Next year

[drooldaddy]

So as a die hard fan I’m not giving up but let’s think about next year.
Assuming Smart, Tatum, Brown Theis Walker and Gord return, what would you like to realistically add to go to the next level.
I’m assuming no major trades and assuming the rookies coming in won’t change things much.
Personally I’d like to add size to the. Bench. And add a veteran guard.
Any more improvement by Timelord might help my first .
Any thoughts?

[PhoSita]

Wanamaker ---> Replace him with a more reliable handler/passer who has a little bit more offensive juice, i.e. somebody who occasionally gives you 15+ points. 

Kanter ---> Replace him with somebody who still gives you interior presence but isn't a disaster on defense.

Semi ---> Replace him with somebody who is more of a threat to score (very low bar to clear) and has at least a modicum of ball handling ability.


As a general theme what I'd like to see is for Danny to add just a few guys with some big game experience and some more scoring ability to round out the bench. 

This roster just has too many unproven or profoundly limited guys coming off the bench, which places too much of a burden on the starters.


Now, maybe what I've indicated above is simply out of the realm of possibility.  The Celts won't have cap space and I'm sure the trade market will be somewhat limited given the unusual off-season circumstances.  I also gather that the FA class is pretty bad.

My fear is that Danny will draft a few more raw rookies and the team will once again be relying on the top 6 guys on the roster plus maybe GRANT and Timelord to be enough to get them past tough opponents.  I just wish they had one or two guys coming off the bench who could occasionally go off and keep them in the game when the starters struggle.

[CelticsElite]

We are a fairly complete team at the starter level. The way this team gets big leads at the beginning proves that.

We just need a bench that can hold the leads. What happens is we lose the lead then the starters run out of energy getting back to even score, and then they’re out of juice in the 4th


We need strong 2 way players off the bench. Maybe a “tough”  Specialist that talks trash. We lack someone a little dirty. Perhaps a 3 pt sniper as well.

[Roy H.]

We need a shooter who can score 10 to 12 off the bench.

Unfortunately, the free agency class seems pretty bad at pretty much every level.  Joe Harris would be a really good fit, but my guess is that he gets the full MLE from somebody at least.

[Roy H.]

Here’s a list of free agents:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20229609/nba-free-agents-team-team-lists-2020-2021

[PhoSita]

I'm partial to Spotrac for tracking free agents

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/free-agents/


Some names that stand out to me:

Jeff Teague -- Might be available for a reasonable price on a short (1-2) year deal.  Not a great player, just an OK shooter, but more reliable as a playmaker than Wanamaker by a mile.

DJ Augustin - Similar thoughts on him to what I said about Teague.

Jordan Clarkson -- I've never been a fan but he's kind of like the guard version of Kanter.  Maybe a full MLE option though Utah might want to keep him.

Mo Harkless -- I bet he'll get overpaid b/c he's still young and has shown 3/D ability.  But he could be a good Semi replacement.

Juancho Hernangomez -- Not sure how good he actually is but I always found him kind of intriguing.  Theoretically a wing shooter with size.  Should be affordable but who knows, people overpay for wing shooting.


Tristan Thompson -- He's finally a UFA.  How much will he get paid?  I feel like he still has the ability to be a useful player for 15-20 minutes a night.  He's only 28.  His skillset seems less and less worth paying for in today's NBA though. 

Aron Baynes-- Old friend Aron.  Kinda long in the tooth at this point (33 y/o) but he doesn't have a lot of mileage on him.  Might want to stay in PHX.


Alex Len - I think he's a decent player, nothing special.  Might not be too pricey.

[knuckleballer]

I never expected us to contend this year.  I don’t think Danny did either, hence our bench is too young and untalented.

Next year, though, I think we will.  Brown will be better, but most importantly Tatum will be much better.  Just look at the rate he’s improving.

I expect we’ll have all our main guys back.  I’d be surprised if Hayward opted out for a variety of reasons.

