Could the Celtics trade Sheed’s expiring (I mean, retiring) contract?
(Watch the video. In case you didn’t already, it makes you really, really hate NBA refs.)
This might sound a little ambitious, and I have no idea if it would even work under the NBA rules. But, for a second, let’s say Sheed decides to retire (as it looks like he will). Could the Celtics then use his contract, before he officially retires, in a trade?
Teams everywhere are looking for cap space, and with the summer of 2010 about ten days away, Sheed’s retirement could potentially net a team $6.3 million of cap space (according to Chris Forsberg). That $6.3 million off the books means almost nothing to the Celtics (who will still be over the salary cap unless Paul Pierce somehow decides to turn down $21 million despite being a step and a half slower than he used to be), but could prove very useful to a team with free agent hopes.
Again, I don’t know if the NBA would allow a move including Sheed’s retiring contract. It sounds kind of sheisty to me. But, goddamn, it’d be a huge coup if it would work. The biggest problem with Sheed’s near-certain retirement is that the Celtics will lose his services while being unable to add another player. If the C’s could somehow flip Sheed’s contract into another mid-level type player, they could actually really benefit from his retirement.
If this whole thing works, want to hear a trade that would be perfect for both teams? Sheed to OKC for Nick Collison. The contracts work, Collison’s contract comes off the books after next season, and Collison is a tough bastard who plays the game the right way. He’d be a great off-the-bench player behind Perkins and Garnett. Why would the Thunder give Collison away for nothing? Sheed’s retiring contract would get them enough cap space to add a max player. Think they wouldn’t give up Nick Collison to pair Kevin Durant with Lebron? Those guys would be a decent tandem for the next decade or so, huh? (Another name to think about? Michael Beasley? With Big Baby in the fold, though — and Beasley saying basketball isn’t fun anymore — I’m not sure Beasley’s the right fit.)
Again, I don’t know if any of this rampant speculation would work under NBA rules. All I know is, it’d be great if it did.
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Celtics Blog | Jay King | June 22, 2010
Far as I know, there’s no rule against it, I mean technically, their just swapping contracts, it’s just a trade, there’s no rules against that.
I think it comes down to pulling it off without violating the trade rules, one of those “smile and a wink” type deals like what happened with Big Z in Cleveland this year. They can’t literally go to another team and say “Sheed’s gonna retire, trade for his contract and you’ll save some cap.” But if it’s “unofficially officially” known that he will retire, then they can certainly do a trade. Then it’s up to Sheed to ya know, actually retire, and that’s the risk the other team would have to take.
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Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. Sheed’s contract would be nice trade bait.
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