Celtics News

[OnPoint]

Ayton will be a Laker.

Absolutely nobody would take on Ayton for a year? They couldn?t even salary dump him? That sounds hard to believe.

A lot of stuff going the Lakers way right before and after they sell for $10B, total coincidence I?m sure.

[radiohead]

If Brad works his magic and somehow lands Ayton?

[celticinorlando]

Ayton will be a Laker. That deal probably is done soon.

Getting bad vibes about Al and Luke. If those guys leave then Boston is sunk.

This probably will be the worst Cs team since the deals that burned it down with the Nets.

Failing to see how they make the play in let alone the playoffs with this roster.

I wish if they are going to be a lottery team just go all in and try to get a top 3 pick.

We have entered the dark days and this next year is going to be rough seas. What I thought would be a several year long window has firmly shut.

White
Brown
Simons
Sam
Queta

Bench:
PP
Baylor
Niang
Stiff from KY
Davison
Walsh
Hugo
Tillman

Yikes.

[Jiri Welsch]

Ayton will be a Laker. That deal probably is done soon.

Getting bad vibes about Al and Luke. If those guys leave then Boston is sunk.

This probably will be the worst Cs team since the deals that burned it down with the Nets.

Failing to see how they make the play in let alone the playoffs with this roster.

I wish if they are going to be a lottery team just go all in and try to get a top 3 pick.

We have entered the dark days and this next year is going to be rough seas. What I thought would be a several year long window has firmly shut.

White
Brown
Simons
Sam
Queta

Bench:
PP
Baylor
Niang
Stiff from KY
Davison
Walsh
Hugo
Tillman

Yikes.

I would think about starting PP next year. So a starting lineup of:

PP
Simons
White
Brown
CENTER

with Hauser first off the bench. Then hope one of your bench guys proves he's semi-decent and go from there. Definitely uninspiring though!

[Donoghus]

Barring more injuries, Celtics are still a playoff team next season.  Wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see them avoid the play-in also.

[Celtics4ever]

I am hoping we flip Niang, and use that money to sign one of Al or Luke.  It will also take a draft asset to move George, I wager.

[Goldstar88]

Barring more injuries, Celtics are still a playoff team next season.  Wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see them avoid the play-in also.

I don?t know about that. If healthy, these teams will all have more talent than the Celtics for this coming season.

Cavs
Knicks
Magic
Pacers
Pistons
Hawks
Bucks
76ers
Heat
Bulls

Even the Raptors and Hornets have more talent.

Hornets: Lamelo, Sexton, Miller, Bridges, Knueppel,  Grant Williams, Mann, Green, Salaun

Raptors starting 5: Quickley, Barrett, Ingram, Barnes, Poeltl

[celticinorlando]

Barring more injuries, Celtics are still a playoff team next season.  Wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see them avoid the play-in also.

Not with their roster as is. That is maybe a 32 win team as its constructed right now.

[Donoghus]

Barring more injuries, Celtics are still a playoff team next season.  Wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see them avoid the play-in also.

Not with their roster as is. That is maybe a 32 win team as its constructed right now.

I'll gladly take the over on that.

[celticinorlando]

Barring more injuries, Celtics are still a playoff team next season.  Wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see them avoid the play-in also.

Not with their roster as is. That is maybe a 32 win team as its constructed right now.

I'll gladly take the over on that.

With no changes to the roster? As it stands right now. With Queta the only big and the back up the guy from KY? You must really think Walsh, Queta, Davison, Niang, etc will be strong contributors.

If they make some trades then maybe a play in team. But as we see it today...no chance.

[Donoghus]

Barring more injuries, Celtics are still a playoff team next season.  Wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see them avoid the play-in also.

Not with their roster as is. That is maybe a 32 win team as its constructed right now.

I'll gladly take the over on that.

With no changes to the roster? As it stands right now. With Queta the only big and the back up the guy from KY? You must really think Walsh, Queta, Davison, Niang, etc will be strong contributors.

If they make some trades then maybe a play in team. But as we see it today...no chance.

More confidence than some people on these boards.  That's for sure.

[Who]

Barring more injuries, Celtics are still a playoff team next season.  Wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see them avoid the play-in also.

Not with their roster as is. That is maybe a 32 win team as its constructed right now.

I'll gladly take the over on that.

If they left the roster exactly as it is today, 32 win ball park feels fair to me.

