Celtics (19-16) at Bulls (21-12) Game #36 1/7/16

[max215]

This is something I've been mulling over recently: what's Isaiah's future on this team? I love the little guy, but when I think about current Celtics who will be on the team in 2-3 years, the only two who I feel comfortable will be here are Crowder and Smart.

I would add Olynyk to that too because he spaces the floor, but good question. I mean, right now IT is a great trade asset because he's a top 15 scorer in the league and on a bargain contract. It makes me think the Celtics could hypothetically get something good out of him if they looked into dealing him.

But I don't know what Danny's mindset is at this point.

I know Danny has always been a huge Isaiah fan. That's pretty well documented. But I don't think he's our starting PG of today, much less our future.

[Ilikesports17]

Just saying, it's still not too late to strip it down and tank 

At least with the tank there was something to watch every game. The last two nights/games have been unbearable to watch with our lack of offensive talent with seemingly no way of overcoming it in a game.

What does tanking look like?

I'd trade Sully, Lee, Zeller, Jerebko and Turner for the best we can get for them. Maybe, this won't give us a top 10 pick but it's what we did last year and last year was much more enjoyable as a fan after we dealt away pieces that won't be here in the future.

For me it's dumping those guys and then moving. IT and AB for real value.

Then let Marcus Rozier Hunter Young and maybe one vet (turner?) to keep a steady hand.

Then let crowder play the 3.

For bigs you start Kelly probably next to Amir preferably but it's not a huge huge deal who it is. Let Mickey play too.

Now the key to all this is what value you get for AB and IT. If you get a deal like say a Gallo type and a pick then that's no good and I don't think I recommend the course of action. However what if you get Noel? What if you get Jabari? (Unlikely I understand) who is more likely? Perhaps Saric could be had. Whoever it is, I think if you get a player who you think can be a big time guy, then pull the trigger.

[MJohnnyboy]

This is something I've been mulling over recently: what's Isaiah's future on this team? I love the little guy, but when I think about current Celtics who will be on the team in 2-3 years, the only two who I feel comfortable will be here are Crowder and Smart.

I would add Olynyk to that too because he spaces the floor, but good question. I mean, right now IT is a great trade asset because he's a top 15 scorer in the league and on a bargain contract. It makes me think the Celtics could hypothetically get something good out of him if they looked into dealing him.

But I don't know what Danny's mindset is at this point.

I know Danny has always been a huge Isaiah fan. That's pretty well documented. But I don't think he's our starting PG of today, much less our future.

He isn't. I think Danny was a big Rondo fan too hence why he kept him around for so long. Unfortunately he waited until the writing was on the wall and Rondo's value was as low as it got.

Hopefully he uses what he learned from Rondo and applies it to the IT situation of what to do with the guy.

[Evantime34]

Just saying, it's still not too late to strip it down and tank 

At least with the tank there was something to watch every game. The last two nights/games have been unbearable to watch with our lack of offensive talent with seemingly no way of overcoming it in a game.

What does tanking look like?

I'd trade Sully, Lee, Zeller, Jerebko and Turner for the best we can get for them. Maybe, this won't give us a top 10 pick but it's what we did last year and last year was much more enjoyable as a fan after we dealt away pieces that won't be here in the future.

For me it's dumping those guys and then moving. IT and AB for real value.

Then let Marcus Rozier Hunter Young and maybe one vet (turner?) to keep a steady hand.

Then let crowder play the 3.

For bigs you start Kelly probably next to Amir preferably but it's not a huge huge deal who it is. Let Mickey play too.

Now the key to all this is what value you get for AB and IT. If you get a deal like say a Gallo type and a pick then that's no good and I don't think I recommend the course of action. However what if you get Noel? What if you get Jabari? (Unlikely I understand) who is more likely? Perhaps Saric could be had. Whoever it is, I think if you get a player who you think can be a big time guy, then pull the trigger.

If they dealt Avery and Thomas, but kept Turner as the vet there is a 95% chance I would stop watching.

This team's problem is that they can't score. Dealing away our two best scorers would make it infineately less fun to watch.

[jpotter33]

Just saying, it's still not too late to strip it down and tank 

At least with the tank there was something to watch every game. The last two nights/games have been unbearable to watch with our lack of offensive talent with seemingly no way of overcoming it in a game.

What does tanking look like?

I'd trade Sully, Lee, Zeller, Jerebko and Turner for the best we can get for them. Maybe, this won't give us a top 10 pick but it's what we did last year and last year was much more enjoyable as a fan after we dealt away pieces that won't be here in the future.

If it was up to me, I'd do it early, and I'd do it right.

Lee and Turner I'm trading for the first 2nd round pick I get offered. Buy-outs or waived if not.

Sully and Zeller I'm selling off, too, hoping to get as much as I can out of them, though I'd be willing to bring one of them back on an extremely team-friendly deal if we can't get anything of value for them.

Crowder, Bradley, and IT I'm selling off for a good haul, which is probably a late-lottery to mid first round pick or decent, young prospect each.

I'd keep Amir and JJ for a vet presence, because we can always not guarantee their contract next year if need be.

I'd then roll out a rotation like this:

PG: Smart, Rozier
SG: Hunter, ?
SF: Young, ?
PF: Mickey, JJ
C: KO, Amir

Don't play to lose, but you get our young guys TONS of experience and developmental playing time. See how Smart progresses through the year as THE MAN on the team, and see what we have in our other guys. If we did this early and with the current competitive state of the East, I think we'd probably still end up with around the fifth worst record, which could give us an excellent shot at getting some more young studs this draft.

EDIT: Actually, I wouldn't mind keeping Crowder either. I think he'd be an excellent vet to have our young ones around, and giving him a bigger role might also showcase him enough to get an even bigger haul for him.

[PhoSita]

Yeah, I think if you dumped IT, Bradley, AND Crowder, I think you'd lose the team for the rest of the year.  Those are three emotional leaders on the team and the most consistent contributors we've got.

I think you'd also get fans and media talking about the Celts as the Sixers 2.0, fair or not.  The Celts have been a nice "story" as a rebuilding team that turned into a scrappy playoff squad after just a year of being really bad.  Turn around and get rid of the core of that scrappy playoff squad and suddenly it's "Tankapalooza" again only people are more bitter about it because the guys you traded away weren't old timers.

[Evantime34]

Yeah, I think if you dumped IT, Bradley, AND Crowder, I think you'd lose the team for the rest of the year.  Those are three emotional leaders on the team and the most consistent contributors we've got.

I think you'd also get fans and media talking about the Celts as the Sixers 2.0, fair or not.  The Celts have been a nice "story" as a rebuilding team that turned into a scrappy playoff squad after just a year of being really bad.  Turn around and get rid of the core of that scrappy playoff squad and suddenly it's "Tankapalooza" again only people are more bitter about it because the guys you traded away weren't old timers.

I also think you would lose Stevens.

[oldtype]

Yeah, I think if you dumped IT, Bradley, AND Crowder, I think you'd lose the team for the rest of the year.  Those are three emotional leaders on the team and the most consistent contributors we've got.

I think you'd also get fans and media talking about the Celts as the Sixers 2.0, fair or not.  The Celts have been a nice "story" as a rebuilding team that turned into a scrappy playoff squad after just a year of being really bad.  Turn around and get rid of the core of that scrappy playoff squad and suddenly it's "Tankapalooza" again only people are more bitter about it because the guys you traded away weren't old timers.

I also think you would lose Stevens.

Pretty much the reason why it was never an option for us to go full tank.