Blow it up?

[LooseCannon]

Change for the sake of change is an idiotic strategy.  Given a relative lack of good trade assets that Ainge is willing to part with, rebuilding means tanking.

If you did want to blow things up, though, you might want to discourage Ray Allen from using his player option (and treat him like Rip Hamilton if he does exercise it), encourage KG to retire, and consider committing to starting Green and Bradley with Pierce coming off the bench for 30 mpg and playing in crunch time.

[PosImpos]

Change for the sake of change is an idiotic strategy.  Given a relative lack of good trade assets that Ainge is willing to part with, rebuilding means tanking.

*nods*

[Marcus13]

My biggest concern with the re-build might be Rondo...

I just doesnt know how effective he's going to be without all those scorers around him

[Chris]

If the value is there, pull the trigger (and no one is untouchable).  If not, wait it out.  Even with this same team next year, they are still one of the best teams in the league, and with injuries on other teams, and if chemistry clicks, you never know what can happen.  There is no need to blow it up just for the sake of blowing it up.

[JSD]

If the value is there, pull the trigger (and no one is untouchable).  If not, wait it out.  Even with this same team next year, they are still one of the best teams in the league, and with injuries on other teams, and if chemistry clicks, you never know what can happen.  There is no need to blow it up just for the sake of blowing it up.

Yeah, I agree here for the most part. There is no sense in blowing it up before after the 2012 season unless a REALLY good deal presents itself.

That said, Pierce needs to retire a Celtic.

[Eja117]

There is one other reason not to blow things up and that's the law of averages. Yes we got hurt a lot this year, but other guys on other teams can get hurt to.

Look into the crystal ball.

Entirely possible for D Wade, Bosh, or Lebron to get hurt at some point and miss stuff or not be right for the playoffs.

Entirely possible for Boozer to get hurt and miss playoff games.

The Lakers appear done.


I don't think this Mavs thing is long term

Nobody would be surprised at all if Baby reverts to form, JO and Shaq have healthier years than this one, and Jeff Green, Avery Bradley, and Krstic play much better next year.

All we need is maybe 2 of those things to happen and this is a good team.

[Eja117]

If the value is there, pull the trigger (and no one is untouchable).  If not, wait it out.  Even with this same team next year, they are still one of the best teams in the league, and with injuries on other teams, and if chemistry clicks, you never know what can happen.  There is no need to blow it up just for the sake of blowing it up.

Right.

The Lakers shouldn't be blown up.

The Spurs shouldn't be blown up.

The Celtics shouldn't be blown up.

The only team in the league that should be blown up is the Heat.

[LooseCannon]

I should add that I think it is ridiculous idea to blow this team up.  If Paul Pierce has a good first quarter in game 1 (without his turnovers, maybe the Celtics establish momentum and Rondo doesn't get into foul trouble) and something goes right in the fourth quarter of Game 4, the Celtics could be up 3-1.

Maybe the Old Three will decline next season.  Maybe Doc will figure out how to use Jeff Green effectively.  If Ainge can find some D-League or undrafted free agent types who can earn minutes and provide some real energy off the bench (and not the useless Glen Davis stumbling around like Chris Farley energy) instead of going after veterans, then maybe this team has a chance next season.  It might be sort of like how Portland has a chance in the unlikely event that everyone is mostly healthy, but it's better than being the Milwaukee Bucks.

[Senninsage]

Nothing needs to be blown up, this team is still championship material.

We've got to be able to take some hardship sometimes.

[JSD]

The last thing we would want to do is what the Pistons did.

[PosImpos]

I should add that I think it is ridiculous idea to blow this team up.  If Paul Pierce has a good first quarter in game 1 (without his turnovers, maybe the Celtics establish momentum and Rondo doesn't get into foul trouble) and something goes right in the fourth quarter of Game 4, the Celtics could be up 3-1.

Maybe the Old Three will decline next season.  Maybe Doc will figure out how to use Jeff Green effectively.  If Ainge can find some D-League or undrafted free agent types who can earn minutes and provide some real energy off the bench (and not the useless Glen Davis stumbling around like Chris Farley energy) instead of going after veterans, then maybe this team has a chance next season.  It might be sort of like how Portland has a chance in the unlikely event that everyone is mostly healthy, but it's better than being the Milwaukee Bucks.

