Today, I think they have as good of a chance as anybody to come out of the East. Predicting which of the top 4 teams it’ll be seems like a fools errand. (Not a Heat believe yet.) They all are in the ~25% range. Of course that means I’m giving them all a ~50% chance of losing to each other in the second round.
I agree with everything here, except that if Williams is good enough to be getting Sabonis-type money after his 3rd year, I think the Celtics pay it. The optimistic version of him fits well with what they want to do defensively, his offensive upside is intriguing, and centers seem to be easier to extend at lower prices since no one wants to be the next Nerlens.
sure I'm on board with cheap, veteran Centers. My list pretty much is that
it seems like ~ $5MM/yr is the going price for veteran, rotational Centers. I'd be fine staying with 3 of those and some rookie contract guys on the roster. Its all about wings/ball handlers
57 wins. EC Champs.
It's tough trying to find good fits for a big that would make sense for Boston since they can't trade for anyone expensive without trading one of their core guys, and you'd expect teams with playoff aspirations would be hanging on to anyone you'd want. Then I'd cross off younger guys with term on their contracts that the terrible teams wouldn't trade unless the Celtics heavily overpaid(I'd knock Looney off my list here). And if I'm Ainge, I'm looking for a low usage big who is a good defender/rebounder, preferably one nimble enough to play in small ball lineups as your 5.
It's a damn shame. Do you think the Celtics FO could have played this a little better?
Once the trade deadline passed their hands were pretty much tied. Danny basically admitted that he held on to the Unibrower/Irving dream too long. The way to have played it better was shipping Irving off to the Knicks for expiring deals and picks last February. A guy like PJ Washington would have looked really good right now.
This conversation sucks. We're talking past each other, and that's probably my fault, sorry.
| Year | Team | Wins | Differential |
| 09-10 | Cleveland | 61 | 8.4 |
| 10-11 | Chicago | 62 | 8.7 |
| 10-11 | San Antonio | 61 | 6.4 |
| 12-13 | Miami | 66 | 9.2 |
| 12-13 | OKC | 60 | 10.4 |
| 13-14 | San Antonio | 62 | 8.4 |
| 14-15 | GS | 67 | 12.1 |
| 14-15 | Atl | 60 | 6.2 |
| 15-16 | GS | 73 | 11.6 |
| 15-16 | San Antonio | 67 | 11.8 |
| 16-17 | GS | 67 | 12.8 |
| 16-17 | San Antonio | 61 | 7.7 |
| 17-18 | Houston | 65 | 9 |
| 18-19 | Milwaukee | 60 | 9.1 |
The capologists among us can correct me if I'm wrong, but if Boston hadn't exercised the 3rd-year option on Guerschon Yabusele, ostensibly to maintain trade ballast, they'd have been able to keep Aron Baynes and still sign Kemba for max dollars. How's that for a swift kick in the ass?
The difference in salary for the two players in 2020 was more than $4 million. If the only difference were Guerschon’s salary they could have just paid someone $2 million to take his $1 million dollar deal.
I think one of two, maybe both, unforeseen things happened. Charlottes willingness to pay Rozier that much money and/or Horford leaving. If Charlotte/Rozier didn't agree on that deal, the Celtics needed to clear Baynes contract to make it work.Then, even if they had the knowledge Charlotte would sign and trade for Rozier, unless they also knew Horford was leaving they'd likely still move Baynes since Al would probably be playing most of his minutes at center again. They would've been overloaded with centers.
They still would've been a bit short if they hadn't exercised Yabuseles option. Even if they traded away the first they moved in the Baynes deal a different way, they still would've been a million or so short. That assumes they wouldn't have signed Poirier(which I imagine they wouldn't have) and would've limited Carsen Edwards to a two year deal at the minimum. They would've had to trade away the Grant Williams pick, or take another Yabustashie with it instead. Or traded away Rob Williams for future considerations.I'm assuming no one would've taken Semi for free.
They did a nice job down the stretch using him as the outlet for Kemba. He's a lot more dynamic in space than Tatum, and developing him in those mini 4-on-3 situations could pay really big dividends, since we're going to be seeing heavy Kemba traps for the next 3 years otherwise.
Toronto, which has most of its team back from last season, is number one in defensive FG percentage and three in three point percentage. Boston, with the majority of its team new to the Celtics, is fifth and ninth. Boston is fifth in causing TOs and first in steals. Boston gives up 12.2 threes per game, Toronto 12.6.. The Celtics should continue to gel on defense as they play more together.
They got GW a nice bunny out of one of those Kemba traps. It was the most encouraging thing from the whole game for me. I think that both the Js have enough awareness now to help with that nonsense and nip it in the bud. We shall see.
The defense really gets dynamic when Smart, Wanamaker, Brown and Edwards pick up the on-ball defense and go over the picks. They all have the lower, bulky body strength to punish screeners.
If you start Edwards then one of he or Kemba has to guard Butler, that would seem less than ideal. Better matchups if you start GW or Ojeleye and matchup Brown with Butler.
Guessing we'll see a lot more Ojeleye and Grant. But also it's Brad, which means he'll probably use it as a chance to spread minutes around to a lot of guys and try different combos.
He'll start Semi, but I'd rather see Grant. No chance Carsen starts, 2-4 is positionless. I'd say there is a better chance we see Waters called up to handle the ball, in lieu of Smarts absence.
it really sucks that our #14 pick can't play, he's missing great opportunities for development with Hayward, Brown and now Smart missing time so far.
I can’t wait for the part where the Celtics lose a few games without Hayward and Smart and everyone starts talking about how they're “coming back to earth.”
I'm definitely in the camp of giving the kids extended run and making sure the Top5 are fully healthy. Sacrifice a few wins if need be. Roughly a quarter of the way in and Brad has effectively figured out how to use Enis, Wanamaker and matchup Theis/TL. He just needs to get one or more of the youngsters (expect Granite) to start having the game slow down for them.
I wouldn’t expect these prices to come down. It’s a Sat night during holiday week with many transplants back in town looking to catch a Celtics game. Speaking from personal experience......when I lived in NC all those years this would have been a standard go-to game for me when back home.
I agree with this. There aren't many Saturday night home games during the year and the Raptors, even without Kawhi, should be a good game. Friday and Saturday night games are in high demand and usually a lot more expensive. Holiday week is even worse. I wanted to go to the comeback game against the Rockets two years ago and it was absolutely outrageous, and that was the Thursday after Christmas.
Semi with a plus 21 in 24 minutes. Semi played solid defense in the second quarter, when the Heat put up only 16 points.
