Honeymoon Over?

[seancally]

Considering I've never viewed this year's team as anything more than 2nd fodder for the truly elite teams I'm not surprised they've fallen back to earth a bit after the hot start to the season. It's just that now our flaws are finally starting to show.

But people also need to realize there probably isn't any way for Ainge to address our flaws without creating other roster holes. It's a simple problem of not having large enough disposable contracts to move along with draft capital to make improvements. Ainge is going to have to either wait for solutions from within, or somehow acquire contracts than can be used as grist in potential future trades.

But beyond that, I'm not sure we really even haven't the top end talent to be legit contenders. Tatum is the one guy that could lift the team to that level but he is nowhere near ready yet for that kind of burden.

Right - this season's success will be made/broken on how Tatum and Brown develop throughout the year, how consistent they can be, and how much of a problem they can pose together. If they are a true nightly threat on both sides, we have a puncher's chance of getting out of the east. If not, good luck. And that's going to have to be OK because as you say the bigs are not available without compromising what would make this team uniquely good - 4 high-caliber perimeter players. Always a mismatch on the perimeter, somewhere. I would LOVE Steven Adams but I don't see how we get him.

Part of the problem is how the NBA limits trades. Simmons brought this up on a recent pod - if the NBA would allow trades to have only 50% matching salary that would open the floodgates. We had a summer where the cap spiked and now every midtier player is walking around with $25M above his head, and it makes normal trades really hard to pull off with how salary needs to align now.

I mean, personally I do think we should trade one of Smart/Brown/Tatum/Hayward for a big, but I'm not sure any are available that would be worth it.  But it is a problem, given that we basically cannot play our 5 best players at the same time except for in very specific matchups.  Not being able to play your 5 best players at the same time is a roster flaw and a misallocation of assets.

TBH, if Brown was at next year's mark, making ~$21M or whatever... I would seriously consider trading him straight-up for Steven Adams. It would look bad, and Brown is the better player, and I love Jaylen and think he'll be a very good player. But the East is going through Embiid for as long as he's healthy and in Philly. That team is a perennial ECF threat with him there. Plus Turner/Sabonis (would be happy with one of them too, but don't love Jaylen in Indy). I may have changed my mind from earlier this morning already haha but this "no true center" thing is going to be very tough. Not saying we can't do it! But barring a Draymond Green this type of lineup hasn't been done before with Championship success.

[Monkhouse]

Considering I've never viewed this year's team as anything more than 2nd fodder for the truly elite teams I'm not surprised they've fallen back to earth a bit after the hot start to the season. It's just that now our flaws are finally starting to show.

But people also need to realize there probably isn't any way for Ainge to address our flaws without creating other roster holes. It's a simple problem of not having large enough disposable contracts to move along with draft capital to make improvements. Ainge is going to have to either wait for solutions from within, or somehow acquire contracts than can be used as grist in potential future trades.

But beyond that, I'm not sure we really even haven't the top end talent to be legit contenders. Tatum is the one guy that could lift the team to that level but he is nowhere near ready yet for that kind of burden.

Right - this season's success will be made/broken on how Tatum and Brown develop throughout the year, how consistent they can be, and how much of a problem they can pose together. If they are a true nightly threat on both sides, we have a puncher's chance of getting out of the east. If not, good luck. And that's going to have to be OK because as you say the bigs are not available without compromising what would make this team uniquely good - 4 high-caliber perimeter players. Always a mismatch on the perimeter, somewhere. I would LOVE Steven Adams but I don't see how we get him.

Part of the problem is how the NBA limits trades. Simmons brought this up on a recent pod - if the NBA would allow trades to have only 50% matching salary that would open the floodgates. We had a summer where the cap spiked and now every midtier player is walking around with $25M above his head, and it makes normal trades really hard to pull off with how salary needs to align now.

I mean, personally I do think we should trade one of Smart/Brown/Tatum/Hayward for a big, but I'm not sure any are available that would be worth it.  But it is a problem, given that we basically cannot play our 5 best players at the same time except for in very specific matchups.  Not being able to play your 5 best players at the same time is a roster flaw and a misallocation of assets.

