At times, hard to stay positive over the off season moves

[bucknersrevenge]

Right now we only have two players we know exactly what we're going to get from off the bench (House & Powe). After those House and Posey there are a lot of questions. There are too many thing that would have to go our way. Giddens, Miles, and O'Bryant have to come with the right attitude.  Allen, Walker, and Miles have to stay healthy. They all have to learn how to contribute in limited roles.

They all have to be able to play there role and do it well. For example as of right now I don't like that POB is our only player of the bench taller than 6'9. When Perk gets in early foul trouble against a player like D.Howard, or Yao are we honestly going to try and stick KG on them? or do you feel comfortable with O'Bryant there trying to buy Perk time? Or when Rondo needs a breather and House is out there with someone like Lindsey Hunter guarding him. I know I won't feel to comfortable seeing House under that type of pressure.

I guess i'm still more worried about back-up pg and c then I realized.

Did you like it when we did it last year and won 66 games and the division by a landslide?

[crownsy]

Right now we only have two players we know exactly what we're going to get from off the bench (House & Powe). After those House and Posey there are a lot of questions. There are too many thing that would have to go our way. Giddens, Miles, and O'Bryant have to come with the right attitude.  Allen, Walker, and Miles have to stay healthy. They all have to learn how to contribute in limited roles.

They all have to be able to play there role and do it well. For example as of right now I don't like that POB is our only player of the bench taller than 6'9. When Perk gets in early foul trouble against a player like D.Howard, or Yao are we honestly going to try and stick KG on them? or do you feel comfortable with O'Bryant there trying to buy Perk time? Or when Rondo needs a breather and House is out there with someone like Lindsey Hunter guarding him. I know I won't feel to comfortable seeing House under that type of pressure.

I guess i'm still more worried about back-up pg and c then I realized.

Did you like it when we did it last year and won 66 games and the division by a landslide?

TP, seemed to work out ok last year. pollard played a stunning 10 games, and PJ only came in for the last push.

for the ensuing, ya know, season, the scenario above seemed to work out fine, and we didn't even have a POB to toss out there.

[bucknersrevenge]

So let me get this straight. Fans defending Danny Ainge's offseason moves say that he's trying to get the Celtics to be more athletic.

Hmmmmm....well first off, if last year's Celtics roster needed any improvements or tweaking, then how come they won 66 games and the NBA finals?

Secondly, I hear all this talk about wanting to get more athletic.
Problem is, Kendrick Perkins doesn't strike me as an athletic player (not to single out Perk but to make a point.)

Also, being a more athletic team doesn't necessarily translate to more wins.  The Celtics from 2006-07 had some athletic players like Gerald Green, but they also lost 58 games.

I hope I am wrong in my pessism of the 08/09 roster like I was about being unhappy that the Sox traded that cancer Manny for Jason Bay.

But right now, I am not convinced that I am.

Let's clear this up. I'm not saying Danny's trying to do it. Danny said it HIMSELF! So did Doc. Check any video post draft on Celtics.com or ComcastSportsnet. They lay it out in plain english for all to see. Doc specifically uses the phrase in the Comcast interview "While we were very skilled we weren't very athletic and we wanted to change that..." They were thinking of course about how Atlanta used their superior athleticism on the wings to stay in the series. They were thinking about how the Wizards used theirs to take 3 out of 4 from us last season.

You're making your point about Perk in a vacuum. Danny wanted to increase the overall athleticism of this team. That's why he not only drafted athletic wings but he brought in an athletic center as well to give him a chance to back up Perk. O'Bryant is meant to be the athletic counterpart to Perks more physical bruising game.

While simply adding athletic players to a team doesn't always make a team better. You also have to have athletes aren't stupid and are committed to working hard to improve their games. Not only do I believe we have that in Giddens, Walker, Pruitt and now O'Bryant(reports have had him joined at he him with Cliff Ray) but we get to bring them in to play next to 3 Hall of Famers that have a history of making younger players around them BETTER. To compare the team gerald joined with and the team we know have is downright laughable. Seriously...you're better than that. You were wrong about Bay, you're going to be wrong again.

