Shams: Porzingis to Boston?

[blink]

C: Porzingis, Rob Williams
F: Horford, Grant Williams
F: Tatum, Hauser
G: Jaylen,
G: D White, Brogdon, Pritchard

It is a pretty fine team especially if Grant Williams returns. Big boost to physical toughness / defense at forward / wing off the bench.

Kinda feel like Horford is going to be wasted on offense on this team.

This reminds me of when San Antonio got LaMarcus Aldridge and I felt that would detract from Tim Duncan's role in the offense. Duncan went from being the facilitator to being a spectator. Instead of the ball running through Duncan, it went to Aldridge in post ups and PnP actions.

With Porzingis there and Jaylen and Tatum. Plus a guard in D White or Brogdon. There just isn't much left for Horford to work with. I expect he'll be even further reduced as a facilitator / passer and more and more of a spot up shooter. Essentially turning him into a 2nd Grant Williams instead of utilizing him for what he actually is = one of the best high post facilitators in the league.

He is, however, now 37 years old. I think pivoting away from him is the way forward. I think Tatum growing as a playmaker could offset this too - use JT in the post a lot with the spacing provided by the bigs. Sort of an inverse 4 out 1 in.

Wouldn't we be better off with Timelord in the starting lineup, bring Al off the bench to reduce his minutes?

[trickybilly]

How do we know we are getting that GSW pick, and not Memphis own 2024 pick?

[celticinorlando]

If they keep brogdan I am starting him assuming he’s not hurt.

Can’t see them moving smart if brogdan is hurt seriously

[Atzar]

C: Porzingis
F: Horford
F: Tatum
G: Jaylen
G: D White

So D White is a below average passer at PG. Jaylen is a below average passer at SG. Porzingis is a below average passer at C. Horford is likely to pushed so far down the offensive pecking order that we make little use of his passing essentially making him average to below average in terms of impact (rather than ability).

The only above average passer in that starting lineup is Tatum. And he is a plus passer more than a great passer.

This is not good. This does not spell ball movement. This spells iso-ball.

I'm not so sure about that part.  We had a stretch in the middle of the year where White was our lead guard due to injuries and he flourished as a distributor.  Then guys returned from absences and he kinda went back into his box (still played well, mind you - just no longer a nightly 20/10 threat).  If we can unlock that part of him consistently...

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Was this our Ray Allen move or Kevin Garnett move?

I sense one more big move coming since we got some picks and still got PP, Grant, and Brogdon...

IMO, this is definitely not a KG move. But it could be a Ray Allen move. We'll see.

[Who]

C: Porzingis
F: Horford
F: Tatum
G: Jaylen
G: D White

The other thing I was thinking about earlier was with Porzingis now coming in there is another guy who will be looking for his instead of the ball going to our best player down the stretch.

There were several games were many of us were concerned that Tatum was not getting the ball enough in the 4th quarter. That it ended up in other places.

Now we have not 1 but 2 prolific scorers looking to get theirs alongside Tatum. Both Jaylen and Porzingis are me-first offensive players. Both guys are takers (shot takers) rather than givers (setting up teammates).

I expect we'll see more frustrating games where our best offensive player Jayson Tatum ends up not getting the ball down the stretch and instead our 2nd and 3rd best offensive guys will be the ones making the plays instead of him. Less effective players than Tatum.

[celticinorlando]

Can’t believe this is the only move Brad makes. Feels like something else is coming

[SparzWizard]

Was this our Ray Allen move or Kevin Garnett move?

I sense one more big move coming since we got some picks and still got PP, Grant, and Brogdon...

IMO, this is definitely not a KG move. But it could be a Ray Allen move. We'll see.

So, the speculation is Damian Lillard and could that be our Kevin Garnett move?

Lillard/Brown/Tatum/Porzingis/Timelord

That is a upper 60-win lineup team.

[Kuberski33]

In keeping with the trend, the Celtics became softer today.

Will miss Smart. It's going to be difficult watching an even more mentally weak team. Hopefully Brown is out sooner than later.

Smart had some no shows this season defensively - which was never the case in the past. There were more than a few occasions when as a team they couldn't stop anyone and part of the problem was letting the opposing guards go wherever they wanted to. Part of that was on Smart.

The biggest loss however is his passing. I don't think he's a great distributor by any means but he's the best we had among the guards.

