Blakely: Danny Ainge takes blame for Celtics’ underwhelming start

[slamtheking]

The worst free agent miss of the off-season was Paul Milsap deciding he didn’t want to disrupt his family with a move to Boston.  Danny was right on there.

The only other FA I know we pursued was Kent Bazemore.

Did he reach out to Serge Ibaka?  That seemed like a two horse race between LAC and BRK, but I’m curious.

The Kanter deal looks horrible right now.  Why involve Memphis at all?  Why not deal him to Portland if we weren’t keeping him?

And, Hayward...  ugh.  Worst case scenario.  Losing Hayward, and missing out on Turner / McDermott.

If everything had gone perfectly this off-season, we’re looking at:

Turner / Timelord / Tilman
Milsap / Theis / Williams
Tatum / McDermott / Langford
Brown / Smart / Bazemore / Nesmith
Kemba / Pritchard

It’s a bit more complicated than that due to a MLE hard cap , but it would have been within the realm of possibility.

I don’t, of course, expect perfection from Danny, but Turner / McDermott would solve a lot of problems.

the Milsap miss was the big one.  he would have provided the toughness and vet leadership this team needed.  solid scorer, rebounder and defender at the PF position would have helped a lot.

But what's the point of moaning over Paul Millsap though. He didn't want to come to Boston since he didn't want his family to move there.

The real misses were definitely Turner and McDermott. And definitely a player who can provide depth off the bench.

not moaning over it.  just making the point that was the key FA that would have helped this team the most.  you can't always convince a FA to leave a team they like and have a community connection.

[slamtheking]

The worst free agent miss of the off-season was Paul Milsap deciding he didn’t want to disrupt his family with a move to Boston.  Danny was right on there.

The only other FA I know we pursued was Kent Bazemore.

Did he reach out to Serge Ibaka?  That seemed like a two horse race between LAC and BRK, but I’m curious.

The Kanter deal looks horrible right now.  Why involve Memphis at all?  Why not deal him to Portland if we weren’t keeping him?

And, Hayward...  ugh.  Worst case scenario.  Losing Hayward, and missing out on Turner / McDermott.

If everything had gone perfectly this off-season, we’re looking at:

Turner / Timelord / Tilman
Milsap / Theis / Williams
Tatum / McDermott / Langford
Brown / Smart / Bazemore / Nesmith
Kemba / Pritchard

It’s a bit more complicated than that due to a MLE hard cap , but it would have been within the realm of possibility.

I don’t, of course, expect perfection from Danny, but Turner / McDermott would solve a lot of problems.

the Milsap miss was the big one.  he would have provided the toughness and vet leadership this team needed.  solid scorer, rebounder and defender at the PF position would have helped a lot.

Yeah.  I wonder, would adding a third contract year have gotten it done?

Danny doesn't give out contracts longer than he likes for players.  this may have been the time to rethink that philosophy.  if Milsap's game falls off a cliff later this season or next season, it's a point that could be debated but if he's still playing at a solid level this year and next, Danny will have made an error in judgement if indeed a third year was the hang up to getting him

[footey]

The worst free agent miss of the off-season was Paul Milsap deciding he didn’t want to disrupt his family with a move to Boston.  Danny was right on there.

The only other FA I know we pursued was Kent Bazemore.

Did he reach out to Serge Ibaka?  That seemed like a two horse race between LAC and BRK, but I’m curious.

The Kanter deal looks horrible right now.  Why involve Memphis at all?  Why not deal him to Portland if we weren’t keeping him?

And, Hayward...  ugh.  Worst case scenario.  Losing Hayward, and missing out on Turner / McDermott.

If everything had gone perfectly this off-season, we’re looking at:

Turner / Timelord / Tilman
Milsap / Theis / Williams
Tatum / McDermott / Langford
Brown / Smart / Bazemore / Nesmith
Kemba / Pritchard

It’s a bit more complicated than that due to a MLE hard cap , but it would have been within the realm of possibility.

