Brad Stevens era coming into focus - and I like it a lot.

[nickagneta]

People need to chill on the Ainge hate. Our top 4 players are all Ainge guys and they're the reason we are where we are right now. He also put together a true championship contender that unfortunately broke down 5 minutes into the 17-18 season (and I am obviously not even counting the Pierce/KG/Ray years).

We'll see what Brad does moving forward, but our rotation has essentially gone from 8 deep to 7 deep with the most recent trades. I love having Theis back, but he is our Freedom replacement, not Richardson replacement. If we can pick up a guy like Gary Harris, then I'll be psyched, but our first two signings (Hauser and Kornet) aren't going to cut it - they are clearly at best 14th and 15th guys on an NBA roster.

I think people are just happy to have a decisive man in charge - regardless of the decisions he makes. I'm willing to be patient and see what comes from it - I even like the White acquisition - but different (and apparently, nicer) doesn't necessarily mean better. And I don't really love the idea of trading our 1st round picks every year w/o acquiring a star-level player in return.

Actually, 7 of our top 8 guys are Ainge guys.

[Celtics2021]

People need to chill on the Ainge hate. Our top 4 players are all Ainge guys and they're the reason we are where we are right now. He also put together a true championship contender that unfortunately broke down 5 minutes into the 17-18 season (and I am obviously not even counting the Pierce/KG/Ray years).

We'll see what Brad does moving forward, but our rotation has essentially gone from 8 deep to 7 deep with the most recent trades. I love having Theis back, but he is our Freedom replacement, not Richardson replacement. If we can pick up a guy like Gary Harris, then I'll be psyched, but our first two signings (Hauser and Kornet) aren't going to cut it - they are clearly at best 14th and 15th guys on an NBA roster.

I think people are just happy to have a decisive man in charge - regardless of the decisions he makes. I'm willing to be patient and see what comes from it - I even like the White acquisition - but different (and apparently, nicer) doesn't necessarily mean better. And I don't really love the idea of trading our 1st round picks every year w/o acquiring a star-level player in return.

Actually, 7 of our top 8 guys are Ainge guys.

I wouldn’t call Al an Ainge guy at this point, nor Theis.  Ainge let Al walk and traded Theis for nothing.  Stevens brought them both back.  But the core of the team (Js, Smart, and Rob), is definitely due to Ainge.

[BudweiserCeltic]

People need to chill on the Ainge hate. Our top 4 players are all Ainge guys and they're the reason we are where we are right now. He also put together a true championship contender that unfortunately broke down 5 minutes into the 17-18 season (and I am obviously not even counting the Pierce/KG/Ray years).

We'll see what Brad does moving forward, but our rotation has essentially gone from 8 deep to 7 deep with the most recent trades. I love having Theis back, but he is our Freedom replacement, not Richardson replacement. If we can pick up a guy like Gary Harris, then I'll be psyched, but our first two signings (Hauser and Kornet) aren't going to cut it - they are clearly at best 14th and 15th guys on an NBA roster.

I think people are just happy to have a decisive man in charge - regardless of the decisions he makes. I'm willing to be patient and see what comes from it - I even like the White acquisition - but different (and apparently, nicer) doesn't necessarily mean better. And I don't really love the idea of trading our 1st round picks every year w/o acquiring a star-level player in return.

Actually, 7 of our top 8 guys are Ainge guys.

I wouldn’t call Al an Ainge guy at this point, nor Theis.  Ainge let Al walk and traded Theis for nothing.  Stevens brought them both back.  But the core of the team (Js, Smart, and Rob), is definitely due to Ainge.

Technically he didn't let Al walk. Al simply got a great offer and accepted before Ainge can workout a deal with him. But he was certainly willing to let him walk until other opportunities of roster building made Al worth having again.

[Celtics2021]

People need to chill on the Ainge hate. Our top 4 players are all Ainge guys and they're the reason we are where we are right now. He also put together a true championship contender that unfortunately broke down 5 minutes into the 17-18 season (and I am obviously not even counting the Pierce/KG/Ray years).

