If everything had gone right this year, are the Celts the clear favorites?

[Roy H.]

I'm probably overly optimistic, but I think our current team (with a healthy Ray Allen) is maybe a half-step below Miami, and could very well beat them.  If you add West, Green and Wilcox to this team, I think we'd surpass the Heat.

Of course, if we'd started the season with West and Green, I don't think we'd be in the same position today.  I don't think Bradley would have developed in the same way, as Green probably would have gotten a lot of Ray's backup minutes.  It's possible that Bradley would have shown flashes, but he wouldn't be a starter.

Still, I think this team would probably be the best one in the NBA with West/Green/Wilcox.  The media might not recognize us as favorites, but I think we'd have the strongest and deepest squad.

[pearljammer10]

With an 8 man rotation of:
Rondo
Allen
Pierce
West
Garnett
Green
Bass
Bradley

Thats gotta be the deepest 8 man rotation the league has to offer.

Take out West (bc he was a FA and never actually here)and throw in Wilcox, thought he was playing excellent running the floor with Rondo and starting to understand the help d assignments right as he went down. Give this team Wilcox and Green and I think they become a very real contender.

Two heart issues, what are the chances?

Yeah but the OP proposed a "what if" question. What if everything went right we would have West and Wilcox... And Wilcox wouldnt even have made the 8 man rotation. Just further adding to my point of how deep we would have been. with Wilcox as a 9th man and Dooling as a tenth, I dont see many teams beating that depth in the playoffs.

[JSD]

I think that if everything had gone right this year to the extent that the OP (Roy H.) suggests, we would have ended up the 3rd seed and been considered a contender all along. But that would come at a cost because we wouldn’t know about Bradley or Stiemsa because they wouldn't have gotten the time and I don’t believe they would have been able to carve out a niche from the bench. It's just so difficult to come off the bench in this league as a nobody and to make strides in season. It seems like the majority of good role players were discovered during their time starting when someone went down for an injury.

[syfy9]

If everything would have gone right, Rondo would have been traded for Chris Paul. Granted their salaries are not the same; just assume it was Rondo for CP3 straight up.



Garnett / Wilcox / Stiemsma
West / Bass / Johnson
Pierce / Green / Daniels
Bradley / Allen / Pietrus
Paul / Dooling / Moore


Now this team are favorites.

[17wasEZ]

If everything would have gone right, Rondo would have been traded for Chris Paul. Granted their salaries are not the same; just assume it was Rondo for CP3 straight up.



Garnett / Wilcox / Stiemsma
West / Bass / Johnson
Pierce / Green / Daniels
Bradley / Allen / Pietrus
Paul / Dooling / Moore


Now this team are favorites.

I would substitute out Wilcox for Shaq coming back in March from surgery and I would have kept Rondo.  The Celtics were offensively unstoppable when Shaq played for 20 minutes per night.

[Carhole]

With an 8 man rotation of:
Rondo
Allen
Pierce
West
Garnett
Green
Bass
Bradley

Thats gotta be the deepest 8 man rotation the league has to offer.

Take out West (bc he was a FA and never actually here)and throw in Wilcox, thought he was playing excellent running the floor with Rondo and starting to understand the help d assignments right as he went down. Give this team Wilcox and Green and I think they become a very real contender.

Two heart issues, what are the chances?

Yeah but the OP proposed a "what if" question. What if everything went right we would have West and Wilcox... And Wilcox wouldnt even have made the 8 man rotation. Just further adding to my point of how deep we would have been. with Wilcox as a 9th man and Dooling as a tenth, I dont see many teams beating that depth in the playoffs.

I got ya, I was just quoting you bc I liked the way you had it broken out. I was just saying we didnt even need "everything" to break right. We just needed to not have to life threatening heart conditions!!

[Who]

I don't think Bradley or Stiemsma would have developed as much as they have without injuries to the players in front of them.

[Edgar]

If everything had gone right this year delonte would be here
 

[prov1ml34]

I'm probably overly optimistic, but I think our current team (with a healthy Ray Allen) is maybe a half-step below Miami, and could very well beat them.  If you add West, Green and Wilcox to this team, I think we'd surpass the Heat.

Of course, if we'd started the season with West and Green, I don't think we'd be in the same position today.  I don't think Bradley would have developed in the same way, as Green probably would have gotten a lot of Ray's backup minutes.  It's possible that Bradley would have shown flashes, but he wouldn't be a starter.

Still, I think this team would probably be the best one in the NBA with West/Green/Wilcox.  The media might not recognize us as favorites, but I think we'd have the strongest and deepest squad.

I tend to agree. We only lost 7 more games than Miami this regular season. If you had West, Green and Wilcox, I think you easily find 7-8 more wins which would put us at the 2 seed behind the Bulls. Its possible we win quite a few more games giving us the 1 seed. I believe this team can beat both Miami and Chicago, so if you had 3 more weapons then I would think they could be considered the favorites.