[ManUp]

Right now we only have two players we know exactly what we're going to get from off the bench (House & Powe). After those House and Posey there are a lot of questions. There are too many thing that would have to go our way. Giddens, Miles, and O'Bryant have to come with the right attitude.  Allen, Walker, and Miles have to stay healthy. They all have to learn how to contribute in limited roles.

They all have to be able to play there role and do it well. For example as of right now I don't like that POB is our only player of the bench taller than 6'9. When Perk gets in early foul trouble against a player like D.Howard, or Yao are we honestly going to try and stick KG on them? or do you feel comfortable with O'Bryant there trying to buy Perk time? Or when Rondo needs a breather and House is out there with someone like Lindsey Hunter guarding him. I know I won't feel to comfortable seeing House under that type of pressure.

I guess i'm still more worried about back-up pg and c then I realized.

Did you like it when we did it last year and won 66 games and the division by a landslide?

TP, seemed to work out ok last year. pollard played a stunning 10 games, and PJ only came in for the last push.

for the ensuing, ya know, season, the scenario above seemed to work out fine, and we didn't even have a POB to toss out there.

I'm thinking play-offs not regular season.

EDIT: We had a lot of trouble with Orlando for that exact reason.

[bucknersrevenge]

Right now we only have two players we know exactly what we're going to get from off the bench (House & Powe). After those House and Posey there are a lot of questions. There are too many thing that would have to go our way. Giddens, Miles, and O'Bryant have to come with the right attitude.  Allen, Walker, and Miles have to stay healthy. They all have to learn how to contribute in limited roles.

They all have to be able to play there role and do it well. For example as of right now I don't like that POB is our only player of the bench taller than 6'9. When Perk gets in early foul trouble against a player like D.Howard, or Yao are we honestly going to try and stick KG on them? or do you feel comfortable with O'Bryant there trying to buy Perk time? Or when Rondo needs a breather and House is out there with someone like Lindsey Hunter guarding him. I know I won't feel to comfortable seeing House under that type of pressure.

I guess i'm still more worried about back-up pg and c then I realized.

Did you like it when we did it last year and won 66 games and the division by a landslide?

TP, seemed to work out ok last year. pollard played a stunning 10 games, and PJ only came in for the last push.

for the ensuing, ya know, season, the scenario above seemed to work out fine, and we didn't even have a POB to toss out there.

BINGO! And that is who O'Bryant is replacing- Pollard...or nobody, depending on how you look at it. I would say O'bryant vs 10 games of Scot Pollard is a net upgrade wouldn't you?? TP right back 

[bucknersrevenge]

Right now we only have two players we know exactly what we're going to get from off the bench (House & Powe). After those House and Posey there are a lot of questions. There are too many thing that would have to go our way. Giddens, Miles, and O'Bryant have to come with the right attitude.  Allen, Walker, and Miles have to stay healthy. They all have to learn how to contribute in limited roles.

They all have to be able to play there role and do it well. For example as of right now I don't like that POB is our only player of the bench taller than 6'9. When Perk gets in early foul trouble against a player like D.Howard, or Yao are we honestly going to try and stick KG on them? or do you feel comfortable with O'Bryant there trying to buy Perk time? Or when Rondo needs a breather and House is out there with someone like Lindsey Hunter guarding him. I know I won't feel to comfortable seeing House under that type of pressure.

I guess i'm still more worried about back-up pg and c then I realized.

Did you like it when we did it last year and won 66 games and the division by a landslide?

TP, seemed to work out ok last year. pollard played a stunning 10 games, and PJ only came in for the last push.

for the ensuing, ya know, season, the scenario above seemed to work out fine, and we didn't even have a POB to toss out there.

I'm thinking play-offs not regular season.