TBH, if Brown was at next year's mark, making ~$21M or whatever... I would seriously consider trading him straight-up for Steven Adams. It would look bad, and Brown is the better player, and I love Jaylen and think he'll be a very good player. But the East is going through Embiid for as long as he's healthy and in Philly. That team is a perennial ECF threat with him there. Plus Turner/Sabonis (would be happy with one of them too, but don't love Jaylen in Indy). I may have changed my mind from earlier this morning already haha but this "no true center" thing is going to be very tough. Not saying we can't do it! But barring a Draymond Green this type of lineup hasn't been done before with Championship success.

I know it's Friday the 13th, but what's up with all these terrible trade ideas....

[seancally]

Considering I've never viewed this year's team as anything more than 2nd fodder for the truly elite teams I'm not surprised they've fallen back to earth a bit after the hot start to the season. It's just that now our flaws are finally starting to show.

But people also need to realize there probably isn't any way for Ainge to address our flaws without creating other roster holes. It's a simple problem of not having large enough disposable contracts to move along with draft capital to make improvements. Ainge is going to have to either wait for solutions from within, or somehow acquire contracts than can be used as grist in potential future trades.

But beyond that, I'm not sure we really even haven't the top end talent to be legit contenders. Tatum is the one guy that could lift the team to that level but he is nowhere near ready yet for that kind of burden.

Right - this season's success will be made/broken on how Tatum and Brown develop throughout the year, how consistent they can be, and how much of a problem they can pose together. If they are a true nightly threat on both sides, we have a puncher's chance of getting out of the east. If not, good luck. And that's going to have to be OK because as you say the bigs are not available without compromising what would make this team uniquely good - 4 high-caliber perimeter players. Always a mismatch on the perimeter, somewhere. I would LOVE Steven Adams but I don't see how we get him.

Part of the problem is how the NBA limits trades. Simmons brought this up on a recent pod - if the NBA would allow trades to have only 50% matching salary that would open the floodgates. We had a summer where the cap spiked and now every midtier player is walking around with $25M above his head, and it makes normal trades really hard to pull off with how salary needs to align now.

I mean, personally I do think we should trade one of Smart/Brown/Tatum/Hayward for a big, but I'm not sure any are available that would be worth it.  But it is a problem, given that we basically cannot play our 5 best players at the same time except for in very specific matchups.  Not being able to play your 5 best players at the same time is a roster flaw and a misallocation of assets.

TBH, if Brown was at next year's mark, making ~$21M or whatever... I would seriously consider trading him straight-up for Steven Adams. It would look bad, and Brown is the better player, and I love Jaylen and think he'll be a very good player. But the East is going through Embiid for as long as he's healthy and in Philly. That team is a perennial ECF threat with him there. Plus Turner/Sabonis (would be happy with one of them too, but don't love Jaylen in Indy). I may have changed my mind from earlier this morning already haha but this "no true center" thing is going to be very tough. Not saying we can't do it! But barring a Draymond Green this type of lineup hasn't been done before with Championship success.

I know it's Friday the 13th, but what's up with all these terrible trade ideas....

I dunno man. It's hard for me to imagine this team getting past Philly in 7 games, with Embiid and Horford. That's not really a trade idea anyways because we can't make it happen. And trust me, I'm an optimist and love our wing-heavy lineup. But it will get exposed in the playoffs against teams with size up front. For a long time I've thought, just get the best players and forget the rest. But last year taught us how much chemistry matters, and this year might teach us how much size matters.

We'll have to wait and see anyway because the trade options are not available for us, as far as I can tell.

[NKY fan]

Our team is a tale of two cities, so to speak. 

Walker, Smart, Tatum, Hayward, Brown; terrific.

Theis, Kanter, Ojeleye, Williams, Williams, Edwards, Poirier, Wanamaker; not so much.

We don't have even a single decent starting level big on the team.  Pretending that Tatum is a big doesn't help.  Pretending that Theis is "starting-level" doesn't either.

