A prediction

[CFAN38]

Im guessing that Rondo comes back a little after the allstar break to play the last 28 games. At the point the Cs will be dead last in the standings with 8-10 wins. With Rondo this team will look a lot better. With Rondo they will pick up 13 wins in the last 28 games. Finish with around 23 wins. Having shown a willingness to win at the end of the season Stern will hopefully not kill the Cs in the lottery.


I also wouldn't be surprised to see a trade deadline deal centered around bogans and/or Humphries contracts that picks up a decent player. Probably coming from a tanking team looking to make that end of the season loosing push.   

[playdream]

Im guessing that Rondo comes back a little after the allstar break to play the last 30-40 games. At the point the Cs will be dead last in the standings with 6-8 wins. With Rondo this team will look alot better. With Rondo they will pick up 15 wins in the last 35 games. Finish with around 25 wins. Having shown a willingness to win at the end of the season Stern will hopefully not kill the Cs in the lottery.

this is the most likely

[Celtics18]

Rajon Rondo comes back this month.

He hasn't even been cleared for contact yet... and the Celtics have no interest in rushing him back.  Our tank-job is off to a perfect start... why blow it?

Prediction.  If Celtics18 is right and Rondo comes back this month... I predict that Rondo gets traded before February.

I'll see your prediction and raise it.  I predict Rondo comes back in November, and the Boston Celtics make the playoffs with Rondo still on the team.  He gets selected second team All NBA with another finish in the top ten in MVP voting. 

He and Kelly Olynyk, runner up for rookie of the year, and Jeff Green lead an astonishing upset of the Brooklyn Nets in the first round.

lol.
First round of the playoffs?
Beating the Nets? With all our superior perimeter shooting, big men and interior defense?
You're trolling right?

I guess the anti- tankers have to get back at the pro tankers with the troll talk.
Rondo coming back and leading us to the playoffs is not likely to happen.
He has no KG, no Pierce, no Ray. He's got Avery Bradley, Jeff Green and Vitor Faverani. Unless he's improved his shooting and is gonna score 20 ppg with 10 assists there is about 10% of your prediction eventuating. (like most of our fan predictions)

Just don't get overboard with the 'predictions' because unfortunately it looks like our mediocre team capable of 30 wins might be getting even more help from the coach/front office to lose than win. I mean I knew we'd suck because they rigged the roster, but wow, the coaching and substitutions have been ridiculously bad for the win column. I remember Scott Brooks didn't have to worry about it because he didn't have to deal with veterans or trade bait that he was trying to showcase- he just put his ponies out there and let them gallop.

To the anti-tankers...are you suspicious at all as to why all the key guys have sat recently? Starting to get an inkling as to why Green sat the last quarter in the first game? Why did he sit the other night? Why did Vitor sit last night against Detroits bigs?

Prediction (lol): Bass is traded, Avery Bradley is traded, and we pick up another bad contract and a mid round pick.

Prediction that is less likely: We trade Rondo for a first round pick and young talent- similarly to the James Harden trade. I'm taking the Kings, with Mclemore coming to us and a top 8 protected pick. Or we throw in Jeff Green+ Olynyk with Rondo and they give us an unprotected first rounder + Mclemore + salary fillers.

Heard it here first.
Danny is copying the OKC model (well they copied him except they drafted their guys because they couldn't pull off trades/moves like Ainge can).

Ainge is usually full of crap, so when he says Rondo will be back around December 'if he were to guess', I'd say Rondo is back after All Star break at the earliest.

I love it.  Being the guy who takes an optimistic stance on our basketball team and refuses to root for them to lose is now going to mean that I am considered to be "trolling."

Ah, the irony.

[PhoSita]

I love it.  Being the guy who takes an optimistic stance on our basketball team and refuses to root for them to lose is now going to mean that I am considered to be "trolling."

Ah, the irony.

I think it's pretty obvious that you're not trolling.

In my opinion your prediction is wildly optimistic to the point that it seems rather tongue in cheek.  But I certainly don't begrudge anybody their optimism. 

The optimism only bothers me if it's accompanied by disdain or sweeping criticism of people who do not share it (which isn't the case here).

[kozlodoev]

Im guessing that Rondo comes back a little after the allstar break to play the last 30-40 games. At the point the Cs will be dead last in the standings with 6-8 wins. With Rondo this team will look alot better. With Rondo they will pick up 15 wins in the last 35 games. Finish with around 25 wins. Having shown a willingness to win at the end of the season Stern will hopefully not kill the Cs in the lottery.

this is the most likely

Stern killing lottery chances, right up there with the moon being made of Swiss cheese.

[TwinTower14]

Prediction - The C's land the 2nd pick in the draft and they come away with Julius Randle and PJ Hairston....

[Celtics18]

I love it.  Being the guy who takes an optimistic stance on our basketball team and refuses to root for them to lose is now going to mean that I am considered to be "trolling."

Ah, the irony.

I think it's pretty obvious that you're not trolling.

In my opinion your prediction is wildly optimistic to the point that it seems rather tongue in cheek.  But I certainly don't begrudge anybody their optimism. 

The optimism only bothers me if it's accompanied by disdain or sweeping criticism of people who do not share it (which isn't the case here).

Thank you.  I feel the the same way about the pessimism (which also isn't the case here.)

[CFAN38]

Im guessing that Rondo comes back a little after the allstar break to play the last 30-40 games. At the point the Cs will be dead last in the standings with 6-8 wins. With Rondo this team will look alot better. With Rondo they will pick up 15 wins in the last 35 games. Finish with around 25 wins. Having shown a willingness to win at the end of the season Stern will hopefully not kill the Cs in the lottery.

this is the most likely

Stern killing lottery chances, right up there with the moon being made of Swiss cheese.

