First off, I think a lot of what happened this year is due to a very short off-season. Tatum, Stevens and Celtic owner Steve Pagliuca have all linked the poor performance this year to that. I think it’s real as, of the 8 teams that were in the final 8 of the playoffs last year, only Utah and the Clippers have outperformed their records from last year. 3 of the 4 final teams have fallen off precipitously due to missed player games. A usual 5-6 month recuperation period was reduced to 2.5-3 month time frame. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. So I think more normal off-season period is going to help this team immensely.
Second, I think Ainge runs most of this team back. Stevens too. I don’t think Kemba, Smart, the Jays, Timelord, Fournier and Pritchard are going anywhere. I also don’t see Semi, Tacko, Waters or Edwards returning. Everyone else, the remaining TPE and our draft picks could be used as trade bait. I don’t see all of the remaining players (Thompson, Grant, Nesmith, Langford, Kornet and Parker) not being brought back, but I do think some will be gone in trades.
Third, the team will only have the non-taxpayer MLE to use in free agency. We have to remember that using the taxpayer MLE and the bi-annual exception hard caps teams, so neither will be used. Also not being used will be and sign and trades, for the same reason, the hard cap it causes.
As for the draft, I think if Ainge ends up deciding to keep Nesmith and Langford that the pick will be moved. I don’t see Danny wanting to add even more youth, other than maybe Yam Mader on a two way contract and another project guy they can throw into a two-way deal.
So what does he do? If Ainge moves Thompson, a player like Jakob Poetl could fit into the remaining TPE. Players like Nerlens Noel, Rishaun Holmes, Gorgui Dieng and Robin Lopez might be had for the taxpayer MLE. Some other interesting and attainable guys that could fit in the TPE include: Jeremy Lamb, Tomas Satoransky, George Hill, Delon Wright, JaMychal Green, Juancho Hernangomez, Justin Holiday and Zach Collins. A couple of interesting trade targets could be Thaddeus Young, Jonas Valanciunas (this probably means moving Timelord as he fits the Grizzlies timeline better than Jonas) and Danilo Gallinari.
If you see a trend in my suggestions it’s to add a veteran presence and some size. I think those are components this team needs if they keep their core.
Overall, I think the fastest way for this team to improve is for their core to be healthy, playing together and, for the youth, maturing their games. After that, it’s tinkering, adding some quality depth and hoping their two stars take another leap forward.
Let’s remember, Brown and Tatum will only be 25 and 24 years old next year. It took both MJ and LeBron until they were 27, just entering their prime, before they won their first titles, so expectations of a title next year should be set accordingly. I think it’s possible the Jay duo could win a title before reaching 27 years of age, but young stars that lead their teams to titles is a rare thing. It might not be until 2022-23 that we can see this team becoming a legit title contender.
Let's also remember that all this could be upended by ownership if they decide they don't want to pay a huge luxury tax bill. The team has made huge profits for close on two decades. This ownership group has seen their initial $360 million investment to buy the team blossom into the franchise now being worth $3.2 billion. They've made their money and said they would pay the tax for a contender, but how much are they willing to pay? I guess we will have to wait and see.
Topic: How will the Celtics improve this off-season? (Read 15805 times)