Blow It Up.

[Lightskinsmurf]

Define "realistic"?

Alright, let's talk realistic...

I think as currently constructed, C's are a top 4 team in the East.  Not top 2 - top 4. 

Name three teams definitively better than Boston going into this year. I'd say Miami is better, but that's about it.

Rondo is at his prime and is a top-5 player in the league.

Ignoring the absurdity of Rondo actually being a top 5 player in the NBA, wouldn't you say we should try and win if we had such a player?

KG and Pierce are very effective - but no where near their primes.  Both are well over 35.

Paul Pierce is 34.

Green is coming off an injury that cost him an entire season and was a decent-but-nowhere-near-all-star caliber player before the injury.

Then it's probably a good thing he's coming off the bench.

Avery Brady is a promising young player . . . but he's not going to be the next Joe Dumars.

I think I can live having a starting SG who isn't as good as Hall of Famer Joe Dumars.

Our bench guys are solid and talented.

Sounds like another good reason not to blow it up.

What does that add up to?  A couple of 45-52 win seasons and 2nd round exits, with an occasional foray into the ECF.  Until KG retires . . . and PP retires . . . without preparation and we become a perennial 41-50 win/5th-6th seed, stuck in the middle.  Not good enough to win it all, but too good to strike it rich in the lottery.

A 52 win, veteran team with good depth and what you claim to be a top 5 NBA player isn't good enough to win it all?

This franchise is about CHAMPIONSHIPS, not playoff appearances.  We got our last championship by putting ourselves into position to trade for two Hall-of-Famers, which we were only able to do because we had a lottery pick (Jeff Green) and other players recently drafted in the lottery (Telfair, Jefferson) and other 1st round drafted players to send them.

So, we should trade for two future Hall-of-Famers? Sounds exceedingly simple. Let's offer all of our bench players for LeBron and Wade and see if Miami bites!

I don't want us to be in the Pacers//jazz mold of "teams-that-were-never-good-enough-to-get-over-the-hump."

For the next three years, we're essentially building around the core of a team that won a title one year, lost in Game 7 of the NBA Finals another year, and lost in Game 7 of the ECF to the eventual champs another year. I think this group might just be better than the Pacers of a few years ago.

We need to get to 18 banners before the Fakers!!!!!!!!!

Yeah! Let's go out and get someone better than Dwight Howard! (Oh, I guess LeBron and Durant aren't available... Crap)

lol you saved me allot of writing with this. Some of the things people say on here boy ill tell ya. Celtics are top 2 in the east and top 4 or 5 in the whole NBA. You don't blow something like that up its really as simple as that. Just because you aren't the favorites by the media doesn't mean jack! Who picked dallas to do anything in the playoffs the year they won it all!? People had them losing to portland !

[JSizzle95]

Why? If the Heat slip up there's like a 60% chance we'll be the East team in the Finals. Plus we already got younger, more athletic and deeper which in itself is s good as a rebuild.

[Chris]

I hate to be defeatist, but with the chuckleheads in South Beach and the ****bags in La La Land on the upswing, I think our best move is to blow it up and rebuild around Rondo.  If we do it smart, we can have a real shot in two years.

1) Move KG to OKC for Ibaka, Sefalosha and Cook.

2) Move Pierce to GSW for David Lee.

3) Move Terry (at the deadline) to SAS for Blair + filler.

We will go straight into the toilet this year and get a very high lotto pick.  We will also have cap space and a defense rebounding minded core of Rondo/Ibaka/Lee, with Green as a stat filler at SF.  We could use the summer/free agency to trade for or draft a big scorer and we are right there, only younger and with more salary flexibility.

OK, OK, I'll put down the Jack and switch to water.  Nevermind.

Here's the problem.  Only one of those deals actually helps the team at all in the longrun or shortrun, and that is the first one.  And that is also the deal that OKC would never do.  As good as KG is, Ibaka is much more valuable. 

And this is the problem with all of the blow it up scenarios.  Unless your whole strategy is to just become horrible and hope for ping-poing balls to save you (which is beyond risky), then it is really hard to blow up a team like this, and be in even a remotely good place afterwards.

[mr. dee]

Let's trade KG for Kwame Brown.

[LooseCannon]

I disagree with the attitude that the Celtics should blow it up and start over whenever the team doesn't appear to be one of the favorites to win the title.  On paper, this team still has a legitimate chance to win even if several teams have better chances.

[Evantime34]

There is no reason to blow it up. We have the perfect mixture of players. We have veterans at every position and young players to learn from them at every position.

The best way to develop young players is to have veterans for them to learn behind. I assume blowing it up would be moving the veterans for more young players. Without the veterans there to teach them I think it becomes less likely the young players get to their full potential.

Our team is set up to be competitive now but also has the pieces in place to be competitive in the future.

