What have we really done this offseason?

[GrandTheftRondo]

Am I the only who feels that the Celtics are the only championship contenders who have NOT gotten better as a team so far? All we did was resign our old guys, get rid of TA, and get Jermaine O'Neal?? Oh and we got Avery Bradley  

It just seems like everyone is making so many moves and we're just standing around watching it happen.

  Have the Lakers or the Magic improved all that much?

The Lakers have. One of their weak points was their bench and they have definitely fixed that.

  Did they do more than lose Farmar and pick up Blake? Is that tremendously better than getting JO?

They got Barnes who I personally hate, but would prefer to have him here. Oh and Ratliff.

  You're not exactly bowling me over with these names...

Yeah, that's exactly how I feel whenever I hear about Jermaine O'Neal.

Besides those are their bench players. They won't be starting like Jermaine will be. Pretty good pickups for the price IMO.

[the_Bird]

There's nothing we can really do about Jermaine starting for the first half of the season.  Perk will be back before the playoffs, and we still have Big Game Davis around.  Tell me what Danny should have done instead to acquire a starting-caliber 5, instead; the free agent pickings for centers were pretty [dang] slim.  We're held back from participating in a lot of trades because while we have 'Sheed's deal, we don't have a lot of the sweeteners needed to actually acquire a decent player.

[guava_wrench]

Am I the only who feels that the Celtics are the only championship contenders who have NOT gotten better as a team so far? All we did was resign our old guys, get rid of TA, and get Jermaine O'Neal?? Oh and we got Avery Bradley 

It just seems like everyone is making so many moves and we're just standing around watching it happen.

Who do you consider the championship contenders. Clev clealy got worse. Orl is no better. Lakers haven't changed significantly. San Antonio? Denver? Dallas? Mostly status quo.

We basically just have Mia and the Bulls improving themselves, but they weren't contenders last year.

[BballTim]

Am I the only who feels that the Celtics are the only championship contenders who have NOT gotten better as a team so far? All we did was resign our old guys, get rid of TA, and get Jermaine O'Neal?? Oh and we got Avery Bradley  

It just seems like everyone is making so many moves and we're just standing around watching it happen.

  Have the Lakers or the Magic improved all that much?

The Lakers have. One of their weak points was their bench and they have definitely fixed that.

  Did they do more than lose Farmar and pick up Blake? Is that tremendously better than getting JO?

They got Barnes who I personally hate, but would prefer to have him here. Oh and Ratliff.

  You're not exactly bowling me over with these names...

Yeah, that's exactly how I feel whenever I hear about Jermaine O'Neal.

Besides those are their bench players. They won't be starting like Jermaine will be. Pretty good pickups for the price IMO.

  If Perk comes back JO will be a backup as well.

[Roy Hobbs]

I understand the gripe.  I like the J.O. signing, and I recognize the limitations Danny was under.  Still, objectively, I don't think the team has improved very much so far this off-season.

In:  J.O., Bradley, Harangody

Out: Rasheed, Tony, Shelden

We may have slightly improved, or we may have slightly declined, in terms of free agency.  However, there's not a clear upgrade or a clear downgrade. 

The same thing is true of our returning players.  Marquis will hopefully be healthier, Nate will have a year in the system, and Rondo may improve.  However, the "big three" are another year older, and there's no guarantee that Perk is going to be healthy / in playoff shape after he comes back in February.  Again, there's no clear upgrade or clear decline.

So, basically, we're looking at the status quo, give or take.  That's concerning, when you consider that the Lakers improved (even if marginally), the Heat improved dramatically, and the Magic have, at least, maintained the status quo as well (substituting Barnes with Duhon, and having more trade chips to further improve.)

I'm hoping that Danny can add one more impact player to the team using Rasheed's contract.  If he can, this off-season will have accomplished its goal of improving the roster.  Right now, we're simply back to even.

