Keys to Next Season

[footey]

I doubt we make any big trades, given our luxury tax situation. I think we will try to cut/move guys (Poirier, Green, Semi), maybe sign Baynes, maybe trade up in draft, or trade out of draft given roster consolidation.  But I think we will otherwise be running this squad back, which I am okay with.

These are the keys to whether we can get to the next level, IMO:

1. Kemba's knee has to be solid.  If he continues to linger with pain, this is going to be a big set back.  If we draft a PG early in the draft (at 14 or in a trade up), that will send a big signal that Ainge is more worried than he is letting on about Kemba's knee.

2. Development of Robert Williams III.   His upside is so freaky good, but he must be able to get more minutes, whether as a starter (my hope) or off the bench.  10-12 minutes a game doesn't cut it. Don't know whose fault, Brad's, Rob's, or injury, but we need him NOW.

3. Development of Langford.  Need to be patient.  I think he has great upside to be a regular in our rotation next season. Gives us a great defender and a guy who has a good inside game. Plus his shot is decent enough.

4. How we draft.  Does Danny find a guy who fills a need, whether Nesmith at 14 (shooter) or Tillman at 26/30 (back up big who is smart), or someone else?

I'd add the obvious--health of Hayward, continued development of the two Jays, etc. But the 4 points above are the ones that I am most interested in watching.

How about you??

[GreenCoffeeBean]

Our team can’t really change much next year so any improvement comes from:

- Tatum and Brown growing as passers
- Robert Williams improving his lateral quickness and BBIQ
- Walker, Hayward, and Langford getting and staying healthy
- Changing our offensive system to score in the paint more

Barring a crazy trade involving Tatum, Brown, or Smart, the only aces we have up our sleeves are Rob Williams and Langford.

[liam]

Health.

The Healthiest team usually wins so health is at the top of my list.

Adding some bench scoring/shooting in the draft.

Maybe a rebounding big which could be filled by the development of TIMELORD.

Run more pick and roll with Grant Williams as the screener. The guy is a brick.

Dump guys who can't get on the court in a real game either because they aren't good enough or if Brad just won't play them

and HEAlth!!!!

[PhoSita]

- Health

- Bench

- Better focus / discipline in late game situations

[Roy H.]

Spend money to get better players / don’t prioritize minimizing the tax

Health

Internal improvement

I wouldn’t mind seeing Brad add to, or tweak, his staff, either.

[NKY fan]

-Don’t worry about tax thresholds
-utilize expiring deals which give you options to trade for a star at the deadline
-Roll over the picks for future picks to have tradable assets

- monitor the following teams that may hit the reset button :
Portland - they may be on the outside looking in the playoffs next year. They can’t improve and maybe leapfrogged by pelicans/suns/Memphis ... Lillard is owed insane amount of $$ - maybe Kemba plus picks get us the closer we need...
-wizards and Orlando have basically no chance of cracking the top 7 seed in the East but will be stuck at 8-9 seed.. they might decide to finally reset as well. I wouldn’t mind getting Beal and or Vucevic/Gordon all 3 are still young enough to add to the Js and have a long window ...
-wild card - warriors : injuries because of age and struggling to get to top 8 seed may get Lacob to hit reset button at the trade deadline. We will know more about their mindset if they make and keep that pick 2 next month.

[GreenWarrior]

The key is to be more disciplined on offense, attack at every opportunity...or may be even force it every once in a while.

This team needs to break this habit that stevens has instilled in this team that settling for jumpers and 3's is the way to win or get back into games. It isn't.

If we don't correct this then it really doesn't matter who we add or what else we do this off season. Next year will end the same way every playoff run has ended just like it did this season.

But if we are going to continue with this philosophy that settling for jumpers is the way to go they might want to invest in an actual shooter. Right now we have a bunch of guys that can make jump shots but aren't actual shooters.

And if they think they're going to find that in a young guy in the draft they shouldn't even bother. Because in reality we should be trading our picks this yr. as we have too much youth on this team. We need veterans who have won at a high level

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

1) Stay healthy (yeah, right)

2) Acquire a 3pt assassin for the bench (not holding my breath)

3) Get some highly experienced vets for the bench, as opposed to a ton of first- and second-year players (ditto)

[SparzWizard]

1) Stay healthy (yeah, right)

2) Acquire a 3pt assassin for the bench (not holding my breath)

3) Get some highly experienced vets for the bench, as opposed to a ton of first- and second-year players (ditto)

Does Isaiah Thomas have anything left in the tank? He only comes off the bench shooting 3's. He is the Eddie House guy we need.

