Saving the TPE

[Goldstar88]

Celtics should wait until the off-season to use the TPE. Steven Adams contract will be going from $29.5M this year to $17M for the next two. They need someone like him to go up against Embiid and the other legitimate bigs in the league. It’s clear that Theis and Thompson are not the answer. They just don’t have the size to compete and I don’t see the Celtics getting past Philly with those two as starters.

If the price for Adams is too steep, Another option after the season ends would be Andre Drummond, who will be a FA. If he gets bought out and goes to the Nets this year, I doubt they are able to retain him as they have $130M+ tied up with 3 players.

The Celtics are a true contender with one of those guys at the C postion.

Kemba, Smart, Brown, Tatum, Adams(or Drummond)

[tazzmaniac]

Celtics should wait until the off-season to use the TPE. Steven Adams contract will be going from $29.5M this year to $17M for the next two. They need someone like him to go up against Embiid and the other legitimate bigs in the league. It’s clear that Theis and Thompson are not the answer. They just don’t have the size to compete and I don’t see the Celtics getting passed Philly with those two as starters.

If the price for Adams is too steep, Another option after the season ends would be Andre Drummond, who will be a FA. If he gets bought out and goes to the Nets this year, I doubt they are able to retain him as they have $130M+ tied up with 3 players.

The Celtics are a true contender with one of those guys at the C postion.

Kemba, Smart, Brown, Tatum, Adams(or Drummond)

Embiid usually dominates Drummond. 

[celticsclay]

Celtics should wait until the off-season to use the TPE. Steven Adams contract will be going from $29.5M this year to $17M for the next two. They need someone like him to go up against Embiid and the other legitimate bigs in the league. It’s clear that Theis and Thompson are not the answer. They just don’t have the size to compete and I don’t see the Celtics getting passed Philly with those two as starters.

If the price for Adams is too steep, Another option after the season ends would be Andre Drummond, who will be a FA. If he gets bought out and goes to the Nets this year, I doubt they are able to retain him as they have $130M+ tied up with 3 players.

The Celtics are a true contender with one of those guys at the C postion.

Kemba, Smart, Brown, Tatum, Adams(or Drummond)

Embiid usually dominates Drummond.

Yeah but we don't need to dominate that matchup, just not get slaughtered.
Tatum crushes Harris
Brown and Simmons is a wash
Kemba crushes Curry
Smart Crushes whoever is the next best player for them.

[nickagneta]

Celtics should wait until the off-season to use the TPE. Steven Adams contract will be going from $29.5M this year to $17M for the next two. They need someone like him to go up against Embiid and the other legitimate bigs in the league. It’s clear that Theis and Thompson are not the answer. They just don’t have the size to compete and I don’t see the Celtics getting passed Philly with those two as starters.

If the price for Adams is too steep, Another option after the season ends would be Andre Drummond, who will be a FA. If he gets bought out and goes to the Nets this year, I doubt they are able to retain him as they have $130M+ tied up with 3 players.

The Celtics are a true contender with one of those guys at the C postion.

Kemba, Smart, Brown, Tatum, Adams(or Drummond)

Embiid usually dominates Drummond.

Yeah but we don't need to dominate that matchup, just not get slaughtered.
Tatum crushes Harris
Brown and Simmons is a wash
Kemba crushes Curry
Smart Crushes whoever is the next best player for them.

Meh. I am of the opinion that if the Celtics can make Embiid work a bit by throwing fresh bodies at him and crashing down with some same side double teaming, while also playing great perimeter defense, and shutting down Philly when Embiid is off the floor, the Celtics can handle Philly without any need to upgrade the center position.

I think making a trade just to attempt to limit one guy in the conference is self defeating. I think what this team really needs is a versatile defending 3&D wing, a guy that can guard 2-4 and hit that three at 40% or so.

[Roy H.]

Who were our centers when we beat Philly in the playoffs last year?

[Vermont Green]

I don't think we need to make a move specific to matching up with Embiid.  He is a really good player but he can't beat us all by himself, as proven in the playoffs last season.  The issue for Philly was not Embiid, it was that Simmons was not playing and Harris was in a funk.  If those two are back and playing well, Philly will be a tough out for us, but not just because of Embiid.

I am not as concerned about our Centers as some other weaknesses.  We have Thompson and RWilliams plus Theis can play center.  I think our greater weakness is PF.  Our best PF is Theis who isn't even really a PF (or hasn't been one for most of his career).  Then we have Ojeleye and Grant Williams.

I hope we do find a good use for some of the TPE this season (very unlikely we use all of the Hayward TPE this season in any case).  I would focus first on a true PF if one becomes available, second best is the PF/swing type, or just a veteran wing would help too.  I would be open to grabbing a center upgrade if one were to become available but I don't see that happening. I think we would be better served overall with an upgrade at some other needs and I think we are more likely to have more realistic options for addressing the other needs.

[Goldstar88]

Celtics should wait until the off-season to use the TPE. Steven Adams contract will be going from $29.5M this year to $17M for the next two. They need someone like him to go up against Embiid and the other legitimate bigs in the league. It’s clear that Theis and Thompson are not the answer. They just don’t have the size to compete and I don’t see the Celtics getting passed Philly with those two as starters.

If the price for Adams is too steep, Another option after the season ends would be Andre Drummond, who will be a FA. If he gets bought out and goes to the Nets this year, I doubt they are able to retain him as they have $130M+ tied up with 3 players.

The Celtics are a true contender with one of those guys at the C postion.

