The love for young players, explain it to me?

[CelticsJG]

Fun watching young players grow

[max215]

Someone like a Paul George isn't enough to win a championship. There's at least an outside shot that Markelle Fultz is.

[ETNCeltics]

Is this a serious thread? GSW built the NBAs best team via the draft. Good thing their fans had the patience to wait a few years for Curry & Co to mature.

We're not going to be able to land an elite player for our assets. If we can get Durant or AD with our picks, great. But if you're more realistic about who we can get, but think Paul George is an elite player, you haven't been paying attention.

Our owner said getting a transcendent player in the draft is more valuable than getting a good veteran for the pick, and that if you make that trade you'd better be getting something great in return considering the salaries. Our GM said he believed there was a transcendent player in this draft. Since we have the first pick, he'd better be able to find him. So right off the bat, you're trading what our GM calls a transcendent player at a low salary for a veteran who is not elite, and will have a high salary (not to mention will be a FA 1 year hence). And everyone who's been watching the '18 prospects thinks that the '18 big men are the best in many years, and the Euro prospect at the top of the draft is a franchise player and the best euro prospect ever.

These superteam scenarios fans are dreaming up are not only foolish because the Celtics won't pay the luxury tax penalty, but also because we're still trying to build around a 5'9 guard who can't defend anyone, we'd still likely be considered no better than the 3rd best team in the league, and we'd have surrendered our future for a 2-3 year shot (if that) at winning a title.

So what's the love for young players? They're the foundation of building a long-term contender. The better question is how anyone can entertain not going that direction.

The same Paul George who once was a game away from taking Roy Hibbert and David West to the NBA Finals and beating a repeat Heat team with Lebron and co.? You're right, he's not elite. He certainly couldn't go further with more talent and better coaching. He probably doesn't care about winning either.

C'mon, there is no reasonable scenario where Jaylen Brown is going to be better than this guy, if we are VERY lucky he will be just as good.... maybe...... someday.


Danny is one of the most reasonable minds when it comes to determining who is transcendent and who isn't. I'd be surprised if he was honestly as enthused as Wyc over this draft class, and Wyc has to act like he has the golden ticket. Gotta drive up the price.

If the trade is straight up JB for PG, maybe it makes sense, but it won't be. But no, I think there's a good possibility that JB could be as good as PG. I don't concede that for a second. Jaylen was terribly raw coming in, difficult to see what his ceiling is. He's already proven to be a better shooter than everyone thought.

Ainge was the one who said there was a transcendent player in this draft, not Wyc. Wyc mentioned the salaries, which of course, makes all the PG discussion just noise, because the luxury tax would be enormous if the Celts signed Hayward and traded for PG. Not only would we have a massive payroll, our bench would be scraps. Nothing about a trade like this makes any sense, to say nothing of PG only having one year left on his deal.

[mqtcelticsfan]

Winning titles ultimately comes down to having a superstar on your team. While it'd be wonderful to add an established player of that ilk, it's not particularly realistic. Acquiring young guys with the potential to reach that level is thus a strategy teams can use to attempt to compete.

In the context of the current landscape of the League, it also makes sense for us to attempt to make a push in 4-5 years when LeBron and Durant lose a step.

[GreenCoffeeBean]

I was once a young player. We all were. People had love for me, too.

[gouki88]

That cursed word - potential.

[obnoxiousmime]

Aren't we going after Gordon Hayward? Even notorious tanking proponents like me think that's a good idea. Is George better than Hayward? Yes, but is George going to re-sign and is George better than Hayward plus whatever we'd have to give up?

It's like Zach Lowe says - yes, tanking often doesn't work. But it's still the best, or only option out of a lot of low-probability options. As long as most of the best players are in the lower lottery and you get to basically have them under control for 8 years, there are going to be teams on a repetitive cycle of tanking, hoping that at some point they can get that young superstar. What else are they supposed to do?

[Chris22]

You need three all stars to win a championship.
You can draft them or trade for them or sign them.

[Future Celtics Owner]

Being entertained and winning championships are two completely different things.

Great players 27 and up do not just come to a team. What do you think will happen if we max IT and sign Hayward.....maybe we push the Cavs to 6-7 games, if we are completely healthy, but if we win due to an injury on the Cavs then we still have GSW.

[tarheelsxxiii]

I was once a young player. We all were. People had love for me, too.

We still love you, Bean.  A bit less than your prime, but much more than your youth.