I don’t, of course, expect perfection from Danny, but Turner / McDermott would solve a lot of problems.

Will be interesting to see whether the Nesmith over Saddiq Bey is a more costly decision  than the off season moves above. (I still like Nesmith long term, but the early relative returns are dramatically different, especially this past week (Bey EC Player of the week!!!)

[Tr1boy]

The worst free agent miss of the off-season was Paul Milsap deciding he didn’t want to disrupt his family with a move to Boston.  Danny was right on there.

The only other FA I know we pursued was Kent Bazemore.

Did he reach out to Serge Ibaka?  That seemed like a two horse race between LAC and BRK, but I’m curious.

The Kanter deal looks horrible right now.  Why involve Memphis at all?  Why not deal him to Portland if we weren’t keeping him?

And, Hayward...  ugh.  Worst case scenario.  Losing Hayward, and missing out on Turner / McDermott.

If everything had gone perfectly this off-season, we’re looking at:

Turner / Timelord / Tilman
Milsap / Theis / Williams
Tatum / McDermott / Langford
Brown / Smart / Bazemore / Nesmith
Kemba / Pritchard

It’s a bit more complicated than that due to a MLE hard cap , but it would have been within the realm of possibility.

I don’t, of course, expect perfection from Danny, but Turner / McDermott would solve a lot of problems.

Will be interesting to see whether the Nesmith over Saddiq Bey is a more costly decision  than the off season moves above. (I still like Nesmith long term, but the early relative returns are dramatically different, especially this past week (Bey EC Player of the week!!!)

+1

Skipping on Bey was a misstep imo. Especially if Danny wanted a sharpshooter

Bey is 3 pt sharpshooter. He is 6'8 with a quick 3 pt trigger. 

Nesmith can shoot but if not rushed. Which is not great a great recipe in the nba.   

Overall analyzing the recent drafts. I like Langford but otherwise wish Danny took Keldon Johnson with the other pick

And this past draft taken Bey, Pritchard and Tillman

The thing I dig about Tillman is his versatile defense. Could have saved 9m on Thompson and spent it on 3pt shooting vet/backup point

[Roy H.]

The worst free agent miss of the off-season was Paul Milsap deciding he didn’t want to disrupt his family with a move to Boston.  Danny was right on there.

The only other FA I know we pursued was Kent Bazemore.

Did he reach out to Serge Ibaka?  That seemed like a two horse race between LAC and BRK, but I’m curious.

The Kanter deal looks horrible right now.  Why involve Memphis at all?  Why not deal him to Portland if we weren’t keeping him?

And, Hayward...  ugh.  Worst case scenario.  Losing Hayward, and missing out on Turner / McDermott.

If everything had gone perfectly this off-season, we’re looking at:

Turner / Timelord / Tilman
Milsap / Theis / Williams
Tatum / McDermott / Langford
Brown / Smart / Bazemore / Nesmith
Kemba / Pritchard

It’s a bit more complicated than that due to a MLE hard cap , but it would have been within the realm of possibility.

I don’t, of course, expect perfection from Danny, but Turner / McDermott would solve a lot of problems.

Will be interesting to see whether the Nesmith over Saddiq Bey is a more costly decision  than the off season moves above. (I still like Nesmith long term, but the early relative returns are dramatically different, especially this past week (Bey EC Player of the week!!!)

Time will tell, but I still prefer Nesmith.

[footey]

The worst free agent miss of the off-season was Paul Milsap deciding he didn’t want to disrupt his family with a move to Boston.  Danny was right on there.

The only other FA I know we pursued was Kent Bazemore.

Did he reach out to Serge Ibaka?  That seemed like a two horse race between LAC and BRK, but I’m curious.

The Kanter deal looks horrible right now.  Why involve Memphis at all?  Why not deal him to Portland if we weren’t keeping him?

And, Hayward...  ugh.  Worst case scenario.  Losing Hayward, and missing out on Turner / McDermott.

