Who's available that we can get at C

[Sketch5]

4 for 1 trades are problematic in season. Cleveland, for instance, would need to eat over $7 million in salary by cutting current players to make things work for Thompson. Only one team has any type of cap space to absorb salary, that being Atlanta and even then I think they only have a couple million. I guess you can find a team with a trade exception to fit into to move salary, but that's now costing either Cleveland or Boston draft capital.

Also, giving up Langford for an minor upgrade at starting center that also costs you your backup center who has recently been averaging a double double off the bench is poor roster and asset management. Ainge would never make such a trade.

As Chris Forsberg was saying on the NBCSB before the game, an upgrade will come in the buyout market and not the trade market, if one happens this year at all. My hope is Favors gets bought out and then signed. After some time to learn the system and adjust, he could slip right into the starting lineup.

Thing is, I am not sure Favors is going to be any better trying to shut down Embiid, Giannis, AD or other MVP caliber big people. Some guys are MVP caliber big people because no one can truly slow them down. You just do your best to let limit them if you can and shut everyone else down. That's how you beat those teams

Yeah, a buy out us best case scenario at this point with out giving up any of the core guys or depleting the bench.

I really hope Haynes gets bought out. Unlikely. But he knows the system so the learning curve is small and he gives that toughness we really need.

[greg683x]

4 for 1 trades are problematic in season. Cleveland, for instance, would need to eat over $7 million in salary by cutting current players to make things work for Thompson. Only one team has any type of cap space to absorb salary, that being Atlanta and even then I think they only have a couple million. I guess you can find a team with a trade exception to fit into to move salary, but that's now costing either Cleveland or Boston draft capital.

Also, giving up Langford for an minor upgrade at starting center that also costs you your backup center who has recently been averaging a double double off the bench is poor roster and asset management. Ainge would never make such a trade.

As Chris Forsberg was saying on the NBCSB before the game, an upgrade will come in the buyout market and not the trade market, if one happens this year at all. My hope is Favors gets bought out and then signed. After some time to learn the system and adjust, he could slip right into the starting lineup.

Thing is, I am not sure Favors is going to be any better trying to shut down Embiid, Giannis, AD or other MVP caliber big people. Some guys are MVP caliber big people because no one can truly slow them down. You just do your best to let limit them if you can and shut everyone else down. That's how you beat those teams

This.

I do like the idea of getting Favors on a buyout.  He can used as a situational defender, like we used Greg Monroe a couple seasons ago, except we used him for offense.

[GreenEnvy]

If I was one of those buyout guys (a la Favors) that everyone is chasing, I don’t think I’d come here. Most of the time these guys come here and don’t wind up getting nearly as much playing time as they’d expect, with CBS usually going with guys in their system. I was ecstatic when Monroe chose us, and he played sparingly. Kanter (not a buyout, but similar MLE situation) is seeing the same thing happen.

They bring in bigs who are good around the basket and then Brad doesn’t use them because he likes spacing.

And players know this, so I doubt Favors would choose us when a bunch of contenders are vying for his services at the minimum.

[Fierce1]

Big guys combine for 18 points, 20 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 6 blocks.

Celtics strong forum "Why don't we have a superstar at every position!"

Stats don't tell the whole story.

Like when Kanter is in the pick and roll, he gives up a lot of points because he keeps leaving opposing guards open for a shot.

Something like that will not show on the stat sheet.

That's the reason why Kanter is not even averaging 20 minutes per game.

Yeah, them opposing guards went off tonight for 21 points on 7-25 shooting. They lit us up.

What Kanter has been doing well all season, did well in the playoffs for the Blazers last year, and did well against charlotte, is inviting the pick-and-roll guard into no-man's land, allowing the guard's defender to get back in position, and using his quick hands to get deflections, strips, and blocks.

6 blocks tonight don't fit your narrative either.

The reason Kanter is only getting 20 minutes a game is because CBS has figured out a really good winning rotation of players, with Theis, Kanter, Williams, and Williams holding down the big spots in different ways and different matchups. No one guy is the answer, but all of them together is pretty good.

I think you're not familiar with Kanter.

Kanter has NEVER averaged 1 block per game his whole career.
He's not known as a shot-blocker.

