We will definitely be contenders next season.

[Yogi]

Boston Celtics 2010-11 Roster
Rajon Rondo        Delonte West          Avery Bradley
Ray Allen               Nate Robinson       Von Wafer  
Paul Pierce           Marquis Daniels     Luke Harongody
Kevin Garnett        Glen Davis              Semih Erden
Kendrick Perkins  Shaquille O'Neal   Jermaine O'Neal

A reasonable Boston Celtics 2011-12 Roster
Rajon Rondo         Delonte West        Avery Bradley        
Ray Allen                Von Wafer              E'Twaun Moore    
Paul Pierce            Jeff Green              Gilbert Brown  
Kevin Garnett         Glen Davis            JaJuan Johnson  
Jermaine O'Neal   Kwame Brown      Alexis Ajinca  

1) We replace Nate Robinson as a 1-2 combo guard with E'Twaun Moore.  E'Twaun has more size and better play-making abilities but less athleticism and experience.  Although Nate is the better player, he didn't fit our needs and struggled to score in our system.  
2) We replace Marquis Daniels as a 2-3 wing with Jeff Green a 3-4 wing and Gilbert Brown a 2-3 wing.  We desperately needed depth in this spot as evidenced by what happened after the Daniels injury.  This is our biggest upgrade
3) Luke Harongody is replaced by Jajuan Johnson as our power forward prospect.  Jajuan Johnson brings better height, athleticism, shooting and defense.  
4) Our Center rotation changes from Perkins, Shaq, Jermaine, Erden to Jermaine, Kwame Brown, Alexis Ajinca.  This is a significant downgrade but we will get younger and more athletic and we will have the option of playing small with Jeff Green.
   The big 3 will be a year older and should see a drop in their production.  Hopefully this is counter balanced by an increase in production from Rondo, Green, West and Davis.  I don't see why this team wouldn't compete for the NBA championship, especially since they are younger, more athletic, and have better depth in the wings which we need to compete with Miami, Chicago and New York.  

[deekhead]

What happened to the 2011-12 season?

Locked out, given up already?

DH

[Yogi]

What happened to the 2011-12 season?

Locked out, given up already?

DH

Just a typo.  Thanks for the catch.

[gpap]

In my opinion, that is not a very impressive roster. Not quite sure why everyone thinks that JaJuan and Etaun Moore are going to suddenly become contributors this year. I think that's putting too many eggs into an unproven basket.

We need more talent and I am not just talking about Kwame Brown and Alexis Ajinca.

With this roster, the Celts are an average NBA team and get bounced in the first round of the playoffs.

We need better free agent signings and a blockbuster trade if need be.

[BballTim]

In my opinion, that is not a very impressive roster. Not quite sure why everyone thinks that JaJuan and Etaun Moore are going to suddenly become contributors this year. I think that's putting too many eggs into an unproven basket.

We need more talent and I am not just talking about Kwame Brown and Alexis Ajinca.

With this roster, the Celts are an average NBA team and get bounced in the first round of the playoffs.

We need better free agent signings and a blockbuster trade if need be.

  A team starting Rondo/KG/PP/Ray is much better than an average nba team. It's probably top 5.

[Yogi]

In my opinion, that is not a very impressive roster. Not quite sure why everyone thinks that JaJuan and Etaun Moore are going to suddenly become contributors this year. I think that's putting too many eggs into an unproven basket.

We need more talent and I am not just talking about Kwame Brown and Alexis Ajinca.

With this roster, the Celts are an average NBA team and get bounced in the first round of the playoffs.

We need better free agent signings and a blockbuster trade if need be.

I was comparing this team to the team we started with last year.  That team was pretty dominant and I think next year we will be even better. 
1) Jajuan Johnson is an improvement over Luke Harongody. 
2) Jeff Green is an improvement over Marquis Daniels, and we have insurance in Gilbert Brown. 
3) West is also an improvement over Nate Robinson (He was suspended to begin the year and injured soon after), and if he get's injured again we have E'Twaun Moore who I think can match Nate's production. 
4) Our biggest (perhaps only) downgrade is in the center position.  Even here, Alexis Ajinca is an improvement over Semih Erden.  I don't think that a healthy JO and Kwame Brown is that much of a drop off from Perkins, Shaq and JO were last year.  Kwame out performed Perkins in every facet of the game except rebounding where he had about 1 less (they both played 26 min a game).  Shaq didn't give us many minutes and was a defensive liability, while Jermaine was injured for most of last year. 
5) I am hoping any drop in the production of the big 3 will be balanced by the increase in production from Rondo, West, Davis,  Green and Bradley.
Why exactly do you feel this team is average and will get bounced in the first round?

[GreenFaith1819]

As long as the Big Four are here I'll believe in the title of the thread.

We'll need a healthy JO, perhaps another Big signed (I've seen mention of Kwame Brown), and Glen to play well and be consistent.

We'll need Jeff Green to play well and be comfortable in the system, which a training camp should help.

If the rooks could make a splash that will help, too.

That's a lot of "needs" but yeah Boston should always be looked at as contenders, as long as Danny keeps the core together.

Just my take on things.

[Edgar]

Please get over BBD he wont be here

Hopefully...

[mgent]

Obviously.

[FatjohnReturns]

Look I love the Celtics(-Rondo) as much as anybody. I think we need to have reasonable expectations though. A championship is not a reasonable expectation.

