Could it actually benefit the Celtics to get the 7th or 8th seed?

[ctrey]

I know I will get pilloried for this but I am hoping we do not make the playoffs. Being a low-end playoff team is the worst type of team to be in the NBA. Houston has been that way for years and it they have been stuck that way. I would prefer having a shot at a top 13 pick than getting knocked out in the either the first or second round. Even if jumped up to the 11 through 9 picks it would be much better than the 17 we are at. I know this may seem like betraying my team but I view it as a "forest for trees" approach.

[Tnerb02]

We are going to have to beat both Miami and Chicago if we want to go anywhere anyway, might as well do it sooner than later. I would rather get the higher draft pick than beat someone like Atlanta or Indiana in a 7 game series and then have to play MIA/CHI anyway. Plus it is also a real possibility that we win the division and still don't get home court in the first round.

[cltc5]

no

[Celtics4ever]

With this year's schedule I think we might play better with the rest in the playoffs.   But we need to add those bigs to have any chance of winning.   For some teams you need to wear them down and the refs are going to be helping MIA with the star calls so we will need bodies.

[mctyson]

"Unfortunately, I think the Heat are just built to pick this team apart I can't really see us beating them."

funny thing is - Miami was having a hard time matching up with the Celtics because of our size and toughness down low ...... that is until Danny traded our advantage away.

Right. Because we were jus TORCHED by Joel Anthony and Udonis Haslem last year.

[wdleehi]

Yes.



If the Celtics fail to make the playoffs, potential future Celtics might start to think "Rondo wasn't good enough to lead his team to the playoffs with Ray, Pierce and KG, maybe he isn't good enough to help me win a title?"


Yes, I know.  That is a big jump in logic, but with all the other issues that hurt Boston as a place players want to play (mostly because they want the warm night life), this just creates one more issue to worry about.

[BASS_THUMPER]

yall reachin too low..

i think we can win it all baby

[RyNye]

no

Insightful analysis.

Anyway, I don't really care who our first round matchup is. I am pretty confident we can win against any team in the NBA in a 7 game series ... our problem is I don't think we can win multiple 7 game series against the best teams, we just aren't consistent enough to go for the long haul. I just want the Big 3 era to go out with a bang.

(Also, for all the people complaining about us making the playoffs at all because you really think the 13th pick in the draft is so much better than the 17th ... find another team to root for. We don't want you)

[guava_wrench]

I know I will get pilloried for this but I am hoping we do not make the playoffs. Being a low-end playoff team is the worst type of team to be in the NBA. Houston has been that way for years and it they have been stuck that way. I would prefer having a shot at a top 13 pick than getting knocked out in the either the first or second round. Even if jumped up to the 11 through 9 picks it would be much better than the 17 we are at. I know this may seem like betraying my team but I view it as a "forest for trees" approach.

The pick for just missing the playoffs is pretty similar to getting the 8th seed in the east.

[Tai]

Yea, honestly, if the C's are good enough to get the 4th seed, I'd rather them do that. People are talking about FAs and what not that don't wanna come here. We may not get the ones we want if we give the early impression that we're just gonna draft a bunch of young guys and have them run with Rondo (aka rebuild from scratch).

[Moranis]

I know I will get pilloried for this but I am hoping we do not make the playoffs. Being a low-end playoff team is the worst type of team to be in the NBA. Houston has been that way for years and it they have been stuck that way. I would prefer having a shot at a top 13 pick than getting knocked out in the either the first or second round. Even if jumped up to the 11 through 9 picks it would be much better than the 17 we are at. I know this may seem like betraying my team but I view it as a "forest for trees" approach.

The pick for just missing the playoffs is pretty similar to getting the 8th seed in the east.

It isn't just one spot.  Milwaukee is currently at 11, New York is at 15 and they are separated by 0.5 games in the standings (milwaukee is also just 0.5 games out of the 10th spot).  4 spots is a decent amount when you are talking about lottery picks, especially when the Celtics will have a later first round pick that they can trade or take another player with (you get more out of your picks when they are spread more apart).

[BballTim]

I know I will get pilloried for this but I am hoping we do not make the playoffs. Being a low-end playoff team is the worst type of team to be in the NBA.

  I don't see why being a high-end lottery team is better, just missing the playoffs and not getting a top 3-5 pick in the process.

  There's a large amount of people who like to talk about how they're only interested in titles, and should be in a constant cycle of blowing it up and rebuilding until they finally get a core that will be strong contenders for a number of years. Unfortunately most of the GMs (or, more importantly, the owners) don't take that approach. I don't think it would go over well if Danny told Wyc that he wanted to miss the playoffs in order to move up a few spots to draft a player that will hopefully turn into a solid starter.

[MBunge]

If there's any team besides Minnesota that should understand what a crap shoot the NBA lottery is, it's Boston.  You need to run an NBA franchise so that if you do get lucky in the lottery, you can take advantage of it, but it really can't be something you rely on to solve your problems.  You certainly can't make decisions based on how many ping pong balls you're going to get.

Mike

[Reyquila]

Of course we will benefit by being the 7th or 8th seed. We will be eliminated in 4 games in either position and we will have fresher legs for next season. With our Senior Citizens in Tow, its all about "fresh legs".

[Celtics18]

Of course we will benefit by being the 7th or 8th seed. We will be eliminated in 4 games in either position and we will have fresher legs for next season. With our Senior Citizens in Tow, its all about "fresh legs".

I'd have to agree that we'd be the underdogs against the Heat or the Bulls, but all the posts claiming that we'll surely get swept against either team are over the top defeatism.  I fully expect us to put up a good fight against whoever we meet in the playoffs, and I would be elated, but not shocked, if we pulled an upset ag