Celtics Plan, Summer 2021

wade boggs chicken dinner

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If the season started tomorrow, what would the breakdown be for minutes at PG? Smart, Pritchard, Edwards? Would we see any all wing lineups without a true PG?
Speculation is that JRich's best year was with MIA when he had the ball in his hands a lot more so that JRich will play some "psuedo-PG."

We're going to see a lot of Romeo handling the ball in SL; will be interesting to see how that works out.
 

nighthob

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The amount of hair tearing going on in this thread is bizarre. I have news for you people, about 80% of NBA fans wish their team was in this "hopeless" situation of a team led by a future MVP candidate big wing with an all star wing sidekick. This team is going to win 50 games next year and make playoff noise.
 

BigSoxFan

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The amount of hair tearing going on in this thread is bizarre. I have news for you people, about 80% of NBA fans wish their team was in this "hopeless" situation of a team led by a future MVP candidate big wing with an all star wing sidekick. This team is going to win 50 games next year and make playoff noise.
It’s more about this team being so close since 2017 but not getting over the hump and now facing a more uncertain future now that Kyrie and Hayward crapped out.

Clearly, things could be much, much worse but I’m guessing people are focused on Green 18. But simple reality is that winning a title in the NBA is just really freaking hard. At a minimum, this team will be fun to watch and they clearly have smart people running the operation. That’s all you can ask for, really.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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The amount of hair tearing going on in this thread is bizarre. I have news for you people, about 80% of NBA fans wish their team was in this "hopeless" situation of a team led by a future MVP candidate big wing with an all star wing sidekick. This team is going to win 50 games next year and make playoff noise.
This and JakeRae's post captures it.

My view is that those people who are worried here haven't realized what sort of player Jayson Tatum is - he isn't likely to win a ring all by himself and the team is lacking in top end talent. But Tatum isnt a player that can be easily shut down with the other team's stopper. The Tatum that went into the most recent playoffs is capable of dominating a series by himself and even if they are a lower seed, he gives them a punchers chance in most matchups imo. Its not ideal but its a function of where the team finds itself after missing on AD and then failing to retain Irving and Hayward.
 

lovegtm

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Not at all.

Ainge tried w/ Kyrie and Hayward. Gordon's injury came out of nowhere, and can't really blame anyone on the Celtics for the Kyrie blowup. Ainge tried again w/ Kemba; guy got hurt 2 years too early.

If there was a player to be had this offseason that would have moved the needle, you need to show your work to indicate which one it was. Rudy Gay doesn't count.
Yeah, if they had even normal luck with Hayward+Kemba injuries, the Celtics would have made 1-4 Finals appearances over that stretch.
 

nighthob

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It’s more about this team being so close since 2017 but not getting over the hump and now facing a more uncertain future now that Kyrie and Hayward crapped out.

Clearly, things could be much, much worse but I’m guessing people are focused on Green 18. But simple reality is that winning a title in the NBA is just really freaking hard. At a minimum, this team will be fun to watch and they clearly have smart people running the operation. That’s all you can ask for, really.
Somewhere there's an alternate timeline where Kyrie accepted a trade to Phoenix and Boston drafted SGA in the 2018 draft. I'm the first to say that Ainge was too obsessed with redoing the Garnett thing and kept up his hopeless quest for Davis even after the Unibrower hired LeBron to be his agent. But what's past is past. Rather than ending up with some Brooklyn firsts they lost Irving for naught.

But they did end up with Richardson for Hayward, and J-Rich is a pretty good fit for what they need out of a guard (someone to dribble the ball up floor and hand it off to the JayCrew to start the offense). And the talent drain helped them by forcing Tatum to go sunshine supernova. As long as there were a lot of other scorers Tatum hesitated to impose his will on opponents. After the end of last year he's seen what he's capable of. He's going to wreak havoc on the NBA next year. Guys here need to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Are Brooklyn and Milwaukee better? Probably. But Brooklyn is relying on a lot of old guys, and the young'un of their troika is an injury prone headcase. Milwaukee's third wheel is also getting a little long in the tooth. So the Celtics do have a puncher's chance. More than that if they can close a deal for Beal during the season. And even if they don't there's this, at every previous level Aaron Nesmith made a huge leap in his second season at that level. As we saw last year he's got a good head on his shoulders, and as he learned to slide his feet on defense even started looking good there. There's now a non-zero chance that they might not need Beal to hit the first rank of contenders.
 

