The Celtics are the new Atlanta Hawks

[tarheelsxxiii]

Man some fans really don't understand the concept of homerism.  Just because you've heard of a player doesn't make him better than his peers.

A Healthy Rondo-lead Celtic team was below .500 until he went out.  They improved with him injured and limped into the playoffs with 41 wins... and were promptly beaten by a better Knicks team.   Our best defensive player by far was Kevin Garnett.  Pierce basically carried our offense down the stretch.  You get rid of our two best per-minute players and think this team is somehow going to improve? 

With Rondo they win 25-38.  Without him it's the bottom of the standings.

By "new Atlanta Hawks" are you referring to a hypothetical "new Atlanta Hawks" team that loses Josh Smith to free agency and doesn't make any additions?  Because then I'd agree with you... 25-38 wins.

You may be missing a substantial population of  "homers" - there are those fans that overvalue the players of their hometown team, and then there are those "homers" who overvalue the GMs of their hometown team.

There's been like 9 teams to win a championship in the past 40 years.  It's not an easy thing to do.  Ainge took over a garbage celtic team and turned them into a contender in 4 years.  He's worthy of praise.

I fully support his decision to tank it up this year.  He knows what he's doing.

Well you're definitely the most devoted supporter of him here.

How do you respond to the argument that none of his good fortune happens without McHale? Is there an argument to be made there?

I imagine you'll list the "assets he acquired" to make the trade, maybe point to those draft picks that panned out (all surprisingly after the congregation of the Big 3), and end with your appreciation for his aggression (which I'd call recklessness).

Interested in reading your response nonetheless.

[BballTim]

Man some fans really don't understand the concept of homerism.

 Neither do many of the posters here. It's generally used to signify "isn't overly pessimistic or negative when talking about the team/players". In the real world "homers" would be unable to make any kind of accurate assessment of the team because of their bias. On celticsblog what the "homers" say is just as accurate as what anyone else says. Where are all of the "realists" who were calling people "blind homers" for thinking the Celts might make some noise in the playoffs? Still doing the same thing last year, as any "delusional homer" that didn't realize the Celts had no chance of catching up with the Sixers will tell you.

[BballTim]

Maybe I wasn't clear: I'm not saying the Celtics have the same talent-level as the '08-'13 Atlanta Hawks.  What I am saying is the Celtics are going to end up finding themselves as a playoff team that won't do anything special in the playoffs.

Also: could anyone who disagrees with me name eight Eastern Conference teams that are undoubtedly better than the lineup I listed in the OP?

  I don't understand how you're projecting what the Celts will be like for a number of years when you have no idea what moves Danny will make or who will be on the team in the future. Right now that's pretty much up in the air.

I'm going under the assumption that the Celtics' lineup will look like what I posted in the OP, with maybe a few FAs thrown in (nothing big).

  This year, maybe. I don't see any way that Danny does that going forward. He'll either bring in a good player or blow it up.

[nostar]

I tend to agree that the lineup posted in the OP is a lotto team. If you assume Rondo is out until late January we will probably be as bad as any eastern conference team until he comes back.

Throw in we have a new (not great) coach and that Rondo should probably sit out the whole season like Rose did and I'm smelling top 5 pick.

I'm virtually certain Danny will hire the coach who agree to play this season like it's a lost cause. We all heard the rumors that he told Doc to do the same stuff early in his tenure.

The good news is that Danny has absolutely killed it this off season. Tons of picks, incoming cap space next year and a very movable core to acquire FAs.

Nets gave us 3 picks, 2014,2016,2018 and maybe the rights to swap in 2017. The Nets picks aren't as certain to be in the 20s as people say they are. I can see Williams getting injured from how he plays and Lopez's foot is just a mess that insurance won't touch it. KG is probably done after this season and PP is a FA. While I think the 2014 picks will be in the 20s, I don't think the 2016 or 2018 picks will be. Additionally the Hawks definitely won't want to swap picks with the Nets next year. The Nets will have a  very low pick and the Hawks are in shambles.

My worry is that we're going to trade Rondo instead of letting him sit out a season. I think he's too valuable to let him walk for a lotto pick next season and he's not valuable enough to net a consistent all star. To me that says he needs to heal up and wait for the 2014/15 season when our rebuild picks up some steam. 2013/14 will be the "hey look at all of these capable young guys" season and I'm fine watching that, especially if I can also watch KG and PP pound the Knicks and the Heat