Poll: Give our offseason a letter grade

[footey]

B-.

The loss of Al Horford dropped it from a B+. 

This team needs to be looked at as coalescing in 2-3 years, and from that perspective the future is bright. We have two very good players who are 21 and 22. 

[rondofan1255]

Are this year’s frontcourt guys better than the 2015 rotation of Olynyk, Zeller, Amir Johnson, Sullinger, Lee, Jerebko?

This year’s collection of bigs looks scary bad, small ball era or not.

C.

[libermaniac]

I gave it an A- because Danny couldn't really control Kyrie leaving, so his real decision was on Horford.  In the short term losing Al will hurt a bit, but he wasn't worth that money for 4 years. Then, getting Kemba and Kanter were really solid moves, and I love his draft so far (hopefully Romeo justifies the 14 pick).

[blink]

I give it a B.  Not sure if Kemba fell into our laps, or if DA had a lot to do with it, but either way that saved the off-
season from being a C- or a D.

[celticsclay]

Losing Horford hurts big time.

Losing Al hurts. but considering the contract he got- we should be ok with his departure.
 

Yeah I love Al, but wouldn't everyone be surprised if he even made one more all-star game? You can't pay a guy that much money in his mid 30's that is not even an all-star player.

[Birdman]

I voted C..
Nothing we could done with Kyrie..think we got better player in Kemba

Dont blame Celtics for not giving Al that big contract..

Could gotten better picks with 4 picks..should gotten one big at least..but time will tell

Like the gamble with Tacko..wont cost us nothing if he doesnt work out

Love Enes signing..also cheap

Should gotten another experience big..

[GreenEnvy]

I give it a B+.

Danny really had his back to the wall losing his best offensive AND best defensive players. He responded as well as we could have hoped.

He brought in an All-Star, didn’t overpay for a year of AD, brought in high-upside rookies, and a very serviceable vet.

I’m happy with the makeup of this team, from both a talent and character aspect.

[slamtheking]

give it a D.  only reason I didn't give it an F was the signing of Kemba.

totally failed on the plan to add AD.  Lost Kyrie for nothing.  Lost Al for nothing, who, IMHO, will be the guy we miss most this coming year.  Traded away our true center in Baynes who could handle bulky centers down low and could produce a little offense.

Didn't make a move to go up in the draft with all those picks but instead gets 4 guys with questions marks.  sure, all draftees have question marks, but ours have quite a few. 
- Langford - shooting guard with shooting problems
- G-Will - Power forward who's really short for a PF
- Carson - scoring guard that's short for a SG although he does look like the find of the bunch for a scorer off the bench
- Waters - PG that looks better than any of the 3rd stringers we've had the past few years but he's really short.
--> not a single big man selected when several of equivalent talent projections were available at those picks and would have helped plug the biggest holes on this roster.

[Sophomore]

Are this year’s frontcourt guys better than the 2015 rotation of Olynyk, Zeller, Amir Johnson, Sullinger, Lee, Jerebko?

This year’s collection of bigs looks scary bad, small ball era or not.

Interesting. As I read your first sentence I thought you were trying to pump us up with some optimism. Bad as this group is they’re better than the 2015 group. I’d take Kanter over any of those tomato cans. His defense is suspect but his scoring and rebounding are legit. Williams is still a cipher but there is upside potential that *might* materialize. If we’re getting beat up I’m fairly confident Poirier can put the wood to someone.

Also, fingers crossed, if our four wings look good enough, one of them is going out at the deadline to bring us back a better big.

[gpap]

give it a D.  only reason I didn't give it an F was the signing of Kemba.

totally failed on the plan to add AD.  Lost Kyrie for nothing.  Lost Al for nothing, who, IMHO, will be the guy we miss most this coming year.  Traded away our true center in Baynes who could handle bulky centers down low and could produce a little offense.

Didn't make a move to go up in the draft with all those picks but instead gets 4 guys with questions marks.  sure, all draftees have question marks, but ours have quite a few. 
- Langford - shooting guard with shooting problems
- G-Will - Power forward who's really short for a PF
- Carson - scoring guard that's short for a SG although he does look like the find of the bunch for a scorer off the bench
- Waters - PG that looks better than any of the 3rd stringers we've had the past few years but he's really short.
--> not a single big man selected when several of equivalent talent projections were available at those picks and would have helped plug the biggest holes on this roster.

Agree. For all this talk about Ainge and the "assets" he's accumulated over the years, we're no closer to a championship now than we were before he traded KG and Paul to Brooklyn.

Yes, we got some really good talent in Tatum and JB. The 3rd Brooklyn pick was key in the Kyrie trade.

However, we are now embarking on year 7 since that Brooklyn trade, and it just feels like we are spinning our wheels.