kazuneko

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Ainge tried w/ Kyrie and Hayward. Gordon's injury came out of nowhere, and can't really blame anyone on the Celtics for the Kyrie blowup.
This isn’t really true. There were plenty of concerns that Kyrie might be a head case - and those concerns were expressed right here by some of us at that time…

Edit:
As I’m sure people remember, the season before the trade Kyrie reportedly gave his team the silent treatment during the playoffs. In fact, these reports and others did prevent some teams from pursuing him in a trade. Ainge ignored these concerns, pulled the trigger and ended up getting burnt by the very concerns that critics of the trade voiced at the time (i.e that Kyrie was a head-case and that giving up a lottery pick in the stacked 2018 draft was too risky).
Who knows, in an alternative universe the Cs never make that trade and maybe today we’d be celebrating the big 3 of Tatum, Brown and Gilgeous-Alexander’s first championship title..
 
Last edited:

Eddie Jurak

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I think the Celtics have what it takes to be better next year. New coach, better defensive talent, return of a big who can help the offense (Al), refocus the team around its 2 core stars, the Jays.

The danger is the ripple effects of their intended pursuit of Beal. First, he may not even want to come, which forces them towards plan B. Second, if he does come, either via midseason trade or postseason in free agency, the Celtics will end up radically remaking their roster on the fly. Much of the talent after the Jays may need to be traded or renounced. This will include Marcus. Which type of player heading into free agency will Marcus be? The guy who steps up his game and enables himself to cash in or the messed up guy who loses focus and ends up having an off year? As much as I love Marcus, he seems like the sort of player who might become an on court problem.

If Udoka can hold the team together to be a team, I think the Celtics will have a good year next year. If the shadow of Beal fractures the team, they could disappoint again.
 

EL Jeffe

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I'm not trying to be a hair-puller (h/t, nighthob), I just think there's an awful lot of best case scenario thinking going on in this thread.

Horford: A lot of is being put on his 35 year old shoulders here. We're sure he's not washed? TL has never been able to stay healthy here - that leaves Horford as the only playable big if (when) TL goes down? I'm just not as confident in him as some of you are. 32 year old Al? Sure. At 35, I'm much less sure.

Richardson: It looked like he was on his way to turning into something into Miami, but for 2 consecutive years on 2 different teams, he's gone a different direction. Now it's 3 different teams in 3 consecutive seasons. Maybe the 1-2 promising Miami seasons were the mirage? He's definitely better defensively than Kemba, but offensively...that's a big (and important) gulf. Secondary scoring outside of the Js has a chance to be a major issue here. It feels like there's some Underpants Gnomes strategy on where the offense is going to come from.

Nesmith: I like him, but there's no guarantee he makes a nice 2nd year leap, let a lone a major one. Plenty of guys just never do. There's just cause for optimism that Nesmith will be better this year and we all saw flashes, but flashes aren't a guarantee of future performance. Who knows with Romeo; he hasn't had any traction due to injuries and he can't shoot.

The Js are great and they'll be doing most of the heavy lifting, but I see a really thin margin of error here. If either one gets hurt, poof. I see a team that's probably going to be very good defensively, but pretty limited offensively. I'm not trying to be a pessimist, sports are supposed to be fun. I'm just trying to take a logical, realistic look at the roster...and I'm seeing some holes. I will be psyched if I'm wrong and Boston is a legit contender...but I'll also be very (pleasantly) surprised.
 

BigSoxFan

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Somewhere there's an alternate timeline where Kyrie accepted a trade to Phoenix and Boston drafted SGA in the 2018 draft. I'm the first to say that Ainge was too obsessed with redoing the Garnett thing and kept up his hopeless quest for Davis even after the Unibrower hired LeBron to be his agent. But what's past is past. Rather than ending up with some Brooklyn firsts they lost Irving for naught.