However, I do not expect them to do that. It won't take much to take this team up to .500 even if they lose Horford & Kornet.

-------------

If you left it as it is:

G: A Simons, Pritchard
G: D White, Scheierman
F: Hauser, J Walsh
F: Jaylen, G Niang
C: Queta, Amari Williams / X Tillman

That bench is going to kill that group. 3 of the 5 bench positions (SG, SF, C) will be among the worst bench players in the league at their respective positions. Niang is a below average bench player at PF. Pritchard is the only genuine asset on the bench. Overall, it has a good chance at being the worst bench in the league despite having last year's 6th man of the year. That is how weak the other 4 spots are.

Queta as a starter will be one of the worst starting centers in the league. The other 4 starting positions are fine.

If you actually gave the other starters a solid supporting cast, they could easily lead a 45-49 win team. But if you deliberately leave them with a bunch of 3rd stringers (Queta, Scheierman, J Walsh, Amari Williams, X Tillman) you will actively sabotage the team. It would be a hard tank move.

What happens when your main 5 guys get hurt and you have to add another 3rd stringer into the rotation. Or 2 of the 5 guys get hurt at the same time. It will kill the team.

The main difference between Detroit being a playoff team this year and a disaster zone the year before was swapping out all the 3rd stringers who were getting regular minutes and replacing them with legitimate NBA role players. Having 9-10 deep of quality role players is undervalued in terms of wins and losses.

People underestimate how large the negative impact is of having non-rotation caliber players in your rotation.

[Surferdad]

Barring more injuries, Celtics are still a playoff team next season.  Wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see them avoid the play-in also.

Not with their roster as is. That is maybe a 32 win team as its constructed right now.

I'll gladly take the over on that.

If they left the roster exactly as it is today, 32 win ball park feels fair to me.

However, I do not expect them to do that. It won't take much to take this team up to .500 even if they lose Horford & Kornet.

-------------

If you left it as it is:

G: A Simons, Pritchard
G: D White, Scheierman
F: Hauser, J Walsh
F: Jaylen, G Niang
C: Queta, Amari Williams / X Tillman

That bench is going to kill that group. 3 of the 5 bench positions (SG, SF, C) will be among the worst bench players in the league at their respective positions. Niang is a below average bench player at PF. Pritchard is the only genuine asset on the bench. Overall, it has a good chance at being the worst bench in the league despite having last year's 6th man of the year. That is how weak the other 4 spots are.

Queta as a starter will be one of the worst starting centers in the league. The other 4 starting positions are fine.

If you actually gave the other starters a solid supporting cast, they could easily lead a 45-49 win team. But if you deliberately leave them with a bunch of 3rd stringers (Queta, Scheierman, J Walsh, Amari Williams, X Tillman) you will actively sabotage the team. It would be a hard tank move.

What happens when your main 5 guys get hurt and you have to add another 3rd stringer into the rotation. Or 2 of the 5 guys get hurt at the same time. It will kill the team.

The main difference between Detroit being a playoff team this year and a disaster zone the year before was swapping out all the 3rd stringers who were getting regular minutes and replacing them with legitimate NBA role players. Having 9-10 deep of quality role players is undervalued in terms of wins and losses.

People underestimate how large the negative impact is of having non-rotation caliber players in your rotation.

I am not sure who is underestimating this team as it stands. Quite the opposite, I see more people resigned to the fact that this is a gap year, in other words, tanking Celtics style is more accurate. Develop the young guys and reap the benefits when Tatum comes back. Tanking is not illegal except when able-bodied players are held out of games.

[Birdman]

As of now this is a 30 win team?no bigs & very weak bench

[Goldstar88]

Barring more injuries, Celtics are still a playoff team next season.  Wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see them avoid the play-in also.

I don?t know about that. If healthy, these teams will all have more talent than the Celtics for this coming season.

Cavs
Knicks
Magic
Pacers
Pistons
Hawks
Bucks
76ers
Heat
Bulls

Even the Raptors and Hornets have more talent.

Hornets: Lamelo, Sexton, Miller, Bridges, Knueppel,  Grant Williams, Mann, Green, Salaun

Raptors starting 5: Quickley, Barrett, Ingram, Barnes, Poeltl

So which of these teams do you have the C?s beating out? Feel like play-in would be best case scenario.