Forsberg's mail bag

[CFAN38]

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/celtics-mailbag-outlining-nba-trade-deadline-plan-boston


He mentions trading Schroeder for Jalen Smith and Langford for Justin Holiday. Maybe its just be but I am struggling with the logic. He figured Holiday will join the Jays, Smart, and Rob in the starting 5 creating a bench of Richardson, AL, Pritchard, Grant and Nesmith.

Is Holiday any better then Richardson? statistically he is not.

Does Holiday really push AL to the bench (where he should be)?

Both of his proposed trades feel like trades for the sake of trading. Id rather Schroder just be moved for the best future asset possible, Richardson start over AL, allow AL, Grant, and Pritchard to be the first 3 off the bench with Nesmith/Romeo battling it out for consistent 4th bench guy

[todd_days_41]

Chris Forsberg should stick to statistical analysis. Inside knowledge and trade concepts are over and above his pay grade.

[nebist]

The Celtics appear to be slightly in no-man's-land. It will be interesting to see if Brad can thread the needle at the deadline.

I would understand and possibly even condone the following moves that are more seller/future moves:
1. Trading Schroder for all the reasons that have been covered (limited re-signing options, fit issues, freeing playing time for Pritchard/youth, acquiring a small asset).
2. Ducking the tax. I personally hate all the constant tax pearl-clutching, but IF (big if) ownership has assured Stevens that he will be given far greater financial leeway in the summer to use TPEs, go well into the tax, etc. pending his ability to duck tax this season and get the rebate $, I can see the logic there.

Ideally, you can move Schroder for savings that duck the tax in the same deal.

Outside of those seller/future considerations, I would much prefer that the Celtics are willing to add a true 5th starter (hopefully signed for multiple years) and are willing to trade picks and youth to make that happen. There appears to be considerable potential in a core of Smart/Jays/Timelord, and we would have a lot greater clarity about that core if we had a 5th starter that could actually shoot the ball while not being a sieve on defense (Horford would either be moved in a deal for this player or slot back in as a high-quality bench player).

[footey]

Why is everyone pushing to trade Horford or send him to the bench? He is starting to rediscover his 3 point shot, and has been playing great defense.  Keeping him creates a good size advantage for us, and he and Rob seem to play well together. And having Al and Rob eat up most of the center minutes is really starting to pay off.

 I could see the sentiment a few weeks ago, but not now.  If we are in fact going to try to do damage this season, we will need to keep Al Horford in a starting role.  Losing him would really hurt our depth at the 5 and 4 position.

[Celtics2021]

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/celtics-mailbag-outlining-nba-trade-deadline-plan-boston


He mentions trading Schroeder for Jalen Smith and Langford for Justin Holiday. Maybe its just be but I am struggling with the logic. He figured Holiday will join the Jays, Smart, and Rob in the starting 5 creating a bench of Richardson, AL, Pritchard, Grant and Nesmith.

Is Holiday any better then Richardson? statistically he is not.

Does Holiday really push AL to the bench (where he should be)?

Both of his proposed trades feel like trades for the sake of trading. Id rather Schroder just be moved for the best future asset possible, Richardson start over AL, allow AL, Grant, and Pritchard to be the first 3 off the bench with Nesmith/Romeo battling it out for consistent 4th bench guy

My only comment on Holiday is that he's a bit thicker than Richardson, so he could take some time against 4s on the defensive end, preserving Tatum from some of those matchups.

That said, I have no problems with Horford as the starter next to Rob.  That lineup has worked fine, so I don't see why you'd tinker with it.  I agree the trades seem like trading for the sake of trading.  They also move the C's the wrong direction relative to the tax.

[Vermont Green]

Holiday for Richardson seems like deck chairs.  Complete lateral or maybe even a step back in terms of on court.  The contract is better I guess.

As for Schroder for Jalen Smith, I am all for trading Schroder for a young big.  I don't know if Jalen Smith is the right one to do that for but in theory I am OK with this.  I don't think I have seen Smith play in the NBA at all, definitely not recently.  Seems like a lot of similarities to RWill.  But if the scouts feel this guy has the tools to develop into a starting NBA PF within the next year or so, I have no problem with getting him and giving him a look.  If he is more of a Bruno Fernando, end of the bench, then why bother.  Probably Smith has more upside than Bruno but how much more?

[CFAN38]

Why is everyone pushing to trade Horford or send him to the bench? He is starting to rediscover his 3 point shot, and has been playing great defense.  Keeping him creates a good size advantage for us, and he and Rob seem to play well together. And having Al and Rob eat up most of the center minutes is really starting to pay off.