But they did end up with Richardson for Hayward, and J-Rich is a pretty good fit for what they need out of a guard (someone to dribble the ball up floor and hand it off to the JayCrew to start the offense). And the talent drain helped them by forcing Tatum to go sunshine supernova. As long as there were a lot of other scorers Tatum hesitated to impose his will on opponents. After the end of last year he's seen what he's capable of. He's going to wreak havoc on the NBA next year. Guys here need to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Are Brooklyn and Milwaukee better? Probably. But Brooklyn is relying on a lot of old guys, and the young'un of their troika is an injury prone headcase. Milwaukee's third wheel is also getting a little long in the tooth. So the Celtics do have a puncher's chance. More than that if they can close a deal for Beal during the season. And even if they don't there's this, at every previous level Aaron Nesmith made a huge leap in his second season at that level. As we saw last year he's got a good head on his shoulders, and as he learned to slide his feet on defense even started looking good there. There's now a non-zero chance that they might not need Beal to hit the first rank of contenders.
Yeah, I’m not hitting the panic button or anything. I think there is more uncertainty but there still are multiple paths to relevancy. I will say this - we absolutely need to hit on Langford or Nesmith this year, for either a Beal trade or just for organic growth, as you said. This is a big development year for the team.
 

Jimbodandy

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Yeah, I’m not hitting the panic button or anything. I think there is more uncertainty but there still are multiple paths to relevancy. I will say this - we absolutely need to hit on Langford or Nesmith this year, for either a Beal trade or just for organic growth, as you said. This is a big development year for the team.
Long offseason (short playoff run), check. Time to work on their games instead of short turnaround (especially the yutes), check. Regular training camp, check. Summer league, maybe. Preseason, probably.

A lot of the excuses for lack of indivudual development and chemistry at both ends are no longer in effect. Add in a new guy yelling at them instead of old guy.

Team should be improved in a lot of areas. We'll see.
 

128

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Long offseason (short playoff run), check. Time to work on their games instead of short turnaround (especially the yutes), check. Regular training camp, check. Summer league, maybe. Preseason, probably.

A lot of the excuses for lack of indivudual development and chemistry at both ends are no longer in effect. Add in a new guy yelling at them instead of old guy.

Team should be improved in a lot of areas. We'll see.
Assuming the players respond well to Udoka's coaching, I think the X-factor, as it so often is, will be the team's health. As others have noted, injuries to the Big Two could be devastating for a team whose margin for error already is thin.

Another concern of mine is the C's overall lack of size. With Kemba (and Waters) gone, that's no longer really an issue on the perimeter, where guys like Smart, Jaylen, Richardson, Romeo, Nesmith and, maybe, Dunn have good size, but the C's are vertically challenged in the frontcourt. The roster still could change, but right now, unless Kornet returns, Horford is the only Celtic listed as taller than 6-8, and there's not much bulk, either, apart from Grant Williams. (Time Lord obviously plays much bigger than his listed 6-8.)
 

lexrageorge

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This isn’t really true. There were plenty of concerns that Kyrie might be a head case - and those concerns were expressed right here by some of us at that time…

Edit:
As I’m sure people remember, the season before the trade Kyrie reportedly gave his team the silent treatment during the playoffs. In fact, these reports and others did prevent some teams from pursuing him in a trade. Ainge ignored these concerns, pulled the trigger and ended up getting burnt by the very concerns that critics of the trade voiced at the time (i.e that Kyrie was a head-case and that giving up a lottery pick in the stacked 2018 draft was too risky).
Who knows, in an alternative universe the Cs never make that trade and maybe today we’d be celebrating the big 3 of Tatum, Brown and Gilgeous-Alexander’s first championship title..
My only problem with this line of thinking is that many posters here have said that Ainge wasn't bold enough with the assets he had, should have traded them earlier, etc. Then, when Ainge does make a bold move by trading a Brooklyn pick, he's criticized for it not working out. Fair enough, but similar warning flags have been raised by Anthony Davis, Kawhi, even Paul Pierce and Ray Allen back in the day. Young superstars that want to be traded should always raise a bit of a red flag, but in many times those red flags turn out to be a product of the situation they were in previously.

When Kyrie came over, Tatum was a high draft pick that flashed in the summer league, and Brown was coming off a rookie season in which his playing time was very carefully managed. Still, the idea of a Horford/Hayward/Kyrie 3-some coupled with Marcus Smart and the young Jays was certainly intriguing. Had things played out differently on the health front (Hayward's leg; Kyrie's knee; Kyrie's brain), there may very well have been an 18th flag hanging from the rafters.

I think Ainge did make mistakes after the Kyrie trade, in particular the quixotic chase for AD. But I have trouble faulting him for the Kyrie trade. If it's any consolation, Kyrie's frequent trips to the injured list should raise a lot of red flags given that he's not long going to have a "2" in his age.