We have a good team that will make the playoffs, but it just feels like we should be in a FAR better position. And again, like when Lebron was in the East with Miami and Cleveland, now there's another player and team we're looking up at with Milwaukee and Giannis (not to mention Philly, but I'm not a firm believer in them and the extremely overrated Ben Simmons.)

[Green-18]

Are this year’s frontcourt guys better than the 2015 rotation of Olynyk, Zeller, Amir Johnson, Sullinger, Lee, Jerebko?

This year’s collection of bigs looks scary bad, small ball era or not.

C.

It's hard to compare the current frontcourt to 2015, but I completely understand your point.  I see a lot more boom or bust (on a nightly basis) with the current group, whereas the 2015 frontcourt could be considered reliably mediocre.   

The Celtics had a really good defense in 2015-16, largely due to excellent perimeter defenders and overall effort on a nightly basis.  I'm hoping that next years group takes on similar characteristics. 

I can see Kanter putting up consistent double doubles against most of the Eastern Conference.  For all his limitations, he has a couple of elite skills that will make him a net positive until we run into Milwaukee or Philly.  RWIII will also show flashes throughout the regular season.  As for Poirier, hopefully he can become a an early contributor like Theis did in 2017. 

Regarding an overall off-season grade, I'll give Danny Ainge a B.  He made the most of losing Irving and Horford, but there's too many unknowns for me to give a better grade.  The rookies and front court additions will dictate whether or not the grade moves up or down.

     

[Moranis]

Losing Horford hurts big time.

Losing Al hurts. but considering the contract he got- we should be ok with his departure.
 

Yeah I love Al, but wouldn't everyone be surprised if he even made one more all-star game? You can't pay a guy that much money in his mid 30's that is not even an all-star player.

why not?  After this year, he will be the 4th highest paid player on his team.  Now that might be more than a 4th highest paid player should get, though they aren't the only team that is going to have that sort of issue (his contract also decreases each year making him a smaller portion of the cap every year).  Golden State for example will be in that same situation if they re-sign Draymond and keep Russell.  Portland this year has 3 players more than 27 million (like the Sixers and I'd rather have Horford than Whiteside).  The Nuggets have a lot of big contracts (though Millsap comes off right when Murray kicks in).  Horford makes a few million more than Ibaka, but I'd much rather have Horford even at the larger money.

The size of contracts are so large these days you forget just how much money everyone makes.  This year Horford is less than 23% of the Sixers cap and that number will be less than 20% the final 3 years (as the cap goes up and his contract goes down).  Now maybe you shouldn't pay your 4th best player 19% of the cap, but I don't think it is untenable either as many teams have had that sort of salary structure in place (including the Warriors this year with D-Lo making 19.6% of the cap).

[IDreamCeltics]

Are this year’s frontcourt guys better than the 2015 rotation of Olynyk, Zeller, Amir Johnson, Sullinger, Lee, Jerebko?

This year’s collection of bigs looks scary bad, small ball era or not.

C.

This has been on my mind quite a bit, our frontcourt doesn't have anyone resembling an NBA starter on it.  Absent a trade, we will have the worst 4/5 positional rotation in the NBA.  That's going to cost us some games.

I gave the offseason a D as I don't see anything resembling an actual plan.  If you're turning the team over to Hayward, Jason and Jaylen why bring in ANOTHER ball dominant point guard on a long-term max deal? 

[gpap]

When it comes to Horford, I don't think Ainge could've re-signed him after he signed Kemba to his max contract, right?

It's also obvious Horford didn't want to play center any more and he probably would've been asked to play center by Stevens.

[Roy H.]

Graded against the ideal:  D+

Graded against the reality that the team was facing:  B-

I don't think you can give this off-season a letter grade without knowing what the criteria is.

I mean, what's an A+?

Is it Anthony Davis + Horford + Kyrie or Kemba?  The hypothetically possible team we could have put together if everything had gone perfectly?

Or is it the "lemons out of lemonade" criteria?

I'm going to grade without considering AD as a realistic possibility, and with the understanding that Kyrie was gone no matter what.

In that circumstance, Danny did amazing getting Kemba and Kanter.  However, there's a question mark about Al Horford.  Should Danny have gotten an agreement with him before the deadline to opt out?  It's hard to know the answer without knowing when all the deals were agreed to.  When did we tamper with Kemba?  When did Philly tamper with Horford?  Assuming Al could have been persuaded to stay, what was the bottom line cost of a sign-and-trade with the Nets?

All of that is unknowable for the average fan.  But, I do feel a bit disappointed seeing Horford, Morris, etc. all leave with no compensation.  As for the draft, Langford is a question mark to me; I'm liking the Edwards and Williams picks.  Lastly, I wonder about the roster construction, with so much youth and NBA experience.  I'd feel better if we had more vet voices.

All things considered, I think a B- is fair.  Not great, but respectable.