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Post by DERRENMATTS on Jun 18, 2019 19:58:58 GMT -5
How incredibly fast it all came apart for us (though it's not the end of the world). A year ago, many folks had us pegged for the Finals, and being a dynasty for the next 10 years (even Colin Cowherd said so).
No more than 10 months later, the lockerroom has soured, Kyrie is leaving, Terry Rozier may have already played his last game for us, Al Horford might also be gone, and we wondering what just happened?
Well, the wheels fell off, so we'll have to stop the cart, do some repair work, and then get back in the race.
Lucky for us, we at least have Jayson Tatum, who in spite of not taking the big leap forward we wanted him to (some say that Kyrie clipped his wings this past year), is still a young talent who has All-Star potential. We also have Jaylen Brown, who at the very least offers us a 3-D guy, but has room to be much more. And with Marcus Smart, who is at the minimum a serviceable starter who offers plus defense, we have a young nucleus to work with.
And we still have Semi Ojeleye who is on the verge of cracking the regular rotation. Robert Williams might be 2 years away from looking like a contributor, but no doubt has tremendous raw talent.
With 3 possible draft picks to use on Thursday, Ainge needs to be sure he hits on at least one of the picks.
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Post by jmost on Jun 18, 2019 20:30:20 GMT -5
It's a step or two back, but it's not a disaster. IMO Irving's presence slowed the growth of the young guys because his attitude was "give me the ball and get out of my way". I think we're going to see a more relaxed, together, fun group this coming year. You never know what Danny is going to come up with, but you know it will be something. I'm looking forward to seeing what it is.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Jun 18, 2019 20:37:46 GMT -5
It's a step or two back, but it's not a disaster. IMO Irving's presence slowed the growth of the young guys because his attitude was "give me the ball and get out of my way". I think we're going to see a more relaxed, together, fun group this coming year. You never know what Danny is going to come up with, but you know it will be something. I'm looking forward to seeing what it is. The other year, it was about everyone chipping in to win games. This year, it was Kyrie first, then everyone else gets the leftovers (with Rozier frantically racing to get his hand on it first). Let’s go back to playing organic basketball where the ball keeps going around till the player with the best shot to score takes it.
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Post by mev17 on Jun 18, 2019 23:28:16 GMT -5
With talks between Boston and Horford breaking off, this soon after the AD trade is announced, I can see why Ainge did not go all in -- no sense giving up young assets and picks for AD if you do not have high quality veterans to match him with.
I will be sad to see Al go, and I have to admit I am sick and tired of waiting for a better future - was not anticipating being in perpetual rebuild mode. But with our 2 best veterans bailing, we have no choice.
I am now wondering if we can find a team with cap space to take Hayward's salary off our hands (Maybe Hayward and a late 1st in exchange for a second round pick).
My dream now would be to somehow acquire D Russell and Julius Randal to pair with Brown and Tatum. Then maybe Smart and a first to Houston for Capella. We would have a 25 and under lineup with talent and proven NBA productivity, but not sure if we could pull off the multiple moves and cap management to make it happen.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Jun 19, 2019 1:05:47 GMT -5
Excellent points, Mev. I’m wondering at what point Horford decided he wasn’t going to re-sign? Once he knew Kyrie wasn’t coming back? Once AD was traded?
Now, I’m thinking Ainge quickly signed Baynes knowing we were losing Horford, and Baynes quickly signed knowing he was going to get more playing time and a bigger role with Horford gone.
I’d stay away from both DLo and Randle (even though I was a Randle fan coming out of Kentucky). Both guys are free lancers and undisciplined.
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Post by mev17 on Jun 19, 2019 5:39:41 GMT -5
Good points on Russel and randle, have to admit I have not seen them play very much. Maybe we keep our 3 picks after all and see if we can pluck a gem. I read we were trying to trade a couple of them, but maybe that changes now.
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Post by runrondo on Jun 19, 2019 15:04:29 GMT -5
It's just a little jarring how quickly the tables turn. Signing Hayward and thinking we were favorites, to losing him and Kyrie in a season and still making the ECF, to dreaming/thinking of 5+ years of dominance - now, we're looking at filling out a young roster to compete. I'm happy I get to see Brown and Tatum grow (and glad we have them), but I'm nervous they're just not that great after all and it'll be a while before we get back to being a true contender. Here's to hoping I'm wrong or we can do some interesting moves.
