Celtics (8-2) at 76ers (9-2) Game #11 11/10/26

[Roy H.]

Jaylen finished a -27

I still hated the trade and frankly, IF they were gonna trade him I'd have wanted them to trade him + others for Giannis (didn't realize they'd trade Jaylen anyways even if Giannis fell through). But tonight did feel a bit similar to some of these Game 7s we've seen from Jaylen in the past with the turnovers, poor decisions and subpar defense. When teams put some pressure on him defensively he has trouble, and the C's are capable of doing that too.

Sixers are a loaded team but I also think Embiid is a big part of that. When he's not playing or sits, they are a bit more exposed and Lebron at his age isn't capable of playing center minutes either especially on defense. Frontcourt gets thin fast for them.

we hated the trade because we did not get long term value back. we all wanted giannis. is PG a welcome surprise since he is not who we wanted? yes. but this is real short term especially at his age and injuries.  i canot see brad not shipping PG off to get something in return before he is done for good. that is my deep concern

How did Brad not get back long term value with the Clippers pick?

Giving up Brown AND picks for an older (albeit better) player is the opposite of long term value.

Brad went out and got what he felt was the better fit next to Tatum AND got as valuable a future pick as there is out there. There might not be a single pick I would trade that one for. And now PG13 is looking really good in green.

I was a fan of the deal (trust Brad) from the get and early returns confirm that belief.

the point is how many years left does PG have versus brown?

you cannot do ASSUMPTIONS based on picks way down the road. that is ridiculous. There is nothing absolute with that. you do not know what you will get if anything.

PG is 36 and injury riddled for much of the last few years. This could be PG last good year IF he does not get hurt. tell me how long KG lasted being real good past 36. exactly.

They were not winning with JB either way due to the salary. They were not recreating a 2024 roster with the new rules, so while you can't guarantee the future picks do result in a title, you position yourself with for a possibility you wouldn't get with JB.

I don't think that's right.  It's the propaganda the team put out there, but we had plenty of flexibility to keep JB and build a contender.  I mean, the last two years we've had Tatum and JB/George (on similar contracts) while staying below the luxury tax.  We're basically $23 million below a contender's budget, even with two max contracts.

I agree there's some propaganda out there, and the "well if you're just going to pay George" thing can be a short term head scratcher.

That said, as far as roster construction you have to put some weight on the fact that we paid 40% of the cap to Jrue and Porzingis to win our only championship alongside prime Tatum/Brown. You can't have two supermax guys if they need half of the cap also spent on starters alone to contend. Given the number of years we had with that duo, it's not crazy to think they would never get over the top again without expensive sidekicks.

I don't like using cap percentage.  Instead, use a percentage based upon the actual budget, which should be the second apron.  Even paying two starters $60 million each, there's over $100 million for the rest of the team.

If money is that tight, stop spending more than the minimum on fringe players like Walsh and Harper Jr.