I agree we need a backup SF, that is why I included Brewer in the deal because he's a defensive minded, athletic SF who can start in a pinch. I'd want to sign Pietrus back too if we sent both Lee and Green packing.
The SF of the future argument is an interesting one. I don't personally think we have that right now so I'm not afraid of losing it in the same way some people are. I don't think Green has shown enough to even be mentioned as the heir to Pierce but we'll see. I do think that when PP's contract is up so is the contract of 6 very good SFs. James and Carmello have ETOs and Gay has a player option (which he'll pickup).
I don't think we really need a SF to be Pierce's successor - as in a guy who can do the type of things Pierce can and have the same kind of impact.
We do need a
player who can be the successor to Pierce, but it doesn't need to be a SF. Personally, I think Amare (if he managed to stay healthy) could be Pierce's successor in that he could be the #1 scoring option who we could run our offense through and depend on to give us big numbers every night on offense.
If that happened then Green wouldn't need to become an elite SF, we'd only need him to take over for KG as a 2nd or 3rd scoring option (good for about 14 PPG to 17 PPG) and I think Green is very capable of that. Corey Brewer on the other hand...not so much.
I visualise the below as a very strong future lineup with a good ballance between offense and defense:
Rondo
Bradley
Green
Sullinger (once he develops)
Amare
I visualise the following as a mediocre future lineup with a severe lack of offense:
Rondo
Bradley
Brewer
Sullinger
Amare
I think Green's potential offensively makes all the difference in that lineup.
Injury risk. When an insurance company won't back your contract, you know it's real.
Also, going back to the structure of the Celtics make-up..I don't think he would fit. He's a guy who needs to be the center of attention. He isn't like KG...this is my opinion.
I don't think this is necessarilly a bad thing for the Boston team we have right now. We have a group of guys who are all, for the most part, secondary players. Pierce, Terry and KG are the closest things we have to a primary scorer, and at this point in their careers neither of those guys probably all more effective player off another guy.
I think it would actually benefit us to have a dominant, relatively young player who we could run the offense through and depend on to put the team on his back.
I think if we had a guy like that with Rondo running the offense, it would make guys like Pierce, KG, Terry and Green all the more deadly because a player of Amare's calibre would demand constant double teams.
Right now there is really nobody outside of Pierce (KG with certain matchups) who can draw that type of attention from the defense.
I certainly would NOT want two guys like this on the team (like NY have with Carmello and Amare) because then you end up with an ego-fight from two guys who can only play with the ball in their hand. To have one guy like that though is something that I think every team needs to be really dominant.