What's our next move?

[Eric_Suede]

Let me start off by saying I like the Tatum Pick. Fact of the matter is though, just as was the case with Jaylen Brown, He's not going to be the difference that brings us to the next level to compete with the Cavs. It's kind of odd to me that people seem to keep saying Hayward as if it's a foregone conclusion he's signing with the C's. I'm not too sure about that. On one hand it makes sense but due to the CBA he'll actually make more money staying in Utah.

 So question is what do you guys think is plans A,B & C. If Gordon doesn't come here, what do we do? We need vets. I'm not going to do my usual rant dogging young players ( I do think people on this forum seem to get hypnotized with young player's "potential" ) But I do think the idea of expecting these young 19 & 20 yr olds (who aren't even legally old enough to drink) to be the answer we need, is ridiculous. Since Butler is out the window , if Hayward throws a monkey wrench in the plans and stays put in Utah, who should the Celtics go after? I'm trying to get a feel for what's out there that noone is really talking about outside the usual names we've been hearing for weeks (butler, george, hayward)

[seancally]

Plan B is go after Blake Griffin (unless that's plan A). If we strike out there, maybe they best course is to let it ride, accept that we made incremental improvement simply through internal development and drafting No. 3 again. We did win 53 games last season and there's no reason to expect a step back. Obviously that's not a great Plan C, but it's not crazy to think Jaylen might be a consistent rotation guy and Zizic a plus rebounder right away.

With that said, I actually think it's likely we sign Hayward or Griffin. In addition, if we don't make a play for PG now, he may still be available. There are always good players to become available close to the deadline and we still have the assets to make a trade.

Some call this kicking the can down the road, but when you come of an ECF berth and still make improvements (while CLE arguably digresses), things could be worse.

....but here's hoping Hayward signs!

[Surferdad]

I think signing a big-time FA (the ones mostly discussed) is pretty unlikely, actually.  Ainge seems to be going for a slow build mainly through the draft. 

At some future point we will look back and see that the Horford FA signing was the exception, kind of a bridge that keeps the team competitive.  This was not the intent, though.  I firmly believe the real motivation was to help bring in Durant.  We know how that turned out.

So now Ainge goes back to trades and draft.