There is no miracle signing to bolster the froncourt and Doc has a adversity to playing rookies. So what do we have atm.
We have Jermaine and Garnett to play 80 minutes a night at the 4/5. These guys are old. We will be signing someone off the scrap heap and would be extremly lucky to get even Kwame. He will probably resign with the Bobcats.

If you read what Jeff Greens agent was saying last year about a max contract. There is a significant chance Green might not be here also. Babys a goner. The only one I am expecting to sign is Delonte.

Unless we are playing a short season this is not a championship squad. We are no way deep enough in the frontcourt to even come close to contending.  

[Kane3387]

Look I love the Celtics(-Rondo) as much as anybody. I think we need to have reasonable expectations though. A championship is not a reasonable expectation.

There is no miracle signing to bolster the froncourt and Doc has a adversity to playing rookies. So what do we have atm.
We have Jermaine and Garnett to play 80 minutes a night at the 4/5. These guys are old. We will be signing someone off the scrap heap and would be extremly lucky to get even Kwame. He will probably resign with the Bobcats.

If you read what Jeff Greens agent was saying last year about a max contract. There is a significant chance Green might not be here also. Babys a goner. The only one I am expecting to sign is Delonte.

Unless we are playing a short season this is not a championship squad. We are no way deep enough in the frontcourt to even come close to contending.  

Who the heck with cap room is going to offer Jeff Green the kind of contract him and his agent want after the way he inconsistently played last season? Green will be in Green. This is a Ben Gordon in Chicago situation.

[ManUp]

Your contending roster fails to inspire confidence.

Aside from BBD, Delonte and Green our bench is composed entirely of third stringers, and fringe NBA players.

Of our top 8 players JO and DW can both be expected to miss significant time due to injury.

[Yogi]

Your contending roster fails to inspire confidence.

Aside from BBD, Delonte and Green our bench is composed entirely of third stringers, and fringe NBA players.

Of our top 8 players JO and DW can both be expected to miss significant time due to injury.

   Positions 11-15 are third stringers by definition why would one expect anything else?  Kwame Brown started 50 games for the Bobcats last year while putting up numbers eerily similar to Kendrick Perkins.  Von Wafer is also not a bad back up shooting guard although he could be replaced with other cheap options such as Marquis Daniels, Micheal Redd, Aaron Aflallo, Grant Hill, Deshaun Stevenson, Anthony Parker etc.  I just happen to like Wafer and think that he would benefit a lot by returning to the same team for a change.  Every team has 1 or 2 injury prone players, but Avery Bradley should be able to step in behind West.  Also with Green, KG, Davis, Brown, Johnson and Ajinca we have a lot of depth behind JO. 

[action781]

Had Rondo been healthy, the celtics would have gone to either 6 or 7 games with Miami this past postseason and possibly won the series.

If we have our big 4 healthy, a center who can produce something (whether that be defensive presence or be an offensive non-liability), and our aging big three don't decline too precipitously, then I think we can go toe-to-toe with any team in the NBA in a 7 game series.

[gpap]

In my opinion, that is not a very impressive roster. Not quite sure why everyone thinks that JaJuan and Etaun Moore are going to suddenly become contributors this year. I think that's putting too many eggs into an unproven basket.

We need more talent and I am not just talking about Kwame Brown and Alexis Ajinca.

With this roster, the Celts are an average NBA team and get bounced in the first round of the playoffs.

We need better free agent signings and a blockbuster trade if need be.

I was comparing this team to the team we started with last year.  That team was pretty dominant and I think next year we will be even better. 
1) Jajuan Johnson is an improvement over Luke Harongody. 
2) Jeff Green is an improvement over Marquis Daniels, and we have insurance in Gilbert Brown. 
3) West is also an improvement over Nate Robinson (He was suspended to begin the year and injured soon after), and if he get's injured again we have E'Twaun Moore who I think can match Nate's production. 
4) Our biggest (perhaps only) downgrade is in the center position.  Even here, Alexis Ajinca is an improvement over Semih Erden.  I don't think that a healthy JO and Kwame Brown is that much of a drop off from Perkins, Shaq and JO were last year.  Kwame out performed Perkins in every facet of the game except rebounding where he had about 1 less (they both played 26 min a game).  Shaq didn't give us many minutes and was a defensive liability, while Jermaine was injured for most of last year. 
5) I am hoping any drop in the production of the big 3 will be balanced by the increase in production from Rondo, West, Davis,  Green and Bradley.
Why exactly do you feel this team is average and will get bounced in the first round?

Because other teams like Miami, Chicago, Orlando and Atlanta have either caught up to and/or eclipsed the Celtics in the East. Remember the playoff series vs. Miami? Not too pretty, was it?

I'd love to believe that our roster is among the NBA elite, but it just isn't anymore. 2007 was four years ago. It's time to change with the times and put together a younger BUT equally experienced and talented roster.

We also need a much better bench than one that consists of Delonte, Jeff Green, JaJuan Johnson, Etaun Moore and Kwame Brown.
Green, though talented, is just an average player. Delonte is always injured and Moore/Johnson haven't played a lick of NBA basketball yet.

Now, if we start targetting guys like Dalembert, Tayshaun Prince, Carl Landry, Nene (I still say we can get this guy with the MLE), that's a much better team