Kemba Walker out of Knicks Rotation

[liam]

I applaud Danny for effort, but acquiring Kyrie then Kemba have been significant parts of the demise of all the promise this era once had.

It’s hard to recover from major mistakes in the NBA. The other major mistake was GH - mistake meaning big expenditure diidn’t work for whatever reason.  Lakers are the only franchise where mistakes don’t really matter - they can always retool with top tier players within a few years.

What mistake did DA make with Hayward?

Kemba is debatable. Kyrie...also debatable - getting a top 10 or 20 or whatever talent-level player for such little cost.

Bottom line, the Hayward injury cost us at least one title. That’s not Ainge’s fault.

His worst decision, tho it was understandable, was trading for Kyrie. I wish Cleveland had bailed him out by refusing to set a reasonable price and effectively blowing up the deal. Almost anything else Ainge could’ve done would have come out better. Look at who was available with that 8th pick - SGA, Miles Bridges. Or maybe we trade it for a vet with less upside talent but a stable, team-building personality. It all ends a lot better.

Did it?  Even if Boston made it out of the east, was Boston going to beat the Warriors?  That seems highly unlikely to me.

It did not. Hayward was never a great fit on the C’s even when he was healthy. They were not winning a title with that group.

This is a silly take since he was healthy for all of five minutes on the 2017-2018 team that was a quarter away from the NBA finals.

If you believe the C’s would have beaten the Warriors in the Finals that year, then I have some swampland in Louisiana I’d like to sell you.

I’m buying, because I bet there’s oil under the land you didn’t know about.

People forget how good GH was before his leg exploded. In 2017 he carried a Jazz team with very little talent to the second round, where he scored 25ppg against the GSW (on 18 attempts) and added four boards and four assists. He stood out. Add that player to the deep talented Boston team of 2018, and while I’m not 100% they would have beaten the Warriors I definitely see them having a shot. And the year after that? I like our chances against Toronto or the GSW.

The guy we saw in Boston was a shell of what Hayward was before his injury.

You give me the best version of Gordon Hayward and they still ain’t beating that Warriors team. GS swept Prime LBJ and his Cavs in the Finals that year. 2018 Warriors squad was one of best teams of all time.

In fairness, that team was 33 year old Lebron and a bunch of scrubs.  Kevin Love was the only player other than LJ to score in double digits for the Cavs that playoff season.  Love averaged 14.9 points on 39.2% shooting. 

But, the 2018 Warriors were indeed stacked.

The thing is, the Celtics lost in 5 to the Bucks in the conference semis the year after that.  And I know Hayward wasn't the same level of player post injury, but he did play in 72 games and all 9 playoff games.  Irving was healthy.  Horford was healthy.  Brown and Tatum were healthy.  Morris and Rozier were healthy.  Smart was the only rotation player that wasn't healthy (played just 2 of the 5 games), and a pretty young Giannis just blitzed them off the court. 

Boston hasn't had a good enough team to win a title since KG got old because they haven't had a top 5 player since KG got old.  I know people get tired of me harping on that, but the simple reality is, those are the guys that not only win championships, but also generally play for them.  There are certainly flukes every once in awhile, but by and large if you don't have a top 5 type player, you aren't a contender and have no shot at a title.

We would've been better without quit Kyrie.

[celticsclay]

I am confused how we broke into a debate about whether we hypothetically could have won the title if hayward never got injured or if irving didn’t quit on the celtics against the bucks? This is obviously not a question we can answer.,,,

[Kiorrik]

I am confused how we broke into a debate about whether we hypothetically could have won the title if hayward never got injured or if irving didn’t quit on the celtics against the bucks? This is obviously not a question we can answer.,,,

BUT BY GOSH WE WILL TRY

[celticsclay]

I am confused how we broke into a debate about whether we hypothetically could have won the title if hayward never got injured or if irving didn’t quit on the celtics against the bucks? This is obviously not a question we can answer.,,,

BUT BY GOSH WE WILL TRY

Lol indeed my friend.

[Big333223]

Someone was trying to drag Brad for "selling low" on Kemba this summer a few weeks ago. The take was bad then and has aged about as poorly as possible. That Stevens was able to get Horford for Kemba, who has now been bought and benched by successive teams is nothing short of fantastic.

[Vermont Green]

Someone was trying to drag Brad for "selling low" on Kemba this summer a few weeks ago. The take was bad then and has aged about as poorly as possible. That Stevens was able to get Horford for Kemba, who has now been bought and benched by successive teams is nothing short of fantastic.

No, the specific criticism was that people couldn't believe we gave up a pick to dump Kemba.

The real transaction was we got Horford and Moses Brown for Kemba and a pick.  We then traded Moses Brown for Josh Richardson (using a TPE).

So the net was Kemba and a Pick for Horford and Richardson.  Al has been great, Richardson has been pretty good, Kemba is done, and the pick would not be playing for us. 

[Kiorrik]

Someone was trying to drag Brad for "selling low" on Kemba this summer a few weeks ago. The take was bad then and has aged about as poorly as possible. That Stevens was able to get Horford for Kemba, who has now been bought and benched by successive teams is nothing short of fantastic.

No, the specific criticism was that people couldn't believe we gave up a pick to dump Kemba.

The real transaction was we got Horford and Moses Brown for Kemba and a pick.  We then traded Moses Brown for Josh Richardson (using a TPE).

So the net was Kemba and a Pick for Horford and Richardson.  Al has been great, Richardson has been pretty good, Kemba is done, and the pick would not be playing for us.

:insert applause image here:

TP!

[SHAQATTACK]

Someone was trying to drag Brad for "selling low" on Kemba this summer a few weeks ago. The take was bad then and has aged about as poorly as possible. That Stevens was able to get Horford for Kemba, who has now been bought and benched by successive teams is nothing short of fantastic.

No, the specific criticism was that people couldn't believe we gave up a pick to dump Kemba.

The real transaction was we got Horford and Moses Brown for Kemba and a pick.  We then traded Moses Brown for Josh Richardson (using a TPE).

So the net was Kemba and a Pick for Horford and Richardson.  Al has been great, Richardson has been pretty good, Kemba is done, and the pick would not be playing for us.

TP …perfectly done …..case closed  . 

[KG Living Legend]

Someone was trying to drag Brad for "selling low" on Kemba this summer a few weeks ago. The take was bad then and has aged about as poorly as possible. That Stevens was able to get Horford for Kemba, who has now been bought and benched by successive teams is nothing short of fantastic.

No, the specific criticism was that people couldn't believe we gave up a pick to dump Kemba.

The real transaction was we got Horford and Moses Brown for Kemba and a pick.  We then traded Moses Brown for Josh Richardson (using a TPE).

So the net was Kemba and a Pick for Horford and Richardson.  Al has been great, Richardson has been pretty good, Kemba is done, and the pick would not be playing for us.

TP …perfectly done …..case closed  .

 All true. I still back the trade. Let's not forget Alperin slid to 16 and was labeled the turkish Jokic. He 19 currently avg 8.5 ppg 4.5 rpg 2.6 apg 1.1 spg

 Keep an eye on that kid. Might be a good one.