Teams are going to figure out how to exploit this.  Also, if our big 5 doesn't hit on all cylinders, we are vulnerable.  Expect an up and down season with this roster.

Probably not the time to make this argument. Kanter and Theis were a combined 17/24 with 36 points, 14 points, and 3 blocks. I understand that Embiid destroyed us (thanks Shaq, Charles, and Kenny for lighting a fire under him just before our game), but I am starting to think our bigs - don't forget Time Lord - are not necessarily the problem.

Rather, we have no scoring on our bench besides Kanter and Tatum shooting 40% while going way outside of of our offense is killing us. We really only went 3 deep into our bench last night and those guys were Kanter, Ojeleye, and Wanamaker. I understand that a healthy Smart and Time Lord will help, but that's pretty putrid. Carsen and Grant have been huge disappointments from what we expected in summer league and pre-season.

How dare you indirectly call out Danny Ainges' construction of the bench lol   

[KGs Knee]

Considering I've never viewed this year's team as anything more than 2nd fodder for the truly elite teams I'm not surprised they've fallen back to earth a bit after the hot start to the season. It's just that now our flaws are finally starting to show.

But people also need to realize there probably isn't any way for Ainge to address our flaws without creating other roster holes. It's a simple problem of not having large enough disposable contracts to move along with draft capital to make improvements. Ainge is going to have to either wait for solutions from within, or somehow acquire contracts than can be used as grist in potential future trades.

But beyond that, I'm not sure we really even haven't the top end talent to be legit contenders. Tatum is the one guy that could lift the team to that level but he is nowhere near ready yet for that kind of burden.

Right - this season's success will be made/broken on how Tatum and Brown develop throughout the year, how consistent they can be, and how much of a problem they can pose together. If they are a true nightly threat on both sides, we have a puncher's chance of getting out of the east. If not, good luck. And that's going to have to be OK because as you say the bigs are not available without compromising what would make this team uniquely good - 4 high-caliber perimeter players. Always a mismatch on the perimeter, somewhere. I would LOVE Steven Adams but I don't see how we get him.

Part of the problem is how the NBA limits trades. Simmons brought this up on a recent pod - if the NBA would allow trades to have only 50% matching salary that would open the floodgates. We had a summer where the cap spiked and now every midtier player is walking around with $25M above his head, and it makes normal trades really hard to pull off with how salary needs to align now.

I mean, personally I do think we should trade one of Smart/Brown/Tatum/Hayward for a big, but I'm not sure any are available that would be worth it.  But it is a problem, given that we basically cannot play our 5 best players at the same time except for in very specific matchups.  Not being able to play your 5 best players at the same time is a roster flaw and a misallocation of assets.

TBH, if Brown was at next year's mark, making ~$21M or whatever... I would seriously consider trading him straight-up for Steven Adams. It would look bad, and Brown is the better player, and I love Jaylen and think he'll be a very good player. But the East is going through Embiid for as long as he's healthy and in Philly. That team is a perennial ECF threat with him there. Plus Turner/Sabonis (would be happy with one of them too, but don't love Jaylen in Indy). I may have changed my mind from earlier this morning already haha but this "no true center" thing is going to be very tough. Not saying we can't do it! But barring a Draymond Green this type of lineup hasn't been done before with Championship success.

I know it's Friday the 13th, but what's up with all these terrible trade ideas....

I'd trade Brown for Adams, but I'd be demanding substantial additional compensation from OKC in return.  They are not on par with each other in terms of value, not at all.

And that could be a good thing if we are able to nab a couple of good depth pieces to complement a lineup of Kemba - Smart - Hayward -Tatum - Adams.  Better roster balance and better depth?  Yeah, I'd be in for that.

[jbpats]

I truly believe, and have been saying it all season, that this team can make the NBA finals IF somebody beats Philly for us.

I think we can beat the Bucks in a 7 game series, Giannis is obviously the best player on the court but I think Kemba, Tatum, Brown and Hayward are better then the next best player on that team.

We don't have an answer for Embiid and Horford, they'd beat us in 5-6 games.. So lets hope Milwaukee plays Philly in round 2.