[Boris Badenov]

Agree with what a lot of other players have said but another aspect is that if and when you do get that championship team, it feels different when it's with a home-grown superstar. Larry Bird, Brady, Papi - those guys are OURS. It's just better that way.

I mean, I loved that 08 team, and all else equal KG would be my favorite player on it, by far. But Pierce is the only key guy who was really a Celtic. He is on another level in terms of it meaning something.

(I know Papi technically played elsewhere. But you know what I mean.)

[nickagneta]

Ainge said there was a transcendent player in this draft?

Can somone provide a link?

[JBcat]

I really like the combination of experience and youth for sustained success.  We are in a unique position to have both.

It's very rare young teams win but if you can have a mix of both like the Spurs have had you can be good for a long time.  Most young teams on its own tend to sputter, and fall apart.

Young players also offer cost controlled contracts for a long time, and can help balance the cap with more expensive veterans.  A team just full of veterans can have a short window, and grow old quickly.

In short I don't see why we can't have that mix.

[spikelovetheCelts]

Is this a serious thread? GSW built the NBAs best team via the draft. Good thing their fans had the patience to wait a few years for Curry & Co to mature.

We're not going to be able to land an elite player for our assets. If we can get Durant or AD with our picks, great. But if you're more realistic about who we can get, but think Paul George is an elite player, you haven't been paying attention.

Our owner said getting a transcendent player in the draft is more valuable than getting a good veteran for the pick, and that if you make that trade you'd better be getting something great in return considering the salaries. Our GM said he believed there was a transcendent player in this draft. Since we have the first pick, he'd better be able to find him. So right off the bat, you're trading what our GM calls a transcendent player at a low salary for a veteran who is not elite, and will have a high salary (not to mention will be a FA 1 year hence). And everyone who's been watching the '18 prospects thinks that the '18 big men are the best in many years, and the Euro prospect at the top of the draft is a franchise player and the best euro prospect ever.

These superteam scenarios fans are dreaming up are not only foolish because the Celtics won't pay the luxury tax penalty, but also because we're still trying to build around a 5'9 guard who can't defend anyone, we'd still likely be considered no better than the 3rd best team in the league, and we'd have surrendered our future for a 2-3 year shot (if that) at winning a title.

So what's the love for young players? They're the foundation of building a long-term contender. The better question is how anyone can entertain not going that direction.

The same Paul George who once was a game away from taking Roy Hibbert and David West to the NBA Finals and beating a repeat Heat team with Lebron and co.? You're right, he's not elite. He certainly couldn't go further with more talent and better coaching. He probably doesn't care about winning either.

C'mon, there is no reasonable scenario where Jaylen Brown is going to be better than this guy, if we are VERY lucky he will be just as good.... maybe...... someday.


Danny is one of the most reasonable minds when it comes to determining who is transcendent and who isn't. I'd be surprised if he was honestly as enthused as Wyc over this draft class, and Wyc has to act like he has the golden ticket. Gotta drive up the price.

Oh so this yet another trade for PG13 thread. I get it now.

No, it's about the sentiment and overall hype for young prospects. I will point out that Paul George is a tremendous player if need be.

PG13 will be Laker, Butler will stay a Bull. We have a shot at Heyward then when he signs we make a trade. If he does not sign we stay young because there is no star like KG to trade for at the moment and we build our own Stars in Fultz, Brown and Smart.

[obnoxiousmime]

Agree with what a lot of other players have said but another aspect is that if and when you do get that championship team, it feels different when it's with a home-grown superstar. Larry Bird, Brady, Papi - those guys are OURS. It's just better that way.

I mean, I loved that 08 team, and all else equal KG would be my favorite player on it, by far. But Pierce is the only key guy who was really a Celtic. He is on another level in terms of it meaning something.

(I know Papi technically played elsewhere. But you know what I mean.)

I agree, without Pierce the 08 title would have felt a little hollow. It helped that Garnett really embraced the team and city and Ray Allen pretended to, kinda.

I also felt the first Sox title in 04 was kind of a mercenary one. Though there were some good homegrown players, a lot of the offense consisted of guys Epstein picked up that year or the year before. It was also sad that, despite his behavior that season, we couldn't have won with Nomar still on the team. It's his own fault but it still would have been nice considering the history we had with him.

Oh yeah, and the biggest mercenary of them all: Curt Schilling. It was hard to root for that blowhard.