What was Brad thinking?

[celticsclay]

Boston is FAR more likely to wina title in the next 4 years with Durant than it is over the next decade with Brown. It really is that simple.

Given current roster construction, how many other teams do you consider better than Boston today?

I think Milwaukee is the best team in the East, with the C's as the clear #2.  The west I think 3 or 4 teams that are at least on par with the C's (Clippers, Warriors, Nuggets and maybe Grizzlies). With Durant and maybe Curry for Brown, Smart, and Grant, the C's are pretty clearly the best team in the sport. White, Brogdon, Durant, Tatum, Rob, Al, PP, Curry, Gallo is basically unstoppable.  Part of the reason, GS could shut down Tatum is Boston had no one else that can create a shot or take pressure off.  Brown just isn't good enough, Durant is.

I said this right when the season ended and it holds true today, Boston needed to look at this offseason like Middleton didn't get hurt and the C's lost in the 2nd round to the Bucks or else they will end up like the Suns.  A 2nd round loser doesn't think they are all that close and gets a guy like Durant when he is available.

Your logic falters a bit given that the Cs did add a guy who can create his offense while keeping JB.  They did act like Middleton wasn’t hurt and they lost in the 2nd round.  I’m not saying KD doesn’t make them more unstoppable but your post neglects that Cs didn’t stand still and did add a pretty potent offensive player, plus a 6’10” shooter.

Agreed.  To me, it's fair to say that it's unclear if we were truly better than Milwaukee last season.  They were missing Middleton, we were playing with a hobbled Timelord.  If somebody says Milwaukee was better, I won't really argue, but you need to assess for Timelord.

But, what isn't intellectually honest is to say "Milwaukee was better last year, so they'll be better this year."  You can't just ignore that we've added Brogdon and Gallinari, while Milwaukee has added Ingles.

Also in addition adding more talent than the bucks this off-season, they also have a lot of players that are likely to decline or not improve while we have basically nobody that should be getting worse except Horford. Lopez will be 35 next year in playoffs, holiday is 32. Even Middleton will be 31. Wes matthews will be 36. I’m not saying I think all these guys will be signficiantly worse, but if they even drop a half step and our guys (timelord, jb, grant, Tatum) take a half step forward that is a real big difference on the margins.

[vjcsmoke]

LOL Brad was thinking he should do due diligence.  If one of the best scorers and players of all time becomes available you need to at least pick up the phone and find out if the parameters can fit what you're willing to give up.  I'd be made at Stevens if he DIDN'T pick up that phone.

[Roy H.]

LOL Brad was thinking he should do due diligence.  If one of the best scorers and players of all time becomes available you need to at least pick up the phone and find out if the parameters can fit what you're willing to give up.  I'd be made at Stevens if he DIDN'T pick up that phone.

He reportedly made an offer, though.  That’s more than due diligence.

[vjcsmoke]

Is it?  Sounds like he's doing his job to me.

[Roy H.]

Is it?  Sounds like he's doing his job to me.

What’s he’s accomplished by making an offer, though, is putting three Celtics into trade rumors.  It’s not great for chemistry.  A team can gauge asking price without making an offer.

There’s some thinking that JB is irritated by the rumor:

“Jaylen won’t let this affect his play, but he won’t forget this, either,” one Eastern Conference scout said. “The kind of season he had, the team had…I know this is a business and he knows it’s a business, but hearing your name in trade rumors, even if it’s Kevin Durant in the deal, can’t feel good considering how he played against KD and how the Celtics did against the Nets.”

Another league executive said he can understand why Brown seeing his name brought up in trade rumors this time around—even for a player like Durant—is a different kind of feeling than previous times he was mentioned as being on the trade block. “When you give your blood, sweat and tears, as I know he has to that team, and you don’t feel you’re getting that same love back, it’ll definitely make you look different or look twice at your front office and how they do things,” said a Western Conference coach.

[RPGenerate]

Brad was thinking that putting Tatum, KD, and a bunch of great role players together would make us easy title contenders favorites. This pearl clutching over daring to put a player in an offer is laughable to me.

[GreenlyGreeny]

Look…if we can’t seal the deal with KD, the minute we can offer an extension to JB we give a mea culpa and offer the max with a player option and a no-trade clause. Basically tell him it’s JT/JB for the rest of the decade. If he walks away from that, we deal him because it was always going to be any excuse will do to walk (paging Kyrie Irving…paging Kyrie Irving…)

[nickagneta]

Look…if we can’t seal the deal with KD, the minute we can offer an extension to JB we give a mea culpa and offer the max with a player option and a no-trade clause. Basically tell him it’s JT/JB for the rest of the decade. If he walks away from that, we deal him because it was always going to be any excuse will do to walk (paging Kyrie Irving…paging Kyrie Irving…)

Jaylen is going to free agency to max out his earnings. He is not a max player so is limited to being offered an extension of 120% above his current salary.