Having 6 blocks in one game doesn't undo what you have been your whole 9-year career.

The Celtics signed Kanter to be their starting Center.
He started the first game of the season.
But just like in preseason, Kanter was horrible on defense when the regular season started.
That's why Kanter lost his starting job to Theis.

I watched the Blazers vs. GSW west finals last season because Charles Barkley said the Blazers will make the Finals and upset GSW.

Barkley was so wrong.

Steph Curry scored like Michael Jordan, averaging 36.5 ppg in the 4-game sweep of the Blazers.

Reason why Curry got so many open looks was because of Kanter's inability to cover the pick and roll correctly.

Kanter always left Curry open after he was forced to switch on Curry.

So this theory that my narrative doesn't fit what Kanter did against Charlotte today is not accurate because one game doesn't undo what Kanter has been for the last 9 seasons.

[Fierce1]

If I was one of those buyout guys (a la Favors) that everyone is chasing, I don’t think I’d come here. Most of the time these guys come here and don’t wind up getting nearly as much playing time as they’d expect, with CBS usually going with guys in their system. I was ecstatic when Monroe chose us, and he played sparingly. Kanter (not a buyout, but similar MLE situation) is seeing the same thing happen.

They bring in bigs who are good around the basket and then Brad doesn’t use them because he likes spacing.

And players know this, so I doubt Favors would choose us when a bunch of contenders are vying for his services at the minimum.

I agree.

It's not a sure thing that Favors come to Boston if he's bought out.

That's why the trade route is the best option.

[Sophomore]

If I was one of those buyout guys (a la Favors) that everyone is chasing, I don’t think I’d come here. Most of the time these guys come here and don’t wind up getting nearly as much playing time as they’d expect, with CBS usually going with guys in their system. I was ecstatic when Monroe chose us, and he played sparingly. Kanter (not a buyout, but similar MLE situation) is seeing the same thing happen.

They bring in bigs who are good around the basket and then Brad doesn’t use them because he likes spacing.

And players know this, so I doubt Favors would choose us when a bunch of contenders are vying for his services at the minimum.

I agree.

It's not a sure thing that Favors come to Boston if he's bought out.

That's why the trade route is the best option.

Monroe didn’t play much in Boston because he was no longer an NBA-level player. He’s out of the league now, before the age of 29. Don’t know what happened to him. Game just seemed too fast for him.

[MJohnnyboy]

If I was one of those buyout guys (a la Favors) that everyone is chasing, I don’t think I’d come here. Most of the time these guys come here and don’t wind up getting nearly as much playing time as they’d expect, with CBS usually going with guys in their system. I was ecstatic when Monroe chose us, and he played sparingly. Kanter (not a buyout, but similar MLE situation) is seeing the same thing happen.

They bring in bigs who are good around the basket and then Brad doesn’t use them because he likes spacing.

And players know this, so I doubt Favors would choose us when a bunch of contenders are vying for his services at the minimum.

TP for this.

Just to add to it, you know who's the perfect example of this last season? Enes Kanter.

The Celtics wanted him after the Knicks waived him, but Boston already had Horford, Baynes, and Theis, so there weren't a lot of minutes to go around. He chose Portland because they had more available minutes since they only had Nurkic and Collins (They hadn't lost Nurkic yet when they brought in Enes). That worked out better for Kanter than he could have imagined.

If Favors was brought in, he'd probably take Timelord's minutes primarily and not much of anyone else's. Also, New Orleans isn't too far away from a playoff spot and Zion's not too far away. If they stay healthy, Favors may not be going anywhere.

[RockinRyA]

If I was one of those buyout guys (a la Favors) that everyone is chasing, I don’t think I’d come here. Most of the time these guys come here and don’t wind up getting nearly as much playing time as they’d expect, with CBS usually going with guys in their system. I was ecstatic when Monroe chose us, and he played sparingly. Kanter (not a buyout, but similar MLE situation) is seeing the same thing happen.

They bring in bigs who are good around the basket and then Brad doesn’t use them because he likes spacing.

And players know this, so I doubt Favors would choose us when a bunch of contenders are vying for his services at the minimum.

Nope, disagree. First of all, the reason why Monroe coyldnt get minutes was because he is limited defensively. He is worse than Kanter and have no spacing at all. Kanter at least can shoot from mid range.

