Going Forward, the Kind of Players I Want to See As Celtics

[LooseCannon]

The Celtics are desperate for a big man now, I so I will give them a pass on finding whatever short-term help they can, but I have a vision of what kind of team I want to see built in Boston.  These are the qualities I want Ainge to look for in who he drafts and signs or trades for this summer.

So long as Doc Rivers is the coach, I see the team being defense-first, with an offense based on creating open jump shots and mismatches through ball movement and by scoring off of turnovers.

-intelligence.  Good BBIQ and a capacity to learn and understand offensive and defensive schemes.  No knuckleheads.  If you must acquire an idiot, do so under the assumption that he will never get smarter.  If that makes you pause, then don't get him.

-emotional maturity.  Players who lack it will be less likely to accept team concepts.

-defense.  Players must be able to fit into the team's defensive identity.  No players who are good at offense and a liability on defense.  You don't have to be a plus defender, but you can't be a bad one, whether you just don't care or you are actively bad.  The exception if you are really, really good at offense.  Basically, Ray Allen yes, Corey Maggette no.  This goes doubly so for rookies.  They won't play under Doc Rivers unless they prioritize effort on defense over offense.

-good passing.  You can tolerate a few black holes like Brandon Bass, but there has to be an ability to move the ball around the court.  An iso-ball scorer or post player who forces shots instead of passing if there's not a good shot is a bad fit.  No chuckers.

-some range, especially for bigs.  The days of pounding the ball inside are over.  Against modern defenses, you need big men who can stretch the defense by having at least a mid-range jumper.  For wings, you usually need some three-point ability.  For draft picks, they don't need those weapons to be NBA-ready straight out of college, but they do need the upside to develop such skills.

If you think I left out youth, athleticism, and rebounding, you'd be right.  That's intentional.