Smart Out Indefinitely with Torn Thumb Tendon

DannyDarwinism

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I don't know if I can handle the amount of Abdel Nader that's about to come crashing into my life.
 

lexrageorge

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I don't believe a torn tendon would be a short term injury. Classic death by a thousand cuts. Between this, Theis being out, and Kyrie's injury, getting beyond the first round will be an accomplishment.
 

Lazy vs Crazy

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I don't believe a torn tendon would be a short term injury. Classic death by a thousand cuts. Between this, Theis being out, and Kyrie's injury, getting beyond the first round will be an accomplishment.
Depending on how badly torn it can be anything from two weeks of immobilization to surgery and 8ish weeks.
 

DJnVa

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My god this team is going to experience some serious good karma next season.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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At least it's his shooting hand.
You just went into NBA Jam "bighead mode".

Seriously though, this sucks something fierce. Aside from Irving and Average Al, Smart is the one guy they simply cannot afford to lose if they want to do anything in the playoffs.
 

TheoShmeo

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I thought they were done when Hayward went done. Done from being a contender to win the East, I mean.

Theis and Smart as a double whammy tells me the same thing, especially on top of Kyrie's continuing nagging injuries and Brown's concussion.

Go ahead, Brad, prove me wrong again.

Somehow, I don't think even Boy Wonder can fix this. You never know but damn.....
 

mauf

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Depending on how badly torn it can be anything from two weeks of immobilization to surgery and 8ish weeks.
This puts me in the “glass half full” camp. Theis wasn’t going to play many playoff minutes anyway, and 8 weeks would have Smart back for the second round. If they’re good enough to make the Finals, they should be able to beat the Sixers, Heat, or Bucks without Smart.

Of course, it will be challenging to ride out the next couple weeks, with Brown out in addition to Smart and Theis, without riding Kyrie 40 minutes a night. I’m not dismissing that challenge — but if Kyrie and Brown are able to go in April, I’m not as pessimistic as the majority here.
 

radsoxfan

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Pretty tough to completely tear a tendon diving for a loose ball though I suppose it can happen. Would have put big money on a ligament sprain/tear over tendon injury in that situation.

If one of his thumb tendons is totally ruptured he’s in trouble. If it’s a “strain” (ligaments sprain and tendons strain), we’ll see him again this year.

If the reporting is wrong and he has a pedroia-style ligament (UCL) tear, he might be able to suck it up and play then have surgery in offseason. He can’t shoot anyway so I doubt a wrap would make a major difference.
 

Manzivino

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This puts me in the “glass half full” camp. Theis wasn’t going to play many playoff minutes anyway, and 8 weeks would have Smart back for the second round. If they’re good enough to make the Finals, they should be able to beat the Sixers, Heat, or Bucks without Smart.

Of course, it will be challenging to ride out the next couple weeks, with Brown out in addition to Smart and Theis, without riding Kyrie 40 minutes a night. I’m not dismissing that challenge — but if Kyrie and Brown are able to go in April, I’m not as pessimistic as the majority here.
The bolded is going to be hard to do when Kyrie isn't expected to play for at least a week to rest his knee. Luckily they probably only need to win 3 or 4 games the rest of the way to lock up the 2 seed. The rest of the month is going to be real ugly, @Orl/@Sac/@Pho look like the only realistic wins with the currently available roster.
 

Blacken

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The bolded is going to be hard to do when Kyrie isn't expected to play for at least a week to rest his knee. Luckily they probably only need to win 3 or 4 games the rest of the way to lock up the 2 seed. The rest of the month is going to be real ugly, @Orl/@Sac/@Pho look like the only realistic wins with the currently available roster.
They have plenty of games in April to lock that up.

This sucks, but this team is playing with house money and has been since Hayward went down. I can't be mad at it.
 

Blacken

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I feel the same. But objectively this team had a shot at making the finals this year. Sad!
If you believe that, then the current team has an only marginally worse shot at reaching the finals. Which, given the whole house-money thing--still pretty good.
 

Blacken

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I agree.

I also did not peg their chances to get to the Finals above 5% to begin with.

5% to 3% or whatever is really nothing to get out of bed for.
 

slamminsammya

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I agree.

I also did not peg their chances to get to the Finals above 5% to begin with.