We'll see what Brad does moving forward, but our rotation has essentially gone from 8 deep to 7 deep with the most recent trades. I love having Theis back, but he is our Freedom replacement, not Richardson replacement. If we can pick up a guy like Gary Harris, then I'll be psyched, but our first two signings (Hauser and Kornet) aren't going to cut it - they are clearly at best 14th and 15th guys on an NBA roster.

I think people are just happy to have a decisive man in charge - regardless of the decisions he makes. I'm willing to be patient and see what comes from it - I even like the White acquisition - but different (and apparently, nicer) doesn't necessarily mean better. And I don't really love the idea of trading our 1st round picks every year w/o acquiring a star-level player in return.

Actually, 7 of our top 8 guys are Ainge guys.

I wouldn’t call Al an Ainge guy at this point, nor Theis.  Ainge let Al walk and traded Theis for nothing.  Stevens brought them both back.  But the core of the team (Js, Smart, and Rob), is definitely due to Ainge.

Technically he didn't let Al walk. Al simply got a great offer and accepted before Ainge can workout a deal with him. But he was certainly willing to let him walk until other opportunities of roster building made Al worth having again.

It’s unclear exactly how the process went down, but it’d be unlikely that Al and his representation thought that Celtics management were going to come close to matching that, based on the discussions that likely had already taken place.  If the Celtics had been in the Sixers ballpark, he doesn’t sign with Philly minutes into free agency.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I've been thinking, based on Brad Stevens moves so far, about which additional players he may be targeting to continue to fill out a championship roster. I'm thinking less about huge deals to add another star, but more about moves around the two stars we already have, similar to a Derrick White move.

The most significant player I've come up with that fits these criteria is PJ Washington. He's a tough-nosed, unselfish, versatile player that fits around the other players on the roster with ease. He can score, pass, and defend and he's a guy you could rely on that could fight for a full 7-game series.

On top of that, he seems to have fallen somewhat out of favor in Charlotte. He's not a starter this year compared to his first two years and his minutes are down. It seems they prefer to play small-ball with Oubre, Hayward, Bridges, or Jalen McDaniels at the 4 more than him. And now I don't think he will be getting any minutes at the 5 anymore with Plumlee and the addition of Harrell. They even seem to prefer to get Richards minutes and they invested a pick in Jones last year. I think they prefer to play small and fast with Ball, and Washington seems to be more of a grinder type of forward. He's got one more year on his rookie contract and is due for a potential contract extension this off-season. With the ascent of Bridges, they probably don't have the cap space to get him.

I'm really not sure what would be necessary to get him. I would give a future first round pick for him if Ime and Stevens thought the way i do about him as a potential role player. I think he could potentially replace Al Horford's role, and probably be a little worse in some areas and a little better in others.

Are there any other players that others could think of like this? Unselfish, good ball movers, tough-nosed?

[ozgod]

Rome wasn't built in a day, but Stevens has had a good start and his game plan is certainly becoming clear. Like his Butler teams Stevens likes tough defensive minded teams who can score enough. He stated early on that every move he would make would be made to specifically build around Tatum and Brown and he has stayed true to his word. Here is how I perceive, from 10,000 feet, his game plan to date:

1. Immediately make the team bigger, stronger, tougher across the board at every position. He believes in length, size and toughness.

He moves out Kemba and brings back Horford, projects Smart at the point. He also brings back Kanter and now has brought back Theis. So, instead of Tristan Thompson and Grant Williams at center and the very small Kemba at the point, who got constantly head hunted during the playoffs, and Tatum at the four who should really be playing the three spot, we are now rolling out Time Lord, Horford, Theis and Grant Williams up front with one of the the single most physically point guard defenders in the league at point in Marcus Smart. Tatuma nd brown are appropriately playing the 2 and 3 spots, where they are at a minimum league average height for those spots and probably are above average in size, length and strength.

2. He likes two players with the following traits: Very gritty and tough both mentally and physically and with generally high basketball IQ's.

* Time Lord, Horford, Theis, Grant Williams
* Tatum, Brown, White and Smart
* Nesmith and Pritchard (These guys have limitations so far and hopefully they develop well from here. But both play very hard, tough and gritty on both ends)

Now, he cannot fix all team's problems in less than 10 months. The glaring team weaknesses before the trade line were as follows:

Big man depth:

Kanter was only good on the offensive end and did not fit into the two way player type Stevens likes or the defensive minded DNA Stevens and Udoka are clearly building as a calling card.