2nd, kanter isnt used sparingly. He is averaging 17 mins a game, which wouldve been more if 1) he didnt get injured and 2) blowouts. He is being maximized right now, to play him more minutes will limit his impact and expose his defense more. Right now he is being put in the right matchups.

Some players arent really plug and play, getting these guys from the buyouts and playing them a lot puts a lot of pressure on the guys because it takes time to learn the playbook.

[RockinRyA]

Look at team rebounding numbers Were not in the bottom of the league, were right in the middle.  Average.

Points in the paint allowed per game were in the Top 5.

Blocked shots per game, were in the top 6.

Could our bigs be better?  Yes.  But theyre not bad.  We have All Star caliber players literally playing every other starting 5 position.  Our backup center would start on a lot of teams

In a vacuum, Kanter is our best Center though. Only reason Theis starts is cause he's a better fit next to Kemba-Brown-Hayward-Tatum.

Would Theis be starting ''on a lot of teams''? I don't think he would.

Fair Enough, we need scoring off the bench, so Kanter fits better there.  We still have an NBA caliber starting center on the team logging minutes at the position

The point is though, we dont have scrubs at the Center position.  We have league average players, which is more than adequate considering the players we have surrounding them.

its like some folks are trying find a way to construct an All Star team

The C's are a great regular season team. No one is arguing against that. Thing is, the whole conversation has nothing to do with regular season success. Our biggest rivals in the East are the Bucks and the Sixers. They are both very strong at the PF-C positions. As things stand right now, we have no one to defend Giannis-BroLo and/or Horford-Embiid. Assuming the C's are trying to contend this season, we need someone to slow down these guys. Giannis and Embiid would tear us apart. I'm not even sure we can handle Sabonis-Turner for that matter. If Dipo comes back healthy, Indy might be a force to be reckoned with. Griffin-Drummond aren't half bad either, but I couldn't care less for Detroit to be honest.

Do you trust Theis to slow down Giannis/Embiid? At the end of the day, that's all that matters.

I think we saw a preview of that last season when Theis only played in 7 playoff games, averaging 6 minutes per game, 1.7 points per game and 1.4 rebounds per game.

The point is Theis wasn't used much in the playoffs last season.

Why is that?

Well, we had Horford and Baynes last season, but yeah, I see your point. CBS himself is on the record saying that Theis isn't a good matchup for Embiid. Not that we needed CBS to say it. I mean, it's rather obvious. Theis is 6'8'' and Embiid is 7'00''. The same goes for Giannis.

Btw, Horford and Baynes got killed by Giannis last season. Imagine what he would do Theis.

Semi is going to be spending a lot of time guarding Giannis.  So you dont have to worry about Theis.  Semi has shown he is more than adequate to give Giannis a hard enough time to give us a chance to win

I think Semi on Giannis worked in 2018, but not in 2019.

Last season Semi only averaged 8.5 minutes per game in 4 playoff games against the Bucks.

he played 20 minutes and did a great job on him in our VICTORY over the Bucks, THIS season

Celts did not have Kanter and Jaylen in that game.

I doubt Semi would have gotten 20 minutes if both Kanter and JB played.

You might be right.

But wait.  This poorly constructed team at Center beat Giannis shorthanded?

No doubt the Celts are a great regular season team this season.

It's the playoffs where you have to beat one team 4 times that will become a problem.

In the Nets game in Brooklyn, Theis was so horrible against Jarrett Allen, Brad only played him 7 minutes.

I truly believe the Celts can advance to the Finals this season.
Ainge just needs to upgrade the Center position.

You keep calling this team just a good regular season team.

Thats all youve seen them play in dude.  This team HAS NOT played in the playoffs yet

A different team lost to Milwaulkee last year.  That same team minus Kyrie, beat the Bucks the year before that.

That team and all the problems it had has no business being compared to this team

Reason why Toronto won a championship last season was because their GM was thinking ahead.

Raptors didn't know what would happen in the playoffs because it was Kawhi's first year with the Raps.

But at the trade deadline last season, the Raps traded their young Center, Valanciunas, for an old Marc Gasol.

Gasol could defend the likes of Embiid and Giannis.

