Pierce doesn't think the Celtics should trade Tatum for AD

[Silky]

Truth

[nickagneta]

If Kyrie leaves, go after Middleton in a sign and trade using Horford's contract.

Middleton/Hayward/Tatum would be a very good trio.

Use the MLE on a good center and use the draft picks as trade bait to pick up another player.

Ainge may end up re-signing Rozier, but oh well.

Jaylen is the 6th man off the bench.

What would be the benefit to Milwaukee in this deal? Why would they want to swap Middleton for Horford when they already have Lopez as their big?

Lopez is also a free agent this summer. Horford is much better than Lopez and gives Milwaukee veteran leadership.

Truth be told, I've always felt Lopez is kind of a stiff.

Horford also gives Milwaukee an expiring contract so they could then focus on offering Giannis a monster extension in the summer of 2020 and perhaps have enough cap space for another max contract.

That's why I was surprised the Bucks gave Bledsoe that extension. What were they thinking?

There is no way Milwaukee sign and trades Middleton to someone that will be their direct rival in the East for the coming future. Milwaukee loves Middleton. He will be staying there to be Giannis' Robin.

Also, if Horford catches wind he might be used in a trade he doesn't want to be a part of, he can easily opt out and go where he would want to go.

Simply put, this is a trade that will never happen.

Sometimes you have to look at things from the other team's perspective. Milwaukee loves Middleton and will be re-signing him. And it sure seems like Middleton is happy in Milwaukee. He wants a max and an opportunity to compete for a title. He gets that playing alongside the Freak.

[nickagneta]

Pierce is an all time great Celtic. What he isn't is someone I would listen to when it comes to making a team. Sure glad we have Ainge.

[More Banners]

Way to pump up the kid's value, P.

Who knows. Tatum/Brown could turn into Gerald Green and Kedrick Brown.

AD is perennial 1st team all-NBA. You build champions with that. Not just contenders.

[nostar]

Great player. Not necessarily a great GM.

P much this.

I've gotten the feeling that Paul just wants to be a contrarian when he's on ESPN commentary shows. He'll stand behind patently foolish takes without providing much data or analysis as to why. It's particularly glaring when he's on set with people like Chauncy and Jalen, who are both at least moderately knowledgeable about both league and front office workings.

In this clip his main point was he wouldn't trade Tatum for Davis even if Kyrie left as a result of not moving Tatum. That is what he was answering from my interpretation. His justification was that  keeping Kyrie isn't as important as keeping Tatum because PGs typically aren't the best player on a championship team.

I think in that trade scenario most everyone would agree that Davis would be the best player on our team (okay okay it's obviously still Smart). And to Paul's point, teams with dominant forwards have won NBA Finals, as often as the last 7/10 times in the last decade.

His assertion that elite PGs aren't necessary to winning an NBA championship is pretty specious as well. Curry is obviously essential to the Warriors championships, as was Kyrie in Cleveland's. I don't think they are essential per se, but having one isn't a knock against you like he's making it sound.

Finally, the core of his reasoning is just so bogus. The question as I paraphrased above sets Jayson Tatum up against Kyrie AND Davis. There are no GMs in the league who would choose Tatum over both of those players, at least not ones that wanted to compete in short term. The only reason to keep Tatum under those conditions  is if you thought there was zero chance Davis stays long term. Even then I think it's still a tough choice.

He also mentioned that we have "a few" versatile forwards and what we need is a big man. Omitting that Horford has done a fantastic job as of late, I think he's making the opposing point that we are overstocked at one position and needy at another

So yeah, I loved Piece as a player, but his commentary is sometimes just bananas.

[gouki88]

Great player. Not necessarily a great GM.

P much this.

I've gotten the feeling that Paul just wants to be a contrarian when he's on ESPN commentary shows. He'll stand behind patently foolish takes without providing much data or analysis as to why. It's particularly glaring when he's on set with people like Chauncy and Jalen, who are both at least moderately knowledgeable about both league and front office workings.

In this clip his main point was he wouldn't trade Tatum for Davis even if Kyrie left as a result of not moving Tatum. That is what he was answering from my interpretation. His justification was that  keeping Kyrie isn't as important as keeping Tatum because PGs typically aren't the best player on a championship team.