Kanter out and Theis in - this is a homerun. Theis plays very similar to Horford so we can get Horford more rest before the playoffs. I would like to still see us bring in one more vet big off the buyout market just to have another body.

Playmaking ability: This has been a huge problem all year. We really have no high level playmakers on the team. Smart is OK, Schroder was more of a scoring guard and Pritchard is till developing.

We trade for Derrick White: Homerun trade. He is 6'4' and a tenacious defender which fits right in with what we're building on that end. Like Smart he's not going to get abused on defensive switches. He's a solid shooter, better than Smart. He's a very good playmaker and creation guy. He's going to get Tatum and brown a lot of good looks. He will fit in very, very well. He will help our offense a ton, especially when we need to create a good look down the stretch.

We still could use one more good veteran wing for the playoff run - just a solid defender and shooter. Hopefully we can get one through the buyout market, along with that one more big body in the front court.

So that's for this year - tremendous job by Stevens. We're under the luxury tax and better positioned for the playoffs after the trade deadline than we were before it, which is far more than I can say for Ainge's typical trade deadline inaction every year...

What about moving forward? Well, the team still needs that one additional piece next to Tatum and Brown on the offensive end. What assets dow e have to get that one piece now?

Answer: Some combination of Horford's contract, White, Smart, Nesmith, Grant Williams, Pritchard and draft picks.

For example, could Horford with White, bring back Harrison Barnes?  (Time Lord, Barnes, Tatum, Brown and Smart)

Could Horford, Smart, Nesmith and a draft pick bring back John Collins? (Time Lord, Collins, Tatum, Brown, White)

I'm not saying these are the guys I want necessarily, they are just examples of our flexibility this off season to make the "next move" to take the team to the next level.

We also have our mid level to add another shooter this off season and we still have the Tristan Thompon and Kemba Trade exceptions. I'm not sure if we used the Fournier trade exception in the Derrick White trade or not.

What about Stevens use of our draft picks? Tatum and brown are ready to compete for championships today. We need to surround them with guys who are ready to play "now". We don't need the picks. We don't have the time to wait for a Grant Williams 22nd pick to develop for three years to where he is now so he can seriously contribute. It took Time Lord four years. Pritchard and Nesmith might be ready next year in their 3rd seasons...

I'm not saying we give all our picks away - but the surest way to lose Tatum, and or Brown, is by not building a team that gives them a clear cut shot at a title.

Stevens isn't done but he has moved this team way closer to being there than it was 10 months ago - it is night and day.  This is borne out in our defensive DNA that is currently mauling teams.

We need more scoring from the third piece and a young replacement for Al Horford and that's about it. And when I say third piece I'm not saying we need another top ten player, though that would be nice. At a minimum, another Fournier, Collins, Barnes level third option running with/behind Tatum and Brown would probably be enough.

Patience - we probably don't get out of the east this year - but we're well positioned for the off season moves we need to make and should be load coming into next season.

On Udoka: I like the grit and tenacity of the defense we're playing under him, Theis and White will fit right in with that. Stevens job is to now get us one more solid piece with Tatum and Brown (doesn't have to be an all star, even someone like Harrison Barnes would probably do...) and probably one more solid shooter on the wing. I'd love to think that would be Nesmith - I like him and hop he straightens things out with his shot and settles down a little out there.

Great write up, TP. I know we on this site hate having to go through "yet another long term plan for a championship" - everyone wants to win and win now. But as you say for Brad to achieve what he wants, he may have to move sideways or backwards to move forward. So sometimes we see moves that might seem to be lateral moves but I'm expecting that he will eventually remake the team in the image that he and Ime want. It may take a year or two to find the best players to complement the team but the goal is to be a team that makes defense its main identity and can switch 1-5 to defend 1-5, and offensively is centered around the Jays who will be in their primes for the next 5 years and possibly more. So the focus is to do that but still maintain the flexibility to get that third star in the next few years and it's likely not going to be via the draft but rather via free agency.

Which leads me to another thought that will be unpopular - Ime isn't going anywhere at least not in the near future. And if he does he will be replaced by a similar coach that has the same guiding principles Brad has.