The gamble paid off as Gasol was doing what was expected of him in the playoffs.

Right now the Celts have the assets to upgrade.
This is the perfect time to cash in.

Celts don't even have to trade any of the core 5.

So wait now.  Marc Gasol stopped Giannis?  Kawhi had nothing to do with it?

Im waiting to hear these names we can get without giving up a core players.  If the rest of the blog doesnt like them thats fine, I just want to hear your ideas

Check Game 5 and Game 6 of the east finals last season.

Every time Giannis got past his initial defender, Kawhi or not, Gasol was waiting for him at the rim.
Gasol raised both arms and Giannis couldn't dunk it over Gasol.
That was in contrast to what Giannis was doing against the Celts.
Giannis kept dunking on the Celts after Game 1 of the east semis.

My ideas for upgrading the team is Tristan Thompson if the Celts want a significant upgrade.
But that would cost the Celts both Theis and Kanter to make salaries match.

If the Celts want a minor upgrade, they can offer a draft pick and Poirier for guys like Noel, WCS, and Poeltl.

Ainge will give us the final answer in a few weeks.

But one thing's for sure, Ainge cannot let this Celtics go into the playoffs without upgrading.

We'll see at the deadline.  I think youre going to be disappointed.

None of those players you listed stop Embiid in a 7 game series.  Thompson would help, marginally in my opinion, but that trade makes us WAY to thin in the front court.

Completely disagree about Gasol on Giannis.  Im sorry dude thats laughable.  Fine he played good help defense.  Hes not the reason Toronto stopped the Giannis.  Thats delusional

The idea that poetl, wcs or noel can guard embiid is laughable.

[Fierce1]

GET ANOTHER BIG MAN No disrespect to Enes Kanter, Robert Williams, Daniel Theis and Vincent Poirier, but the Celtics might be an All-Star-caliber center (or slightly below that) away from being NBA Finals contenders. Ultimately, what the Celtics have in their frontcourt isn’t good enough. Kanter is skilled in the post and a strong rebounder, but he can’t stretch the floor. Williams has tons of talent, but he can’t stay healthy. Theis is good and very likable, but he’s your classic backup center. As for Poirier, who knows what the Celtics have in “Vinny Sex Finger?” Whether there’s a deal to be made before the Feb. 6 trade deadline is anyone’s guess, but the Celtics have the assets (most notably the Memphis Grizzlies pick) to make a splash. The biggest hurdle likely will be making the money work, as the Celtics basically have zero remaining cap space — among the factors likely preventing a deal for Kevin Love.

Read more at: https://nesn.com/2019/12/celtics-notes-what-bostons-new-years-resolutions-for-2020-should-be/

[Fierce1]

Look at team rebounding numbers Were not in the bottom of the league, were right in the middle.  Average.

Points in the paint allowed per game were in the Top 5.

Blocked shots per game, were in the top 6.

Could our bigs be better?  Yes.  But theyre not bad.  We have All Star caliber players literally playing every other starting 5 position.  Our backup center would start on a lot of teams

In a vacuum, Kanter is our best Center though. Only reason Theis starts is cause he's a better fit next to Kemba-Brown-Hayward-Tatum.

Would Theis be starting ''on a lot of teams''? I don't think he would.

Fair Enough, we need scoring off the bench, so Kanter fits better there.  We still have an NBA caliber starting center on the team logging minutes at the position

The point is though, we dont have scrubs at the Center position.  We have league average players, which is more than adequate considering the players we have surrounding them.

its like some folks are trying find a way to construct an All Star team

The C's are a great regular season team. No one is arguing against that. Thing is, the whole conversation has nothing to do with regular season success. Our biggest rivals in the East are the Bucks and the Sixers. They are both very strong at the PF-C positions. As things stand right now, we have no one to defend Giannis-BroLo and/or Horford-Embiid. Assuming the C's are trying to contend this season, we need someone to slow down these guys. Giannis and Embiid would tear us apart. I'm not even sure we can handle Sabonis-Turner for that matter. If Dipo comes back healthy, Indy might be a force to be reckoned with. Griffin-Drummond aren't half bad either, but I couldn't care less for Detroit to be honest.