5% to 3% or whatever is really nothing to get out of bed for.
At times nothing is nothing to get out of bed for. But they were definitely better than 5%. Heads up against the Raptors I'd give them at least a 1 in 4 shot to win a series. From there you'd need to say they were underdogs for the first and second rounds to get to 5%.
 

Mugsy's Jock

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Could this make Marcus more affordable in the off-season?
Also wondering if his tendon could possibly have been softened up by the picture frame incident?

Okay, that last part sounds pretty dumb.
 

Blacken

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At times nothing is nothing to get out of bed for. But they were definitely better than 5%. Heads up against the Raptors I'd give them at least a 1 in 4 shot to win a series. From there you'd need to say they were underdogs for the first and second rounds to get to 5%.
Lebron James exists.

I'm comfortable with 5%.
 

Reverend

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Could this make Marcus more affordable in the off-season?
Also wondering if his tendon could possibly have been softened up by the picture frame incident?

Okay, that last part sounds pretty dumb.
I have it on good authority that the tendons in question are within inches of each other.
 

benhogan

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If Smart, Irving, Brown and Theis are out Weds versus the Wizards, what is the rotation?

starters: Baynes, MaMo, Horford, Rozier, Tatum
bench rotation: Larkin, Monroe, Semi, Nader

I may be inclined to play MaMo with the 2nd unit (start Semi), but have play MaMo starter minutes

Any shooters/guards available in the buyout market or G League?
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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If Smart, Irving, Brown and Theis are out Weds versus the Wizards, what is the rotation?

starters: Baynes, MaMo, Horford, Rozier, Tatum
bench rotation: Larkin, Monroe, Semi, Nader

I may be inclined to play MaMo with the 2nd unit (start Semi), but have play MaMo starter minutes

Any shooters/guards available in the buyout market or G League?
There are some FAs out there but the list isn't inspiring. If you could turn back the clock five years, Tony Allen would be a great replacement for Smart's skill set. However, at present, our favorite Clownshoes is so cooked that he is overdone.

One telltale sign about the severity of Smart's injury is if they actually bring someone in off the street. If so, we will know for sure that the C's aren't just short-term f'd. That would strongly suggest they are proper f'd.
 

BigSoxFan

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There are some FAs out there but the list isn't inspiring. If you could turn back the clock five years, Tony Allen would be a great replacement for Smart's skill set. However, at present, our favorite Clownshoes is so cooked that he is overdone.

One telltale sign about the severity of Smart's injury is if they actually bring someone in off the street. If so, we will know for sure that the C's aren't just short-term f'd. That would strongly suggest they are proper f'd.
Jordan Crawford! Get it done, Danny. Tons of names on that list that I didn’t even realize were out of the league, like Monta Ellis.
 

joe dokes

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If Smart, Irving, Brown and Theis are out Weds versus the Wizards, what is the rotation?

starters: Baynes, MaMo, Horford, Rozier, Tatum
bench rotation: Larkin, Monroe, Semi, Nader

I may be inclined to play MaMo with the 2nd unit (start Semi), but have play MaMo starter minutes

Any shooters/guards available in the buyout market or G League?

Thats a grim rotation, but I think it would be interesting to see what Stevens would do with a 20mpg Nader, whose only skill is shooting. Would he benefit from having a run of almost-guaranteed minutes. I doubt it, but Stevens has a way of making passable lemonade. Not that they are equal talents, but Rozier really turned a corner when Kyrie was out and the team really had no choice but to give him a long run.

Anyone been watching Anthony Bennett? Is he a viable Theis replacement? (there's also probably a roster consideration I have overlooked)
 

Lazy vs Crazy

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The Celtics don't have an open roster spot to sign anyone right now so in order to get someone they'd need to cut a player unless the league gives them a hardship exemption.
 

