Peter May Lauds Ainge "Heist"

[Evantime34]

Rarely has Peter May gushed about anything Celtic since 1986. He really thinks Ainge's moves constituted a "heist". I agree.

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nba/columns/story?columnist=may_peter&id=6176471

Peter May loves to be a contrarian, when the team is doign well and fans are excited he is pessimistic. Now for the first time in a few years fans were upset. He decided to be optimistic at that point.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I want Arroyo or Hughes (though I don't know anything about Hughes at the moment).

[Bingbangbarros]

How are we worse at point guard after the trade? Unless you're assuming Delonte will not be healthy. Nate was horrible IMO. Delonte is the perfect backup and can slide over to the 2guard as well as Pierce. Most of our guys can play multiple positions so depth at any position is not a worry for me if healthy.

I agree that there is a strong possibility Delonte will not be available and we do need to consider this. I wasn't sure if you thought Nate was a great player that we will miss and Delonte wasn't good enough to be a backup on a championship team.
You can't be realistic without working under the assumption that Delonte West has a pretty big injury likelihood.  I don't think he is particularly more likely to be available for the NBA Finals, if the Celtics make it that far, than Jermaine O'Neal.  Counting on Delonte West to be your backup PG without a backup plan in case he is injured is about as intelligent counting on Jermaine O'Neal to be your backup center without a backup plan.

With the signings of Murphy and Pavlovic, I think that the health of Delonte West is currently the team's biggest weakness.  The best use of an open roster spot is to address that weakness.

[Bingbangbarros]

Sorry, I messed that up.

I agree that there is a strong possibility Delonte will not be available and we do need to consider this. I wasn't sure if you thought Nate was a great player that we will miss and Delonte wasn't good enough to be a backup on a championship team.

[ssspence]

Uh oh.  If Peter May likes it, it means we *definitely* got shafted.

exactly.... scares me when he's positive assuming he'll be wrong!

Don't worry, this really is a record heist.  Even Peter may couldn't miss it and by the time the C's pick #11 in the draft 16 months from now, it will be clear to everyone.

I think the Clips will do better than that to be honest.  Give Blake, Gordon, Jordan another year to mature together and work in Williams and Moon with the rest of the supporting cast--in addition to another lottery pick this year -- they'll finish with a decent record (for a Clipper team).  Possibly close to .500 ball.

The pick could wind up closer #14 or so which would still be pretty good, especially with Danny making the pick.  Then again, it'd make for a nice trade chip with our own pick (and assorted players) for Danny to acquire another big name player to put with Rondo.

Clips don't have a lotto pick this year.  They stupidly gave that away (unprotected) in the Mo Williams/Baron Davis trade.

Question: How did the Clips trade their 1st this summer (Davis trade) and their 1st in 2012 (OKC trade that netted us their pick in the Perk deal)? I thought you couldn't trade 1sts in consecutive years....

[Roy H.]

Uh oh.  If Peter May likes it, it means we *definitely* got shafted.

exactly.... scares me when he's positive assuming he'll be wrong!

Don't worry, this really is a record heist.  Even Peter may couldn't miss it and by the time the C's pick #11 in the draft 16 months from now, it will be clear to everyone.

I think the Clips will do better than that to be honest.  Give Blake, Gordon, Jordan another year to mature together and work in Williams and Moon with the rest of the supporting cast--in addition to another lottery pick this year -- they'll finish with a decent record (for a Clipper team).  Possibly close to .500 ball.

The pick could wind up closer #14 or so which would still be pretty good, especially with Danny making the pick.  Then again, it'd make for a nice trade chip with our own pick (and assorted players) for Danny to acquire another big name player to put with Rondo.

Clips don't have a lotto pick this year.  They stupidly gave that away (unprotected) in the Mo Williams/Baron Davis trade.

Question: How did the Clips trade their 1st this summer (Davis trade) and their 1st in 2012 (OKC trade that netted us their pick in the Perk deal)? I thought you couldn't trade 1sts in consecutive years....

They have Minnesota's pick next year.  So long as a team has *a* first rounder, they can trade future picks.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Maybe because they have this year's Minnesota's pick. But interesting...

[guava_wrench]

To those who doubt we would re-sign Krstic -- they guy is about the same age as Perk. His hair might look old, but he isn't. I see no reason why we would only offer him a minimum contract. If we win it all and JO decides the pain is too much an retires, than I see us trying to keeping Krstic do to limited room to maneuver to pick up talent.

I agree with those who maintain the Perk is the more valuable center when both are healthy. But imagine the next week if we didn't do the trade now that Baby is out. C and PF options for next game would be KG, Murphy, and Johnson. Wow.

