I'm in the camp that is concerned about the trade. I am on record here as saying that I think they should be building the team to begin peaking 4 years from now, when the GS dynasty window is closing, but that in the meanwhile, they should still try to be as competitive as possible without jeopardizing the larger plan.
I wanted Fultz and one of the big 3 from next year's draft (was hoping for Ayton). I thought that those two, combined with Jaylen Brown, Zizic, and Yabusele, would form a potentially phenomenal core.
In the meanwhile, I was thinking that they'd add Hayward, and have IT, Brown, Bradley, Hayward, Horford as the core, which would be pretty darned good and competitive.
But if this trade is going to happen, I'm going to have to readjust my expectations. Especially if they turn these newly acquired draft picks into Jimmy Butler. That would make me nauseous, not because Butler isn't a really good player - he is, and he'd make the current Celtics better. It's because I don't think he'd remotely put them over the top, and he'd cost them that post-GS window as well. They'd be better over the next 4 years, but probably not good enough to get by Cleveland still, never mind GS.
So what I'm hoping is that - presuming the deal is going to happen, which I'd rather it not - they do NOT trade the picks for Butler or George, but stay with the process. Sign Hayward anyway (that part of the plan doesn't change), and then hope that the 2018 pick falls to 2 or 3 and they are able to get 2 of the top 3 picks in next year's draft, and end up with two of Porter/Ayton/Doncic. And with the #3 pick this year, they either take Tatum or Jackson (more on these two in a moment) OR trade that pick for like the #5 and a future pick from Sacramento, and grab Isaac in that spot. I'm a believer that you go for the guy who could be a star, and Isaac has enormous potential.
Ugh. I wish this wasn't a conversation, but it looks like it needs to be since it looks like this deal is happening.
*Tatum and Jackson... Tatum is a really good scorer who can put the ball in the basket from every level and the Celtics sorely could use a guy like that. Jackson is a tremendous athlete whose two weaknesses - shooting and ball-handling - can be overcome with practice and hard work, and he is by all accounts a tremendous worker. And it's not like he's a bad shooter. His mechanics are poor but he puts the ball in from three point range at a sufficiently effective rate that I think he could be a solid shooter when all is said and done. He really is exactly what the Celtics already have though - a great athlete who works hard and can be great on defense. Isn't that what Crowder, Smart, Brown, etc., already are?
