three spot but all three deals are ones that you can at least make a reasonable argument why the other team is interested (cost saving for all three, the first two for players well down on the depth chart and the last for a team in turmoil). With Golden State it might be hard to complete anything before the sale goes through which I think is about the start of camp.

Which brings me to my gut feeling that the hard-nosed defensive three is already on board in the form of
Tony Gaffney. Our only glimpse of him has been in summer league and he was playing without any court time for nearly 9 months due to a foot injury. He blanketed SG’s and SF’s, usually the best the opposition had to offer, and did a creditable job. His offense was minimal but he finished well, made a few (horribly flat) jumpers, and generally showed good court awareness with solid positioning and recognition of openings on both offense and defense. Camp will tell but I think if Tony beats out a vet min addition, Danny will not hesitate to cut the vet rather than the 2nd year man with the unguaranteed contract.

So there you have it, my call that Danny will go with the long-armed spider-man rather than a $6M man who might offer only slightly more for the cost ($12M after Luxury Tax). Now if Shane Battier (unlikely) or Ariza (even less likely) become available, or Krazy Kahn in Minnesota decides to save on Corey Brewer and roll with his new draftees Wesley Johnson and Lazar Hayward—then I’m sure Danny will oblige them. One last name that I haven’t heard mentioned but would represent a shift in the wind, Andre Igoudala. Now Philly is just about starting over and could go with an all youngster starting five of Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner, Thaddeus Young, Marreese Speights, and Spencer Hawes. If so then Igoudala and Brand become $28.3M worth of last year’s fashions. New coach Doug Collins says he loves Andre, but we all know how that can be the kiss of death. It is true that most observers believe that Andre is the attractive piece to help move Elton Brand’s even worse contract. This would be a seismic shift in Danny’s strategy for the post-Big-Three renewal since Igoudala’s contract runs through 13-14. It would require Sheed + the D-leaguers + Big Baby and shift our deficit from SF to PF. However for a starter quality player that might team with Rondo for the future, who knows?

How about that? In one post you get the unreasonable ideas shot down, more likely but less appealing ideas laid out, a gut-check guess, and a wild idea to boot.