[Muzzy66]

Timelord / Kornet
KP / Horford
Tatum / Hauser
Brown / White
Brogdon / Pritchard

We've got #25, #35 and the TMLE to improve?

I'd start D White over Brogdon.

We got 3 big time offensive players in that lineup. We need D White's non-scoring impact next to them more than Brogdon's ball dominant style.

Potentially, though Brogdon was one of the league's top 3 point shooters last season at 44% and has been a consistently strong three point shooter his entire career (he shot under 38% only twice in 7 years).  Having Brogdon, Porzingis, Brown and Tatum out there would be pretty devastating as far as floor-stretching goes and should make it harder for teams to trap Tatum while also giving Tatum and Brown more room to get to the basket.   

White shot nicely from three last season (38%) and especially in the playoffs, but if his past career history is anything to go off you really can't really on him shooting like that again.  He's only a 35% career 3PT shooter and has shot under 32% in three of his past four seasons.  I'm not sure if I like the idea of a guy who is that inconsistent from three starting alongside Tatum and Brown - who are both notoriously hot/cold from three as well. 

I also think Brogdon is a better playmaker and ball handler then White. 

That said I'm not too fussed either way.  Losing Smart is hurts a little, but the one upside from it is that Brogdon and White are both have very low turnover rates for their careers (11.4% and 11.3%) both have averaged around 5 around 2.5 AST/TO for their careers.  Turnovers have been a big problem for Boston over the past few years and absolutely killed as at times in this last playoff run - and Smart was one of the three guys most responsible for that.  The other two were Tatum and Brown - both of whom are essentially untouchable. That left Smart as really being the odd one out. 

[Celtics2021]

How do we know we are getting that GSW pick, and not Memphis own 2024 pick?

We know because that’s what’s been reported — that it’s the Warriors pick.

[Phantom255x]

Now I wish we didn’t make this trade and go after KP 

Wish it fell through for good

[SparzWizard]

C: Porzingis
F: Horford
F: Tatum
G: Jaylen
G: D White

The other thing I was thinking about earlier was with Porzingis now coming in there is another guy who will be looking for his instead of the ball going to our best player down the stretch.

There were several games were many of us were concerned that Tatum was not getting the ball enough in the 4th quarter. That it ended up in other places.

Now we have not 1 but 2 prolific scorers looking to get theirs alongside Tatum. Both Jaylen and Porzingis are me-first offensive players. Both guys are takers (shot takers) rather than givers (setting up teammates).

I expect we'll see more frustrating games where our best offensive player Jayson Tatum ends up not getting the ball down the stretch and instead our 2nd and 3rd best offensive guys will be the ones making the plays instead of him. Less effective players than Tatum.

Wouldn't that be a coaching issue if they can't figure that out

[trickybilly]

How do we know we are getting that GSW pick, and not Memphis own 2024 pick?

We know because that’s what’s been reported — that it’s the Warriors pick.

Ah, OK, hehe, didn't see that.

I wonder which pick the Grizz think/thought is more valuable?

[Who]

In keeping with the trend, the Celtics became softer today.

Will miss Smart. It's going to be difficult watching an even more mentally weak team. Hopefully Brown is out sooner than later.

These playoffs made me even more grateful for the IT years. Those teams were fun and played above expectation. The playoff exits were inevitable but never embarrassing. It was easy to feel proud of IT and co.

Yeah, I was thinking this earlier in the day when Brogdon was the one leaving for Porzingis. Not that Brogdon is tougher or a better defender than Porzingis but that Porzingis is now our best and most important big man and he doesn't play with much defensive intensity or rebounding effort.

That our team identity in terms of interior defense, physicality and teamwork with Horford and Rob Williams will not be the same with Porzingis becoming our leading big man. The big that takes the most minutes. That gets the most touches. That takes the most shots. That is our tallest defender and most likely our defensive center a large chunk of the time.

And that was just with Brogdon leaving ...

Now it is Smart. Our best guard defender. Our inspirational defensive leader. Now not only have we lost that but we also kept Brogdon who was our weakest defender in our main rotation last year (top 8 guys). In addition to our big man rotation losing some of it's identity / toughness with Porzingis.

Yeah, this is going to be interesting to see what happens to our defense. To our interior toughness with Porzingis as a 30+mpg guy. To our perimeter defense without Smart leading the charge.