Now DA should be on the hot seat

[seancally]

Kanter and Thompson are comparable players. Kanter is much better offensively, while Thompson is clearly better defensively. Both are extraordinary rebounders and fysical. Both are double-double machines (unless you only play them 10-15 minutes a game  ).

Thompson's playoff numbers are a lot better, but that might have something to do with playing alongside a certain LeBron James. (Timofey Mozgov had a great playoff-run as well with the Cavs, which handed him 64/4).

If I had to choose between: Turner (18M) / Thompson (9M) / Kanter (5M) + #30,
then Thompson would come last. I'm also afraid that Stevens will just use Thompson as a back-up center and in that case he won't provide much which Timelord can't do.

Some people also seem to have forgotten that Kanter had a good year with us. I'm not saying he's a huge loss, but I don't think Thompson is necessarily an improvement.

Did he? I seem to recall him as a spot player with severe limitations that kept him off the floor most of the time. Tristan Thompson is a starting C on a championship team.

[footey]

Kanter and Thompson are comparable players. Kanter is much better offensively, while Thompson is clearly better defensively. Both are extraordinary rebounders and fysical. Both are double-double machines (unless you only play them 10-15 minutes a game  ).

Thompson's playoff numbers are a lot better, but that might have something to do with playing alongside a certain LeBron James. (Timofey Mozgov had a great playoff-run as well with the Cavs, which handed him 64/4).

If I had to choose between: Turner (18M) / Thompson (9M) / Kanter (5M) + #30,
then Thompson would come last. I'm also afraid that Stevens will just use Thompson as a back-up center and in that case he won't provide much which Timelord can't do.

Some people also seem to have forgotten that Kanter had a good year with us. I'm not saying he's a huge loss, but I don't think Thompson is necessarily an improvement.

Did he? I seem to recall him as a spot player with severe limitations that kept him off the floor most of the time. Tristan Thompson is a starting C on a championship team.

So was JR Smith, LOL.

[AshyLarry]

Kanter and Thompson are comparable players. Kanter is much better offensively, while Thompson is clearly better defensively. Both are extraordinary rebounders and fysical. Both are double-double machines (unless you only play them 10-15 minutes a game  ).

Thompson's playoff numbers are a lot better, but that might have something to do with playing alongside a certain LeBron James. (Timofey Mozgov had a great playoff-run as well with the Cavs, which handed him 64/4).

If I had to choose between: Turner (18M) / Thompson (9M) / Kanter (5M) + #30,
then Thompson would come last. I'm also afraid that Stevens will just use Thompson as a back-up center and in that case he won't provide much which Timelord can't do.

Some people also seem to have forgotten that Kanter had a good year with us. I'm not saying he's a huge loss, but I don't think Thompson is necessarily an improvement.

Did he? I seem to recall him as a spot player with severe limitations that kept him off the floor most of the time. Tristan Thompson is a starting C on a championship team.

Kanter’s defense last year reminded me of Avery Bradley’s offense his rookie year. Cringeworthy. I’ll take Thompson’s D all day. Big upgrade.

[SparzWizard]

Should fans start being concerned now after Ainge signed two big-time free agents in his entire tenure with the Celtics- Al Horford and Gordon Hayward, and both ended up leaving with no obvious way to replace neither, and never sniffed an NBA Finals?

[RodyTur10]

Kanter and Thompson are comparable players. Kanter is much better offensively, while Thompson is clearly better defensively. Both are extraordinary rebounders and fysical. Both are double-double machines (unless you only play them 10-15 minutes a game  ).

Thompson's playoff numbers are a lot better, but that might have something to do with playing alongside a certain LeBron James. (Timofey Mozgov had a great playoff-run as well with the Cavs, which handed him 64/4).

If I had to choose between: Turner (18M) / Thompson (9M) / Kanter (5M) + #30,
then Thompson would come last. I'm also afraid that Stevens will just use Thompson as a back-up center and in that case he won't provide much which Timelord can't do.

Some people also seem to have forgotten that Kanter had a good year with us. I'm not saying he's a huge loss, but I don't think Thompson is necessarily an improvement.

Did he? I seem to recall him as a spot player with severe limitations that kept him off the floor most of the time. Tristan Thompson is a starting C on a championship team.

Enes Kanter had by far the best oncourt/offcourt ratings of all Celtic-players in the playoffs (while Ojeleye was by far the worst and still got more minutes  ). Kanter averaged 17/15 (per 36) during both the regular season and playoff season. He was objectively the 7th best player on the team (after Tatum, Brown, Walker, Hayward, Smart and Theis).

Stevens just went with small ball most of the time during the playoffs, so Kanter and Rob Williams were mostly just victims of the system and not really playing bad. While Ojeleye got more playing time than them despite actually playing bad! As a result of the system we had to play Walker, Brown, Smart and Tatum too many minutes per game (which caused fatigue), while we had two servicable centers on the bench eager to play.