Langford should be a valuable bench player next year, just my opinion.  Robert Williams is progressing nicely and will help more.  G Williams will improve at least slightly.

We will be able to give a mid level exception to improve our bench.  If it’s a guard, wing, or big, it’ll help a lot.  No idea who it might be, but players now know we’re a contender and will be interested.

Then our 3 picks.  We could go in a lot of different directions.  Whatever combination, it should help us.  That’s worthy of another thread.

Anyway, next year and likely for years to come, we will have an excellent shot at a title.

[NKY fan]

I'm partial to Spotrac for tracking free agents

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/free-agents/


Some names that stand out to me:

Jeff Teague -- Might be available for a reasonable price on a short (1-2) year deal.  Not a great player, just an OK shooter, but more reliable as a playmaker than Wanamaker by a mile.

DJ Augustin - Similar thoughts on him to what I said about Teague.

Jordan Clarkson -- I've never been a fan but he's kind of like the guard version of Kanter.  Maybe a full MLE option though Utah might want to keep him.

Mo Harkless -- I bet he'll get overpaid b/c he's still young and has shown 3/D ability.  But he could be a good Semi replacement.

Juancho Hernangomez -- Not sure how good he actually is but I always found him kind of intriguing.  Theoretically a wing shooter with size.  Should be affordable but who knows, people overpay for wing shooting.


Tristan Thompson -- He's finally a UFA.  How much will he get paid?  I feel like he still has the ability to be a useful player for 15-20 minutes a night.  He's only 28.  His skillset seems less and less worth paying for in today's NBA though. 

Aron Baynes-- Old friend Aron.  Kinda long in the tooth at this point (33 y/o) but he doesn't have a lot of mileage on him.  Might want to stay in PHX.


Alex Len - I think he's a decent player, nothing special.  Might not be too pricey.

Not on the list but a guy we can get for first rounder is Dennis Shroeder .. just need to scrap $10M in outgoing salary.
He can give us quality 25 minutes off the bench and is typically healthy.
Another guy For the back up big spot ... who also has crazy advanced stats is nerlens Noel ... he will cost some portion of the MLE

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I suspect that Danny will once again to little or nothing to address the bench woes.

I'm expecting him to use all the draft picks—to grab a couple more combo guards who can't shoot that well, and/or undersized "bigs"—and to fail to add any significant free agent shooters and bigs.

Then peter out in the conference finals again. Rinse, repeat.

[NKY fan]

I suspect that Danny will once again to little or nothing to address the bench woes.

I'm expecting him to use all the draft picks—to grab a couple more combo guards who can't shoot that well, and/or undersized "bigs"—and to fail to add any significant free agent shooters and bigs.

Then peter out in the conference finals again. Rinse, repeat.

Actually if that were to happen again next year will mean he is very consistent and he’s achieving his goals again.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

I wonder if Derrick Favors can...

1. be had on the cheap.
2. be a good fit for us.

I think there's still a good, starter level player in there. 

Also, Alec Burks would be a decent off the bench scorer for this team.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Also, maybe take a flier on Harry Giles?

[PhoSita]

Also, maybe take a flier on Harry Giles?

Eh ... we don't need another project, whatever his upside might be.

[PhoSita]

I wonder if Derrick Favors can...

1. be had on the cheap.
2. be a good fit for us.

I think there's still a good, starter level player in there. 

Also, Alec Burks would be a decent off the bench scorer for this team.

Burks is an interesting idea who might be gettable.

My assumption is that Favors is gonna cost too much.  Maybe he only gets Full MLE money but I wouldn't be surprised if somebody paid a little bit more than that to get a solid starting center.

[Sophomore]

I’m no capologist; if anybody has a rundown of where the Cs are it’s be a good thing to share here. You really need to know how much money the Cs can spend to have this convo. I know the answer is: not much, but there’s a little more to it.