From my response on the front page article:
graded a D
Resigning Ray and PP were a given. no credit deserved for something that he had absolutely had to accomplish and had all the necessary means to do so at his disposal.
JO signing is ok. the last thing we have to go on to evaluate his signing is the playoffs and he was atrocious.
I could give Miami worse than a D if I don't give them credit for re-signing Wade or getting Bosh or James.
You're seriously evaluating a vet like JO solely on his playoff performance? Are you expecting him to have a fg% of around 25% this year?
Yes, you could give Miami a D if they don't resign Wade and get Bron and Bosh. However, they did so they would get the A+. They did the minimum required not to get an F which was resign Wade. Getting Bosh alone (and kept their better FA's) would have got them an A-.
As for JO, I'm a firm believer in evaluating players based on their most recent play and not what they did earlier in their career or even earlier in a season (with the exception of a minor injury). JO's performance in the playoffs was atrocious. plain and simple. The new news that he may have been injured helps explain some of that performance if it was true but it just becomes part of JO's typical pattern of play during the past several years where injuries have impacted his play. His pre-playoff injury may be minor enough to fully recover from before the preseason but it's just another concern-->another older player added to the roster with health problems. Nothing to rate a higher grade on by itself.
Now that Nate has resigned, I'd say I'd bump the grade to a D+ -->again, Danny has the tools to get this done so I'm not going to do cartwheels over it. It became a necessity because the bench is still a very empty cupboard right now.
If Danny can turn Sheed's deal into a couple of solid bench players that help at the wing and frontline OR he nets a prime backup wing that can play SG and SF well and say Kurt Thomas as a big off the bench, I'd consider that worth a B.
Just to be clear what I consider the difference between an A and a B:
A-->C's are the clear team to beat in the East regardless of anyone else's roster
B-->C's are a clear contender for the ECF but not a sure thing to get there
C-->C's have a chance to get to the ECF if they catch fire again in the playoffs which essentially means they've treaded water.
D-->C's are clearly staying the course and not rebuilding but have not even held serve in regards to the caliber of their personnel from last season.
F-->C's are taking a significant step backwards.
Right now, Danny's moves qualify as a D. They're staying the course with the big 3. They only have 1 center on the team with NBA experience and his last time on the court wasn't particularly good. They have no backup wing except 2 rookies who are short for their natural positions. They're only big on the bench is short for either the PF or C spot and still will have issues with getting stuffed around the basket next year. They've just re-upped a decent backup PG who's capable of putting up serious points but can be a liability on defense, again, based on being short for his position. To me, that qualifies as a D right now for good reason.
As mentioned earlier, if Danny can improve on the quality and volume of players on the bench like another serviceable big man to suck up minutes until Perk returns and a really good wing that can sub for both Ray and PP THEN and only then does Danny merit a better grade.
Poll
Topic: Off-Season Grades - Celtics: "B" (Read 5516 times)