I'm worried that Stevens would play a rotation in minutes something like below (in the playoffs) and underutilize the bigs he has at hand again and overplay guards and wings as a consequence:

Walker 35
Teague 25
Smart 35
Nesmith 10
Brown 40
Tatum 40
Grant Williams 20
Theis 20
Thompson 15
Robert Williams 0

[Surferdad]

Should fans start being concerned now after Ainge signed two big-time free agents in his entire tenure with the Celtics- Al Horford and Gordon Hayward, and both ended up leaving with no obvious way to replace neither, and never sniffed an NBA Finals?

No.  What are you concerned about?  Signing FAs is like a gift, nothing ventured, nothing gained.  If they leave, so what?  Sign another.

[gouki88]

Should fans start being concerned now after Ainge signed two big-time free agents in his entire tenure with the Celtics- Al Horford and Gordon Hayward, and both ended up leaving with no obvious way to replace neither, and never sniffed an NBA Finals?

What are you on about this time?

You also seem to be forgetting the marquee free agent signing we just had. Ainge only secured an All-Star starting PG

[hwangjini_1]

Typical overreaction — amusing:

The simple fact is, if a bad team with cap space was willing to offer what CHA did to Hayward, and he was willing to take it, some sort of IND deal likely wasn’t happening at the end of the day anyway. Do people think Jordan’s phone would have magically stopped working if Ainge and the Pacers agreed to some version of a deal on their end? It was up to Hayward — not Ainge.

Oh, and by the way, Ainge simply may not have liked a Turner / McDermott combo. With a Tatum extension coming, he has to navigate the hard cap and may prefer the large trade exception he hopes to get from CHA anyway.

This is not fantasy sports. Ainge has to make calls he believe in. He may not have felt an IND package without TJ Warren was actually desirable. And I’m fine with that if he has an alternative plan, because Turner is not exactly Bill Russell.

good points, and a much needed tp for you.

it's as if people are arguing that ainge should have forced hayward - an unrestricted free agent - to sign with indiana for less money.

hayward held all the cards and decided money trumped all else.

[hwangjini_1]

Should fans start being concerned now after Ainge signed two big-time free agents in his entire tenure with the Celtics- Al Horford and Gordon Hayward, and both ended up leaving with no obvious way to replace neither, and never sniffed an NBA Finals?

the celtics with a healthy hayward would have beaten miami, and, i believe, beaten LA. but we will never know.

ainge constructed a heck of a team, but injuries undid them.

and having horford leave for nothing did not really destroy the celtics, did it? they ran all they way to the conference finals despite injuries. and it was the right move to let him go, as it was the right move to NOT sign hayward at $30 million per year.

now, the new version celtics replace injured hayward, kanter, wannamaker with thompson, teague, nesmith, and pritchard. and maybe ainge adds someone at the trade deadline, he now has medium sized salaries to do so.

the end of time is not near. the apocolypse has not arrived. the celtics are not dead.

this will be an interesting season. if a couple of the youngsters break out, the celtics could win it all.

[Sketch5]

I think this started as a knee jerk reaction. Yeah losing Hayward for nothing sucks, but no way paying him that much, no way Indy was either. If we get a TE out it, thats great, still can move that for an other player. Beal might want out depending on Wall and if Wash can move him. Heild while not as good as Beal, would really open up the for guys to get to the hoop. And who knows who might become available in a couple months or even next summer.

Thompson and Teague are great pick ups, adding vet leadership, and playoff experience. Still need a couple pieces to make a hard run, but its there.

I mean we went short handed in the playoffs with out Hayward and Kemba had a bum knee and got close. Brown/Smart and Tatum have a ton of playoff experience for being so young.

I rather be us right now than compared to Philly who has their two core guys that don't complement each other and one can't shoot, and it's not the center.

[PhoSita]

The "Danny Ainge has seen three major free agents walk away in recent years" narrative is so lame and lazy.

Anybody who has been paying attention understands the context and should be able to recognize that the three situations are distinct and that there's not much if any blame to place on the Celtics.

I for one am happy Ainge didn't keep around a toxic primadonna or hand out two of the worst contracts in the NBA in a two year span.

[BringToughnessBack]

Pretty sure some fans should be on the hot seat...can we close this thread?

[michigan adam]

Kanter and Thompson are comparable players. Kanter is much better offensively, while Thompson is clearly better defensively. Both are extraordinary rebounders and fysical. Both are double-double machines (unless you only play them 10-15 minutes a game  ).

Thompson's playoff numbers are a lot better, but that might have something to do with playing alongside a certain LeBron James. (Timofey Mozgov had a great playoff-run as well with the Cavs, which handed him 64/4).