[celticsclay]

Considering I've never viewed this year's team as anything more than 2nd fodder for the truly elite teams I'm not surprised they've fallen back to earth a bit after the hot start to the season. It's just that now our flaws are finally starting to show.

But people also need to realize there probably isn't any way for Ainge to address our flaws without creating other roster holes. It's a simple problem of not having large enough disposable contracts to move along with draft capital to make improvements. Ainge is going to have to either wait for solutions from within, or somehow acquire contracts than can be used as grist in potential future trades.

But beyond that, I'm not sure we really even haven't the top end talent to be legit contenders. Tatum is the one guy that could lift the team to that level but he is nowhere near ready yet for that kind of burden.

Right - this season's success will be made/broken on how Tatum and Brown develop throughout the year, how consistent they can be, and how much of a problem they can pose together. If they are a true nightly threat on both sides, we have a puncher's chance of getting out of the east. If not, good luck. And that's going to have to be OK because as you say the bigs are not available without compromising what would make this team uniquely good - 4 high-caliber perimeter players. Always a mismatch on the perimeter, somewhere. I would LOVE Steven Adams but I don't see how we get him.

Part of the problem is how the NBA limits trades. Simmons brought this up on a recent pod - if the NBA would allow trades to have only 50% matching salary that would open the floodgates. We had a summer where the cap spiked and now every midtier player is walking around with $25M above his head, and it makes normal trades really hard to pull off with how salary needs to align now.

I mean, personally I do think we should trade one of Smart/Brown/Tatum/Hayward for a big, but I'm not sure any are available that would be worth it.  But it is a problem, given that we basically cannot play our 5 best players at the same time except for in very specific matchups.  Not being able to play your 5 best players at the same time is a roster flaw and a misallocation of assets.

TBH, if Brown was at next year's mark, making ~$21M or whatever... I would seriously consider trading him straight-up for Steven Adams. It would look bad, and Brown is the better player, and I love Jaylen and think he'll be a very good player. But the East is going through Embiid for as long as he's healthy and in Philly. That team is a perennial ECF threat with him there. Plus Turner/Sabonis (would be happy with one of them too, but don't love Jaylen in Indy). I may have changed my mind from earlier this morning already haha but this "no true center" thing is going to be very tough. Not saying we can't do it! But barring a Draymond Green this type of lineup hasn't been done before with Championship success.

The Cavs starting center was generally Tristan Thompson. He is 6'9 or so. The Heat before them were starting guys like Chris Anderson or even Rashard Lewis at games in finals. The Rockets have generally been seen as contenders and they don't have a big lumbering center in Capela either. Is it possible timelord develops into a Capela type?

[NKY fan]

I love Gordon Hayward the shooter and passer but I loathe the rest of his game.
I think big teams consistently target him defensively.... and it is showing the last two games.

[td450]

Joel Embiid 38 pts 13 Rebs
Kyle O'Quinn 3 pts  4 Rebs

Daniel Theis 16 pts  5 Rebs
Enes Kanter 20 pts  9 Rebs

We did not lose last night because of the 76'ers overpowered us with Embiid. We lost because we can't beat the best teams when 3 of our top 4 guys play badly.

[Monkhouse]

Considering I've never viewed this year's team as anything more than 2nd fodder for the truly elite teams I'm not surprised they've fallen back to earth a bit after the hot start to the season. It's just that now our flaws are finally starting to show.

But people also need to realize there probably isn't any way for Ainge to address our flaws without creating other roster holes. It's a simple problem of not having large enough disposable contracts to move along with draft capital to make improvements. Ainge is going to have to either wait for solutions from within, or somehow acquire contracts than can be used as grist in potential future trades.

But beyond that, I'm not sure we really even haven't the top end talent to be legit contenders. Tatum is the one guy that could lift the team to that level but he is nowhere near ready yet for that kind of burden.

Right - this season's success will be made/broken on how Tatum and Brown develop throughout the year, how consistent they can be, and how much of a problem they can pose together. If they are a true nightly threat on both sides, we have a puncher's chance of getting out of the east. If not, good luck. And that's going to have to be OK because as you say the bigs are not available without compromising what would make this team uniquely good - 4 high-caliber perimeter players. Always a mismatch on the perimeter, somewhere. I would LOVE Steven Adams but I don't see how we get him.