 I could see the sentiment a few weeks ago, but not now.  If we are in fact going to try to do damage this season, we will need to keep Al Horford in a starting role.  Losing him would really hurt our depth at the 5 and 4 position.

I'm a big Al Horford fan and wish there was a way to keep him next season without crippling the teams cap. I agree AL and Rob play well together but ideally I'd love to see the Celtics playing with a starting caliber + sized wing next to Tatum and allow Al to come off the bench in a 20-25mpg role. At his age it seems very counter intuitive to have him playing down at the PF position when every other player in the league tends to defend up at the end of their careers. 

[Celtics2021]

Why is everyone pushing to trade Horford or send him to the bench? He is starting to rediscover his 3 point shot, and has been playing great defense.  Keeping him creates a good size advantage for us, and he and Rob seem to play well together. And having Al and Rob eat up most of the center minutes is really starting to pay off.

 I could see the sentiment a few weeks ago, but not now.  If we are in fact going to try to do damage this season, we will need to keep Al Horford in a starting role.  Losing him would really hurt our depth at the 5 and 4 position.

I'm a big Al Horford fan and wish there was a way to keep him next season without crippling the teams cap. I agree AL and Rob play well together but ideally I'd love to see the Celtics playing with a starting caliber + sized wing next to Tatum and allow Al to come off the bench in a 20-25mpg role. At his age it seems very counter intuitive to have him playing down at the PF position when every other player in the league tends to defend up at the end of their careers.

Yeah, it’s going to be tough to keep Al next year.  There’s a chance we could release him and resign him to the minimum if he wanted to stay.  This would essentially give him a $16.2 million hit, which is still probably too much given his production, but a reasonable outcome relative to $26.5 million.  Or we could trade him, hope he gets traded again and released by that third team, so we can bring him back.  That’s obviously unlikely, but he’s got the type of contract that could conceivably bounce around a couple of times in the off-season.

[CFAN38]

Why is everyone pushing to trade Horford or send him to the bench? He is starting to rediscover his 3 point shot, and has been playing great defense.  Keeping him creates a good size advantage for us, and he and Rob seem to play well together. And having Al and Rob eat up most of the center minutes is really starting to pay off.

 I could see the sentiment a few weeks ago, but not now.  If we are in fact going to try to do damage this season, we will need to keep Al Horford in a starting role.  Losing him would really hurt our depth at the 5 and 4 position.

I'm a big Al Horford fan and wish there was a way to keep him next season without crippling the teams cap. I agree AL and Rob play well together but ideally I'd love to see the Celtics playing with a starting caliber + sized wing next to Tatum and allow Al to come off the bench in a 20-25mpg role. At his age it seems very counter intuitive to have him playing down at the PF position when every other player in the league tends to defend up at the end of their careers.

Yeah, it’s going to be tough to keep Al next year.  There’s a chance we could release him and resign him to the minimum if he wanted to stay.  This would essentially give him a $16.2 million hit, which is still probably too much given his production, but a reasonable outcome relative to $26.5 million.  Or we could trade him, hope he gets traded again and released by that third team, so we can bring him back.  That’s obviously unlikely, but he’s got the type of contract that could conceivably bounce around a couple of times in the off-season.

It’s sad because I had hoped Al would play out his entire post ATL career in Boston in an aging Tim Duncan like role, that ship sailed when he signed with 76ers

[Celtics2021]

Why is everyone pushing to trade Horford or send him to the bench? He is starting to rediscover his 3 point shot, and has been playing great defense.  Keeping him creates a good size advantage for us, and he and Rob seem to play well together. And having Al and Rob eat up most of the center minutes is really starting to pay off.

 I could see the sentiment a few weeks ago, but not now.  If we are in fact going to try to do damage this season, we will need to keep Al Horford in a starting role.  Losing him would really hurt our depth at the 5 and 4 position.

I'm a big Al Horford fan and wish there was a way to keep him next season without crippling the teams cap. I agree AL and Rob play well together but ideally I'd love to see the Celtics playing with a starting caliber + sized wing next to Tatum and allow Al to come off the bench in a 20-25mpg role. At his age it seems very counter intuitive to have him playing down at the PF position when every other player in the league tends to defend up at the end of their careers.

Yeah, it’s going to be tough to keep Al next year.  There’s a chance we could release him and resign him to the minimum if he wanted to stay.  This would essentially give him a $16.2 million hit, which is still probably too much given his production, but a reasonable outcome relative to $26.5 million.  Or we could trade him, hope he gets traded again and released by that third team, so we can bring him back.  That’s obviously unlikely, but he’s got the type of contract that could conceivably bounce around a couple of times in the off-season.