Do you trust Theis to slow down Giannis/Embiid? At the end of the day, that's all that matters.

I think we saw a preview of that last season when Theis only played in 7 playoff games, averaging 6 minutes per game, 1.7 points per game and 1.4 rebounds per game.

The point is Theis wasn't used much in the playoffs last season.

Why is that?

Well, we had Horford and Baynes last season, but yeah, I see your point. CBS himself is on the record saying that Theis isn't a good matchup for Embiid. Not that we needed CBS to say it. I mean, it's rather obvious. Theis is 6'8'' and Embiid is 7'00''. The same goes for Giannis.

Btw, Horford and Baynes got killed by Giannis last season. Imagine what he would do Theis.

Semi is going to be spending a lot of time guarding Giannis.  So you dont have to worry about Theis.  Semi has shown he is more than adequate to give Giannis a hard enough time to give us a chance to win

I think Semi on Giannis worked in 2018, but not in 2019.

Last season Semi only averaged 8.5 minutes per game in 4 playoff games against the Bucks.

he played 20 minutes and did a great job on him in our VICTORY over the Bucks, THIS season

Celts did not have Kanter and Jaylen in that game.

I doubt Semi would have gotten 20 minutes if both Kanter and JB played.

You might be right.

But wait.  This poorly constructed team at Center beat Giannis shorthanded?

No doubt the Celts are a great regular season team this season.

It's the playoffs where you have to beat one team 4 times that will become a problem.

In the Nets game in Brooklyn, Theis was so horrible against Jarrett Allen, Brad only played him 7 minutes.

I truly believe the Celts can advance to the Finals this season.
Ainge just needs to upgrade the Center position.

You keep calling this team just a good regular season team.

Thats all youve seen them play in dude.  This team HAS NOT played in the playoffs yet

A different team lost to Milwaulkee last year.  That same team minus Kyrie, beat the Bucks the year before that.

That team and all the problems it had has no business being compared to this team

Reason why Toronto won a championship last season was because their GM was thinking ahead.

Raptors didn't know what would happen in the playoffs because it was Kawhi's first year with the Raps.

But at the trade deadline last season, the Raps traded their young Center, Valanciunas, for an old Marc Gasol.

Gasol could defend the likes of Embiid and Giannis.

The gamble paid off as Gasol was doing what was expected of him in the playoffs.

Right now the Celts have the assets to upgrade.
This is the perfect time to cash in.

Celts don't even have to trade any of the core 5.

So wait now.  Marc Gasol stopped Giannis?  Kawhi had nothing to do with it?

Im waiting to hear these names we can get without giving up a core players.  If the rest of the blog doesnt like them thats fine, I just want to hear your ideas

Check Game 5 and Game 6 of the east finals last season.

Every time Giannis got past his initial defender, Kawhi or not, Gasol was waiting for him at the rim.
Gasol raised both arms and Giannis couldn't dunk it over Gasol.
That was in contrast to what Giannis was doing against the Celts.
Giannis kept dunking on the Celts after Game 1 of the east semis.

My ideas for upgrading the team is Tristan Thompson if the Celts want a significant upgrade.
But that would cost the Celts both Theis and Kanter to make salaries match.

If the Celts want a minor upgrade, they can offer a draft pick and Poirier for guys like Noel, WCS, and Poeltl.

Ainge will give us the final answer in a few weeks.

But one thing's for sure, Ainge cannot let this Celtics go into the playoffs without upgrading.

We'll see at the deadline.  I think youre going to be disappointed.

None of those players you listed stop Embiid in a 7 game series.  Thompson would help, marginally in my opinion, but that trade makes us WAY to thin in the front court.

Completely disagree about Gasol on Giannis.  Im sorry dude thats laughable.  Fine he played good help defense.  Hes not the reason Toronto stopped the Giannis.  Thats delusional

The idea that poetl, wcs or noel can guard embiid is laughable.

That's because you're not seeing the big picture.

Having Poeltl instead of Poirier makes the Celts better as it allows the Celts to have a 3-headed monster, Theis, Kanter, and Poeltl, guarding Embiid at different stages of the game.

What's laughable is not being open to the idea that trading Poirier and a pick for Poeltl makes the Celts better.

