Some questions...

[FLCeltsFan]

Here are some questions that the Celtics have to answer in the off season. I would like your opinions and I hope to incorporate these into an article.

1. Which of our young players do you consider keepers?

2. Would you keep Pierce or trade him?

3. Are you in favor of keeping or firing Doc? If we fire Doc, who would you go after to coach the Celtics?

4. We have the first pick in the draft, Oden and Durant are both available. Which do you take and why?

5. Oden and Durant both opt to stay in school. Who do you pick with the top pick then? (or if we end up with the 3rd pick and they go 1 and 2).

6. What free agent would you target, or what player would you try to get in trade?

7. How long before the Celtics return to the NBA Finals?

[Deleted]

1. Al Jefferson and Delonte. Those 2 have been the most consistent as far as being productive. Everyone else can be had.

2. Always keep and build around your star players. Only time to trade Pierce is when he ask to be traded.

3. Fire Doc. If i was going for a coach, I go with any coach who has a history of winning. Possibly Stan Van Gundy or Rick Aldeman.

4. Oden, Strong defensive centers are hard to come by. Besides, even if you look at the stats (Oden 15pts 10 rebs vs. Durant 20pts 10 rebs), What player has a bigger impact on his team? OSU is #1 in the nation while Texas isn't even rank. I will always take a winner over a college player stacking up his stats.

5. Trade the pick if those two are gone. If you want pierce to stay I can't think of anyone after those two who'll make an immediate impact for this team.

6. We have no money to target a free agent this year. Far as trade goes, go after a veteran big man like Gasol, Garnett, or O'Neal. If they aren't available you got Mike Bibby, Ron Artest, or maybe look into Baron Davis/Richardson see if they have anything left in them.

7. At this rate, they need lightning to strike before they can sniff the NBA finals. I can't see this team making the promise land in the next 3-5 years.

[eja117]

i would trade the pick after #2 in maybe some circumstances but I wouldn't trade Noah for say a Tyson Chandler or even an Andray Blatche. It would have to be something pretty darn good and young, and I'm not sure we could get that/

[The Eye of the Q is upon you!]

1. Tony Allen, Al Jefferson, Rondo, and West.
2. Trade Pierce - we have got to make all breaks from the Ga$ton Era. A lot of our problems stem from Paul Ga$ton.
3. Not going to dignify that with a response.
4. Greg Oden - Centers who dominate the paint are cornerstones to championship teams. Durant is an Elgin Baylor type which is fine but no guarentee of being a title threat.
5. Yipes - probably auction the pick because we need help everywhere - trade #1, PP, WZ to Minnehaha for KG and Trent Hassell for instance. Maybe we can trade coaches too while we are at it.
6. Ask me in February 2008.
7. Best case scenario - 2008, Worst Case - Unspeakable. Too many variables.

[eja117]

Of the last couple champions one of them got there via the draft. That was San Antonio with Duncan (and technically David Robinson was also drafted by them)

Miami was thru a trade for Shaq, and if you want to be generous by drafting D Wade

LA was by drafting Kobe and by getting Shaq in free agency

It will be interesting to see if Dallas or the Suns win this year

The Pistons won thru ... I have no idea how they put together Billups, Rasheed, Big Ben, and Tayshaun. I know they drafted Tayshaun. They traded for Rasheed.

The Kings who really won against LA that one year were I think something of everything

So what do we have? We are mostly looking at drafting Oden. Which means we are all draft. I think it's important to wait out these horrid contracts and sign guys to reasonable contracts like the Pats. They lose a lot so why pay them like winners when they lose? Let others pay for pword. Just keep Al J. Then you are looking at AL J and PP and maybe something else. Maybe TA, maybe Rondo, maybe GG.

Personally I think even if we skipped this draft entirely or if Oden was drafted and then decided to join Elvis in the witness protection program we could still be good. We have a top swing man and a very good big man. As long as Al J gets better and someone goes from good to very good (like Rondo) or hurt to where he was (TA) or talented to very good (GG) we could do a lot of winning even without an Oden or Durant or Noah. But we will get an Oden or Durant or Noah or B Wright. And SOMEBODY WILL get better. We just don't know who. This year the two guys were AL J and TA. Then TA got hurt and Perk took a step back to injury and West took a step back too. But Gomes stepped up and Powe aint done yet. In two years either Rondo or TA or GG will be where AL J is now. And there will be two more draft picks. And some bad contracts will be gone.

We have to clear cap room to sign a Shaq type guy if none of these guys step up. If they don't we have to not pay them and pay a Shaq. Like what would this team look like with Al J and Emeka Okafor next to each other? or D Howard? or Amare?

It's about development and fiscal responsibility. DA is doing his job. Doc isn't but had a bad break too.

[mev17]

1. Which of our young players do you consider keepers?

Jefferson, West, and Green; Tony Allen if he fully recovers (we can't reasonably trade him while rehabilitating anyway)

2. Would you keep Pierce or trade him?

If we end up with Oden or Durante, I would consider trading him for good young talent (perhaps Gasol or Livingston) + expiring contract. Not sure I would, but would consider it.

If we are not in a position to get Oden or Durante, then trade our #4 or #5 pick plus Gomes and/or Rondo and/or Telfair plus Ratliff's contract for some solid veteran help (Bibby perhaps?)

3. Are you in favor of keeping or firing Doc? If we fire Doc, who would you go after to coach the Celtics?

On the fence. I may let him play out the final year of his contract -- if no improvement, then don't renew him and hire Adelman or Van Gundy (if available) or maybe Paul Westphal

4. We have the first pick in the draft, Oden and Durant are both available. Which do you take and why?

Oden -- defensively dominant centers are rare and valuable cornerstones; scorers are more common.

