Elephant in the Room: The C's have a BIGs Problem

[Jvalin]

Focus now is on Hayward.

After that, after whatever he does, they can address that.

Don't forget too, we have some exceptions to fill holes too, so I'm not super duper worried yet.

Only exception we have is the room exception ($8,872,400 for 2 years)

2017/18    $4,328,000
2018/19    $4,544,400

Total    $8,872,400

Assuming we sign Hayward, I bet we 'll see Tatum/Crowder(if we keep him) playing a lot of minutes at the 4.

[moiso]

you forgot Yabu, I actually kinda like this being thin, because you now HAVE to throw Zizic and Yabu into the fire early so they can grow

If someone throws me into a fire, will I grow?

[loco_91]

Brad can just play Crowder or Tatum at the 4. It's not quite ideal, especially if Horford has to miss any games. But it's probably not a big deal, and if does prove to be an issue we can easily fix it at the trade deadline.

[heyvik]

We have to clear cap space to sign Hayward to begin with, and I would be willing to bet that a big who makes less than Crowder or Bradley is part of that process. Additionally, there are multiple vet bigs out there who will sign for the room exception.

On the trade front, as posted elsewhere, my official prediction is Crowder for Juan Hernangomez from Denver.  I'm also hopeful we'll sign Zaza Pachulia.  That part of the roster will fill out quickly once we have Hayward.  (If we don't get him, we'll certainly see the return of Olynyk, and also probably a big with the room exception.)

ZaZa is very one dimentional and I don't think will fit into Brad's system.  At this point, I'm preparing myself for Danny's excuse as to why he didn't address this glaring need.
Danny will say : "I really like this team going forward...blah blah blah"

[Jvalin]

We have to clear cap space to sign Hayward to begin with, and I would be willing to bet that a big who makes less than Crowder or Bradley is part of that process. Additionally, there are multiple vet bigs out there who will sign for the room exception.

On the trade front, as posted elsewhere, my official prediction is Crowder for Juan Hernangomez from Denver.  I'm also hopeful we'll sign Zaza Pachulia.  That part of the roster will fill out quickly once we have Hayward.  (If we don't get him, we'll certainly see the return of Olynyk, and also probably a big with the room exception.)

ZaZa is very one dimentional and I don't think will fit into Brad's system.  At this point, I'm preparing myself for Danny's excuse as to why he didn't address this glaring need.
Danny will say : "I really like this team going forward...blah blah blah"

Danny will say what he always says

“When you just add a rebounder, and he hurts your offense, it defeats the purpose. A rebounder will just be sitting on your bench. We have players that are more skilled, and we play around our strengths. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that when we added Al Horford this year — and this is nothing to take away from Isaiah (Thomas) and Avery (Bradley), because they’re fantastic players — but I think that Al’s presence makes those guys all better. We have the floor spread and we have skilled bigs. Al is leading NBA centers in assists this year, and that’s the way that we play. First of all, we know that we don’t have a great rebounding team from a personnel standpoint, but we also don’t play a great rebounding style, in that we rely on our bigs to play out on the perimeter and make plays and make passes and open up the court up for our guards. It is a weakness. There are some guys out there that can rebound OK. I think there was one or two rebounders that I would say that were good rebounders that could help us rebounding. But we’re always trying to evaluate if they’re going to help our team overall.”

http://nesn.com/2017/02/danny-ainge-explains-why-celtics-didnt-fill-rebounding-need-at-trade-deadline/


Don't like Zaza either. Horford can no longer defend stretch 4s on the perimeter. If we sign Zaza, Horford will have to play out of position (unless we sign him as a backup Center, but I'd rather give those minutes to Zizic).

[Rosco917]

IMO the real elephant is the health of IT. And what type of player will he be in the future, because a cautious IT is almost useless.

Now with Millsap off the table, I guess the Celtics will have to choose from the leftover bigs of the league if Hayward doesn't come through.

[heyvik]

Brad can just play Crowder or Tatum at the 4. It's not quite ideal, especially if Horford has to miss any games. But it's probably not a big deal, and if does prove to be an issue we can easily fix it at the trade deadline.

it kinda is a big deal - Why not address it in the off season, instead of trying to go 40+ games hoping Al Horford/Zizic/ (??) doesn't get hurt.

Crowder is NOT a solution at the 4 and neither is Tatum.

[td450]

I'm looking forward to seeing both Yabusele and Ojeleye get a chance. I'm hoping at least one turns out to be a contributor. They are both very unique athletes. The only thing about the C's I haven't liked the last few years is the inability of our bigs to play with force and aggression. It would be nice to see Zizic and these two pushing other teams bigs around for a change.

That being said, they are all rookies and we will need some front court help. This has been impossible to address until Hayward is resolved, and it must be through trades and the room exception.

This offseason will be defined primarily by Hayward's decision, but the smaller moves Ainge makes to address the front court will probably be as important for next year. I'm looking forward to seeing what he does. I think these smaller value moves are what Ainge is best at.

[footey]

you forgot Yabu, I actually kinda like this being thin, because you now HAVE to throw Zizic and Yabu into the fire early so they can grow

I'm with you on this line of thinking. Look how quickly Draymond Green produced for GSW. Maybe we'll get luck with Yabu.

[heyvik]

I'm looking forward to seeing both Yabusele and Ojeleye get a chance. I'm hoping at least one turns out to be a contributor. They are both very unique athletes. The only thing about the C's I haven't liked the last few years is the inability of our bigs to play with force and aggression. It would be nice to see Zizic and these two pushing other teams bigs around for a change.

That being said, they are all rookies and we will need some front court help. This has been impossible to address until Hayward is resolved, and it must be through trades and the room exception.

This offseason will be defined primarily by Hayward's decision, but the smaller moves Ainge makes to address the front court will probably be as important for next year. I'm looking forward to seeing what he does. I think these smaller value moves are what Ainge is best at.

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Source says Gordon Hayward isn't locked into any timeline on deciding. Wants to get through meeting with Jazz today and then will regroup.
11:46 AM - 3 Jul 2017

The wait....

[heyvik]

you forgot Yabu, I actually kinda like this being thin, because you now HAVE to throw Zizic and Yabu into the fire early so they can grow

I'm with you on this line of thinking. Look how quickly Draymond Green produced for GSW. Maybe we'll get luck with Yabu.

remember Draymond Green played an important role on a winning Michigan State team....Yabu played overseas.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Out of the Box Solution.

Sign G-Leaguers/Undrafted Free Agents and bring them to training camp and see if there's some diamond in the rough?

I mean, we found Greg Steimsma, who at the time, was a serviceable big. Maybe we could find another one.

[IDreamCeltics]

you forgot Yabu, I actually kinda like this being thin, because you now HAVE to throw Zizic and Yabu into the fire early so they can grow

I'm with you on this line of thinking. Look how quickly Draymond Green produced for GSW. Maybe we'll get luck with Yabu.

There's a chance you're being sarcastic so if I'm totally missing that I apologize up front.

But Draymond played 4 years of college in a top program and was 24 years old and in his third year in the NBA when he he broke 30 minutes a game.