[Birdman]

Funny how it seems like some ppl are sour bout Robert Williams already after thinking he was the steal of the draft..and not mentioning his name hardly..I said it at the draft it was a bad pick and will continue to do so..Hopefully I’m wrong but so far I’m not

[RockinRyA]

Look at team rebounding numbers Were not in the bottom of the league, were right in the middle.  Average.

Points in the paint allowed per game were in the Top 5.

Blocked shots per game, were in the top 6.

Could our bigs be better?  Yes.  But theyre not bad.  We have All Star caliber players literally playing every other starting 5 position.  Our backup center would start on a lot of teams

In a vacuum, Kanter is our best Center though. Only reason Theis starts is cause he's a better fit next to Kemba-Brown-Hayward-Tatum.

Would Theis be starting ''on a lot of teams''? I don't think he would.

Fair Enough, we need scoring off the bench, so Kanter fits better there.  We still have an NBA caliber starting center on the team logging minutes at the position

The point is though, we dont have scrubs at the Center position.  We have league average players, which is more than adequate considering the players we have surrounding them.

its like some folks are trying find a way to construct an All Star team

The C's are a great regular season team. No one is arguing against that. Thing is, the whole conversation has nothing to do with regular season success. Our biggest rivals in the East are the Bucks and the Sixers. They are both very strong at the PF-C positions. As things stand right now, we have no one to defend Giannis-BroLo and/or Horford-Embiid. Assuming the C's are trying to contend this season, we need someone to slow down these guys. Giannis and Embiid would tear us apart. I'm not even sure we can handle Sabonis-Turner for that matter. If Dipo comes back healthy, Indy might be a force to be reckoned with. Griffin-Drummond aren't half bad either, but I couldn't care less for Detroit to be honest.

Do you trust Theis to slow down Giannis/Embiid? At the end of the day, that's all that matters.

I think we saw a preview of that last season when Theis only played in 7 playoff games, averaging 6 minutes per game, 1.7 points per game and 1.4 rebounds per game.

The point is Theis wasn't used much in the playoffs last season.

Why is that?

Well, we had Horford and Baynes last season, but yeah, I see your point. CBS himself is on the record saying that Theis isn't a good matchup for Embiid. Not that we needed CBS to say it. I mean, it's rather obvious. Theis is 6'8'' and Embiid is 7'00''. The same goes for Giannis.

Btw, Horford and Baynes got killed by Giannis last season. Imagine what he would do Theis.

Semi is going to be spending a lot of time guarding Giannis.  So you dont have to worry about Theis.  Semi has shown he is more than adequate to give Giannis a hard enough time to give us a chance to win

I think Semi on Giannis worked in 2018, but not in 2019.

Last season Semi only averaged 8.5 minutes per game in 4 playoff games against the Bucks.

he played 20 minutes and did a great job on him in our VICTORY over the Bucks, THIS season

Celts did not have Kanter and Jaylen in that game.

I doubt Semi would have gotten 20 minutes if both Kanter and JB played.

You might be right.

But wait.  This poorly constructed team at Center beat Giannis shorthanded?

No doubt the Celts are a great regular season team this season.

It's the playoffs where you have to beat one team 4 times that will become a problem.

In the Nets game in Brooklyn, Theis was so horrible against Jarrett Allen, Brad only played him 7 minutes.

I truly believe the Celts can advance to the Finals this season.
Ainge just needs to upgrade the Center position.

You keep calling this team just a good regular season team.

Thats all youve seen them play in dude.  This team HAS NOT played in the playoffs yet

A different team lost to Milwaulkee last year.  That same team minus Kyrie, beat the Bucks the year before that.

That team and all the problems it had has no business being compared to this team

Reason why Toronto won a championship last season was because their GM was thinking ahead.

Raptors didn't know what would happen in the playoffs because it was Kawhi's first year with the Raps.

But at the trade deadline last season, the Raps traded their young Center, Valanciunas, for an old Marc Gasol.

Gasol could defend the likes of Embiid and Giannis.

The gamble paid off as Gasol was doing what was expected of him in the playoffs.

Right now the Celts have the assets to upgrade.
This is the perfect time to cash in.

Celts don't even have to trade any of the core 5.

