Green Target: Nick Young

I know you're first thought. "We can't afford him." This is a widely professed statement by Celtics fans and writers, but it simply isn't true. 

How the Celtics could get him:
Up until Jeff Green failed his physical the Celtics financially could not add Nick Young and while they are still so far over the cap they can not traditionally just sign him. What they can do is sign and trade for him. And the Celtics happen to have a few pieces the Wizards could be interested in. None of the recently signed Celtics are eligible to be traded. Avery Bradley and Jeff Green are two guys that are. Young wants 9 million a year from Washington (basically what Green wanted). He's not getting 9 million though. A 4 year $28 million dollar deal I believe would get it done. With escalating salaries, you could start his contract in 2011/2012 closer to $ 6 million. Avery Bradley makes $1.63 million. Green would be paid the rest. Remember you don't have to match up salaries exactly. Just within a range. So let's say Green in resigned for $3 million or a little bit north of that.

This would be the trade Green, Bradley, + $3 million in cash (maximum teams can include, which tidily in this case means the Wizards get local kid Green's Bird rights for free) for Nick Young. I'll get into why the Celtics should do it after the jump, but for the Wizards it's simple. They don't want to pay Young. This way they get a cheap replacement in Bradley for the coming season and gain Jeff Green's Bird rights. Next Summer they can either sign the former Georgetown Hoya to replace the corpse of Rashard Lewis at the small forward position, or they could sign and trade him for additional assets. Remember, the Celtics $3 million is covering his salary. If Green and Bradley are not enough the Celtics actually have some extra picks that could be used to sweeten the deal.

(Pros and Cons after the jump.)

Pros: 
The 26 year old Young had a breakout year last season. He averaged 17.4 points a game and shot 39% from beyond the 3 point arc. The kid can flat out put the ball in the bucket. Age wise, he would fit in nicely with Rajon Rondo in the Celtics backcourt. And financially Rondo at $11 mil a year + Young at $7 mil a year is better for the Celtics than CP3 at $20.4 mil and Bradley at $2.5 mil (for next season). That's an additional $5 million (a year) the Celtics would have to throw at a marquee free agent next Summer. While players like warm weather, being on championship contenders, playing with their friends, etc, what they like most is more money. Bringing Young aboard would allow the Celtics to still be major players in free agency next Summer, while also having more building blocks to attract star free agent.

It was reported that Danny Ainge originally wanted James Harden in the Perkins trade. He settled for Jeff Green. I think a player like Harden or Young is a better fit for the Celtics. We need a confident offensive force off the bench. While people were claiming the chance for Banner 18 was gone yesterday with the news of Green's heart condition, I'll counter and say that if the Celtics make the above trade they'd be in better position to capture #18 than they were before Green failed his physical. Young would get plenty of playing time backing up Ray and Pierce in this compressed season. He's probably start several games as well. No better shooting guard that Ray for Young to apprentice under for a year. Then next year, Young could be the starter and Ray the back-up.


Cons:
Well if you don't like Nick Young or his game then signing him longterm would be a con. Or if you're very high on Bradley and Green in the post Big 3 Celtics era, then again you're probably against the trade. You shouldn't feel bad for Jeff Green with this trade. He collects basically $3 million dollars for the "inconvenience" of being traded to his hometown. I might be missing some cons, so feel free to add them in the comments section.







To check out more Green Targets click here.

Note: We were also going to come out with an Green Target: Al Thornton today, but Bohemian reminded me that we actually did a Green Target for him way back on June 1st. You can read it here.