As to the alternate universe, what if Ainge selected Kevin Knox? Or, would Colin Sexton or Mikal Bridges been enough of a 3rd wheel to vault the team to the next level?
 

Lazy vs Crazy

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On the latest Simmons pod he and Kevin O'Connor discussed the possibility that the Celtics are working to expand the current Atlanta trade to include a sign and trade for Collins, instead of holding for Beal next season. There's really no smoke there - I haven't read any reporting on it. But thinking about it, I'd much prefer that to Beal. I think Collins fits Brown and Tatum better than Beal, even if Beal is a better player than Collins in a vacuum.

I mean it isn't happening, but it would be great if it did.
 

DJnVa

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I don't mind running it with Tatum, Brown, TL and hoping Romeo/Nesmith/PP improve, with some stability from Horford, and "good Smart".


Karalis mentioned on his podcast today that Celtics could even trade for some expiring contracts during the season, maybe pick up a pick to do so.
 

HomeRunBaker

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On the latest Simmons pod he and Kevin O'Connor discussed the possibility that the Celtics are working to expand the current Atlanta trade to include a sign and trade for Collins, instead of holding for Beal next season. There's really no smoke there - I haven't read any reporting on it. But thinking about it, I'd much prefer that to Beal. I think Collins fits Brown and Tatum better than Beal, even if Beal is a better player than Collins in a vacuum.

I mean it isn't happening, but it would be great if it did.
Well there’s no question that they are working to expand the deal so hey why not shoot for the moon! It sure beats discussing Bruno Fernando.
 

bosockboy

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On the latest Simmons pod he and Kevin O'Connor discussed the possibility that the Celtics are working to expand the current Atlanta trade to include a sign and trade for Collins, instead of holding for Beal next season. There's really no smoke there - I haven't read any reporting on it. But thinking about it, I'd much prefer that to Beal. I think Collins fits Brown and Tatum better than Beal, even if Beal is a better player than Collins in a vacuum.

I mean it isn't happening, but it would be great if it did.
I’d take the certainty of Collins now also over a year of limbo and gambling on Beal.
 

Eddie Jurak

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I'm not trying to be a hair-puller (h/t, nighthob), I just think there's an awful lot of best case scenario thinking going on in this thread.

Horford: A lot of is being put on his 35 year old shoulders here. We're sure he's not washed? TL has never been able to stay healthy here - that leaves Horford as the only playable big if (when) TL goes down? I'm just not as confident in him as some of you are. 32 year old Al? Sure. At 35, I'm much less sure.

Richardson: It looked like he was on his way to turning into something into Miami, but for 2 consecutive years on 2 different teams, he's gone a different direction. Now it's 3 different teams in 3 consecutive seasons. Maybe the 1-2 promising Miami seasons were the mirage? He's definitely better defensively than Kemba, but offensively...that's a big (and important) gulf. Secondary scoring outside of the Js has a chance to be a major issue here. It feels like there's some Underpants Gnomes strategy on where the offense is going to come from.

Nesmith: I like him, but there's no guarantee he makes a nice 2nd year leap, let a lone a major one. Plenty of guys just never do. There's just cause for optimism that Nesmith will be better this year and we all saw flashes, but flashes aren't a guarantee of future performance. Who knows with Romeo; he hasn't had any traction due to injuries and he can't shoot.

The Js are great and they'll be doing most of the heavy lifting, but I see a really thin margin of error here. If either one gets hurt, poof. I see a team that's probably going to be very good defensively, but pretty limited offensively. I'm not trying to be a pessimist, sports are supposed to be fun. I'm just trying to take a logical, realistic look at the roster...and I'm seeing some holes. I will be psyched if I'm wrong and Boston is a legit contender...but I'll also be very (pleasantly) surprised.
This is a fair though pessimisti view. I do think we are looking at a bridge year of sorts.
My only problem with this line of thinking is that many posters here have said that Ainge wasn't bold enough with the assets he had, should have traded them earlier, etc. Then, when Ainge does make a bold move by trading a Brooklyn pick, he's criticized for it not working out. Fair enough, but similar warning flags have been raised by Anthony Davis, Kawhi, even Paul Pierce and Ray Allen back in the day. Young superstars that want to be traded should always raise a bit of a red flag, but in many times those red flags turn out to be a product of the situation they were in previously.