So wait now.  Marc Gasol stopped Giannis?  Kawhi had nothing to do with it?

Im waiting to hear these names we can get without giving up a core players.  If the rest of the blog doesnt like them thats fine, I just want to hear your ideas

Check Game 5 and Game 6 of the east finals last season.

Every time Giannis got past his initial defender, Kawhi or not, Gasol was waiting for him at the rim.
Gasol raised both arms and Giannis couldn't dunk it over Gasol.
That was in contrast to what Giannis was doing against the Celts.
Giannis kept dunking on the Celts after Game 1 of the east semis.

My ideas for upgrading the team is Tristan Thompson if the Celts want a significant upgrade.
But that would cost the Celts both Theis and Kanter to make salaries match.

If the Celts want a minor upgrade, they can offer a draft pick and Poirier for guys like Noel, WCS, and Poeltl.

Ainge will give us the final answer in a few weeks.

But one thing's for sure, Ainge cannot let this Celtics go into the playoffs without upgrading.

We'll see at the deadline.  I think youre going to be disappointed.

None of those players you listed stop Embiid in a 7 game series.  Thompson would help, marginally in my opinion, but that trade makes us WAY to thin in the front court.

Completely disagree about Gasol on Giannis.  Im sorry dude thats laughable.  Fine he played good help defense.  Hes not the reason Toronto stopped the Giannis.  Thats delusional

The idea that poetl, wcs or noel can guard embiid is laughable.

That's because you're not seeing the big picture.

Having Poeltl instead of Poirier makes the Celts better as it allows the Celts to have a 3-headed monster, Theis, Kanter, and Poeltl, guarding Embiid at different stages of the game.

What's laughable is not being open to the idea that trading Poirier and a pick for Poeltl makes the Celts better.

Nope. I mean Williams played his best game against Poetl. This is a trade just for the sake of making a trade. Youd just be taking minutes from Theis and Kanter. No thanks, Id rather develop Williams and keep the pick.

[Fierce1]

Look at team rebounding numbers Were not in the bottom of the league, were right in the middle.  Average.

Points in the paint allowed per game were in the Top 5.

Blocked shots per game, were in the top 6.

Could our bigs be better?  Yes.  But theyre not bad.  We have All Star caliber players literally playing every other starting 5 position.  Our backup center would start on a lot of teams

In a vacuum, Kanter is our best Center though. Only reason Theis starts is cause he's a better fit next to Kemba-Brown-Hayward-Tatum.

Would Theis be starting ''on a lot of teams''? I don't think he would.

Fair Enough, we need scoring off the bench, so Kanter fits better there.  We still have an NBA caliber starting center on the team logging minutes at the position

The point is though, we dont have scrubs at the Center position.  We have league average players, which is more than adequate considering the players we have surrounding them.

its like some folks are trying find a way to construct an All Star team

The C's are a great regular season team. No one is arguing against that. Thing is, the whole conversation has nothing to do with regular season success. Our biggest rivals in the East are the Bucks and the Sixers. They are both very strong at the PF-C positions. As things stand right now, we have no one to defend Giannis-BroLo and/or Horford-Embiid. Assuming the C's are trying to contend this season, we need someone to slow down these guys. Giannis and Embiid would tear us apart. I'm not even sure we can handle Sabonis-Turner for that matter. If Dipo comes back healthy, Indy might be a force to be reckoned with. Griffin-Drummond aren't half bad either, but I couldn't care less for Detroit to be honest.

Do you trust Theis to slow down Giannis/Embiid? At the end of the day, that's all that matters.

I think we saw a preview of that last season when Theis only played in 7 playoff games, averaging 6 minutes per game, 1.7 points per game and 1.4 rebounds per game.

The point is Theis wasn't used much in the playoffs last season.

Why is that?

Well, we had Horford and Baynes last season, but yeah, I see your point. CBS himself is on the record saying that Theis isn't a good matchup for Embiid. Not that we needed CBS to say it. I mean, it's rather obvious. Theis is 6'8'' and Embiid is 7'00''. The same goes for Giannis.

Btw, Horford and Baynes got killed by Giannis last season. Imagine what he would do Theis.