You didn't say that. If that's the case what we think about this roster RIGHT NOW doesn't even matter. There is a long time between now and the playoffs and if were worrying about Yao in the playoffs I will assume we'll have already made it to the Finals which then completely kills any argument. But just for the sake of saying Between now and then O'Bryant might develop into a solid role player. I mean he has tremendously difficult task of replacing Pollard's 10 games of production during the regular season and PJ's 2.9 points and 2.4 rebs a game on 46% shooting in the playoffs. This kid has exactly 3 questions to answer between now and the playoffs:

Will he block shots for us?
Will he rebound for us?
Will he continue to work hard?

If he doesn't answer those in the affirmative we still have time to sign a veteran replacement. But if he answers in the possitive we've found Perks backup at age 26. I'll take that.

[crownsy]

Right now we only have two players we know exactly what we're going to get from off the bench (House & Powe). After those House and Posey there are a lot of questions. There are too many thing that would have to go our way. Giddens, Miles, and O'Bryant have to come with the right attitude.  Allen, Walker, and Miles have to stay healthy. They all have to learn how to contribute in limited roles.

They all have to be able to play there role and do it well. For example as of right now I don't like that POB is our only player of the bench taller than 6'9. When Perk gets in early foul trouble against a player like D.Howard, or Yao are we honestly going to try and stick KG on them? or do you feel comfortable with O'Bryant there trying to buy Perk time? Or when Rondo needs a breather and House is out there with someone like Lindsey Hunter guarding him. I know I won't feel to comfortable seeing House under that type of pressure.

I guess i'm still more worried about back-up pg and c then I realized.

Did you like it when we did it last year and won 66 games and the division by a landslide?

TP, seemed to work out ok last year. pollard played a stunning 10 games, and PJ only came in for the last push.

for the ensuing, ya know, season, the scenario above seemed to work out fine, and we didn't even have a POB to toss out there.

I'm thinking play-offs not regular season.

EDIT: We had a lot of trouble with Orlando for that exact reason.

we also had trouble with the bobcats, we still managed to eek out 66 wins and crush the conferance for the best recored. so sorry we couldn't win all 82 for ya.

also, your argument, which wasen't about the playoffs before we pointed out that this is exactly like last season doesn't hold weight either, since the problem wasen't solved till the last month and a half.

So, come back to me when were entering the playoffs with only POB as our back up big man. I think it far more likely we sign a buyout vet or two, just like last year, and just like contending teams have been doing at that time peroid since the begining of time.

[ManUp]

Right now we only have two players we know exactly what we're going to get from off the bench (House & Powe). After those House and Posey there are a lot of questions. There are too many thing that would have to go our way. Giddens, Miles, and O'Bryant have to come with the right attitude.  Allen, Walker, and Miles have to stay healthy. They all have to learn how to contribute in limited roles.

They all have to be able to play there role and do it well. For example as of right now I don't like that POB is our only player of the bench taller than 6'9. When Perk gets in early foul trouble against a player like D.Howard, or Yao are we honestly going to try and stick KG on them? or do you feel comfortable with O'Bryant there trying to buy Perk time? Or when Rondo needs a breather and House is out there with someone like Lindsey Hunter guarding him. I know I won't feel to comfortable seeing House under that type of pressure.

I guess i'm still more worried about back-up pg and c then I realized.

Did you like it when we did it last year and won 66 games and the division by a landslide?

TP, seemed to work out ok last year. pollard played a stunning 10 games, and PJ only came in for the last push.

for the ensuing, ya know, season, the scenario above seemed to work out fine, and we didn't even have a POB to toss out there.

I'm thinking play-offs not regular season.

EDIT: We had a lot of trouble with Orlando for that exact reason.

we also had trouble with the bobcats, we still managed to eek out 66 wins and crush the conferance for the best recored. so sorry we couldn't win all 82 for ya.

also, your argument, which wasen't about the playoffs before we pointed out that this is exactly like last season doesn't hold weight either, since the problem wasen't solved till the last month and a half.

So, come back to me when were entering the playoffs with only POB as our back up big man. I think it far more likely we sign a buyout vet or two, just like last year, and just like contending teams have been doing at that time peroid since the begining of time.