Part of the problem is how the NBA limits trades. Simmons brought this up on a recent pod - if the NBA would allow trades to have only 50% matching salary that would open the floodgates. We had a summer where the cap spiked and now every midtier player is walking around with $25M above his head, and it makes normal trades really hard to pull off with how salary needs to align now.

I mean, personally I do think we should trade one of Smart/Brown/Tatum/Hayward for a big, but I'm not sure any are available that would be worth it.  But it is a problem, given that we basically cannot play our 5 best players at the same time except for in very specific matchups.  Not being able to play your 5 best players at the same time is a roster flaw and a misallocation of assets.

TBH, if Brown was at next year's mark, making ~$21M or whatever... I would seriously consider trading him straight-up for Steven Adams. It would look bad, and Brown is the better player, and I love Jaylen and think he'll be a very good player. But the East is going through Embiid for as long as he's healthy and in Philly. That team is a perennial ECF threat with him there. Plus Turner/Sabonis (would be happy with one of them too, but don't love Jaylen in Indy). I may have changed my mind from earlier this morning already haha but this "no true center" thing is going to be very tough. Not saying we can't do it! But barring a Draymond Green this type of lineup hasn't been done before with Championship success.

I know it's Friday the 13th, but what's up with all these terrible trade ideas....

I dunno man. It's hard for me to imagine this team getting past Philly in 7 games, with Embiid and Horford. That's not really a trade idea anyways because we can't make it happen. And trust me, I'm an optimist and love our wing-heavy lineup. But it will get exposed in the playoffs against teams with size up front. For a long time I've thought, just get the best players and forget the rest. But last year taught us how much chemistry matters, and this year might teach us how much size matters.

We'll have to wait and see anyway because the trade options are not available for us, as far as I can tell.

Size doesn't matter... Our group is very young and talented...

People expecting us to contend off the bat are delusional... We still need a decent big, and maybe Timelord in 1-2 years can become that Capela kind of guy.

Considering I've never viewed this year's team as anything more than 2nd fodder for the truly elite teams I'm not surprised they've fallen back to earth a bit after the hot start to the season. It's just that now our flaws are finally starting to show.

But people also need to realize there probably isn't any way for Ainge to address our flaws without creating other roster holes. It's a simple problem of not having large enough disposable contracts to move along with draft capital to make improvements. Ainge is going to have to either wait for solutions from within, or somehow acquire contracts than can be used as grist in potential future trades.

But beyond that, I'm not sure we really even haven't the top end talent to be legit contenders. Tatum is the one guy that could lift the team to that level but he is nowhere near ready yet for that kind of burden.

Right - this season's success will be made/broken on how Tatum and Brown develop throughout the year, how consistent they can be, and how much of a problem they can pose together. If they are a true nightly threat on both sides, we have a puncher's chance of getting out of the east. If not, good luck. And that's going to have to be OK because as you say the bigs are not available without compromising what would make this team uniquely good - 4 high-caliber perimeter players. Always a mismatch on the perimeter, somewhere. I would LOVE Steven Adams but I don't see how we get him.

Part of the problem is how the NBA limits trades. Simmons brought this up on a recent pod - if the NBA would allow trades to have only 50% matching salary that would open the floodgates. We had a summer where the cap spiked and now every midtier player is walking around with $25M above his head, and it makes normal trades really hard to pull off with how salary needs to align now.

I mean, personally I do think we should trade one of Smart/Brown/Tatum/Hayward for a big, but I'm not sure any are available that would be worth it.  But it is a problem, given that we basically cannot play our 5 best players at the same time except for in very specific matchups.  Not being able to play your 5 best players at the same time is a roster flaw and a misallocation of assets.