I will say it'll be easier to support this young team versus whatever that team was this past year with Kyrie being moody and Rozier secretly moody.
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Post by jmost on Jun 19, 2019 16:29:40 GMT -5
Ordway on WEEI radio in Boston was saying this afternoon that next season is going to be a "suckfest", but I think it's way too early to say something like that. We have some cap room. We have picks we can make or trade. And we have lots of room for growth among Brown and Tatum. I'm not counting on big things from Robert Williams, but it's not a crazy idea.
Here's where I'm coming from.
1) Take the team that went to the ECF, which had neither Irving nor Hayward, nor Theis. 2) We still don't have Irving, but we do have Hayward - who showed more than a few flashes of his former self last season. Subtract Horford and possibly Rozier.
So we add (possibly the all-star version of) GH, and lose Horford and Rozier.
For now we still have Baynes, and Morris remains a possibility. We've added Robert Williams and this year's draftees.
Danny has some work to do to at PG and C/PF, but is this really such a huge talent dropoff from the 17-18 season that suddenly we're gonna suck?
Not IMO.
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Post by runrondo on Jun 19, 2019 16:55:07 GMT -5
It's definitely not different from 17-18 and honestly I expect the same outcome as this year if Toronto, MIL, and Philly stay relatively the same. We'd be I think the 4th or 5th best option in the East and that can change based on how we fill out the Horford hole or PG hole (not to mention if those other teams lose their stars).
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Post by jmost on Jun 19, 2019 17:10:10 GMT -5
Yup,there may be other shoes to drop in the East. The next 24-28 hours before the draft are going to be crazy. The latest rumors have Danny going after the [HASH]4 pick.
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Post by afceltic on Jun 19, 2019 17:25:04 GMT -5
And NO is apparently asking for Jaylen for that pick. IDK about that one, the only way I make that deal is if Boston doesn't want to pay Jalen as he is due for a big raise after next year and trading him for that pick starts the rookie contract over again. NO will have really won that AD trade if they get Jaylen to put with Zion as Jaylen will be the best overall player on the team until Zion adjusts to the league.
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Post by jmost on Jun 19, 2019 20:21:21 GMT -5
Jaylen would score a ton of points just by running the floor and having Ball find him. I think Jaylen's role should be like James Worthy's was for the Lakers: run the floor and make simple drives to the hoop. Plus hit that corner 3. No overdribbling. He could do the same thing for us if we got the right PG.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Jun 19, 2019 20:56:50 GMT -5
@shamscharania on @siriusxmnba earlier today: "The Celtics are going to prioritize getting a center, maybe someone like (Nikola) Vucevic. ... They're fully operating under the belief that those two guys (Kyrie and Horford) are walking."
Hmmmm... maybe this has some legs. Not the first time we’re being linked to Vucevic (and Capela).
If we are also looking to draft Goga Bitadze, then it makes sense we’d go after Vucevic, as their games as similar. Goga can mentor under Vucevic until he’s ready to take his place (by which time Vucevic will be 32 years old).
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Jun 19, 2019 20:57:52 GMT -5
And NO is apparently asking for Jaylen for that pick. IDK about that one, the only way I make that deal is if Boston doesn't want to pay Jalen as he is due for a big raise after next year and trading him for that pick starts the rookie contract over again. NO will have really won that AD trade if they get Jaylen to put with Zion as Jaylen will be the best overall player on the team until Zion adjusts to the league. Curious to know which player they are hotly pursuing with the 4th pick. Garland? Hunter? Culver? By the way, I’ll be one happy camper if we come out of this draft with Hunter, Bitadze and Jerome 👍
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Jun 20, 2019 14:11:45 GMT -5
A new report came out saying Danny is exploring taking on big contracts if it comes with draft assets. Meaning, we’ll take on a team’s bad contract if it comes with a high draft pick.
What this tells me is we’re not looking to compete at all in the foreseeable future. It’s all about developing Tatum and Jaylen, and the players we’ll be drafting the next few years.
And I’m good with that. I’ll take Hayward, Tatum, Jaylen and Smart, and keep adding high draftees. Then when Hayward is ready for his next contract (by which time Tatum is an All-Star), we’ll be in position to go after a big name player to combine with Tatum.
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