Oh my God! It was the same thing last season so they should just give us our 66 wins and championship now, because that's what happened last season. 66 wins and a championship LAST SEAON!!! HURRAY!

Last season has nothing to do with this season. Fact is we have 15 filled roster spots as of right now and just because some came loose last season that we could use doesn't mean it will happen this season.

[crownsy]

Right now we only have two players we know exactly what we're going to get from off the bench (House & Powe). After those House and Posey there are a lot of questions. There are too many thing that would have to go our way. Giddens, Miles, and O'Bryant have to come with the right attitude.  Allen, Walker, and Miles have to stay healthy. They all have to learn how to contribute in limited roles.

They all have to be able to play there role and do it well. For example as of right now I don't like that POB is our only player of the bench taller than 6'9. When Perk gets in early foul trouble against a player like D.Howard, or Yao are we honestly going to try and stick KG on them? or do you feel comfortable with O'Bryant there trying to buy Perk time? Or when Rondo needs a breather and House is out there with someone like Lindsey Hunter guarding him. I know I won't feel to comfortable seeing House under that type of pressure.

I guess i'm still more worried about back-up pg and c then I realized.

Did you like it when we did it last year and won 66 games and the division by a landslide?

TP, seemed to work out ok last year. pollard played a stunning 10 games, and PJ only came in for the last push.

for the ensuing, ya know, season, the scenario above seemed to work out fine, and we didn't even have a POB to toss out there.

I'm thinking play-offs not regular season.

EDIT: We had a lot of trouble with Orlando for that exact reason.

we also had trouble with the bobcats, we still managed to eek out 66 wins and crush the conferance for the best recored. so sorry we couldn't win all 82 for ya.

also, your argument, which wasen't about the playoffs before we pointed out that this is exactly like last season doesn't hold weight either, since the problem wasen't solved till the last month and a half.

So, come back to me when were entering the playoffs with only POB as our back up big man. I think it far more likely we sign a buyout vet or two, just like last year, and just like contending teams have been doing at that time peroid since the begining of time.

Oh my God! It was the same thing last season so they should just give us our 66 wins and championship now, because that's what happened last season. 66 wins and a championship LAST SEAON!!! HURRAY!

Last season has nothing to do with this season. Fact is we have 15 filled roster spots as of right now and just because some came loose last season that we could use doesn't mean it will happen this season.

nor does it mean that since ainge doesn't have your perfect roster, were doomed. Your proclimations of how were weak have no more bearing on reality then mine pointing to last year as a base set.


Very few people on this board, myself included, thought much of the bench last year at this time, or ainge's FA moves around the big 3.

how'd that work out?

Even though your criticizing me for referancing last year, your arguments are all based on worse case scenarios that have exactly the same chance of coming true as my thoughts about the bench.

at least my position has a historical track recored.

The truth of the matter is, this roster won't look the same come playof time, just as our roster at the start of the season last year didn't.

rather than ring my hands over it, i'll wait till i see them play, then call "sky's falling!!!!" thanks.

[screwedupmaniac]

man, this thread's still alive? it's been around for like the past month and a half! we're gonna be fine, we are coming into the season with the exact same starting 5 as last year, which is a huge plus. rondo's gonna be yet another year better and have grown once again in confidence and ability. perk is an animal, nuff said. ray had a slightly off year last year and we STILL won it all...he's over a year removed from that ankle surgery he had, and i expect him to have a much better season than last year, which was still a good season. our captain is the TRUTH, and presents match up problems to more teams than i ever realized, now that he actually has help next to him. and KG is, well, KG.

we also bring back a core of bench energy from last season with house, t allen (who will have a breakout year, btw), glenn davis (he ain't a baby anymore) and the man, leon powe. we have a 7 footer who will actually play more than 10 games this season, and we have 3 young guys who are low risk, high reward athletes vying for a spot on the team. and who says we aren't going to pick up any veterans who are hungry to hitch a ride to a championship like last year? danny is NOT done. patience!