Kemba, Smart, Brown, Tatum, Adams(or Drummond)

Embiid usually dominates Drummond.

Yeah but we don't need to dominate that matchup, just not get slaughtered.
Tatum crushes Harris
Brown and Simmons is a wash
Kemba crushes Curry
Smart Crushes whoever is the next best player for them.

Meh. I am of the opinion that if the Celtics can make Embiid work a bit by throwing fresh bodies at him and crashing down with some same side double teaming, while also playing great perimeter defense, and shutting down Philly when Embiid is off the floor, the Celtics can handle Philly without any need to upgrade the center position.

I think making a trade just to attempt to limit one guy in the conference is self defeating. I think what this team really needs is a versatile defending 3&D wing, a guy that can guard 2-4 and hit that three at 40% or so.

It’s not just that matchup, it’s any team that has a big physical center. Adams or Drummond are a huge upgrade over any of the bigs the Celtics have in almost every possible way.

[Goldstar88]

Who were our centers when we beat Philly in the playoffs last year?

Kanter did a better job against him last year than either Theis or Thompson are doing this year. Embiid absolutely abused the Celtics in the matchups this season.I don’t see that changing unless a a roster move is made.

[nickagneta]

Celtics should wait until the off-season to use the TPE. Steven Adams contract will be going from $29.5M this year to $17M for the next two. They need someone like him to go up against Embiid and the other legitimate bigs in the league. It’s clear that Theis and Thompson are not the answer. They just don’t have the size to compete and I don’t see the Celtics getting passed Philly with those two as starters.

If the price for Adams is too steep, Another option after the season ends would be Andre Drummond, who will be a FA. If he gets bought out and goes to the Nets this year, I doubt they are able to retain him as they have $130M+ tied up with 3 players.

The Celtics are a true contender with one of those guys at the C postion.

Kemba, Smart, Brown, Tatum, Adams(or Drummond)

Embiid usually dominates Drummond.

Yeah but we don't need to dominate that matchup, just not get slaughtered.
Tatum crushes Harris
Brown and Simmons is a wash
Kemba crushes Curry
Smart Crushes whoever is the next best player for them.

Meh. I am of the opinion that if the Celtics can make Embiid work a bit by throwing fresh bodies at him and crashing down with some same side double teaming, while also playing great perimeter defense, and shutting down Philly when Embiid is off the floor, the Celtics can handle Philly without any need to upgrade the center position.

I think making a trade just to attempt to limit one guy in the conference is self defeating. I think what this team really needs is a versatile defending 3&D wing, a guy that can guard 2-4 and hit that three at 40% or so.

It’s not just that matchup, it’s any team that has a big physical center. Adams or Drummond are a huge upgrade over any of the bigs the Celtics have in almost every possible way.

Nah. They are just big and not necessarily effective against top level bigs.

Taking a look at last year's regular season matchup numbers, Theis was actually more effective defensively against Embiid than both Drummond and Stevens.

[Sophomore]

Who were our centers when we beat Philly in the playoffs last year?

Kanter did a better job against him last year than either Theis or Embiid are doing this year. Embiid absolutely abused the Celtics in the matchups this season.I don’t see that changing unless a a roster move is made.

Embiid and the Sixers are such an unusual matchup. Kanter was strong enough that Embiid couldn’t just truck him, and the Sixers didn’t have a PG who could put him into the pick and roll and feast on his trouble in drop coverage. Kanter was horrific on D against almost everyone else, but there he was useful. I thought Thompson was still interested in playing basketball and could help with this, but it turns out he’s not. Not sure who else there is - and let’s be clear, Embiid has been tremendous this year. He’s in the mvp conversation, so it’s not just us he’s abusing.

[wdleehi]

I am against the idea of just saving the TPE for next year.   I think the Celtics have to explore what they could do for this season and it's impact on future seasons.


I am not a big fan of trading it for someone on their last year of their contract unless the Celtics are serious about resigning that player.   


As for targeting a player just to deal with the 76ers, I will wait until the 76ers show they can win a 7 game series against the Celtics.

[Jiri Welsch]

If we use the TPE this year it should be for a veteran scoring wing, who could fill the Hayward role but come off the bench.

As this year goes along, our big situation will only get better IMO. RWIII will continue to improve and Thompson/Theis will continue to get more comfortable in their role(s).

I don't think Philly is such a juggernaut where we'd need to make a trade just to compensate for one guy. They're bad on the road and barely can beat us at home this year w/o Tatum.

[JBcat]

Who were our centers when we beat Philly in the playoffs last year?

Very good point though Philly didn’t have Simmons for that series, and we didn’t have Tatum for the 2 games recently against them.  Really want to see both teams full strength against each other to see how it looks. 

[wdleehi]

If we use the TPE this year it should be for a veteran scoring wing, who could fill the Hayward role but come off the bench.

As this year goes along, our big situation will only get better IMO. RWIII will continue to improve and Thompson/Theis will continue to get more comfortable in their role(s).

I don't think Philly is such a juggernaut where we'd need to make a trade just to compensate for one guy. They're bad on the road and barely can beat us at home this year w/o Tatum.

Honestly at this point, I think I want a player that could help jump start this defense.   With the growth we have seen with Brown and Tatum, I am not sure if another playmaker is as needed.   

But a long switchable defender who could play the 4/3........

[footey]

In hindsight, swapping TT for Kanter seems like a mistake. Kanter specialized in going against big bodies, better than TT. I don't think TT gives us anything defensively that we don't get from Theis and Rob Williams. Early returns anyway.