TBH, if Brown was at next year's mark, making ~$21M or whatever... I would seriously consider trading him straight-up for Steven Adams. It would look bad, and Brown is the better player, and I love Jaylen and think he'll be a very good player. But the East is going through Embiid for as long as he's healthy and in Philly. That team is a perennial ECF threat with him there. Plus Turner/Sabonis (would be happy with one of them too, but don't love Jaylen in Indy). I may have changed my mind from earlier this morning already haha but this "no true center" thing is going to be very tough. Not saying we can't do it! But barring a Draymond Green this type of lineup hasn't been done before with Championship success.

The Cavs starting center was generally Tristan Thompson. He is 6'9 or so. The Heat before them were starting guys like Chris Anderson or even Rashard Lewis at games in finals. The Rockets have generally been seen as contenders and they don't have a big lumbering center in Capela either. Is it possible timelord develops into a Capela type?

I think so. He's just as athletic, wingspan is ridiculous, and he seems to be getting better at contesting without fouling.

[seancally]

Considering I've never viewed this year's team as anything more than 2nd fodder for the truly elite teams I'm not surprised they've fallen back to earth a bit after the hot start to the season. It's just that now our flaws are finally starting to show.

But people also need to realize there probably isn't any way for Ainge to address our flaws without creating other roster holes. It's a simple problem of not having large enough disposable contracts to move along with draft capital to make improvements. Ainge is going to have to either wait for solutions from within, or somehow acquire contracts than can be used as grist in potential future trades.

But beyond that, I'm not sure we really even haven't the top end talent to be legit contenders. Tatum is the one guy that could lift the team to that level but he is nowhere near ready yet for that kind of burden.

Right - this season's success will be made/broken on how Tatum and Brown develop throughout the year, how consistent they can be, and how much of a problem they can pose together. If they are a true nightly threat on both sides, we have a puncher's chance of getting out of the east. If not, good luck. And that's going to have to be OK because as you say the bigs are not available without compromising what would make this team uniquely good - 4 high-caliber perimeter players. Always a mismatch on the perimeter, somewhere. I would LOVE Steven Adams but I don't see how we get him.

Part of the problem is how the NBA limits trades. Simmons brought this up on a recent pod - if the NBA would allow trades to have only 50% matching salary that would open the floodgates. We had a summer where the cap spiked and now every midtier player is walking around with $25M above his head, and it makes normal trades really hard to pull off with how salary needs to align now.

I mean, personally I do think we should trade one of Smart/Brown/Tatum/Hayward for a big, but I'm not sure any are available that would be worth it.  But it is a problem, given that we basically cannot play our 5 best players at the same time except for in very specific matchups.  Not being able to play your 5 best players at the same time is a roster flaw and a misallocation of assets.

TBH, if Brown was at next year's mark, making ~$21M or whatever... I would seriously consider trading him straight-up for Steven Adams. It would look bad, and Brown is the better player, and I love Jaylen and think he'll be a very good player. But the East is going through Embiid for as long as he's healthy and in Philly. That team is a perennial ECF threat with him there. Plus Turner/Sabonis (would be happy with one of them too, but don't love Jaylen in Indy). I may have changed my mind from earlier this morning already haha but this "no true center" thing is going to be very tough. Not saying we can't do it! But barring a Draymond Green this type of lineup hasn't been done before with Championship success.

The Cavs starting center was generally Tristan Thompson. He is 6'9 or so. The Heat before them were starting guys like Chris Anderson or even Rashard Lewis at games in finals. The Rockets have generally been seen as contenders and they don't have a big lumbering center in Capela either. Is it possible timelord develops into a Capela type?

Possible! Though, let's be fair: The Cavs with Lebron/Kyrie/Love were built for the playoffs, and Tristan Thompson is a beefy, physical 6'9" next to a superb rebounder in Love as well. The Heat with Lebron/Wade/Bosh... I mean, put any two warm bodies in there and it's enough.

[GreenCoffeeBean]

I'm still incredibly optimistic because

- We lost by 5 on a back-to-back against two pretty good teams without Smart
- We did the right things down the stretch but Embiid made his free throws and blocked ours
- Kanter lived up to his offensive billing finally and did a little bit on defense
- Philly shot 50% from 3
- The team has six days off to rest up and put in some practice time work, which could really help our bench.
- Danny has not acted on any of the trade ideas put forth by members of this board

[ozgod]

Our team is a tale of two cities, so to speak. 