5. Oden and Durant both opt to stay in school. Who do you pick with the top pick then? (or if we end up with the 3rd pick and they go 1 and 2).

As above, I trade it to get Pierce some help.

6. What free agent would you target, or what player would you try to get in trade?

Not sure who the upcoming free agents are. I would in trade, perhaps target Gasol, Bibby, Livingston (if available), certainly Garnet if available.

7. How long before the Celtics return to the NBA Finals?

4 years, if all goes well.

[DERRENMATTS]

Derren's answers:

1. Which of our young players do you consider keepers?

Al Jefferson and Gerald Green. They are the most talented, and highest ceiling players we have. Though I have high hopes for Telfair and Rajon, I don't consider them in the same bracket as Al and Gerald.

2. Would you keep Pierce or trade him?

This is a tough question that probably will be easier to answer after the draft. If we draft Greg Oden, then I'd be interested in keeping Pierce because I can't see a team of Oden, Jefferson, Green and Pierce losing to any team in the NBA Finals. If we get the 2nd pick and draft Kevin Durant, then I'd be willing to move Pierce (for a valuable player, that is). Durant will take Pierce's role as our big time scorer, plus he's much taller and longer, a better rebounder, and a better shot blocker, and he's a majro mismatch at SF. In this scenario, I'd trade Pierce and try to acquire a Center (Pau Gasol).

3. Are you in favor of keeping or firing Doc? If we fire Doc, who would you go after to coach the Celtics?

I'm in favor of getting a new coach--one who preaches defense, but yet is into uptempo basketball. I'm not sure which coach I'd be interested in getting because there aren't too many coaches who fit this bill.

4. We have the first pick in the draft, Oden and Durant are both available. Which do you take and why?

Greg Oden, no question about it. Simply put, we need to become a much better defensive team, and Greg Oden is a difference maker on defense. Think of Bill Russell, think of Dikembe Mutombo--they dominated the interior, and that's what Oden will do. We don't really need more offense. Jefferson, Pierce and Gerald will provide a lot of that, and we have excellent complementary scorers in Delonte and Gomes. It has to be Greg Oden if we have the choice.

5. Oden and Durant both opt to stay in school. Who do you pick with the top pick then? (or if we end up with the 3rd pick and they go 1 and 2).

At first, I'd be sick to my stomach. Once I recover and get my senses back, I'd take Noah (assuming he's not staying for another year too).

6. What free agent would you target, or what player would you try to get in trade?

I'm hoping Ainge is scouring the international arena to nab our own Anthony Parker, Andres Nocioni, Garbajosa or Calderon. Just smart players who can provide a solid role on the team. Defensive players would be nice. I would love to get Andrei Kirilenko.

7. How long before the Celtics return to the NBA Finals?

I'd like to say 3 years, but more realistically 4 to 5 years (if we get Greg Oden).

[cfoo]

1. Which of our young players do you consider keepers?

Jefferson and Gerald Green are the only definate keepers I see. I still like Perk a lot and think he's been hampered by injuries and lack of PT this season. West, Rondo, Allen are up there as well, but I wouldn't consider anyone untradeable outside of Jefferson and Green. Those are the potential 2 cornerstones there. Perk, West, Rondo, Allen solid roleplayers.

2. Would you keep Pierce or trade him?

I would keep Pierce. I think we need him. This team is so young and I really don't see how he hurts us. He's a good team guy and a tough player and a good role model for these guys imo. I wish more of our guys played with his intensity and wanted to win as badly as he does and weren't just being young and going through the motions.

3. Are you in favor of keeping or firing Doc? If we fire Doc, who would you go after to coach the Celtics?

I don't know how I feel about Doc. I think some people are kind of tough on him. I think Doc is in a tough situation here and is doing a fairly decent job. This team is so young and inexperienced it's really hard to tell if it's Doc or the players. People say he doesn't preach defense but I don't think that's true. I tend to think the C's are young and don't always play defense.

4. We have the first pick in the draft, Oden and Durant are both available. Which do you take and why?

Greg Oden is the obvious choice.

5. Oden and Durant both opt to stay in school. Who do you pick with the top pick then? (or if we end up with the 3rd pick and they go 1 and 2).

I'm still not sure.

6. What free agent would you target, or what player would you try to get in trade?

It's still too early.

7. How long before the Celtics return to the NBA Finals?

Who knows? I'd say 3 years still, but we may never make it there if we don't start playing like a team, and like a team that wants to win.

[eja117]

1 I consider Al a future star and keeper. I feel Rondo will be excellent. I think Gomes, Perk, and West are the perfect backups at their position.

2 I have a hard time seeing trading PP. i think we could but what would we get for him? nobody is going to trade us Amare or Novitski for him.

3 I want to fire Doc. The way he underutilized certain guys and overutilized others was unacceptable.

4 Until I see Oden dominate a single college game or heal up his hand I'd be leaning towards Durant. Oden was supposed to be the next Lebron type guy and he isn't even a top 5 college guy. Whereas Durant has been one of the best college players this decade and is doing stuff never before seen. It's like he's inventing a new position

5 Noah. He may not be great but he'll be an asset.

6 I'd wait till after the draft then I'd put Bassy, Scala, Powe, our second rounder, and Wally on the table and try to get a backup center or center who can get blocks, rebs, assists, and tip ins and doesn't break the bank. I don't know. Sean may. Alridge. Doc Gooden. Nene Hilario. Something like that.

7 If we get Durant or Oden I'd say 3-4 years. That's how long it will take our pick this year, Rondo, Perk, and GG to play the way they should.