If everything had gone right this year, are the Celts the clear favorites?

[Roy H.]

When I say "this year", I mean this off-season plus the regular season.

Assume the David West sign-and-trade had gone through, and we'd picked up West for JO and Pavlovic.  Assume that Jeff Green was healthy, as were Chris Wilcox and Ray Allen.

Where does this team rank in the NBA?

Garnett / Wilcox / Stiemsma
West / Bass / Johnson
Pierce / Green / Daniels
Bradley / Allen / Pietrus
Rondo / Dooling / Moore

I'm not sure that Pietrus would have signed here with Green on the roster, but let's assume that's the case.  Is the team above the clear favorite?  Or, in a weird way, is there an argument that that team would have been worse / less cohesive than the current Celtics, as they wouldn't have come together like the current team?  Would Bradley (and to a lesser extent, Stiemsma) still have broken out, or would they still be deep on the bench?

[Fafnir]

AB doesn't break out if Allen is able to play his regular minutes.

I have similar doubts about Greg, if Wilcox was playing well and getting all of his minutes when the heart issue popped up I believe.

It'd be such a different team....

I think we're more clearly contenders and likely the third seed instead of the Pacers. But I still think we'd be underdogs versus Miami, but heavy favorites over a Rose less Bulls.

[SHAQATTACK]

with that line up and "PERFECT HEALTH RECORD" they would have to be in the elite team conversations for sure. Not clear favorite IMO. Still think the Bulls with a complete healthy lineup are the elite team in the East.

We really struggled with JO.  In many ways, injuries have brought younger players along who are bringing more to the table than the older players they are replacing.

[Celtic]

I want to say that they'd still be behind the Bulls and the Heat, but with this shortened season and all the surprises (old teams like the Celtics and especially Spurs being contenders/Heat struggling against the C's/Rose's new injury) they very well could be looking at a walk in the park into the finals.

[CelticG1]

Clear favorites might be a bit extreme but I think we would have been legit contender status all year.

I think West would have benefitted tremendously playing with Rondo.

I think AB wouldn't have "broke out" but I think he could have been very effective off the bench.

Stiemsma never really needed big minutes to make an impact.

If you don't think they'd be a top team your probably assuming West is similar player to Bass, AB would still be the same he was at the beginning of the year, Jeff Green same exact production as last year, and that Ray is over the hill and doesn't add much to the team at this point.

Basically it would be looking at it as glass 3/4 empty kinda view

[Celtics4ever]

West would have helped but I can't see the talking heads picking against MIA.

[Moranis]

No.

[BballTim]

When I say "this year", I mean this off-season plus the regular season.

Assume the David West sign-and-trade had gone through, and we'd picked up West for JO and Pavlovic.  Assume that Jeff Green was healthy, as were Chris Wilcox and Ray Allen.

Where does this team rank in the NBA?

Garnett / Wilcox / Stiemsma
West / Bass / Johnson
Pierce / Green / Daniels
Bradley / Allen / Pietrus
Rondo / Dooling / Moore

I'm not sure that Pietrus would have signed here with Green on the roster, but let's assume that's the case.  Is the team above the clear favorite?  Or, in a weird way, is there an argument that that team would have been worse / less cohesive than the current Celtics, as they wouldn't have come together like the current team?  Would Bradley (and to a lesser extent, Stiemsma) still have broken out, or would they still be deep on the bench?

  I don't think we'd have seen a ton of Steamer with a healthy JO, but even if you ignore West and lose JO you have a top team. If the current team had a healthy Ray/Green/Wilcox (and possibly a healthier Pietrus) we'd be at least as likely to win the title as any other team in the league.

[Donoghus]

Still think we'd be behind Miami in the East and, possibly, Chicago. 

Top 5 in the NBA, no doubt though.

[mgent]

Rhetorical question right?  The Avery issue all depends on whether the Dooling injury still happens.  He and Rondo being out is really how he earned a spot with all those extra minutes, just as he was starting to slip behind Moore.  The way Dooling's shot was falling prior to getting hurt, it would have been him, Pietrus, and Green off the bench.  With Bass and Green there would be absolutely no reason for Ray to play with the second unit.  

The bench's defense would suffer a little bit as we wouldn't have the confident Stiemsma we have now, but Wilcox would probably get enough easy buckets by beating centers down the court to make up for it.  And Stiemsma proved he could possibly be a one of those rare, valuable end of the bench players like Scalabrine, as he still managed to block shots early in the year with very sporadic minutes.

I'm not sure if people fully understand what a guy like David West would do for our team.  His guy would never leave him the way BB's man does (how many wide open shots has Bass had this year?) and the difference in their post games is unbelievable.  We would immediately go from a jump-shooting team to an inside-out team.  But the biggest advantage would be his ability and willingness to pass the ball in Doc's offense.

[pearljammer10]

With an 8 man rotation of:
Rondo
Allen
Pierce
West
Garnett
Green
Bass
Bradley

Thats gotta be the deepest 8 man rotation the league has to offer.

[colincb]

They would not be the clear favorite. They would be a clear contender, but there's a lot of ifs involved, no?

-I don't see Bradley getting off the bench if Allen's healthy and Dooling's healthy.  He needed both injuries.

- Steamer may not even be on the roster, but he certainly doesn't see much time.

- I do think Pietrus would still have come since he took a vet-min contract after a $4.2 million buyout. He didn't come for the money IOW as he could have gotten that money anywhere. Of course now some people here think he'll be back for the vet-min again next year, but not I.

[Carhole]

With an 8 man rotation of:
Rondo
Allen
Pierce
West
Garnett
Green
Bass
Bradley

Thats gotta be the deepest 8 man rotation the league has to offer.

Take out West (bc he was a FA and never actually here)and throw in Wilcox, thought he was playing excellent running the floor with Rondo and starting to understand the help d assignments right as he went down. Give this team Wilcox and Green and I think they become a very real contender.

Two heart issues, what are the chances?

[Swoopz]

I don't know about 'clear' favorites, but we'd definitely be up there with Miami, OKC, and SA. The most important thing, I think, would be having West. With him in the starting lineup KG would have played center right from the beginning and our record for the first half of the season would be much better. Also, a bench of Ray, Green, Pietrus, Bass, Wilcox, and Stiemsma would be ridiculous.

[RajonRondo9Dime]

To simply answer the OPs question...

No.

Miami.