Walker, Smart, Tatum, Hayward, Brown; terrific.

Theis, Kanter, Ojeleye, Williams, Williams, Edwards, Poirier, Wanamaker; not so much.

We don't have even a single decent starting level big on the team.  Pretending that Tatum is a big doesn't help.  Pretending that Theis is "starting-level" doesn't either.

Teams are going to figure out how to exploit this.  Also, if our big 5 doesn't hit on all cylinders, we are vulnerable.  Expect an up and down season with this roster.

Probably not the time to make this argument. Kanter and Theis were a combined 17/24 with 36 points, 14 points, and 3 blocks. I understand that Embiid destroyed us (thanks Shaq, Charles, and Kenny for lighting a fire under him just before our game), but I am starting to think our bigs - don't forget Time Lord - are not necessarily the problem.

Rather, we have no scoring on our bench besides Kanter and Tatum shooting 40% while going way outside of of our offense is killing us. We really only went 3 deep into our bench last night and those guys were Kanter, Ojeleye, and Wanamaker. I understand that a healthy Smart and Time Lord will help, but that's pretty putrid. Carsen and Grant have been huge disappointments from what we expected in summer league and pre-season.

If Brown and Tatum had played up to the level they've been playing at (not even outstanding, just play to their current average level of play) we probably beat Philly and are not slitting our wrists about our center spot. The whole thing about upgrading the center spot is that people have to decide which of our wings + Smart they would be willing to live without, to find someone who will move the needle. There's not that many people really, unless we're talking about marginal upgrades that might actually be net losses to the team once we subtract what it will cost to get them.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Considering I've never viewed this year's team as anything more than 2nd fodder for the truly elite teams I'm not surprised they've fallen back to earth a bit after the hot start to the season. It's just that now our flaws are finally starting to show.

But people also need to realize there probably isn't any way for Ainge to address our flaws without creating other roster holes. It's a simple problem of not having large enough disposable contracts to move along with draft capital to make improvements. Ainge is going to have to either wait for solutions from within, or somehow acquire contracts than can be used as grist in potential future trades.

But beyond that, I'm not sure we really even haven't the top end talent to be legit contenders. Tatum is the one guy that could lift the team to that level but he is nowhere near ready yet for that kind of burden.

Right - this season's success will be made/broken on how Tatum and Brown develop throughout the year, how consistent they can be, and how much of a problem they can pose together. If they are a true nightly threat on both sides, we have a puncher's chance of getting out of the east. If not, good luck. And that's going to have to be OK because as you say the bigs are not available without compromising what would make this team uniquely good - 4 high-caliber perimeter players. Always a mismatch on the perimeter, somewhere. I would LOVE Steven Adams but I don't see how we get him.

Part of the problem is how the NBA limits trades. Simmons brought this up on a recent pod - if the NBA would allow trades to have only 50% matching salary that would open the floodgates. We had a summer where the cap spiked and now every midtier player is walking around with $25M above his head, and it makes normal trades really hard to pull off with how salary needs to align now.

I mean, personally I do think we should trade one of Smart/Brown/Tatum/Hayward for a big, but I'm not sure any are available that would be worth it.  But it is a problem, given that we basically cannot play our 5 best players at the same time except for in very specific matchups.  Not being able to play your 5 best players at the same time is a roster flaw and a misallocation of assets.

But wait, I thought small-ball was the answer to everything!

[Surferdad]

Joel Embiid 38 pts 13 Rebs
Kyle O'Quinn 3 pts  4 Rebs

Daniel Theis 16 pts  5 Rebs
Enes Kanter 20 pts  9 Rebs

We did not lose last night because of the 76'ers overpowered us with Embiid. We lost because we can't beat the best teams when 3 of our top 4 guys play badly.

I didn't even watch the game and I know this is not true.  In the highlights, he overpowered the C's in the last 4 minutes of the game with great shooting and defense.