Brandon Bass Expects To Be Back

Bringing back Bass

Danny Ainge worked very hard in the brief offseason that the NBA had as a result of the lockout. He tried in vain to land Chris Paul , David West , and others. Many of the guys that he did bring in or bring back, didn't manage to finish the year ( Chris Wilcox ) or even get started ( Jeff Green ). But the one guy that Ainge added that managed to stick around and make major contributions was Brandon Bass .

Bass is a restricted free agent, but it sounds as though he will be back in Boston next year.

Brandon Bass has a player option for next season and all indications are that he will exercise it after averaging career highs in points and rebounds. After the Celtics season ended abruptly in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, Bass said he hasn't thought too much about the future but he also made it clear that he wants to return.

"I do," he said when asked if he thought he would be back. "I would love to be back here. The fans here are unbelievable. For any player, this organization is the organization that you want to play for."

Picking up the option is a great option for the Celtics as it gives them another year with a very solid starting power forward at a very reasonable price. I'm not clear though on why Bass is leaning this way. It only locks in one more year when he could command more than that on the open market.

The question is whether the price will be right. Bass holds a $4.25 million player option for next season, the final year of a $16 million pact he inked with Orlando in July 2009. But agreeing to that option would mean no pay raise for a player who started 39 games (moving to the first-unit power forward in the second half of the season) and averaged career highs at 12.5 points and 6.2 rebounds over 31.7 minutes per game. His numbers dipped a bit in the postseason, but so did his floor time as Boston often went small throughout the playoffs.

But sometimes the money isn't so much of an issue as the environment and Bass is a guy that has bounced around the league a little bit. He's found a home here in Boston and he's got a great relationship with Doc. Besides, if he plays up to his capabilities next year, he'll be in line for a nice pay raise anyway.

Regardless, I'd love to see him stick around for a long time. I'm very pleased with this report.

Hey, I got through a whole post about Bass without mentioning Big Baby once! (oops - never mind)

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I like Bass

He provided quite a punch last night. I would only trade him if we could somehow land Josh Smith.

A good selling point for free agents

The deep run into the playoffs, Doc as coach, a point guard like Rondo who can get you the ball, Celtic tradition and Pride, still a chance to play with the Big 3, the fans, the parquet, Rondo, Rondo and Rondo

It just says he wants to come back.

If he can opt-out and get Big Baby money, I would be surprised if he opted in.

(I don’t really want to pay him Big Baby money btw.)

That's right.

I don’t even see where he says that he expects to be back—only that he’d like to return.

I’m hoping he gets a Baby-esque deal and happily moves along.

well, he should get a good offer...

that jumper is sound mechancially now as is the free throw shooting and that was not always the case. He improved on D and has developed a post game finally—can improve with that maybe.

Bizzare

Perhaps Bass thinks another year with the C’s will showcase his talent and make him more on the open market in 2013. Or perhaps he and his agent have discussed a long-term extension with the C’s and this is the first step down that path.

O yeah!!

I love Bass. He had 14 pts in the first half yesterday. I don’t why Rondi stopped passing him. I want Bass back.

TheBigE1978 - June 10, 2012 via Android app reply

He just says he'd like to be back

He doesn’t say he’s leaning towards taking his player option.

More likely, he’ll look to do what Pierce did a couple years ago — decline his player option and then sign a 3 or 4 year deal with the team.

but really how much of his play is influenced by rondo...

i know he was kinda ok in Orlando but next to Rondo he was superb. Maybe im just reading it differently but im thinkin he is opting in as a signal of good faith.

Rondo can make guys like Bass (and Glen Davis) look like borderline-to-decent NBA starters. Give Rondo players who can hit open jumpshots, set screens, and get open under the basket or on the elbow and Rondo will make them look much better than they are, because he’ll get them lots of easy looks.

A major part of the Celtics’ offensive game-plan this year was having two bigs who could hit jumpers on either side of the paint from 10-15 feet.

