Your post kind of reads like you're mocking his point but you're agreeing with his point so ice dragon-pulling chains?
Fair point but an overkill I think. But I'm always happy when I think Ainge doesn't get more than I think he could've. F*ck Danny Ainge bytch ass punk
Lol. First you forgot Marcus Smart, though that might have been purposeful, because outside of very good fits otherwise, I wouldn't consider him a starting shooting guard in the league, since he can't shoot. They also picked up Morris. But the above doesn't really strike fear into me, and I don't think it strikes fear into the Cavs or Wizards even... or heck, the Raptors. The best thing about the Celtics right now is their coach... who might be able to make it work. When I say make it work, I am of course not implying they won't be good. There's obviously lots of talent still there, and I am actually pretty high on Tatum and Brown... BUT, this is a squad that was 100% about defense, hustle, grit, effort, defense last year. Then relying on IT to create offense. They've replaced IT with an equal and heck maybe even slightly better offense creator... but have got WAY WAY WAY worse defensively. They had rebounding problems before and certainly haven't addressed those this offseason. Where's the defense, rebounding on this squad?? Don't get me wrong... I get the concept from Ainge. The Celtics overachieved last year and in many ways were a house of cards. AND, I get the there is upside to Irving in the sense that he's 25 years old, and MAYBE he's been "held back" a bit next to Lebron, as Lebron seems to be great for winning but actually somewhat neuters superstar stats playing next to him. Of course, we all know about Irving's leadership abilities without Lebron thus far, so there's upside, but there's also downside. And I get the move is a long-term move. ESPECIALLY if Irving, who seems to be well liked among other stars in the league, can recruit a top 15 type player. And I get that the move more aligns "timelines" as IT/Crowder were older, and Kyrie is more in line with Hayward, Tatum and Brown. But I still struggle to see how the Celtics finished the year the #1 seed, making the ECF - albeit being a house of cards, the #1 pick in the draft, a likely top 5 pick the following year, and Ainge ended up moving the #1 pick, the 2018 Nets pick, IT, Crowder, Bradley for Tatum, Hayward and Kyrie and a mid/late future lotto pick.... WHEN, if you told me before hand they'd move all those assets, I'd absolutely think they could have landed more - Jimmy Butler, Paul George (except that was out of their control), Chris Paul (why not... he'd be great in Boston). At best it's a series of moves that can be described as neutral.
the nets are going to be terrible. theres no question about that. it's actually not hard to say a team "upgraded* when they just won 20 games a year ago
It doesn't matter if they win many games. They just have to win more games than the other teams I named - and they play this East garbage in two out of three nights. I never said the roster is somewhat good, but its still better than the Hawks, Pacers, Bulls (who don't want to win) and maybe the Magic, Knicks and Sixers. Throw in some teams from the West like the Suns, Lakers or Kings as well (who play the heavyweight West in two out of three nights) and you're way closer to #10 than #1.
Boston should go small with their starters. Irving/Rozier Hayward/Smart Tatum Brown Horford/Baynes In the east, with Brad Stevens, that's a contender.
Nets are not better than Indiana and Phila though, like, no way. I agree that they may end the season better than few teams since they'll not tank but yeah...i think a top 5/6 pick is basically guaranteed.
That's the exact same argument someone would have made last offseason as well. The Nets are going to be competing for worst record in the league. The only thing that will stop them is the fact that they don't have their own pick. For example, here are some odds as of 8/14 http://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/19590072/nba-odds-all-30-nba-teams-win-2017-18-nba-title The Nets are going to suck, as usual.
you're forgetting morris, who they picked up for their frontcourt. they're already planning to play that way. Horford and morris is their primary front court irving, rozier brown, smart hayward, tatum morris, horford, baynes
yeah pretty interesting offseason with so many good players on the move. only one more left and that's for houston
Disagree with Indiana. Terrible coach, without George and Teague they'll probably tank from day one to get a new franchise player. Sixers depend on Embiid's health and how Simmons/Fultz acclimate to the NBA, but I expect them to finish around ahead of the Nets. Last year we didn't have three Eastern playoff teams opting to hit the reset button. Of course the Nets will suck, but so does half the East.
Lebron/Cleveland finally has someone that can play defense in Crowder. This is going to be really good for Cleveland.
Wow just wow, such a bomb in a slow summer, i think both team did well in the trade, short term, celtics will benefit more, long term, then let's wait to see what the 1st round pick turns out to be
Well you had the Sixers. And Suns. And Lakers. And Kings. And then as the season progresses others jump in that mix. Time will tell.
Boston could have landed Jimmy Butler or Paul George without losing IT months ago, but the GM decided to not give up the Net pick. That GM is just not smart enough to make a deal, Morey will never make this kind of deal for giving up the Net pick, because Cavs can not get a better deal from other teams, you do not need include the Net pick to make this deal. A loser is the Boston.
Boston is better than last year, but the deal with the Cavs was not good one. They should include their pick from next year or so, instead of the Net pick. The Cavs can not get a better offer from other teams, very likely.
Isaiah Thomas - Derrick Rose - Jose Calderon - Kay Felder (Dwyane Wade?) - J.R. Smith - Kyle Korver LeBron James - Jae Crowder - Richard Jefferson - Cedi Osman Kevin Love - Jeff Green DeMarcus Cousins - Tristan Thompson - Edy Tavares ...with James, (Wade), Cousins & Thomas becoming free agents after the season. Hmm...
pick may be a bit much but again obviously they didn't value IT as that player who just made it known publicly is looking for super max. so regardless they used a pick on a player who they wanted. Just because you wouldn't do it yourself doesn't make it completely bad. That's why all organizations are different bc they run it accordingly to how they want.