i would guess that the same people who are scared and complaining about the lack of off season moves by the majority are the same ones who said we'd get 45 wins and get kicked out of the playoffs early last year, and wanted big al over KG. how'd that work out?

rick pitino wasn't right about a lot of things, but he sure was right when he adressed the negativity in this town. i understand we're all just passionate fans, but we're beyond passionate...it's more like, skitzofrenic psychomaniacs at times  haha 

[ManUp]

I never said we were doomed. I never said we weren't going to repeat. I never said we were weak. I said some things make me uncomfortable and we have weaknesses as did last years roster (believe it or not). I'm just voicing my legitimate concerns about this current roster.

...and my who argument was about the play-offs I just didn't feel I had to say "in the play-offs" with every post. This is from earlier on in the thread.

I'm not at all worried about us making it through the regular season with such a lineup. As long as the Big 3 are healthy and on there game we're basically guaranteed 50+ wins. I'm definitely worried about the post season with this team. The post season is where weaknesses are exposed and exploited and we have a few. Our bench lacks size, experience, and shooting. Our bench consists of players with questions about health, attituted, and work ethic. Some of those players have never played any meaningful minutes in the nba much less the play-offs. We definitely don't have the ideal bench right now.

With all that said I still feel very confident in this team. I just get the feeling that things will work out.

I find it annoying that my concerns are being dismissed and you're acting like I'm the crazy doomsday guy because i'm not agreeing with the "It was the same last season" argument

[crownsy]

I never said we were doomed. I never said we weren't going to repeat. I never said we were weak. I said some things make me uncomfortable and we have weaknesses as did last years roster (believe it or not). I'm just voicing my legitimate concerns about this current roster.

...and my who argument was about the play-offs I just didn't feel I had to say "in the play-offs" with every post. This is from earlier on in the thread.

I'm not at all worried about us making it through the regular season with such a lineup. As long as the Big 3 are healthy and on there game we're basically guaranteed 50+ wins. I'm definitely worried about the post season with this team. The post season is where weaknesses are exposed and exploited and we have a few. Our bench lacks size, experience, and shooting. Our bench consists of players with questions about health, attituted, and work ethic. Some of those players have never played any meaningful minutes in the nba much less the play-offs. We definitely don't have the ideal bench right now.

With all that said I still feel very confident in this team. I just get the feeling that things will work out.

I find it annoying that my concerns are being dismissed and you're acting like I'm the crazy doomsday guy because i'm not agreeing with the "It was the same last season" argument

I find it annoying that any counter to your concern is dismissed as being from blind, homer fans who are stuck in last year mode.

guess were going to have to agree to disagree  and wait 2 months to see eh? 

[bucknersrevenge]

I never said we were doomed. I never said we weren't going to repeat. I never said we were weak. I said some things make me uncomfortable and we have weaknesses as did last years roster (believe it or not). I'm just voicing my legitimate concerns about this current roster.

...and my who argument was about the play-offs I just didn't feel I had to say "in the play-offs" with every post. This is from earlier on in the thread.

I'm not at all worried about us making it through the regular season with such a lineup. As long as the Big 3 are healthy and on there game we're basically guaranteed 50+ wins. I'm definitely worried about the post season with this team. The post season is where weaknesses are exposed and exploited and we have a few. Our bench lacks size, experience, and shooting. Our bench consists of players with questions about health, attituted, and work ethic. Some of those players have never played any meaningful minutes in the nba much less the play-offs. We definitely don't have the ideal bench right now.

With all that said I still feel very confident in this team. I just get the feeling that things will work out.

I find it annoying that my concerns are being dismissed and you're acting like I'm the crazy doomsday guy because i'm not agreeing with the "It was the same last season" argument

I find it annoying that any counter to your concern is dismissed as being from blind, homer fans who are stuck in last year mode.

guess were going to have to agree to disagree  and wait 2 months to see eh? 

2? More like 8. There is and should be no issue with our team as it stands for the regular season. The question will be whether the kids we brought in develop enough between today and June to render some people's concerns about our roster null and void. My money is on Giddens and O'Bryant holding up fine. But wse'll see.