[ozgod]

Quick trigger Brad. He got rid of guys super fast. Most gms wait to move on. BS gives you till one deadline to fit or bye lol

Yeah, it is refreshing to see Brad not hesitate to make some moves. Felt like Danny tended to wait for the "grand slam" deal too often.

Still am concerned about the 2028 swap and wish we didn't send that out, too, but yeah I like the moves otherwise.

He definitely seems to be more decisive, and doesn't seem swayed by sentiment or "doubling down" on mistakes made in the past.

Of course, as many of us know from the real world, the best time to make staffing changes is when you are fairly new when you can pass it off as trying to start from a clean slate 

[PAOBoston]

Amused the rotation selections. Under Brad, he’d literally play everyone. Ime is the anti Brad and closer to Thibs. He literally plays 8 guys a game so I guess it’s a good thing that their top 8 guys are pretty solid: Smart, JB, JT, Horford, Williams, White, Theis, Williams.  I don’t think anyone else will get any real minutes after those guys unless it’s a break glass in case of emergency situation.

I still feel, more so now than before, that Nesmith should be forced some spot minutes when possible. Hopefully he manages to get his confidence or jitters or whatever is deterring him in games under control, else he's useless to us.

Nesmith shouldn’t be force fed anything. He needs to earn it. Right now, he’s arguably the worst player on the roster. As long as he looks like a headless chicken on defense I dont think he’ll see any action.

[BudweiserCeltic]

People need to chill on the Ainge hate. Our top 4 players are all Ainge guys and they're the reason we are where we are right now. He also put together a true championship contender that unfortunately broke down 5 minutes into the 17-18 season (and I am obviously not even counting the Pierce/KG/Ray years).

We'll see what Brad does moving forward, but our rotation has essentially gone from 8 deep to 7 deep with the most recent trades. I love having Theis back, but he is our Freedom replacement, not Richardson replacement. If we can pick up a guy like Gary Harris, then I'll be psyched, but our first two signings (Hauser and Kornet) aren't going to cut it - they are clearly at best 14th and 15th guys on an NBA roster.

I think people are just happy to have a decisive man in charge - regardless of the decisions he makes. I'm willing to be patient and see what comes from it - I even like the White acquisition - but different (and apparently, nicer) doesn't necessarily mean better. And I don't really love the idea of trading our 1st round picks every year w/o acquiring a star-level player in return.

Actually, 7 of our top 8 guys are Ainge guys.

I wouldn’t call Al an Ainge guy at this point, nor Theis.  Ainge let Al walk and traded Theis for nothing.  Stevens brought them both back.  But the core of the team (Js, Smart, and Rob), is definitely due to Ainge.

Technically he didn't let Al walk. Al simply got a great offer and accepted before Ainge can workout a deal with him. But he was certainly willing to let him walk until other opportunities of roster building made Al worth having again.

It’s unclear exactly how the process went down, but it’d be unlikely that Al and his representation thought that Celtics management were going to come close to matching that, based on the discussions that likely had already taken place.  If the Celtics had been in the Sixers ballpark, he doesn’t sign with Philly minutes into free agency.

I am sure they had little interest in signing Horford until Kemba suddenly became viable for us, that changed the approach with Horford. I don't know if we would have been able to match, but there was literally no time to even make an offer after Kemba became an option for us as Al had already accepted or close to it. I don't recall the specifics, but I am sure we had to make some maneuvers to even make an offer to him. So it was a tough situation regardless.

But in a scenario in which it made sense to keep Horford, the Celtics didn't even make it to the negotiations table. Al had already chosen.

[nickagneta]

People need to chill on the Ainge hate. Our top 4 players are all Ainge guys and they're the reason we are where we are right now. He also put together a true championship contender that unfortunately broke down 5 minutes into the 17-18 season (and I am obviously not even counting the Pierce/KG/Ray years).

We'll see what Brad does moving forward, but our rotation has essentially gone from 8 deep to 7 deep with the most recent trades. I love having Theis back, but he is our Freedom replacement, not Richardson replacement. If we can pick up a guy like Gary Harris, then I'll be psyched, but our first two signings (Hauser and Kornet) aren't going to cut it - they are clearly at best 14th and 15th guys on an NBA roster.

