Was listening to "OMF" yesterday, and Ordway, Merloni, and Fauria were sickened by the teams' recent play and were hoping for an early playoff exit so that Ainge significantly restructures the team. They think Brown and Tatum will never win together.
I've heard others in the Boston media say the same. The general tone around the team has been very pessimistic, and even mocking, for a long while.
My thoughts are that these same fools would have been clamoring to break up the Warriors in 2013 after they were bounced by the Clippers in the first round.
The next year they won the first of at least three championships. Before their first title season Curry had only played in 19 playoff games (Tatum has played in 45 in three full NBA seasons). Steph was 26 when they finally broke through, one year younger than Jordan and Lebron (Draymond and Klay were both 24). Tatum is 23 and Brown is 24 right now.
Tatum, Brown, and Smart have had a lot of success in the playoffs in their short careers. A lot more than the Warriors had at the same point. And now Timelord is breaking out, Kemba is healthy, and there are some solid roleplayers present in Thompson and Fournier.
Don't be shocked if this team makes a big run sometime in the next 3 years or so. Nobody thought the Warriors were true contenders until they beat everyone in front of them. Before the meltdown against Toronto last year in game 3, when the Celtics lost confidence in each other after a last-second collapse, Boston IMO was on an eye-opening Warriors-like run.
But this is still a very young team. There will be many bumps in the road. They might be due for an ugly playoff exit this year - or not. That doesn't mean it isn't a team with championship potential. When the Celtics play Team Ball they can beat anyone. Timelord, Brown, and Smart are legit physical freaks. And Tatum is as good an ISO scorer as anyone in the league.
No-one knew the Warriors were the Warriors before they won. We shouldn't let the toxic media drive the narrative that this team stinks because of some early career struggles and maturity issues from two young all-stars.