[Chris]

...but we can't replace Posey's "intangibles" now can we?

LOL. Sorry, I have to laugh every time I see the word intangibles in parenthesis.

I'll take a boatload of talent over a boatload of "intangibles" any day of the week.

...you need both actually, or else you become the Knicks ...but the point was suppose to be sarcastic...

Changing gears, I keep seeing this "magical" and "crystal ball" stuff come up everywhere...its really not that difficult to grasp:

1. Players have contracts that last certain amount of years.
2. Players make set amounts of money on those contracts
3. Their is a set amount of years and raises allowed in a contract
4. Historically age and production factor heavily into projected salary
5. Looking at team rosters will tell you when certain player's contracts will expire
6. Looking at certain team situations will give you hypotheses on how a team may build in the future
7. Having daily discussions with other teams helps to establish the value of your players as well as theirs
8. Keeping notes on these conversations, creating spreadsheets on each years potential free agents, and continuing to update as you go allows for you to create "target lists" of players.
9. Managing your team's salary cap and making sure the players you have on your roster provide value based on their production/earnings ratio gives you flexibility
10. Having a successful team gives you clout in the marketplace because become a desirable location to play and the perceived value of your players increases because of that success.

This isn't rocket science, its business management for the business of basketball. Fans of teams look at every move in isolation and are constantly surprised by what comes next, well run teams with competent leadership are not...bad teams are run by guys like Isiah Thomas or Michael Jordan who, like fans, make isolated moves based on talent and not on asset management and long-term project planning...these teams most often fail because of it.

This is business, this is how it works...I recommend to everyone who wishes to spend the time--SAVE INTERVIEWS and ARTICLES, record audio as well...Ainge, Wyc, Doc, Pierce...all of these people have given insight into this process over the course of the past 5 years. They talk about this stuff, but short-sighted fans caught in the here and now gloss over these points and whine about team management and ownership trying to "sell a bill of goods" and stuff like that. All the while, the thought process and basic outline of how they plan to go about doing it is laid out for public consumption.

You can go back into the Globe and Herald Archives and pull transcripts from Ainge and you'll see a very concise outline stating his initial intention to build through the draft and trade, his thoughts about big name players who come onto the market year-to-year, his intention to develop and consolidate in order to "be a player" on the market, and his desire to build up the reputation of the franchise to make it more attractive to players...

We are witnessing a PROCESS of team building that started 5 years ago and is continuing on to this day...the process isn't so finite as to be able to factor in any certainty of acquiring any specific player, such as Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, but it does account for their potential availability. Its Ainge's job to figure out what the value of those players is and position himself to meet that value if and when they come available. This happens with ALL prospective players Ainge values, as he is constantly gauging the market and seeing what MAY come to pass.

...what else do you think Ainge and the front office do year-round? You don't honestly think they get a roster and then sit on their butt waiting to see what happens...team building is a 12 month a year process of evaluation--another thing Ainge has stated in the public forum...our current success and our future success will ride on this process of evaluation, anticipation, and CALCULATED risk...

Great post.  This is something I have been trying to say for a while now, but haven't been able to put it nearly as clearly as you did.

There is a ton of luck involved in putting a team together in professional sports.  You need to be in the right place at the right time, with the right people.  But when you look at all of the best "team builders" in any sport, there is one thing that they have in common...they are prepared whenever that opportunity presents itself, because they are always looking forward and thinking about how a particular move will help or hurt them down the road.

No one can see the future...but by looking at all of the details, they can make a much more educated guess than those who are only looking at the surface.

It is clear that some GMs do not look at these details...but it is also clear that one of the ones that does is in charge of the Celtics.  It doesn't mean he can't make mistakes.  It doesn't mean that he won't make a bad gamble.  But it does mean that he is putting his team in the best position for success in the short and  long term.

[bucknersrevenge]

...but we can't replace Posey's "intangibles" now can we?

LOL. Sorry, I have to laugh every time I see the word intangibles in parenthesis.