I'm seriously not a conspiracy person at all but David Stern just makes me uneasy. I really think he manipulates a lot and the lottery is his biggest tool.

[ScoobyDoo]

I'm 100% on board with LarBrd33 here.

This season is working out beautifully so far. The young guys are getting punched in the head every single night and are on a fast track learning curve because of it, while we also look right on track for a top five pick in a loaded draft.

I don't consider it tanking at all if you are developing your young guys, which is exactly what's happening. 

Why would we mess it up by rushing Rondo back, which could also put him at risk, particularly if he isn't 100%, 100% healthy...?

[kozlodoev]

Im guessing that Rondo comes back a little after the allstar break to play the last 30-40 games. At the point the Cs will be dead last in the standings with 6-8 wins. With Rondo this team will look alot better. With Rondo they will pick up 15 wins in the last 35 games. Finish with around 25 wins. Having shown a willingness to win at the end of the season Stern will hopefully not kill the Cs in the lottery.

this is the most likely

Stern killing lottery chances, right up there with the moon being made of Swiss cheese.

I'm seriously not a conspiracy person at all but David Stern just makes me uneasy. I really think he manipulates a lot and the lottery is his biggest tool.

Then you seriously need to do some digging on how the NBA lottery draw actually takes place.

edit: The draft process is supervised by an independent auditor (Ernst and Young). My guess is that you just don't understand the implications of a top accounting firm engaging in fraudulent activity affecting a 30-odd billion dollar industry. It doesn't happen. Everyone remembers Arthur Andersen.

[D.o.s.]

Rajon Rondo comes back this month.

He hasn't even been cleared for contact yet... and the Celtics have no interest in rushing him back.  Our tank-job is off to a perfect start... why blow it?

Prediction.  If Celtics18 is right and Rondo comes back this month... I predict that Rondo gets traded before February.

I'll see your prediction and raise it.  I predict (1) Rondo comes back in November, and the (2) Boston Celtics make the playoffs with Rondo still on the team.  (3) He gets selected second team All NBA with another finish in the top ten in MVP voting. 

He and Kelly Olynyk, (4) runner up for rookie of the year, and Jeff Green lead (5) an astonishing upset of the Brooklyn Nets in the first round.

Usually predictions are at least somewhat defensible.

That's not what I've found. 

Despite that, I find mine to be highly defensible.

Please defend.

1.  It seems to me from everything I've been hearing and reading that Rondo is close to 100% (somewhere around 87).  He'll start to pressure the training staff to let him practice very, very soon.

2.  Through four games it is clear to me--and I would guess anybody else who has been watching--that our biggest weakness is the lack of someone who can break down defenses, get in the lane late, and make plays late in games.  Rondo will provide that, and this team will be an above .500 team upon his return.

3.  The last full season that Rondo played, he was third team All NBA and finished in the top ten in MVP voting.  Unlike Derrick Rose, he relies much more on court vision, smarts, and skills with the basketball to be the player that he is.  I expect him to look like his old self within two weeks of returning to the court.  This team has been built for him to succeed.  I think he will.

4.  Michael Carter-Williams will probably be rookie of the year.  Klynyk will keep getting minutes, and he will gain confidence.  The numbers will improve.  Other than Victor Oladipo, there doesn't seem to much other competition in this rookie class. 

5.  That one is just wishful thinking.

TP for the breakdown.

I don't agree that Rondo's going to come back by the end of the month--based on the fact that he hasn't been cleared for contact yet, I'd say he'll be out for November--my guess is that he returns around Christmas. He definitely does help in the areas that the C's need help in, but I still don't think there's enough talent on this squad to be over .500. Also, I think a two week timeline of returning to the court and playing rust free is generous.

The awards and accolades have a lot to do with a team's overall record and how often a given player is on the floor in a year, so I'm not sure I see him getting any MVP votes outside of various Boston-based media types.

[CelticG1]

What is the usual recovery time? Would end of Nov be real early or what?

Wouldn't be surprised if Rondo came back early at all since he's stubborn as hell and once he is cleared by doctors I really don't see him wanting to wait around just cause the team wants him to.

I guess It reaply depends on how much danny can influence Rondo not to play even if Rondonis ready.

[D.o.s.]

What is the usual recovery time? Would end of Nov be real early or what?

Wouldn't be surprised if Rondo came back early at all since he's stubborn as hell and once he is cleared by doctors I really don't see him wanting to wait around just cause the team wants him to.

I guess It reaply depends on how much danny can influence Rondo not to play even if Rondonis ready.

End of november would be early, not unrealistically early, but early.

Typically, a torn ACL recovery time is around a year (9 months is the early spectrum of recovery, Derrick Rose is obviously on the late end, etc.), but that's complicated by the fact that A) everyone recovers differently from that kind of injury, even and especially among athletes, and B) the Adrian Peterson recovery had a lot of people skewing their expectations for a while.

I don't think Rondo goes full Rose, but I don't think he'll be a Peterson, either.

[Kiorrik]

What is the usual recovery time? Would end of Nov be real early or what?

Wouldn't be surprised if Rondo came back early at all since he's stubborn as hell and once he is cleared by doctors I really don't see him wanting to wait around just cause the team wants him to.

I guess It reaply depends on how much danny can influence Rondo not to play even if Rondonis ready.

End of november would be early, not unrealistically early, but early.

Typically, a torn ACL recovery time is around a year (9 months is the early spectrum of recovery, Derrick Rose is obviously on the late end, etc.), but that's complicated by the fact that A) everyone recovers differently from that kind of injury, even and especially among athletes, and B) the Adrian Peterson recovery had a lot of people skewing their expectations for a while.

I don't think Rondo goes full Rose, but I don't think he'll be a Peterson, either.

Plus Rose doesn't do roids :]

... did I say that out loud again?