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Post by DERRENMATTS on Mar 29, 2022 12:49:35 GMT -5
Our tight 9 man rotation is materializing.
Rob Horford Tatum Jaylen Smart
Derrick Grant Theis Pritch
This rotation is down right scary at the moment (could be champions if things break our way). And we can get even better.
Smart, Horford and Theis are prettt much at their ceiling. But the other guys have room to grow.
This is Rob's breakout season, and we have reason to believe he can can be better. More consistency, grab more boards and be more involved offensively.
JT and JB can improve just by being consistent.
Derrick can improve his shooting.
Grant and Pritch can become consistently solid (and not disappear so much).
With this said, Brad's job this summer is to find a player or two who can break into this tight 9 man rotation. Ideally, break into the top 6.
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Post by freshnthehouse on Mar 29, 2022 17:28:41 GMT -5
It's going to be interesting to see what our playoff rotation looks like without Rob. Do we move GWill into the starting 5, or Theis? I'm gonna lean towards GWill, and that means we'll be looking at an 8-man playoff rotation of
Al GWill Tatum Brown Smart
Theis Dwhite Pritchard
That's still a solid lineup, but they absolutely cannot sustain another injury.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Mar 29, 2022 17:39:37 GMT -5
Let me ask you guys a question -- which of these 9 would you give up to grab a guy who could be our 5th player?
Say Brad really wants Jalen Smith, especially when considering Al's age and Rob's knees. Jalen is not an All-Star, but could be highly valuable to us.
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Post by eja117 on Mar 29, 2022 18:24:38 GMT -5
Let me ask you guys a question -- which of these 9 would you give up to grab a guy who could be our 5th player? Say Brad really wants Jalen Smith, especially when considering Al's age and Rob's knees. Jalen is not an All-Star, but could be highly valuable to us. Of these 9 I guess I'd give up Theis.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Apr 4, 2022 16:55:10 GMT -5
If Brad makes zero offseason moves, and next year we return this exact unit, what will your expectation be for this team?
Horford will be a year older and maybe a half step slower. But the bench of Theis, Grant, Derrick, Pritch and Nesmith will be a year more seasoned and consistent.
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Post by eja117 on Apr 4, 2022 19:11:32 GMT -5
I would think they'd be a top 4 team, depending on injuries. I think they're having way more fun winning now. The only thing that might concern me is a little boredom, but I think on some level that can be alleviated by letting kids play more.
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Post by jmost on Apr 4, 2022 21:36:56 GMT -5
Top 5 for sure, and a very real shot at [HASH]1 in the East. Of MIA, MIL, PHI and BKN, none has a high draft pick, and none has any cap space, so I don't expect any major personnel upgrades among the other good teams.
Hard to ignore the 24-4 run we went on, including dominant road wins against good teams.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Apr 5, 2022 0:50:39 GMT -5
I say for sure top seed in the east and possibly a slight edge over the west's best.
If we had a rock solid bench this year (with a healthy Rob), I say the championship is ours.
Next year Grant and Pritch, along with Theis and Derrick White will give is that rock sooid bench -- consistently good night to night.
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Post by freshnthehouse on Apr 5, 2022 1:38:55 GMT -5
As long as father time doesn't catch up with Al, i'd say around top 4-5 team. Man I still can't get over the turnaround this team has had.
I do wonder if the C's ownership will try stay under the luxury tax next year. It may be their last year to do it, since GWill is gonna need an extension after next year.
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Post by jmost on Apr 5, 2022 9:23:26 GMT -5
When you look at the top 9, you see 6 Celtics draft picks (Smart, Brown, Tatum, Rob, Grant, Pritch) and 3 guys obtained via trade (Horford, Theis and White). If you want to go 10 deep, and add Nesmith, that's another Celtics draft pick.
No free agents among the top 10 guys. So much fan talk is about what free agent we can get to come to Boston, but Danny and Brad have shown there are other routes to building a contender.
The other thing that stands out to me is that player development is vastly underrated. Talk radio and the internet are always full in the offseason about the draft, free agents and trades, and almost no attention goes to the existing players improving from year to year.
All of our young guys have come a long way, and the best thing is, they're still getting better.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Apr 5, 2022 12:45:12 GMT -5
So true, JMost.
I can't remember if it was Brad or Udoka (maybe both) who said it, but in this day and age, it's essential to draft well and develop the young players to be cheap and vital contributors. You can't have a whole team of expensive contracts.
I think that's also a big reason Udoka brought in the coaches he did. They're known to connect with the players and develop their skills.
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Post by freshnthehouse on Apr 5, 2022 14:57:57 GMT -5
Free agency is weird. The value is either in the high end (Lebron to the Heat, Durant to the Warriors, etc) or the vet min ring chaser guys. Most of the guys in the middle are an overpay. There are plenty of exceptions, but usually that's the case.
Occasionally you can get good value with MLE. Think Metta World Peace on the 2009 and 2010 Lakers.
I think the C's will def rely on free agency more in like 3-4 years when the J's are on their second contracts and they'll need vet min FAs for depth.
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Post by jmost on Apr 5, 2022 19:14:00 GMT -5
I hadn't thought of it fresh, until you mentioned it, but are we now among the teams that ring-chasers might find attractive? I think we might be - especially if we show well in the playoffs.
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Post by eja117 on Apr 5, 2022 21:43:53 GMT -5
Sometimes I think vet minimum contracts can be good value. Like right now I can't figure out why we aren't bringing in Cody Zeller and Willy Cauley Stein. If the Chinese season is over I'd want to give Donatas Moteijunas a call. I also think bringing in Nik Stauskas was a fair and logical risk.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Apr 21, 2022 17:19:14 GMT -5
Need also to include GWill and Pritch. And I'd also include Theis, who we brought over from Germany.
So of our 9 man rotation, only Horford and DW did not come into the NBA directly through us.
Homegrown talent 👍
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