I think people are just happy to have a decisive man in charge - regardless of the decisions he makes. I'm willing to be patient and see what comes from it - I even like the White acquisition - but different (and apparently, nicer) doesn't necessarily mean better. And I don't really love the idea of trading our 1st round picks every year w/o acquiring a star-level player in return.

Actually, 7 of our top 8 guys are Ainge guys.

I wouldn’t call Al an Ainge guy at this point, nor Theis.  Ainge let Al walk and traded Theis for nothing.  Stevens brought them both back.  But the core of the team (Js, Smart, and Rob), is definitely due to Ainge.

Technically he didn't let Al walk. Al simply got a great offer and accepted before Ainge can workout a deal with him. But he was certainly willing to let him walk until other opportunities of roster building made Al worth having again.

It’s unclear exactly how the process went down, but it’d be unlikely that Al and his representation thought that Celtics management were going to come close to matching that, based on the discussions that likely had already taken place.  If the Celtics had been in the Sixers ballpark, he doesn’t sign with Philly minutes into free agency.

I am sure they had little interest in signing Horford until Kemba suddenly became viable for us, that changed the approach with Horford. I don't know if we would have been able to match, but there was literally no time to even make an offer after Kemba became an option for us as Al had already accepted or close to it. I don't recall the specifics, but I am sure we had to make some maneuvers to even make an offer to him. So it was a tough situation regardless.

But in a scenario in which it made sense to keep Horford, the Celtics didn't even make it to the negotiations table. Al had already chosen.

I was listening to WEEI about a week before the signing period and it was reported by the Celtic beat writer at the time, Bulpett maybe, that Ainge was in talks with Horford but Horford's reps suddenly broke off talks and never came back to the table. Bulpett said it was because Horford's agent was sure a huge offer would be on the table once free agency opened up.

This matches the timeline and rumors that Horford was tampered with by Philly and that's why the talks with Boston ended so abruptly.

Clearly Ainge wasn't discussing a Horford return at $97 million guaranteed or $197 million in total. And Ainge was right not to. 

[RodyTur10]

I've been thinking, based on Brad Stevens moves so far, about which additional players he may be targeting to continue to fill out a championship roster. I'm thinking less about huge deals to add another star, but more about moves around the two stars we already have, similar to a Derrick White move.

The most significant player I've come up with that fits these criteria is PJ Washington. He's a tough-nosed, unselfish, versatile player that fits around the other players on the roster with ease. He can score, pass, and defend and he's a guy you could rely on that could fight for a full 7-game series.

On top of that, he seems to have fallen somewhat out of favor in Charlotte. He's not a starter this year compared to his first two years and his minutes are down. It seems they prefer to play small-ball with Oubre, Hayward, Bridges, or Jalen McDaniels at the 4 more than him. And now I don't think he will be getting any minutes at the 5 anymore with Plumlee and the addition of Harrell. They even seem to prefer to get Richards minutes and they invested a pick in Jones last year. I think they prefer to play small and fast with Ball, and Washington seems to be more of a grinder type of forward. He's got one more year on his rookie contract and is due for a potential contract extension this off-season. With the ascent of Bridges, they probably don't have the cap space to get him.

I'm really not sure what would be necessary to get him. I would give a future first round pick for him if Ime and Stevens thought the way i do about him as a potential role player. I think he could potentially replace Al Horford's role, and probably be a little worse in some areas and a little better in others.

Are there any other players that others could think of like this? Unselfish, good ball movers, tough-nosed?

Malcolm Brogdon, Immanuel Quickley, De'Anthony Melton, Luke Kennard, Devin Vassell, Reggie Bullock, Jae'Sean Tate, De'Andre Hunter, Deni Avdija, Maxi Kleber, John Collins, Jakob Poeltl.

[nebist]

I think pursuing John Collins in the offseason makes a lot of sense. You can trade Horford (who ATL can buyout or re-route) along with up to 3 first round picks right after the draft (23/25/27). Collins would give us size and shooting at the 4 spot and replace Horford with another in-his-prime player signed long-term that has higher offensive upside.