Phantom, I do not consider Dallas a threat to Boston. 
I do agree about healthy Knicks and Pacers in the East.
If Dallas isn?t a threat, neither are the Knicks or Pacers.
Everyone's looking for some top 5 guy to "take them to the top". We were able to build a superteam because we developed our draft picks, and traded for guys that then overperformed their contracts, like Derrick, Al or were undervalued due to being damaged goods (KP) and it was really only Jrue that cost us close to a max but you can't say he was a top 5 or even top 15 guy in the league. In two years this roster is going to force some really tough decisions from Brad but right now and maybe next year we're fortunate because we didn't blow the bank on one guy that is costing a fortune. But at the start of 2025-26 I can see some guys getting moved, while their contracts are still fungible and there's still demand for them in the league.
Right now, if Brad wanted to, he could probably move every single one of our guys for a good return, there would be strong demand for any of them. Even Jrue with his extension, after his performance in these finals, there's teams that would be throwing assets at Brad to take him. Same with Jaylen and his $300m contract and those were the two guys I worried about the most when their contracts were extended. The trick is knowing when to pull the trigger, while the expected returns are still high.
I?d say the Celtics do have that top 5 player, though. Tatum has been an All-NBA First Team selection 3 years on a row.
Agreed. I do not understand all this talk that BOS do not have a top 5 player. Tatum is a top 5 player.
Just to clarify, I wasn?t suggesting that we didn?t have one ? we developed our top five player (and other top 15 player) from their rookie seasons so they were cost controlled for large parts of their tenure with us. So instead of swinging for the fences and trying to bring a Kawhi or an AD into our team. Brad was able to find undervalued guys like White as well as guys that didn't have a lot of demand for them due to injury or other concerns like KP and bring them in on relatively inexpensive (compared to their value) contracts. Probably the only guy we brought in that was close to a max (at the time he signed his contract) was Jrue. Other teams are trying to shortcut by chasing an already developed top five player who they currently don?t have Bird rights to and that limits who else they can trade for.
It?s really hard to hit on a player like Tatum (or JB for that matter) in the draft, so teams try to acquire the talent through trades. What Danny did, hitting on cornerstone pieces on back to back drafts is incredibly difficult.
Feel like it has less to do with development and more to do with drafting well. I think JT and JB would have been All-Star players regardless of which team drafted them.
Yes my point (which I don't think I explained very well) is that the stars have to align both financially and in terms of where in their life cycle you get the players: 1) you have to be able to have cost controlled players either through drafting well (an inexact science); or 2) by finding hidden gems that are likely to outperform their contracts; and 3) at least one of those players needs to develop into a top 5 player that can be the critical mass for the team. If most of the players found in 1) and 2) end up becoming really good, and you don't have to pay through the nose for them until after they have become really good, then you have a great chance at setting up a dynasty. Because if you try and star-chase and build your super team by signing max players or signing them in free agency, they're already taking up a big part of your cap and you won't have any depth.
If you look at the Dubs their dynasty was built similarly - they drafted Steph and Klay, then Draymond, they were cost controlled in their early years (during their first championship Steph was paid 16% of the cap, Klay 4% and Draymond 1.5%). Their highest paid guys were Lee, Bogut and Iggy. Then when time came for them to be maxed out GS could do it because they held their Bird rights, so they could look to sign a max guy in KD and still pay their existing guys.
We were fortunate in that the stars aligned for us in that Brooklyn trade, where they ended up being really bad really quickly, so the first round picks we got from them ended up in the top 5 rather than in the 20s, and we hit the right players (though at the time few people thought Brown was the right player). And Danny made the right signings in a) Brad for coach, because he was able to create a team of hard workers that synthesized together outperformed its individual parts, and then he brought in IT and managed to lure Al here. So we ended up picking in the top 3 2 years in a row when we were already making deep playoff runs, and the players we drafted didn't have to carry the team the way Cade or Zion had to do for the Pels, there were quality players around them.
These other teams that are star-chasing, trying to sign max guys, like Phoenix did with Beal and KD, sure they can still be successful but because the development of their team isn't organic, they're buying at the top of the market for established guys that already cost a fortune. It doesn't leave much to find even the Derrick White type guys that are in the mid $15-20m range, let alone be able to get a guy like Jrue who was on $40m, because they've already spent their cap to bring in max guys.
Topic: The Beginning of a Dynasty? (Read 23380 times)