I think in that trade scenario most everyone would agree that Davis would be the best player on our team (okay okay it's obviously still Smart). And to Paul's point, teams with dominant forwards have won NBA Finals, as often as the last 7/10 times in the last decade.

His assertion that elite PGs aren't necessary to winning an NBA championship is pretty specious as well. Curry is obviously essential to the Warriors championships, as was Kyrie in Cleveland's. I don't think they are essential per se, but having one isn't a knock against you like he's making it sound.

Finally, the core of his reasoning is just so bogus. The question as I paraphrased above sets Jayson Tatum up against Kyrie AND Davis. There are no GMs in the league who would choose Tatum over both of those players, at least not ones that wanted to compete in short term. The only reason to keep Tatum under those conditions  is if you thought there was zero chance Davis stays long term. Even then I think it's still a tough choice.

He also mentioned that we have "a few" versatile forwards and what we need is a big man. Omitting that Horford has done a fantastic job as of late, I think he's making the opposing point that we are overstocked at one position and needy at another

So yeah, I loved Piece as a player, but his commentary is sometimes just bananas.

It's really weird how he does that. No idea why, unless he just gets a giggle out of annoying the others. Which I would have no difficulty believing

[Chris22]

When is Tatum going to start playing defense?

[SHAQATTACK]

There is only a  few players i trade Tatum for .   Davis is first on that list .   So , i m good . 

[nickagneta]

When is Tatum going to start playing defense?

I rarely agree with you Chris, but here I have to. Tatum was so much better at defense last year, both as a team defender and a one on one defender. He just loses his guy or gets moved out of an area way too easy.

Though, to be fair, Smart and Brown, two of Boston's best defenders, haven't been playing defense up to their highest abilities this year either.

[Csfan1984]

Wonder what other former C's players think. AD is great but he has negatives and he wants to be in LA. Tatum wants to be a leader on this team and shows promise.

[LarBrd33]

I’m not at all concerned about Davis refusing to stay.  That was posturing.  As I expected, they have already backed off the “LA or bust” stuff.

Still, giving up Tatum would suck.

[nickagneta]

There is only a  few players i trade Tatum for .   Davis is first on that list .   So , i m good .

My list off the top of my head:

Kyrie
Davis
Durant
Curry
Harden
Giannis
Kawhi
Embiid
George
LeBron
Doncic
Jokic
Maybe a couple more guys but not many more.

[gouki88]

There is only a  few players i trade Tatum for .   Davis is first on that list .   So , i m good .

My list off the top of my head:

Kyrie
Davis
Durant
Curry
Harden
Giannis
Kawhi
Embiid
George
LeBron
Doncic
Jokic
Maybe a couple more guys but not many more.

Pretty accurate list. Might add Dame in there, but even that's borderline.

Man, I wish we had Jokic on this team Ever since his rookie year I've been pining for him

[RodyTur10]

There is only a  few players i trade Tatum for .   Davis is first on that list .   So , i m good .

My list off the top of my head:

Kyrie
Davis
Durant
Curry
Harden
Giannis
Kawhi
Embiid
George
LeBron
Doncic
Jokic
Maybe a couple more guys but not many more.

Kyrie (we already have him)
Davis (yes)
Durant (in a vacuum yes, but not for a one-year contract)
Curry (yes)
Harden (don't want to completely change the team to accomodate him)
Giannis (obviously yes)
Kawhi (yes)
Embiid (yes)
George (probably yes)
LeBron (no, too old and locker room cancer)
Doncic (yes)
Jokic (yes)

I would add:

Towns
Booker

[Phantom255x]

There is only a  few players i trade Tatum for .   Davis is first on that list .   So , i m good .

My list off the top of my head:

Kyrie
Davis
Durant
Curry
Harden
Giannis
Kawhi
Embiid
George
LeBron
Doncic
Jokic
Maybe a couple more guys but not many more.

Kyrie (we already have him)
Davis (yes)
Durant (in a vacuum yes, but not for a one-year contract)
Curry (yes)
Harden (don't want to completely change the team to accomodate him)
Giannis (obviously yes)
Kawhi (yes)
Embiid (yes)
George (probably yes)
LeBron (no, too old and locker room cancer)
Doncic (yes)
Jokic (yes)

I agree with this, although I may also hesitate on George a bit. Agree on the Harden and Lebron assessments. And then of course, similar to Durant, wouldn't deal him for what could end up being a 1-year rental in Davis.