Obviously the way the East is going the Celtics have a chance at the playoffs and to possibly (unlikely) win the division. My question is where do you guys think we go from here? Do we try to deal for a big man? Do we try to find another star player other than AI? Do we fold and try to get Oden? I'm confused with the message Danny is sending us and have no idea where we're going. Personally I would like to see us do well this year, because as some of you have said, the picks won't mean much (bar Oden) because our team is still extremely young and a veteran presence is needed. What do you guys think we should do?
Well, from reading your post, we should absolutely not "fold for Oden." A few reasons why: First of all, tanking with a young group like this is not the kind of thing you want to do around a bunch of young players. Two, Paul Pierce would not like it, trust me. Three, even if a team goes 0-82, that doesn't guarentee them the #1 pick. You get best odds, but not guarenteed the best pick. You are guarenteed a top 4 pick. You want to know an example of tanking and not getting the #1 pick? The Celtics, when they tanked the season for the #1 pick to get Tim Duncan. We had the worst record in the league, we had the best odds, and the ping pong balls didn't go our way, so we ended up getting Chauncey Billups at 3rd pick (you all know the rest :ranting. EDIT: The last reason we shouldn't fold for Oden is the fact that we don't even know if he'll come out this year! Say what you want, this kid wants to get an education too. I think as of right now, considering we are out of the Iverson running, I say we continue to be patient. Let guys like Al Jefferson and Gerald Green develope into the players we all know they can be. Let Ryan Gomes, Delonte West, Tony Allen, Kendrick Perkins, etc. all develope into the good role players they can be. Be patient, and play the kids. Give them all oppertunities. I say unless/until another big trade possibility comes along, I say be patient with the kids and continue to grow as a unit.
Don't do anything. Let this group of players grow together for another year. That'll probably mean missing the playoffs, but that's not such a bad thing. It'll give Rondo, Telfair, Jefferson, Gomes, Green, Perkins, West, etc great experience and playing time...unless Doc decides to bench them all for Olowakandi, Powe, Scalibrine, Allen Ray, and Tony Allen. This year's draft will be very strong. Even if the Celts don't get Oden (who will most likely come out), there's still other talented players like Johakim Noah. From what I've read this is going to be a very deep draft, so even if the Celts don't have a great pick to begin with some teams may be willing to do a 2 for 1 swap so the C's can move up and get a big man. Or, they could use those picks as trade bait to go for another star in the off-season. Either way I think the team should just stay together unless another All-Star becomes available. The only thing they HAVE to do is not re-sign Doc Rivers at the end of the season and get a good coach like Rick Adelman who can actually help develop the young guys and put in a system that will work.
I think having Addelman as the coach would be a great move. I always thought he was under-rated in Sacramento, and I think he'd be able to help out the C's to a great extent. I agree with what everyone's posted so far... The Celtics should in no way get "used to losing". They should try to play every game as if it were Game 7 of the NBA Finals (maybe a bit extreme) but in other words, go in with the attitude that they can realistically win EVERY single game they play. Also, getting rid of Doc Rivers and his sh*tty/bizarre coaching would greatly improve this team I believe.
UGH! I hate the c's right now, I cant decide whether we should get rid of some talent to pick up some talent for the short run while stock is high, or keep them for ourselves and hope they pan out. Personally I dont think any of our young talent will come around and be SUPERSTARS and I dont think any will even be allstar potential. However, if we keep the team mostly intact and they all become good-great players we could be amazing in the future.
I don't think we need to make any major changes. I didn't feel this way earlier into the season, and I was all for trying to get Iverson, but lately some of our young guys have really elevated their games, and I think we need to just wait and let them develop. Al's playing great basketball, he's definitely turning into what everyone hoped he would, and he's being consistent. Gerald Green is starting to come along too, he needs more time, but we've definitely seen some positive things from him, and hopefully we'll continue to on the upcoming west coast road trip. Tony Allen is playing well, Gomes is always pretty solid, I think we'll be alright with the players we have.I do think that we need to move a point guard, clearly we can't develop Rondo, Sebastian and Delonte. I don't really want to see any of them go, but I do think it would be best for the team. We could use another solid veteran, and I wouldn't be opposed to moving a point guard for someone, even if it sucks to see one of them go.
Greg Oden isn't the only " great " guy we could get you know. There is guys like Kevin Durant, Joakim Noah, Baby Shaq and other guys. But I say, just keep on playing how they play and I'm sure they will come out with a decent record.
I'd rather not get anymore rookies though, I like the core of young guys that we have, and I think it's time to develop them and trade our picks for some veterans if possible. I don't ever think it's a good idea to blow a season for a draft pick anyway.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JustBlaze @ Dec 24 2006, 01:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I'd rather not get anymore rookies though, I like the core of young guys that we have, and I think it's time to develop them and trade our picks for some veterans if possible. I don't ever think it's a good idea to blow a season for a draft pick anyway.</div> 100% agreed. Some fans over at CelticsBlog want the Celtics to tank the season and get a top 3 pick. I think that is SO stupid. Not only does it bring less excitement for all the fans, it screws up every young players' mindset. What do you want to teach these 20 and 21 year olds? Lose? That's just horse sh*t. Not only is that setting a HORRIBLE example for the young guns, I can guarentee you that with the competitiveness of all these young guys, they wouldn't approve... but then think about Paul Pierce. He would NEVER, EVER in a million years accept losing... especially on purpose. The funnier thing is, that all those people want us to tank for the top college FRESHMAN, in which we aren't even certain which ones will come out this year or not (I would not be surprised if Oden stayed for 3 or all 4 years). It's stupid. But I will also say, that if the Celtics somehow did end up with a guy like Greg Oden, Brendan Wright, Joakin Noah, etc. I would not complain. But tanking on purpose to get them, when you have a 29 year old superstar who wants to win more than anything and while you are trying to teach these young kids how to have a winning attitude? That's just so wrong.
Yeah I agree, as you said in another post, we tried that with Tim Duncan and look how that turned out. It's definitely not a wise move to lose on purpose when you have a superstar who's never complained about us losing and has been loyal to us for years, he certainly wouldn't go for that and the last thing I want to see is Pierce demanding a trade. In years past, when we had players like Marcus Banks and Kedrick Brown it seemed like waiting for them to develop was pointless, because it just seemed like they were never going to amount to anything. This year I definitely feel differently though, Al is having a great season and Gerald is starting to come around, I feel like we have better young players than we have for awhile, and I want to stick with this core and give them the time they need to become great players.
