Coach Joe has copped to wanting the #1 seed way too much last season. Which many of us noted during the course of the regular season last year
I have the same concern but I really think the wise move to address this is to shift away from even being concerned about the regular season record. There should be regular rest throughout the season for all the starters (even Tatum, who apparently hates days off) - especially for Porzingis and Al. They have to learn from last year's Heat's example: the regular season does not matter.
Maybe but I think sometimes we read too much into why a certain player was traded. Marcus brought a lot to the team and was still pretty highly valued by the organization, I think. We also know that he wasn't Brad's first choice as a player to trade out. In this case, more than likely, Brad simply really wanted Porzingis. Similarly, Brad spent all summer talking about bringing back the double big and how amazing he foresaw the Rob and Porzingis combo--until Holiday became available and he saw it as an overall talent upgrade.
He's a really fun player to watch a ton of energy and hustle, but have read a few times here about his shot blocking. Not sure I see that from watching him nor by stats -- 0.4 per game, though granted in just 13 minutes.
Portland certainly seems intent on keep Rob. It's interesting to me how little comment there is about his health/knees in national commentary on this trade.
Not to pat ourselves on the back too much, but I think hard core Celtics fans saw 'healthy' Rob of 2023 as not the same player as 'healthy' Rob of 2022. Not sure that the national folks saw the difference.
Rob used to make otherworldly plays almost every game when healthy two seasons ago. Last year, we’d see one every so often. Coming back to play in the Finals on a balky knee might have ended Otherworldy Rob forever. I hope not. He’s one of my favorite bigs in the modern game.
That's how I used to describe Marcus for years. I loved his physicality and court sense on D.
If so, I'm not sure any such reporting was posted here - at least not in the Lillard / NBA off-season threads.
I've seen variations of this point thrown around here and on Twitter. I probably like Jrue more than that, but even taking that % as truth.....If Marcus Smart was 15% better this team might already have a title. It's a pretty big deal to improve one of your crunch time 5 that much, and neither Malcolm or Rob were likely in that crunch time group.
Agreed. Basketball is very unique amongst the big 4 sports in that so few players really make a difference. Even in football, the QB is only on the field half the time and needs, as famously pointed out by Mrs. Brady, other players to catch the ball.
To paraphrase a certain Habs goalie, perhaps we'll be able to use banner 18 as a blindfold then
Agreed, It was definitely KP demand-driven, but Brad had that Memphis offer in his back pocket.
I think it makes sense to view the KP trade as having two parts. Dallas was basically giving away KP. All it took was a collection of ok roleplayers and an early second round pick. Because Dallas was doing that, there was a massive opportunity to get involved if we could find a third team to facilitate but would need to give up a valuable player for cap reasons. Stevens almost did that with our least valuable player who made enough money to make it work (Brogdon). When that fell through, he took an ok offer for Smart to get it done.
I inadvertently went back one extra stop in KP’s career journey (his time in Washington was that forgettable). I don’t think it changes the point I was making so I will leave the mistake in the original post.
I've been thinking that Lee's time with Holiday is a very underrated element of this deal. A) I'm sure Brad talked to Lee about Jrue and how he would fit with this team both on and off the court; and B) I bet Lee will help Joe use Jrue in the best ways possible on the court.
I imagine PDX (the League) doctors had a good idea of what they were getting medical-wise, we have RAD sleuthing for us with very limited info.
That makes sense except Washburn wrote that Lee said the opposite about discussions before the trade was made.
Globe link
If POBOBS had been able to make the KP for Porzingas trade, I wonder if he makes he same Jrue Holiday trade for Smart and TL? I'm sure that's a much more difficult discussion since Holiday and Smart resemble each other as players.
It's going to be hard to convince me that Brad wouldn't have done the Marcus deal anyway, for exactly this reason: the GSW pick was critical in getting the Holiday deal done, and you can't just line up 2 1sts for Smart any time.
Agreed. And as much as we love Marcus, I think that he was part of the culture change. If you're trying to change the outcomes, you have to do something big. And not only is Tatum untouchable, but I think that Brown wasn't going anywhere either at least for a couple of years. Trading Marcus was the next big move to be made. His trade value now was still fantastic. Perfect time to cash in.
Wait, there's another Minnechaug Falcon in here? I thought I was the only one.
I agree with Jimmy/Love. That Marcus/Memphis deal came together too quickly for it not to be a foregone conclusion.
We just missed one another, I graduated in '01. I'm in San Diego now, but my parents are also still in town. Go Falcons!
I never made it to Minnechaug, but Mile Tree and Stony Hill Elementary alum here. Lived right down the street on Fairview Road and would have been in the Class of '90.
I doubt this is how things went down. I think, pretty clearly, Memphis had made a previous inquiry into the availability of Smart. They made an offer but were told he wasn't available. When the Brogdon trade died, Brad pivoted knowing Memphis wanted him and got it done. He was forced to trade a better player, but he also got more assets.
I think your version of events is roughly how this all went down.
Yeah, I agree that's what should happen. I just worry Mazzulla will worry about an ECF in Milwaukee and push the starters too hard. Hopefully they keep everyone fresh for the playoffs. I think the Porzingis and Al situation is the most important, given KP's injury history and Al's age. One more solid big for the rotation would make me feel better about the situation, but they've got time to figure that out before the playoffs.
Not that you brought this up, but I wonder if Milwaukee having a rookie HC will end up mattering at some point. Griffin has far more experience than Mazzulla did at this point last year (first year as HC, but Griffin has spent 15 years as an assistant in the NBA with 6 different teams), but I do think the fact that our coaching staff had far less experience than any of our playoff opponents matter last year, and that's no longer going to be the case (or at least not to the same extent). I'm pretty excited about that.
They are now all in and paying a huge premium to do so. If the Cs don't make it to the ECF, Mazzulla is probably in trouble but I don't think Stevens will escape unscathed either.
This, plus for all depth and injury concerns, the biggest question mark for this team may still be Joe Mazzulla. Most of his issues last year can be excused due to experience, the staffing issues and pure circumstance (most of which was out of his and Stevens' control), but whether or not he can be the HC for a title team is still very much in doubt, and it was ultimately Stevens' call to sign him beyond last year. If things go bad Joe probably goes before Brad, but let's not pretend like the players on the court are the only personnel decisions that Stevens is responsible for.
I think one thing that hasn’t really been talked all that much is how much the coaching staff has improved. Joe has a lot more experience to help him in practice and in games.
Its just the reality of sports in 2023. Processes are typically what builds winners but its a results business, with the emphasis on the last part. The Cs ownership probably wouldn't be patient otherwise at this point but the penalties for running this roster also kind of put an end point on things. We are at the point where they have to maximize the Tatum/Brown window.
Ive often wondered why Brad didn't name himself as interim HC rather than go with Joe, after L'affaire Ime. At the time I thought Joe was not the guy to lead a very experienced team and a team ready to win a championship.. (and his inexperience etc wasn't his fault).
”I think they care about hard work on defense and getting loose balls and stuff like that over maybe windmill dunks and things of that nature,” said Holiday.”
I always thought the Bubble season and the isolation was a real challenge for Brad in coaching, reaching and maintaining cohesiveness with a pretty young team that a more veteran team might have handled better. Maybe he had enough of them too.