[Assassin70]

To those who doubt we would re-sign Krstic -- they guy is about the same age as Perk. His hair might look old, but he isn't. I see no reason why we would only offer him a minimum contract. If we win it all and JO decides the pain is too much an retires, than I see us trying to keeping Krstic do to limited room to maneuver to pick up talent.

I agree with those who maintain the Perk is the more valuable center when both are healthy. But imagine the next week if we didn't do the trade now that Baby is out. C and PF options for next game would be KG, Murphy, and Johnson. Wow.

If we didn't do the trade Murphy and Johnson probably wouldn't be here either.

[wdleehi]

To those who doubt we would re-sign Krstic -- they guy is about the same age as Perk. His hair might look old, but he isn't. I see no reason why we would only offer him a minimum contract. If we win it all and JO decides the pain is too much an retires, than I see us trying to keeping Krstic do to limited room to maneuver to pick up talent.

I agree with those who maintain the Perk is the more valuable center when both are healthy. But imagine the next week if we didn't do the trade now that Baby is out. C and PF options for next game would be KG, Murphy, and Johnson. Wow.

Because he is not good enough for the team to give up it's cap flexibility in 2012. 

[nickagneta]

I see a lot of talk about Pierce slipping over to the 2 guard spot i this thread and I just don't see it. Yes, he plays more perimeter than ever because of his amazingly efficient shooting but he is and will always be, going forward, a SF. He just doesn't have the lateral quickness or first step or speed to cover the SG position any longer.

What I think you will see is Green being used like James Posey playing a 3/4 hybrid and play alongside Pierce and Allen a bunch. Especially now that the C's have signed Pavlovic, I think the chances of Pierce playing any significant time at the 2 position as being a blogger's dream and nothing more. I don't see that happening.

[droponov]

In the playoffs I'd expect to see a Rondo+Pierce+Green backcourt for most of the minutes Ray Allen spends on the bench, resting or with foul trouble.

[Fafnir]

I see a lot of talk about Pierce slipping over to the 2 guard spot i this thread and I just don't see it. Yes, he plays more perimeter than ever because of his amazingly efficient shooting but he is and will always be, going forward, a SF. He just doesn't have the lateral quickness or first step or speed to cover the SG position any longer.

What I think you will see is Green being used like James Posey playing a 3/4 hybrid and play alongside Pierce and Allen a bunch. Especially now that the C's have signed Pavlovic, I think the chances of Pierce playing any significant time at the 2 position as being a blogger's dream and nothing more. I don't see that happening.

Is Ray Allen quicker than Paul Pierce? If so is the difference a big one?

What shooting guards can't he cover, particularly in the playoffs?

Starting SGs in the East Playoffs:
Wade
Bogans/Korver
Jason Richardson
Joe Johnson
Landry Fields
Jodie Meeks
Brandon Rush

I don't see any match ups I really fear Pierce playing a few minutes against, or Green for that matter.

Out West the match ups are tougher, but Pierce has played Manu/Kobe before. Terry/Kidd/Bareas are probably the 3 guard line up the C's couldn't do that against without losing something.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Nice pic of the new guys @ practice:
http://yfrog.com/gy5luulj

[nickagneta]

I see a lot of talk about Pierce slipping over to the 2 guard spot i this thread and I just don't see it. Yes, he plays more perimeter than ever because of his amazingly efficient shooting but he is and will always be, going forward, a SF. He just doesn't have the lateral quickness or first step or speed to cover the SG position any longer.

What I think you will see is Green being used like James Posey playing a 3/4 hybrid and play alongside Pierce and Allen a bunch. Especially now that the C's have signed Pavlovic, I think the chances of Pierce playing any significant time at the 2 position as being a blogger's dream and nothing more. I don't see that happening.

Is Ray Allen quicker than Paul Pierce? If so is the difference a big one?

What shooting guards can't he cover, particularly in the playoffs?

Starting SGs in the East Playoffs:
Wade
Bogans/Korver
Jason Richardson
Joe Johnson
Landry Fields
Jodie Meeks
Brandon Rush

I don't see any match ups I really fear Pierce playing a few minutes against, or Green for that matter.

Out West the match ups are tougher, but Pierce has played Manu/Kobe before. Terry/Kidd/Bareas are probably the 3 guard line up the C's couldn't do that against without losing something.

While looking at this list Faf, I can't help but ask, what shooting guards CAN he cover?

Wade...not even close.
Joe Johnson...forget it.
Jason Richardson...will torch him.
Jodie Meeks...will lose Pierce in a nanosecond.
Brandon Rush...will go right by him.
The rest...who cares they aren't very good offensive players.


I think people here WAY WAY overestimate Pierce's defensive abilities on true shooting guards and his ability to play that position any longer. Since the 2008-09 season Pierce has played exactly 0% of the team's time at the SG position. Seems like maybe the coach of the team agrees with me.