It’s sad because I had hoped Al would play out his entire post ATL career in Boston in an aging Tim Duncan like role, that ship sailed when he signed with 76ers

Same here.  Who knows, maybe Brad still has that dream and is keeping Al no matter what.

[Roy H.]

Why is everyone pushing to trade Horford or send him to the bench? He is starting to rediscover his 3 point shot, and has been playing great defense.  Keeping him creates a good size advantage for us, and he and Rob seem to play well together. And having Al and Rob eat up most of the center minutes is really starting to pay off.

 I could see the sentiment a few weeks ago, but not now. If we are in fact going to try to do damage this season, we will need to keep Al Horford in a starting role.  Losing him would really hurt our depth at the 5 and 4 position.

I hope the Celts don’t make decisions based upon wanting to maximize this season.  It’s a lost cause, and dealing Horford may be the only way to bring in an established veteran on a large salary who can help going forward.

[Surferdad]

Why is everyone pushing to trade Horford or send him to the bench? He is starting to rediscover his 3 point shot, and has been playing great defense.  Keeping him creates a good size advantage for us, and he and Rob seem to play well together. And having Al and Rob eat up most of the center minutes is really starting to pay off.

 I could see the sentiment a few weeks ago, but not now. If we are in fact going to try to do damage this season, we will need to keep Al Horford in a starting role.  Losing him would really hurt our depth at the 5 and 4 position.

I hope the Celts don’t make decisions based upon wanting to maximize this season.  It’s a lost cause, and dealing Horford may be the only way to bring in an established veteran on a large salary who can help going forward.

I would have said the same two weeks ago but now that Smart is back, the team runs much more efficiently.  If they beat the Hornets tomorrow, they are half-game out of the 7th spot and would play Miami in the 1st round (I think).  So, I don't think it's a lost cause at all.  Playoff money is significant to management.  Continuity of making the playoffs every year is significant to the players, especially the Jays.

[Celtics2021]

Why is everyone pushing to trade Horford or send him to the bench? He is starting to rediscover his 3 point shot, and has been playing great defense.  Keeping him creates a good size advantage for us, and he and Rob seem to play well together. And having Al and Rob eat up most of the center minutes is really starting to pay off.

 I could see the sentiment a few weeks ago, but not now. If we are in fact going to try to do damage this season, we will need to keep Al Horford in a starting role.  Losing him would really hurt our depth at the 5 and 4 position.

I hope the Celts don’t make decisions based upon wanting to maximize this season.  It’s a lost cause, and dealing Horford may be the only way to bring in an established veteran on a large salary who can help going forward.

I would have said the same two weeks ago but now that Smart is back, the team runs much more efficiently.  If they beat the Hornets tomorrow, they are half-game out of the 7th spot and would play Miami in the 1st round (I think).  So, I don't think it's a lost cause at all.  Playoff money is significant to management.  Continuity of making the playoffs every year is significant to the players, especially the Jays.

Yeah, I'd say it's a pretty uphill battle, but not a lost cause.  The record isn't great, but the team is also third in the conference in net rating.  Ultimately I'm in favor of the C's moving Schroder, Richardson, and Horford, in that order, because the odds are low, but not insurmountable.  (Also if there's a team needing a backup center for the minimum, they're welcome to Freedom.  I'm looking at you, Charlotte).

[dannyboy35]

   I wish we could get the Schroeder move done . I feel like we’re just giving reps to another team’s player at this point. Just like Theis all year as it turned out.

[CFAN38]

Why is everyone pushing to trade Horford or send him to the bench? He is starting to rediscover his 3 point shot, and has been playing great defense.  Keeping him creates a good size advantage for us, and he and Rob seem to play well together. And having Al and Rob eat up most of the center minutes is really starting to pay off.

 I could see the sentiment a few weeks ago, but not now. If we are in fact going to try to do damage this season, we will need to keep Al Horford in a starting role.  Losing him would really hurt our depth at the 5 and 4 position.

I hope the Celts don’t make decisions based upon wanting to maximize this season.  It’s a lost cause, and dealing Horford may be the only way to bring in an established veteran on a large salary who can help going forward.

I would have said the same two weeks ago but now that Smart is back, the team runs much more efficiently.  If they beat the Hornets tomorrow, they are half-game out of the 7th spot and would play Miami in the 1st round (I think).  So, I don't think it's a lost cause at all.  Playoff money is significant to management.  Continuity of making the playoffs every year is significant to the players, especially the Jays.

I agree this cant be treated as a lost season. We all know this roster needs work but in the playoffs what really matters is having  stars at the top of the rotation and 8 healthy guys who can be counted on. Even without making a move I wouldn't count this team out of winning a playoff series.