When Kyrie came over, Tatum was a high draft pick that flashed in the summer league, and Brown was coming off a rookie season in which his playing time was very carefully managed. Still, the idea of a Horford/Hayward/Kyrie 3-some coupled with Marcus Smart and the young Jays was certainly intriguing. Had things played out differently on the health front (Hayward's leg; Kyrie's knee; Kyrie's brain), there may very well have been an 18th flag hanging from the rafters.

I think Ainge did make mistakes after the Kyrie trade, in particular the quixotic chase for AD. But I have trouble faulting him for the Kyrie trade. If it's any consolation, Kyrie's frequent trips to the injured list should raise a lot of red flags given that he's not long going to have a "2" in his age.

As to the alternate universe, what if Ainge selected Kevin Knox? Or, would Colin Sexton or Mikal Bridges been enough of a 3rd wheel to vault the team to the next level?
Ainge's moves would be viewed differently if not for the Hayward injury. Heck, they would be viewed differently if Gordon had not gotten hurt in the midst of kicking ass in the bubble. He essentially bet everyting on those 2 big moves, neither of which panned out and neither of which was 100% his fault.
 

128

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On the latest Simmons pod he and Kevin O'Connor discussed the possibility that the Celtics are working to expand the current Atlanta trade to include a sign and trade for Collins, instead of holding for Beal next season. There's really no smoke there - I haven't read any reporting on it. But thinking about it, I'd much prefer that to Beal. I think Collins fits Brown and Tatum better than Beal, even if Beal is a better player than Collins in a vacuum.

I mean it isn't happening, but it would be great if it did.
View: https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1422917947123765251?s=21
 

brendan f

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Given the dearth of talent left, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Celtics go the international route. One guy to keep an eye on is Simone Fontecchio, who had an excellent Olympics for Italy and who the Celtics are very familiar with, having worked him out in 2015 prior to the NBA draft where he went undrafted. Could be a decent depth option to round out their bench.
 

the moops

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We have seen countless sign and trades this offseason already. It seems folloish to me to preserve capspace to sign a guy, when it appears teams wil take a small asset to make it happen via S+T
 

Cellar-Door

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I have to say, I think a S&T (or honestly a trade before he hits FA) makes a lot of sense. If the Celtics actually gutted the roster like they'd need to and signed Beal I think they wouldn't be real contenders for at least 1-2 more years. They'd have essentially nothing around Tatum/Brown/Beal, and that top 3 isn't good enough to beat the other big 3 groupings with scrubs.
 

slamminsammya

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We have seen countless sign and trades this offseason already. It seems folloish to me to preserve capspace to sign a guy, when it appears teams wil take a small asset to make it happen via S+T
The mere fact of being able to sign a guy outright would allow the S+T price to go down quite a bit, since (assuming it were happening) Beal will end up in Boston either way, and so from Washington's perspective the calculus becomes whether they want something or nothing rather than being able to hold up a deal entirely.
 

DJnVa

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I gotta think PBS isn't doing this on a wing and a prayer. While I doubt he's got some 100% assurance, he *has* to have some intel from Tatum on Beal, right?
 

the moops

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The mere fact of being able to sign a guy outright would allow the S+T price to go down quite a bit, since (assuming it were happening) Beal will end up in Boston either way, and so from Washington's perspective the calculus becomes whether they want something or nothing rather than being able to hold up a deal entirely.
But that works of there is any team out there with cap space. Doesn't have to be BOS. So WAS could let him sign elsewhere or deal with BOS and get something.
 

DJnVa

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But that works of there is any team out there with cap space. Doesn't have to be BOS. So WAS could let him sign elsewhere or deal with BOS and get something.
The plan is based on Beal wanting Boston though. Other teams would be in the same boat as the Celtics were deciding whether or not to make offer for Davis and hope they could convince him to stay. At the cost of major assets.

EDIT: or what @slamminsammya said.
 

cheech13

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I'm not trying to be a hair-puller (h/t, nighthob), I just think there's an awful lot of best case scenario thinking going on in this thread.

Horford: A lot of is being put on his 35 year old shoulders here. We're sure he's not washed? TL has never been able to stay healthy here - that leaves Horford as the only playable big if (when) TL goes down? I'm just not as confident in him as some of you are. 32 year old Al? Sure. At 35, I'm much less sure.

