We've been off track since the August 22, 2017

[Moranis]

July 18, 2018

?

I'm trying to remember the significance of this date.  Best I can tell from google it's when the Celtics engaged with Marcus Smart in contract talks.

That is the day that Toronto Raptors landed Kawhi Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs.  That is the day Boston's hope of a title any time in the next 5 years went away.  The day it became apparent that Ainge couldn't commit to a winning path.

Ah ok.

Sure.

I mean, if by "winning path" you mean trading Jaylen Brown for a year of Kawhi Leonard and *maybe* winning a title, then being in an even tougher spot than the team is now, sure.

Maybe a year of Kawhi.  Maybe that alone creates better chemistry and both Kawhi and Kyrie stick around.  When you have a team that is on the verge and a top 5 player becomes available and you don't have to sell the farm to get him, you have to acquire him.  Without a second thought every single time.  The fact that Ainge didn't is the exact problem with this team.  Ainge just can't pull the trigger.  And now the team is a mess, has no shot a title any time soon, and has no real good assets to elevate the team to the next level.  Time and time again, Ainge passes on acquiring legit top end talent, and the one time he pulls the trigger he picked the most injury prone, worst attitude, and worst player to actually pull the trigger on.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I think it is true that a) this team should be playing better than it is, AND b) this team, even at its best, is still not good enough to win a title. Those are not mutually exclusive things.

It wasn’t Danny’s fault (or Gordon’s) that Gordon got severely injured, but I think Danny may have made a bad miscalculation in trading for Irving, who even then was known as a bit of a headcase. I’m not convinced that AD was ever open to coming to Boston, but he sure as heck wasn’t after Hayward went down and Kyrie imploded. So it seems to me that Danny’s Plan A, while admirable, never really stood a chance of succeeding, which would mean he never should’ve really pursued it and should have instead developed a different plan.

Maybe using the Brooklyn picks, instead of trading them, basically was his Plan B (or became his Plan B by default), and he certainly made great picks with Brown and Tatum, but he’s put a mediocre roster around those two, and the team has actually taken a step back this season, regardless of injuries.

It’s really frustrating for fans, especially because this rebuild has now taken 8 years and hasn’t even gotten Boston to an NBA Finals, while in the meantime the Lakers and Clippers and Nets did things that only L.A. and New York teams can do and have shot past Boston in terms of talent AND title chances (and in the case of the Lakers, actually won another title). Yeah, we Boston fans are spoiled, but that doesn’t make certain realities (this roster’s mediocrity, Lakers easily loading up) any less annoying.

[PhoSita]

Maybe a year of Kawhi.  Maybe that alone creates better chemistry and both Kawhi and Kyrie stick around. 

Kawhi was always going to LA.

Kyrie was always going to a team where he and whichever of his friends he convinced to come along could run the show.

Neither was ever going to stick around in Boston.

[PhoSita]

It’s really frustrating for fans, especially because this rebuild has now taken 8 years and hasn’t even gotten Boston to an NBA Finals, while in the meantime the Lakers and Clippers and Nets did things that only L.A. and New York teams can do and have shot past Boston in terms of talent AND title chances (and in the case of the Lakers, actually won another title). Yeah, we Boston fans are spoiled, but that doesn’t make certain realities (this roster’s mediocrity, Lakers easily loading up) any less annoying.

This is the thing -- we need to stop measuring the success of the Celtics franchise against what LA and NY teams are able to do.  Similarly, we need to stop measuring the success of the Celtics franchise against what the Celtics franchise was able to do back in the 60s, 70s, and 80s when they were one of a handful of serious franchises in a smaller and less money / media driven league.



The 8 year rebuild you mention has yielded two young superstars and more playoff success than a lot of smaller market teams have enjoyed in the last 20 years.

True, it may be hitting a bit of a ceiling right now that might require a serious reconsideration of the plan for the next 5-10 years.  But the last 8 years have intrinsic value and deserve to be appreciated irrespective of the lack of a Finals trip / title.

[SHAQATTACK]

It all went wrong when Hayward broke his ankle.

Or it went wrong when Kyrie decided to leave, gave vague impressions to that effect, and the team didn't trade him.

Or it went wrong when the team wasn't sure if Hayward was staying (or that they'd pay him market rate), and they didn't trade him.

Or it went wrong when Danny didn't use assets to bolster the bench coming off a ECF loss where the top of the roster was very good but couldn't quite seal the deal in the fourth quarter, and the bench was super thin.

All this is the way it played out in my mind.

I was shocked by a couple things ,  first what a totally a screwball Irving is ,  I knew he different and aloof,  just did not really see him going off the rails and being the quitter he is. The Hayward injury , seemed to mess his confidence in the team up , and then he knew the inside info on AD refusal to be a Celtic. 
 Then when KD trolled after him to join up on a team .  it was over and he showed it his last game.

After all the waiting , and sucking up Boston did on Hayward’s account , him leaving for the dollars ,  that was a hard pill to swallow ....his not wanting to stay and finish a job of bringing a championship to Boston.  but , money is what it would take ,  then Ainge totally screwed up , the money would have been better spent on Hayward than Worn out Walker .

[Moranis]

Maybe a year of Kawhi.  Maybe that alone creates better chemistry and both Kawhi and Kyrie stick around. 

Kawhi was always going to LA.

Kyrie was always going to a team where he and whichever of his friends he convinced to come along could run the show.

Neither was ever going to stick around in Boston.

And by all accounts had the Clippers not been able to get Paul George, Leonard would have re-signed in Toronto.  I remember when Paul George was destined for LA also and then re-signed in Oklahoma City.  No one knows how one year for Leonard would have worked out and whether or not he was going to stick around.