If everything had gone perfectly this off-season, we’re looking at:

Turner / Timelord / Tilman
Milsap / Theis / Williams
Tatum / McDermott / Langford
Brown / Smart / Bazemore / Nesmith
Kemba / Pritchard

It’s a bit more complicated than that due to a MLE hard cap , but it would have been within the realm of possibility.

I don’t, of course, expect perfection from Danny, but Turner / McDermott would solve a lot of problems.

Will be interesting to see whether the Nesmith over Saddiq Bey is a more costly decision  than the off season moves above. (I still like Nesmith long term, but the early relative returns are dramatically different, especially this past week (Bey EC Player of the week!!!)

+1

Skipping on Bey was a misstep imo. Especially if Danny wanted a sharpshooter

Bey is 3 pt sharpshooter. He is 6'8 with a quick 3 pt trigger. 

Nesmith can shoot but if not rushed. Which is not great a great recipe in the nba.   

Overall analyzing the recent drafts. I like Langford but otherwise wish Danny took Keldon Johnson with the other pick

And this past draft taken Bey, Pritchard and Tillman

The thing I dig about Tillman is his versatile defense. Could have saved 9m on Thompson and spent it on 3pt shooting vet/backup point

Sample size too small to say which one long term is better 3 point shooter.  I was more surprised/impressed with how Bey was able to bully his way to the rim. He did it to Grant Williams, who is pretty strong, and also to Jason Tatum.  He owned his space, that was really impressive. Kind of reminded me of Adrian Dantley out there, LOL.  Did not see that in the scouting report.  His lack of athleticism is too a degree off set by that strength, especially with his size and length.

[SHAQATTACK]

Players don't play with passion ,  i ll continue not to watch ,  and when enough people are sick of basketball diva , others will stop , ratings will fall and players will suffer ....like no pay check .

[Tr1boy]

Delete

[cltc5]

You gave him kyrie horford and Hayward and we have how many conference championships to show for it?  Yet teams with one all star like Toronto and Miami have a conference title and one nba title.  This is on the coach.

Are you referring to Toronto with their MVP candidate (Leonard) and two All-Star calibre players (Lowry & Siakam) and Miami with their two All-NBA players (Butler & Adebayo) alongside a 6MOTY candidate who was an All-Star not long ago (Dragic)? Stop blatantly lying

It ain’t lying if it’s true

[Tr1boy]

https://therookiewire.usatoday.com/2021/02/15/pistons-saddiq-bey-eastern-conference-player-of-the-week/

it just keeps getting better 

I can just imagine

Bey:  "I just want to thank the Celtics for my career night"

[SparzWizard]

Bey turning out to be another Tyler Herro situation huh.

Romeo Langford and now Aaron Nesmith lol

[footey]

Bey turning out to be another Tyler Herro situation huh.

Romeo Langford and now Aaron Nesmith lol

Worse. Bey was available at 14 this year. Herro was already taken by Heat when we took Romeo.

[Somebody]

Bey turning out to be another Tyler Herro situation huh.

Romeo Langford and now Aaron Nesmith lol

Inb4 Romeo turns into a mini-Middleton without the shooting and Nesmith turns into a budget Reggie Miller (don't think that they'll ever come close to those comparisons, just throwing out the slight possibility that it happens).

[Tr1boy]

Bey turning out to be another Tyler Herro situation huh.

Romeo Langford and now Aaron Nesmith lol

Inb4 Romeo turns into a mini-Middleton without the shooting and Nesmith turns into a budget Reggie Miller (don't think that they'll ever come close to those comparisons, just throwing out the slight possibility that it happens).

Naw.  Romeo can't shoot like Middleton.  They are not really the same type of player

Romeo is like a poor man version of Jaylen Brown

Nesmith doesn't even look like a day old Reggie Miller.   

[wdleehi]

So I hope this means Ainge has been talking to the teams he think will be sellers and casting some fishing nets to be ready if and when they do become sellers.



Are there any teams really selling yet?