Not really

Last year, he shot 51.5% from the floor, this year he shot 47.9%. He also had a higher rebounding rate last year than this year. He had better per-game numbers because he played more minutes, that’s all.

Good news though that he wants to be back. I loved his effort all year long, that mid range jumper really spaces the floor, would love to see him in green for another season.

Just tell him not to guard Lebron so tightly and force him into a jump shooter.

if he opts out, he's likely gone

Once we sign Kris Humphries, give KG a 2 year deal….there’s the rest of our cap. Ray gets mid-level to come back and Jeff Green and Bass have to sign for minimum or go elsewhere.

I wish the Celtics would have listened to me the previous offseason and signed Humphries.

That whole Kardashian thing really hurt his stock and he sat as a free agent for a looooong time. We could have picked him up cheap for a couple of years and he would have been a great piece here. Now I expect him to get considerable attention.

was there any indication from Ainge that he looked at Humphries?

either during last off season or even now, doesn’t seem like Ainge has an interest

KG and Kris Humphries supposedly HATE each other

So I doubt Humphries is a likely FA target if KG comes back.

Bass

That is Bass talking, not his agent. Trust me, with the playoff runt that the Celtics had, he will opt out. Just makes sense.

I still say he has upside; he needs to work on additional low post moves if he wants to be a full time power forward without Garnett at the five.

A bit of topic, but since you mentioned it

One of the big disappointments for me this season was that we didn’t get David West when we were supposedly on the cusp of signing him. Obviously none of this is Danny’s fault but had West chosen the Celtics it could have very well pushed us over the edge.

earlier I thought that way but when West signed with the Pacers, he didn’t do anything to put them over and his performance in the post season didn’t seem all that spectacular, Bass produced better in the playoffs than West did

He showed he could play well in the playoffs.

His jumper wasn’t falling well early on in the playoffs, but as the playoffs wore on it steadily got back to where it had been in the regular season; and when it mattered the most, games 6 and 7 of this last round, he played big. Also, throughout the playoffs he was terrific at the free throw line; that’s important.

Just like Doc, Danny is becoming better every year.

BB has been good value for the C's.

Compared to the money that earn many other players that produce half of what he has this first season with the C’s, I’d say he has been very good value for the C’s so far.

And even if we have to pay for him next year a little extra, say in the range of 5.5 – 6.5 MM, we are getting a good deal.

The guy is still young, just turned 27 about 6 weeks ago, at 6’8" is not a tower but is fairly big and very strong at 250 lbs. His numbers were: 12.5 ppg and 6.2 rpg regular season and 11.1 ppg – 5.3 rpg in playoffs.

Having played already a season, he knows Doc’ systems and Doc knows him. With a good – normal preseason this year, he can learn and improve even further his game.

Looking at FA list, I see a guy like Beasley: 11.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2 inches taller (15 lbs. thinner) and four years younger, but with a QO of 8.2MM.

Same with Humphries: 6’9", 235 lbs., 27 years old, and this season: 13.8 ppg, 11 rpg and 8.0MM with the Nets.

In the same range as the two above is Landry from the Hornets, only two years older at 29.

For the same money that command these last three guys we can keep BB and

bring again CW, who is an UFA listed at 3.0MM.

Without Garnett there would be space for Bass.

“I would like to come back…” Did not say for “less.” He is a good FA and will get offers.

Ainge did not sign his as a starter…other teams may offer him starter money.

I KG returns, they will not be spending their max deal (Allen’s cap space) on Bass.

Bring back the Bass! :)

He’s been consistent and well deserving of C’s love… He held his ground being both a bench player and a starter.

Bass is a nice complimentary player for Rondo,

But Ainge will need a center, shooting guard and small forward if Pierce retires. I can see them signing Jeff Green and Bass for reasonable contracts. Getting Ray back would be tough. A contender like Chi will overpay. We’ll see….

and rebound. The Celtics have enough guys shooting from outside.

low maintenance guys are hard to come by in this league of queens