GreenMonster49

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A hardship exemption means clearing a fairly high hurdle. A team can apply to the NBA Board of Governors for an additional roster spot, but it can get one automatically if at least four players on the roster to be injured or ill:
In the event that a Member [read "team"--GM49] has three (3) Players on its Active List and/or Inactive List who are unable to perform playing services due to injury or illness and such Member has an additional Player who becomes unable to perform playing services due to injury or illness, it may substitute a Player in his stead after the following has occurred:
(a) each of the three (3) injured or ill Players and the additional injured or ill Player has missed a minimum of three (3) consecutive games due to injury or illness; and
(b) the Commissioner’s Office has determined, through an independent physician, if necessary, that at the time the replacement Player is signed, each of the three (3) injured or ill Players on the Member’s Active and/or Inactive List, and the additional injured or ill Player, will continue to be unable to perform playing services due to injury or illness.
So, Hayward, Theis, and Smart would certainly qualify as the three injured or ill players, and Brown would count as the fourth if he needed to be out for an extended period of time.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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I don't think this merits a lot of creative thinking or even a hardship exemption. If the Cs want/need outside help, they can cut Nader or Yabusele or even Larkin. None of those guys is worth keeping at the expense of upgrading their rotation.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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I don't think this merits a lot of creative thinking or even a hardship exemption. If the Cs want/need outside help, they can cut Nader or Yabusele or even Larkin. None of those guys is worth keeping at the expense of upgrading their rotation.
Would probably agree with you with Nader, though he has a very team-friendly contract, but Cs aren't going to cut a 22 year first round draft pick who has only been playing basketball for 6 years. Nor are they cutting Larkin, who is a perfectly serviceable back-up PG particularly when two of their four ballhandlers are out.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Would probably agree with you with Nader, though he has a very team-friendly contract, but Cs aren't going to cut a 22 year first round draft pick who has only been playing basketball for 6 years. Nor are they cutting Larkin, who is a perfectly serviceable back-up PG particularly when two of their four ballhandlers are out.
To be clear, I agree. I don't think they will cut any of them. However, given Smart's injury as well as Kyrie's questionable status, I don't think the Cs would hesitate to cut someone like Larkin if they thought they could bring a better ball-handling alternative aboard. The reality is that none exists.

I was simply pointing out that they don't need a roster exception to make a move - the bigger problem is finding a viable player and then figure out how to create roster space.
 

JakeRae

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To be clear, I agree. I don't think they will cut any of them. However, given Smart's injury as well as Kyrie's questionable status, I don't think the Cs would hesitate to cut someone like Larkin if they thought they could bring a better ball-handling alternative aboard. The reality is that none exists.

I was simply pointing out that they don't need a roster exception to make a move - the bigger problem is finding a viable player and then figure out how to create roster space.
The reality is that the Celtics probably only need to win 3 or 4 more games, at most, to lock up the 2 seed. So, the only reason to make a move would be if it will help in the playoffs. If not, there is probably greater value in not making late season cuts both for chemistry reasons now and for perceived loyalty reasons when recruiting free agents in the future.
 

HomeRunBaker

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I don't think this merits a lot of creative thinking or even a hardship exemption. If the Cs want/need outside help, they can cut Nader or Yabusele or even Larkin. None of those guys is worth keeping at the expense of upgrading their rotation.
It would be silly on several levels to cut any of these players to bring in someone off the street who hasn't been playing NBA basketball who is likely a worse option.

Brad will just play his normal 9-man rotation to include Larkin, Bird, and Nader while we see a ton more of small ball in getting ready/healthy for the playoffs. Can I safely cash my Raptors +300 wager to win the Atlantic now?
 

Eddie Jurak

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Have to believe that Jabari Bird or Kadeem Allen will get some PT. I prefer Bird because of his D.
Bird's been injured , too.

I think the goal here will just be to compete and survive and hope that Yabu & co can do something with the opportunities they get. Yabu actually had some decent minutes the last time I was at a game (the Portland afternoon game where Horford played backup PG and hit a buzzer beater to win it).
 

Rook05

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Bird's been injured , too.

I think the goal here will just be to compete and survive and hope that Yabu & co can do something with the opportunities they get. Yabu actually had some decent minutes the last time I was at a game (the Portland afternoon game where Horford played backup PG and hit a buzzer beater to win it).
So you’re saying Bird IS walking through that door!
 

reggiecleveland

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Thanks for the link. It's interesting that Bennett is playing well. I'm doubtful that it's more than just a hot steak though.
I think this is like getting excited after Carl Crawford had a few bloops fall in. Basketball Canada has built a lot on Bennent and he has gotten in shape, played well, looked really good, then fallen off a cliff more than once. There ahave been unkind rumblings that a summer team Canada gig is as long as he can keep it together.

But if he comes up and contributes in the playoffs it would be a real Redesque moment for Danny and Brad.