I'll take a boatload of talent over a boatload of "intangibles" any day of the week.

...you need both actually, or else you become the Knicks ...but the point was suppose to be sarcastic...

Changing gears, I keep seeing this "magical" and "crystal ball" stuff come up everywhere...its really not that difficult to grasp:

1. Players have contracts that last certain amount of years.
2. Players make set amounts of money on those contracts
3. Their is a set amount of years and raises allowed in a contract
4. Historically age and production factor heavily into projected salary
5. Looking at team rosters will tell you when certain player's contracts will expire
6. Looking at certain team situations will give you hypotheses on how a team may build in the future
7. Having daily discussions with other teams helps to establish the value of your players as well as theirs
8. Keeping notes on these conversations, creating spreadsheets on each years potential free agents, and continuing to update as you go allows for you to create "target lists" of players.
9. Managing your team's salary cap and making sure the players you have on your roster provide value based on their production/earnings ratio gives you flexibility
10. Having a successful team gives you clout in the marketplace because become a desirable location to play and the perceived value of your players increases because of that success.

This isn't rocket science, its business management for the business of basketball. Fans of teams look at every move in isolation and are constantly surprised by what comes next, well run teams with competent leadership are not...bad teams are run by guys like Isiah Thomas or Michael Jordan who, like fans, make isolated moves based on talent and not on asset management and long-term project planning...these teams most often fail because of it.

This is business, this is how it works...I recommend to everyone who wishes to spend the time--SAVE INTERVIEWS and ARTICLES, record audio as well...Ainge, Wyc, Doc, Pierce...all of these people have given insight into this process over the course of the past 5 years. They talk about this stuff, but short-sighted fans caught in the here and now gloss over these points and whine about team management and ownership trying to "sell a bill of goods" and stuff like that. All the while, the thought process and basic outline of how they plan to go about doing it is laid out for public consumption.

You can go back into the Globe and Herald Archives and pull transcripts from Ainge and you'll see a very concise outline stating his initial intention to build through the draft and trade, his thoughts about big name players who come onto the market year-to-year, his intention to develop and consolidate in order to "be a player" on the market, and his desire to build up the reputation of the franchise to make it more attractive to players...

We are witnessing a PROCESS of team building that started 5 years ago and is continuing on to this day...the process isn't so finite as to be able to factor in any certainty of acquiring any specific player, such as Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, but it does account for their potential availability. Its Ainge's job to figure out what the value of those players is and position himself to meet that value if and when they come available. This happens with ALL prospective players Ainge values, as he is constantly gauging the market and seeing what MAY come to pass.

...what else do you think Ainge and the front office do year-round? You don't honestly think they get a roster and then sit on their butt waiting to see what happens...team building is a 12 month a year process of evaluation--another thing Ainge has stated in the public forum...our current success and our future success will ride on this process of evaluation, anticipation, and CALCULATED risk...

Great post.  This is something I have been trying to say for a while now, but haven't been able to put it nearly as clearly as you did.

There is a ton of luck involved in putting a team together in professional sports.  You need to be in the right place at the right time, with the right people.  But when you look at all of the best "team builders" in any sport, there is one thing that they have in common...they are prepared whenever that opportunity presents itself, because they are always looking forward and thinking about how a particular move will help or hurt them down the road.

No one can see the future...but by looking at all of the details, they can make a much more educated guess than those who are only looking at the surface.

It is clear that some GMs do not look at these details...but it is also clear that one of the ones that does is in charge of the Celtics.  It doesn't mean he can't make mistakes.  It doesn't mean that he won't make a bad gamble.  But it does mean that he is putting his team in the best position for success in the short and  long term.

Absolutely right. Team building is a fluid process. Constantly evolving and constantly changing. Every move Danny has made he's tried to gauge not only the short-term but also the long-term ramifications of each move. Every player he acquires is treated as an asset, either for the immediate future or longterm future. Each player is kept for an indefinite period of time or at some point parlayed into another asset that either fits the plan or is then moved again.