Richardson: It looked like he was on his way to turning into something into Miami, but for 2 consecutive years on 2 different teams, he's gone a different direction. Now it's 3 different teams in 3 consecutive seasons. Maybe the 1-2 promising Miami seasons were the mirage? He's definitely better defensively than Kemba, but offensively...that's a big (and important) gulf. Secondary scoring outside of the Js has a chance to be a major issue here. It feels like there's some Underpants Gnomes strategy on where the offense is going to come from.

Nesmith: I like him, but there's no guarantee he makes a nice 2nd year leap, let a lone a major one. Plenty of guys just never do. There's just cause for optimism that Nesmith will be better this year and we all saw flashes, but flashes aren't a guarantee of future performance. Who knows with Romeo; he hasn't had any traction due to injuries and he can't shoot.

The Js are great and they'll be doing most of the heavy lifting, but I see a really thin margin of error here. If either one gets hurt, poof. I see a team that's probably going to be very good defensively, but pretty limited offensively. I'm not trying to be a pessimist, sports are supposed to be fun. I'm just trying to take a logical, realistic look at the roster...and I'm seeing some holes. I will be psyched if I'm wrong and Boston is a legit contender...but I'll also be very (pleasantly) surprised.
This is kind of where I’m at as well. Most NBA observers had decided that Horford and Richardson were completely washed after their past two seasons, including posters here who saw them stink out the joint in Philly. Boston might be a better fit than either of their last two stops, but thinking they will magically turn around and be productive rotation guys requires a lot of optimism.
 

sezwho

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I gotta think PBS isn't doing this on a wing and a prayer. While I doubt he's got some 100% assurance, he *has* to have some intel from Tatum on Beal, right?
I think so. Danny would have potentially gone this route just in the hopes of a star coming available, but hopefully this is more preordained
 

Cellar-Door

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I gotta think PBS isn't doing this on a wing and a prayer. While I doubt he's got some 100% assurance, he *has* to have some intel from Tatum on Beal, right?
Probably they feel good about the chances, but also..... I think they feel like the roster is stuck without a 3rd star and they're willing to trade wins this year for a real shot at one.
Problem is there aren't many coming up, so it's Beal, Lavine, Randle... all 2nd/3rd tier max guys and little else, unless you think Jokic wants out, but there is zero indication of that.

The plan is based on Beal wanting Boston though. Other teams would be in the same boat as the Celtics were deciding whether or not to make offer for Davis and hope they could convince him to stay. At the cost of major assets.

EDIT: or what @slamminsammya said.
I think moops' point is... if Beal gets to UFA then it doesn't matter to WAS if BOS has cap space, only if someone has cap space and Beal wants to leave. The leverage is the same whether Beal says "trade me to BOS or I'll sign there" or he says "Trade me to BOS or I'll sign with (insert team, DET, SAS, DAL, MEM etc.)
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Somewhere there's an alternate timeline where Kyrie accepted a trade to Phoenix and Boston drafted SGA in the 2018 draft. I'm the first to say that Ainge was too obsessed with redoing the Garnett thing and kept up his hopeless quest for Davis even after the Unibrower hired LeBron to be his agent. But what's past is past. Rather than ending up with some Brooklyn firsts they lost Irving for naught.
There's also a universe where the Cs didn't trade for Kyrie, drafted Sexton as insurance to IT4 but IT4's unmet contracts demands blew up the locker room and a great 30 for 30 was made on that year's team in 2039.

It would have been super interesting to see how DA handled IT4 if he hadn't dealt him.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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I'm not trying to be a hair-puller (h/t, nighthob), I just think there's an awful lot of best case scenario thinking going on in this thread.

Horford: A lot of is being put on his 35 year old shoulders here. We're sure he's not washed? TL has never been able to stay healthy here - that leaves Horford as the only playable big if (when) TL goes down? I'm just not as confident in him as some of you are. 32 year old Al? Sure. At 35, I'm much less sure.

Richardson: It looked like he was on his way to turning into something into Miami, but for 2 consecutive years on 2 different teams, he's gone a different direction. Now it's 3 different teams in 3 consecutive seasons. Maybe the 1-2 promising Miami seasons were the mirage? He's definitely better defensively than Kemba, but offensively...that's a big (and important) gulf. Secondary scoring outside of the Js has a chance to be a major issue here. It feels like there's some Underpants Gnomes strategy on where the offense is going to come from.