These are the same sort of "what if" games that people played after last year, and look at that, we're right back here again, only we got here even sooner.

I agree with Jsaad, we don't want to do what the Pistons did -- hold onto a team of aging vets for too long and then try to reload too quickly by using cap space on free agents as soon as it becomes available.  It may take longer, but the smarter way to rebuild is to go straight into it completely and then be smart and patient in acquiring and developing assets.

[Moranis]

Why exactly does everyone think Miami isn't going to be a lot better next year?  I mean seriously they put that team together last minute off of the scrap heap.  And even if the entire team is back, a healthy Haslem, a healthy Miller, a full season of Bibby, a more improved Anthony, etc. and the Heat are better without doing anything else.  Of course, I see the Heat adding a legit center (Dalembert at the full MLE for example) and utilizing the LLE or veteran minimums on older guys, much like we did with Shaq, Murphy, etc. this year.

The Heat are only going to get better, which means without drastic moves we aren't catching them.

[angryguy77]

Why exactly does everyone think Miami isn't going to be a lot better next year?  I mean seriously they put that team together last minute off of the scrap heap.  And even if the entire team is back, a healthy Haslem, a healthy Miller, a full season of Bibby, a more improved Anthony, etc. and the Heat are better without doing anything else.  Of course, I see the Heat adding a legit center (Dalembert at the full MLE for example) and utilizing the LLE or veteran minimums on older guys, much like we did with Shaq, Murphy, etc. this year.

The Heat are only going to get better, which means without drastic moves we aren't catching them.

I've been saying this as well. They are only going to get better. This was our year to beat them. Unless we land some major talent this summer, we are going be nothing more than a warm-up for the better teams in the playoffs.

We will be the Spurs V 2.0

[Chris]

The Heat are only going to get better, which means without drastic moves we aren't catching them.

While I don't disagree with this, there are two issues I have with it.

#1 (and this is a big one), this is easier said than done.  If Danny does not make the right moves, he can do much more harm than good.  Patience is key.

#2 Injuries happen, and the Heat are a Dwayne Wade blown out knee away from being very beatable again next year.  As we saw with the Magic a couple years ago, if you put yourself in a position to win, you can get pretty far with some luck.  And I think this C's team is better than that Magic team a couple years ago, even without making any tweaks.  So, if they can't make a deal that makes them clearly better now, or in the future, there is nothing wrong with standing pat for another year, giving it another shot, and hoping lightning will strike, and they can steal another championship.

[BballTim]

No.  I have very little desire to lose 55+ games again.

But you'd rather win 45-55 and get beaten in the 2nd round again?

I guess I can appreciate where you're coming from, but to me any season that puts us farther away from being a contender instead of bringing us closer to being one is a waste of a season.

There's no trophy for making the playoffs or winning a single series, and you can't build a championship contender with late first round picks.

  Becoming a crappy team doesn't put you closer to being a contender. You're implying that teams like Minny, Sacramento, Toronto and Golden State are closer to being contenders than Portland or Atlanta. I don't see this as true.

  Even if you feel that we have no hope of ever beating the Heat, how would you feel about things if we broke things up and won 33 games next year, Chicago fizzled in the playoffs and LeBron gets injured? Would you be thankful that we're "closer to contending" than looking at a relatively easy path to the finals?

No, I'm not implying what you said I implied.  Portland and Atlanta are young; there are still moves they can make to shift the make-up of their team and contend.  They aren't a whole lot closer to winning a title than Sactown and Golden State, but they are.  However, I would say at this point that Golden State and Sactown are probably closer to winning a title than the Celtics.  Becoming a crappy team does make you closer to a title if you are a young crappy team filled with players that have potential and there are draft picks stockpiled. 

  In what way are those teams closer to winning a title than the Celtics? Neither team has players capable of leading a team to a title, and neither team is in a position to acquire such a player. What if the Celts make a decent FA signing and traded Ray and picks for a younger, more athletic wing? We'd at least have a shot at a title. Go ahead and call that unlikely, but what moves could either of those teams make that are more likely than my scenario that will make them favorites for a title?