[Somebody]

I doubt we make any big trades, given our luxury tax situation. I think we will try to cut/move guys (Poirier, Green, Semi), maybe sign Baynes, maybe trade up in draft, or trade out of draft given roster consolidation.  But I think we will otherwise be running this squad back, which I am okay with.

These are the keys to whether we can get to the next level, IMO:

1. Kemba's knee has to be solid.  If he continues to linger with pain, this is going to be a big set back.  If we draft a PG early in the draft (at 14 or in a trade up), that will send a big signal that Ainge is more worried than he is letting on about Kemba's knee.

2. Development of Robert Williams III.   His upside is so freaky good, but he must be able to get more minutes, whether as a starter (my hope) or off the bench.  10-12 minutes a game doesn't cut it. Don't know whose fault, Brad's, Rob's, or injury, but we need him NOW.

3. Development of Langford.  Need to be patient.  I think he has great upside to be a regular in our rotation next season. Gives us a great defender and a guy who has a good inside game. Plus his shot is decent enough.

4. How we draft.  Does Danny find a guy who fills a need, whether Nesmith at 14 (shooter) or Tillman at 26/30 (back up big who is smart), or someone else?

I'd add the obvious--health of Hayward, continued development of the two Jays, etc. But the 4 points above are the ones that I am most interested in watching.

How about you??

Where's the development of Grant Williams? He was really useful for us in spurts in our playoff run this year.

[tarheelsxxiii]

If healthy, we're the best team in the East.  I don't even think it's close.   

[Somebody]

If healthy, we're the best team in the East.  I don't even think it's close.   

Not sure if we're better than a healthy Bucks team, they're a really bad matchup for us with their size and length that isn't completely immobile.

[tarheelsxxiii]

If healthy, we're the best team in the East.  I don't even think it's close.   

Not sure if we're better than a healthy Bucks team, they're a really bad matchup for us with their size and length that isn't completely immobile.

I think we're overall better.  Letting Brogdon go was a mistake, and Giannis struggled when the game slowed down.

[Somebody]

If healthy, we're the best team in the East.  I don't even think it's close.   

Not sure if we're better than a healthy Bucks team, they're a really bad matchup for us with their size and length that isn't completely immobile.

I think we're overall better.  Letting Brogdon go was a mistake, and Giannis struggled when the game slowed down.

I might agree if we're looking at both teams on paper, but they can really strangle our swing offence as it is with their frontcourt.

[JBcat]

I doubt we make any big trades, given our luxury tax situation. I think we will try to cut/move guys (Poirier, Green, Semi), maybe sign Baynes, maybe trade up in draft, or trade out of draft given roster consolidation.  But I think we will otherwise be running this squad back, which I am okay with.

These are the keys to whether we can get to the next level, IMO:

1. Kemba's knee has to be solid.  If he continues to linger with pain, this is going to be a big set back.  If we draft a PG early in the draft (at 14 or in a trade up), that will send a big signal that Ainge is more worried than he is letting on about Kemba's knee.

2. Development of Robert Williams III.   His upside is so freaky good, but he must be able to get more minutes, whether as a starter (my hope) or off the bench.  10-12 minutes a game doesn't cut it. Don't know whose fault, Brad's, Rob's, or injury, but we need him NOW.

3. Development of Langford.  Need to be patient.  I think he has great upside to be a regular in our rotation next season. Gives us a great defender and a guy who has a good inside game. Plus his shot is decent enough.

4. How we draft.  Does Danny find a guy who fills a need, whether Nesmith at 14 (shooter) or Tillman at 26/30 (back up big who is smart), or someone else?

I'd add the obvious--health of Hayward, continued development of the two Jays, etc. But the 4 points above are the ones that I am most interested in watching.

How about you??

I agree with most expect number 1.  I just hope Ainge goes with best player available point guard or otherwise.  A point guard drafted won’t have any bearing on Walker’s future here as Walker is 30.  A point guard worthy of our future can be groomed under Walker while he is here.