Nesmith: I like him, but there's no guarantee he makes a nice 2nd year leap, let a lone a major one. Plenty of guys just never do. There's just cause for optimism that Nesmith will be better this year and we all saw flashes, but flashes aren't a guarantee of future performance. Who knows with Romeo; he hasn't had any traction due to injuries and he can't shoot.

The Js are great and they'll be doing most of the heavy lifting, but I see a really thin margin of error here. If either one gets hurt, poof. I see a team that's probably going to be very good defensively, but pretty limited offensively. I'm not trying to be a pessimist, sports are supposed to be fun. I'm just trying to take a logical, realistic look at the roster...and I'm seeing some holes. I will be psyched if I'm wrong and Boston is a legit contender...but I'll also be very (pleasantly) surprised.
I don't disagree with your post at all. I think we all agree that the Cs are long shots to be contenders this year and if the Cs do become contenders, that's likely because 90% projections on two of RL, AN, and TL have come true.

But not to belabor the point, I also don't see the guy the Cs could have gotten this year that would have vaulted them into the contending status. Plus, as noted upthread, it's not the worst thing to tell the Js that this year is riding almost exclusively on them and how they can make their games and their teammates' games better.

I will feel a ton better about this season if TL can play 1400+ minutes this season.
 

Rustjive

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Dec 30, 2009
1,048
Problem is there aren't many coming up, so it's Beal, Lavine, Randle... all 2nd/3rd tier max guys and little else, unless you think Jokic wants out, but there is zero indication of that.
Celtics Reddit has randomly started pining for KAT, whom they consider a better fit than Beal, ignoring the fact that he's unavailable. If you ignore that for just 1 second though, there is a universe where you pay Beal or LaVine and then you can trade *Jaylen* for KAT if he ever asks out. In that case, signing a 3rd star, almost any 3rd star, is the key, and it nearly doesn't matter if you're way overpaying, just because it lets you use Jaylen as an asset.

I think moops' point is... if Beal gets to UFA then it doesn't matter to WAS if BOS has cap space, only if someone has cap space and Beal wants to leave. The leverage is the same whether Beal says "trade me to BOS or I'll sign there" or he says "Trade me to BOS or I'll sign with (insert team, DET, SAS, DAL, MEM etc.)
This could be some sort of good faith show for Beal and his agent - look, we're going to get you here no matter what, you won't have to worry about your next destination, so don't bother thinking about an extension in WAS or anywhere else.
 

pjheff

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Jan 4, 2003
1,296
This is kind of where I’m at as well. Most NBA observers had decided that Horford and Richardson were completely washed after their past two seasons, including posters here who saw them stink out the joint in Philly. Boston might be a better fit than either of their last two stops, but thinking they will magically turn around and be productive rotation guys requires a lot of optimism.
The success of role players depends so much on system and fit. It’s very possible that Horford and Richardson are better complements to Tatum and Brown than they were to Embiid and Simmons.
 

DJnVa

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Dec 16, 2010
53,840
The success of role players depends so much on system and fit. It’s very possible that Horford and Richardson are better complements to Tatum and Brown than they were to Embiid and Simmons.
And Horford wasn't bad last season. OKC shut him down because they wanted to lose more--11-17 with him, 11-33 without. Philly was just a really bad fit.

Horford per/36 last season: 18.3/8.7/4.3, 37% from three.
 

Eddie Jurak

canderson-lite
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Dec 12, 2002
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This is kind of where I’m at as well. Most NBA observers had decided that Horford and Richardson were completely washed after their past two seasons, including posters here who saw them stink out the joint in Philly. Boston might be a better fit than either of their last two stops, but thinking they will magically turn around and be productive rotation guys requires a lot of optimism.
This seems hyperbolic, at least as it applies to Horford. It is also probably worth noting that one person who had a courtside view of Horford and Richardson in Philly is now their coach. That weighs strongly against the "completely washed" view.
 

Lazy vs Crazy

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Jul 18, 2005
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How can you re-sign the guy you paid a first round pick to get rid of last offseason? This is absurd. I'd rather keep Jabari Parker.
 

bsj

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Dec 6, 2003
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Central NJ SoSH Chapter
I like Kanter. In a limited role. If they money is cheap and its for the one year I am hearing, we could do worse in filling out a roster.

I'd take him over Thompson any day all things being considered.
 

ehaz

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Sep 30, 2007
4,948
Alright so Avery Bradley and IT4 are next and then Evan Turner comes out of retirement to rejoin the team as a player?