If he makes an All-NBA team he would be eligible for a supermax contract upon the end of his contract. And, regardless of if he makes that All-NBA team or not, he is still a max level player, not under

Most likely scenario, he goes to free agency on purpose simply to get that max contract from Boston. He will not be signing an extension.

[Moranis]

Boston is FAR more likely to wina title in the next 4 years with Durant than it is over the next decade with Brown. It really is that simple.

Given current roster construction, how many other teams do you consider better than Boston today?

I think Milwaukee is the best team in the East, with the C's as the clear #2.  The west I think 3 or 4 teams that are at least on par with the C's (Clippers, Warriors, Nuggets and maybe Grizzlies). With Durant and maybe Curry for Brown, Smart, and Grant, the C's are pretty clearly the best team in the sport. White, Brogdon, Durant, Tatum, Rob, Al, PP, Curry, Gallo is basically unstoppable.  Part of the reason, GS could shut down Tatum is Boston had no one else that can create a shot or take pressure off.  Brown just isn't good enough, Durant is.

I said this right when the season ended and it holds true today, Boston needed to look at this offseason like Middleton didn't get hurt and the C's lost in the 2nd round to the Bucks or else they will end up like the Suns.  A 2nd round loser doesn't think they are all that close and gets a guy like Durant when he is available.

Your logic falters a bit given that the Cs did add a guy who can create his offense while keeping JB.  They did act like Middleton wasn’t hurt and they lost in the 2nd round.  I’m not saying KD doesn’t make them more unstoppable but your post neglects that Cs didn’t stand still and did add a pretty potent offensive player, plus a 6’10” shooter.

Agreed.  To me, it's fair to say that it's unclear if we were truly better than Milwaukee last season.  They were missing Middleton, we were playing with a hobbled Timelord.  If somebody says Milwaukee was better, I won't really argue, but you need to assess for Timelord.

But, what isn't intellectually honest is to say "Milwaukee was better last year, so they'll be better this year."  You can't just ignore that we've added Brogdon and Gallinari, while Milwaukee has added Ingles.

I didn't say that because Milwaukee was better last year, they'll be better this year, I just think they are the better team as currently constructed because Giannis is far and away the best player on either squad, Middleton is the 3rd best player, and Holiday is the 5th best player.  At the end of the day the talent at the top matters so much more than anything else in the playoffs.  Without Middleton it just changed the whole way Milwaukee had to play.  They were just a different team.  And I get Rob was hobbled, but Boston also won 3 of the 4 games he didn't even play in the series.  He just isn't as important as Middleton.  And while I like Brogdon and he makes Boston better, I don't think he makes the difference between winning and losing that series.  Giannis is just too much for Boston when he has his 2nd fiddle offensively to take some of the pressure off throughout the game. 

And to be clear, I'm not suggesting Milwaukee would sweep Boston, the teams are close, I just think Milwaukee is better.  With Durant, Boston is clearly better and better by enough I think they'd be a pretty heavy favorite.  Durant just changes the entire calculus of that series, and basically any series Boston would play next year.

[CelticsWhat35]

Yes, talent at the top DOES matter, and Jaylen would definitely be the third best player in a series with the Bucks this year. 

[celticsclay]

Yes, talent at the top DOES matter, and Jaylen would definitely be the third best player in a series with the Bucks this year.

Mo would only have as the third best if he played for bucks lol

[nickagneta]

Yes, talent at the top DOES matter, and Jaylen would definitely be the third best player in a series with the Bucks this year.

Mo would only have him as the third best if he played for bucks or the Lakers or the Cavs or the Sixers or the Warriors or the Nuggets or the Heat or the Nets or the Mavs or the Griz or the Clips or the ....... lol

Fixed that for you.

[Roy H.]

JB and Middleton are very close, but Jaylen is five years younger.  Brown will keep refining his skills, while Middleton’s decline.

[Vermont Green]

JB and Middleton are very close, but Jaylen is five years younger.  Brown will keep refining his skills, while Middleton’s decline.

Yeah, I think if we offered Brown for Middleton straight up today Milwaukee would take that in a second. Brown would be an upgrade for them next season and only get better from there on. They are close they are both good players. But I see Brown as better.

[Csfan1984]

Losing Russell today makes me want to keep Brown even more. Brown feels like a person we can be proud of off the court. Give him more of a shot on the court.