If I had to choose between: Turner (18M) / Thompson (9M) / Kanter (5M) + #30,
then Thompson would come last. I'm also afraid that Stevens will just use Thompson as a back-up center and in that case he won't provide much which Timelord can't do.

Some people also seem to have forgotten that Kanter had a good year with us. I'm not saying he's a huge loss, but I don't think Thompson is necessarily an improvement.

Did he? I seem to recall him as a spot player with severe limitations that kept him off the floor most of the time. Tristan Thompson is a starting C on a championship team.

Enes Kanter had by far the best oncourt/offcourt ratings of all Celtic-players in the playoffs (while Ojeleye was by far the worst and still got more minutes  ). Kanter averaged 17/15 (per 36) during both the regular season and playoff season. He was objectively the 7th best player on the team (after Tatum, Brown, Walker, Hayward, Smart and Theis).

Stevens just went with small ball most of the time during the playoffs, so Kanter and Rob Williams were mostly just victims of the system and not really playing bad. While Ojeleye got more playing time than them despite actually playing bad! As a result of the system we had to play Walker, Brown, Smart and Tatum too many minutes per game (which caused fatigue), while we had two servicable centers on the bench eager to play.

I'm worried that Stevens would play a rotation in minutes something like below (in the playoffs) and underutilize the bigs he has at hand again and overplay guards and wings as a consequence:

Walker 35
Teague 25
Smart 35
Nesmith 10
Brown 40
Tatum 40
Grant Williams 20
Theis 20
Thompson 15
Robert Williams 0

Stevens is all about defense.  You don't get on the court if you don't know your job and do it to the best of your ability. Kemba was no hero on D, but he always made the right decision and because of it was respectable.  Kanter wand RW3 were lost out there, despite having the ability to be good.

[RodyTur10]

Kanter and Thompson are comparable players. Kanter is much better offensively, while Thompson is clearly better defensively. Both are extraordinary rebounders and fysical. Both are double-double machines (unless you only play them 10-15 minutes a game  ).

Thompson's playoff numbers are a lot better, but that might have something to do with playing alongside a certain LeBron James. (Timofey Mozgov had a great playoff-run as well with the Cavs, which handed him 64/4).

If I had to choose between: Turner (18M) / Thompson (9M) / Kanter (5M) + #30,
then Thompson would come last. I'm also afraid that Stevens will just use Thompson as a back-up center and in that case he won't provide much which Timelord can't do.

Some people also seem to have forgotten that Kanter had a good year with us. I'm not saying he's a huge loss, but I don't think Thompson is necessarily an improvement.

Did he? I seem to recall him as a spot player with severe limitations that kept him off the floor most of the time. Tristan Thompson is a starting C on a championship team.

Enes Kanter had by far the best oncourt/offcourt ratings of all Celtic-players in the playoffs (while Ojeleye was by far the worst and still got more minutes  ). Kanter averaged 17/15 (per 36) during both the regular season and playoff season. He was objectively the 7th best player on the team (after Tatum, Brown, Walker, Hayward, Smart and Theis).

Stevens just went with small ball most of the time during the playoffs, so Kanter and Rob Williams were mostly just victims of the system and not really playing bad. While Ojeleye got more playing time than them despite actually playing bad! As a result of the system we had to play Walker, Brown, Smart and Tatum too many minutes per game (which caused fatigue), while we had two servicable centers on the bench eager to play.

I'm worried that Stevens would play a rotation in minutes something like below (in the playoffs) and underutilize the bigs he has at hand again and overplay guards and wings as a consequence:

Walker 35
Teague 25
Smart 35
Nesmith 10
Brown 40
Tatum 40
Grant Williams 20
Theis 20
Thompson 15
Robert Williams 0

Stevens is all about defense.  You don't get on the court if you don't know your job and do it to the best of your ability. Kemba was no hero on D, but he always made the right decision and because of it was respectable.  Kanter and RW3 were lost out there, despite having the ability to be good.

With Kanter you know that he's a terrible PnR-defender (it's not lack of effort), you need to gameplan for that and make the best use of his abilities (why have him on the roster if you don't???).

And I don't think Robert Williams was lost at all. In fact he had some very good stints against the Raptors and then hardly got any playing time against the Heat, because Stevens was preferring small ball while Adebayo torched us.

The defensive ratings for Robert Williams were one of the best on the team. And Enes Kanter provided an offensive spark time and time again, he had the best on- and offcourt numbers of everybody.

[tenn_smoothie]

I'm still dumbfounded over Ainge drafting Langford instead of Brandon Clarke.
An injured, inconsistent guard with a bad outside shot instead of a strong, smart post player who made the All-Rookie team.

He really does have a strange obsession with perimeter guys when it has been obvious for a few years that we need help inside - even when Horford was here. But he keeps losing them in favor of acquiring perimeter guys. Is he blind ?