Semi is going to be spending a lot of time guarding Giannis.  So you dont have to worry about Theis.  Semi has shown he is more than adequate to give Giannis a hard enough time to give us a chance to win

I think Semi on Giannis worked in 2018, but not in 2019.

Last season Semi only averaged 8.5 minutes per game in 4 playoff games against the Bucks.

he played 20 minutes and did a great job on him in our VICTORY over the Bucks, THIS season

Celts did not have Kanter and Jaylen in that game.

I doubt Semi would have gotten 20 minutes if both Kanter and JB played.

You might be right.

But wait.  This poorly constructed team at Center beat Giannis shorthanded?

No doubt the Celts are a great regular season team this season.

It's the playoffs where you have to beat one team 4 times that will become a problem.

In the Nets game in Brooklyn, Theis was so horrible against Jarrett Allen, Brad only played him 7 minutes.

I truly believe the Celts can advance to the Finals this season.
Ainge just needs to upgrade the Center position.

You keep calling this team just a good regular season team.

Thats all youve seen them play in dude.  This team HAS NOT played in the playoffs yet

A different team lost to Milwaulkee last year.  That same team minus Kyrie, beat the Bucks the year before that.

That team and all the problems it had has no business being compared to this team

Reason why Toronto won a championship last season was because their GM was thinking ahead.

Raptors didn't know what would happen in the playoffs because it was Kawhi's first year with the Raps.

But at the trade deadline last season, the Raps traded their young Center, Valanciunas, for an old Marc Gasol.

Gasol could defend the likes of Embiid and Giannis.

The gamble paid off as Gasol was doing what was expected of him in the playoffs.

Right now the Celts have the assets to upgrade.
This is the perfect time to cash in.

Celts don't even have to trade any of the core 5.

So wait now.  Marc Gasol stopped Giannis?  Kawhi had nothing to do with it?

Im waiting to hear these names we can get without giving up a core players.  If the rest of the blog doesnt like them thats fine, I just want to hear your ideas

Check Game 5 and Game 6 of the east finals last season.

Every time Giannis got past his initial defender, Kawhi or not, Gasol was waiting for him at the rim.
Gasol raised both arms and Giannis couldn't dunk it over Gasol.
That was in contrast to what Giannis was doing against the Celts.
Giannis kept dunking on the Celts after Game 1 of the east semis.

My ideas for upgrading the team is Tristan Thompson if the Celts want a significant upgrade.
But that would cost the Celts both Theis and Kanter to make salaries match.

If the Celts want a minor upgrade, they can offer a draft pick and Poirier for guys like Noel, WCS, and Poeltl.

Ainge will give us the final answer in a few weeks.

But one thing's for sure, Ainge cannot let this Celtics go into the playoffs without upgrading.

We'll see at the deadline.  I think youre going to be disappointed.

None of those players you listed stop Embiid in a 7 game series.  Thompson would help, marginally in my opinion, but that trade makes us WAY to thin in the front court.

Completely disagree about Gasol on Giannis.  Im sorry dude thats laughable.  Fine he played good help defense.  Hes not the reason Toronto stopped the Giannis.  Thats delusional

The idea that poetl, wcs or noel can guard embiid is laughable.

That's because you're not seeing the big picture.

Having Poeltl instead of Poirier makes the Celts better as it allows the Celts to have a 3-headed monster, Theis, Kanter, and Poeltl, guarding Embiid at different stages of the game.

What's laughable is not being open to the idea that trading Poirier and a pick for Poeltl makes the Celts better.

Nope. I mean Williams played his best game against Poetl. This is a trade just for the sake of making a trade. Youd just be taking minutes from Theis and Kanter. No thanks, Id rather develop Williams and keep the pick.

The trade deadline will decide this debate.

[jambr380]

Funny how it seems like some ppl are sour bout Robert Williams already after thinking he was the steal of the draft..and not mentioning his name hardly..I said it at the draft it was a bad pick and will continue to do so..Hopefully I’m wrong but so far I’m not

People always sour on players when they are injured for a prolonged period of time; that's just how it works. When he is playing again and providing highlight plays with an improving understanding of team defense, people will be all over him again. And the dude was the 27th pick in the draft - pretty much any player taken at that position can't be considered a 'bad' pick. He is already a rotation level player, and is most likely ahead of schedule in his development.