[Roy Hobbs]

Also, I'm still pretty concerned about having Marquis as the only backup to Paul and Ray.  He's just too dang injury prone, and I think you can almost count on him missing 10+ games.  Danny obviously recognizes this issue, but as of right now, it's a concern.

[Bankshot]

Am I the only who feels that the Celtics are the only championship contenders who have NOT gotten better as a team so far? All we did was resign our old guys, get rid of TA, and get Jermaine O'Neal?? Oh and we got Avery Bradley 

It just seems like everyone is making so many moves and we're just standing around watching it happen.

  Have the Lakers or the Magic improved all that much?

The Lakers have, with the additions of Blake and Barnes.

[Bankshot]

Also, I'm still pretty concerned about having Marquis as the only backup to Paul and Ray.  He's just too dang injury prone, and I think you can almost count on him missing 10+ games.  Danny obviously recognizes this issue, but as of right now, it's a concern.

I'm concerned too. The Celtics still need another shooter and a big man.

[CelticsWhat35]

Am I the only who feels that the Celtics are the only championship contenders who have NOT gotten better as a team so far? All we did was resign our old guys, get rid of TA, and get Jermaine O'Neal?? Oh and we got Avery Bradley 

It just seems like everyone is making so many moves and we're just standing around watching it happen.

  Have the Lakers or the Magic improved all that much?

The Lakers have, with the additions of Blake and Barnes.

They added Blake and Barnes and lost Farmar and Brown.  If that's an improvement, it's not by much.

[StartOrien]

Also, I'm still pretty concerned about having Marquis as the only backup to Paul and Ray.  He's just too dang injury prone, and I think you can almost count on him missing 10+ games.  Danny obviously recognizes this issue, but as of right now, it's a concern.

This is my biggest concern. At this point, I kinda would like to take Sheed's contract, and hope some team isn't nearly as good as they think they are. But at the same time, I don't think we can really afford to not have another wing for that period of time.

[thirstyboots18]

I know Doc's reluctance to use rookies, and I know that rookies seldom contribute to teams in the hunt for a title.  That said, do you think there is any possibility that Luke Harangody might get any playing time backing up Paul and Ray?  Maybe he is our third option....

[Eddie20]

the Magic have, at least, maintained the status quo as well (substituting Barnes with Duhon, and having more trade chips to further improve.)

Nitpicking here, but they replaced Williams with Duhon and Barnes with QRich.

[the_Bird]

I know Doc's reluctance to use rookies, and I know that rookies seldom contribute to teams in the hunt for a title.  That said, do you think there is any possibility that Luke Harangody might get any playing time backing up Paul and Ray?  Maybe he is our third option....

Doubtful, but we'll have to see.  Still a question about whether he'll be able to get that low-release jumper off against legit NBA players; it may take him a little while to adjust.

Let's not sleep on Bradley, though.  Figure there's a somewhat better than 50/50 chance he can contribute this year, if for no other reason than they describe him as having NBA-level D already.  Seems to me that much of the reluctance to play young guys comes back to the defensive side.  If Bradley can pick up the rotations and do a decent job on that end of the court, I bet he gets himself a little playing time.

[Roy Hobbs]

I know Doc's reluctance to use rookies, and I know that rookies seldom contribute to teams in the hunt for a title.  That said, do you think there is any possibility that Luke Harangody might get any playing time backing up Paul and Ray?  Maybe he is our third option....

I don't think Harangody is athletic enough to play the three -- and definitely not the two -- at the professional level.  I think he's going to be an undersized power forward.

[35Lewis]

Why is it that some people find it necessary to rip apart the entire roster every off season?

Last offseason the defending eastern conference champs added Vince Carter, Brandon Bass and Jason Williams while the Celtics added Marquis Daniels and Rasheed Wallace.  At the end of the season we were the Eastern Conference champs because we played stronger.  The Spurs were also expected to play well with the addition of Jefferson and we all know how that worked out.