[CoachBo]

this team is build around rajon rondo now if it wasnt they would've given ray allen his wish of 20 sumn million over 3yrs. this is rondo's team and i rather we stay competitive than have dog days wishing for something good to happen

Remind me again how many titles the Gerald Green/Delonte West/Big Al No D group won?

I guess we will agree to disagree.

I don't want "competitive." 

I want "champion."

[peterschott99]

This is the stupidest post I've seen in a long time

[ScoobyDoo]

But didn't we just build it?

[ScoobyDoo]

Also, while Miami and LA look great on paper and OKC is tough, assuming we sign Jeff Green and stay healthy, I like our chances against anyone.

We're adding a crop of good defenders in Bradley, Lee, Green and Collins to what was a beast of team defensively last year - and everyone is signed for 2+ years, which is good for chemistry.

I'd say we definitely ride this out for two years. We have a great shot at a title and even if we don't get one we will see some inspiring basketball along the way - some top four team basketball and some great playoff Basketball.

Meanwhile, Rondo will be only 27 half way through the season and we have a great crop of young guys developing in Bradley, Lee, Green, Sully & Melo.

In two years when Rondo is 29, if Melo, Sully, Green and Lee meet their potential we could be the right max signing or two away from being in serious contention again as Pierce and KG are walking out the door.

[BballTim]

this team is build around rajon rondo now if it wasnt they would've given ray allen his wish of 20 sumn million over 3yrs. this is rondo's team and i rather we stay competitive than have dog days wishing for something good to happen

I guess we will agree to disagree.

I don't want "competitive." 

I want "champion."

  Everyone wants to win the title. Many people don't want to head to the lottery just because the Celts aren't favorites. The Celts lost Pietrus, Allen and Steimsma from a team that was one game from the finals and added Terry, Lee, Wilcox, Green, Melo and Sully and we should have a healthy Bradley. It's hard to see that as anything other than an improved team. We have a decent chance to win the title, and there's no guarantee that the team will have a better chance in the near future if we tank it.

[Snakehead]

this team is build around rajon rondo now if it wasnt they would've given ray allen his wish of 20 sumn million over 3yrs. this is rondo's team and i rather we stay competitive than have dog days wishing for something good to happen

I guess we will agree to disagree.

I don't want "competitive." 

I want "champion."

  Everyone wants to win the title. Many people don't want to head to the lottery just because the Celts aren't favorites. The Celts lost Pietrus, Allen and Steimsma from a team that was one game from the finals and added Terry, Lee, Wilcox, Green, Melo and Sully and we should have a healthy Bradley. It's hard to see that as anything other than an improved team. We have a decent chance to win the title, and there's no guarantee that the team will have a better chance in the near future if we tank it.

Not only is there no guarentee for a better chance, there is very little chance of it going that well.

The Thunder were extremely lucky to have this strategy work out so well for them.  They got very fortunate in the lottery to land Durant, Westbrook, and Harden.  Other teams, like say the Bobcats, have been very unfortunate in the lottery and some that hit once, like the Wizards, haven't hit again and have failed to improve.

Even the situation we went through leading up to the building of the 2008 team was lucky and rare.  We got forunate on some draft picks, worked out a good deal, and luckily had Pierce here to be the catalyst to make our team attractive for KG and Ray.

I do think blowing a team up to be bad is better than being mediocre.  Mediocrity in the current NBA is a bad place to be. 

However, if you are a contender, you take your chance.  Right now I believe we are the 2nd best team in the East and could certainly win the title.  Why wouldn't we try?  Injuries could open the door.  Our defense, with improve offense beyond what we imagine possible, could open the door.  A surprise in-season trade could improve the team.

Blowing it up would bring us nothing.  We are in a position to win the title.  Lets not overreact because other teams recently improved.  If we have a shot to win, lets take it.  Anything is possible.

[xmuscularghandix]

The Boston Celtics took Miami to Game 7 (and were in that game) without their young SG who was a massive piece of their successful 2nd half of the season. Avery was a defensive weapon. Wouldn't you like to see that team go back at the Heat with Avery buckling down all series? With him cutting backdoor and tearing their defense to shreds?

[ScoobyDoo]

I'll add to the optimism - I do see Miami as the biggest obstacle in us getting to the finals next season, but if we do see them again in the ECF, here are my questions:

Will Wade have a tougher go of it being hounded by Bradley and Lee than by Ray Allen?

Will LeBron have a tougher go of it being guarded by a "healthy and rested" Pierce and Jeff Green, than by a banged up Pierce?

Will our inside players of "KG, Bass, Wilcox, Sully, Green and Collins" be better suited against Miami's interior than last year's Celtic rotation of "KG, Bass, Steamer and Hollins?"

Will The combination of "Lee or Bradley", Jason Terry, Jeff Green, Wilcox and Sullinger make us stronger off the bench offensively versus Miami than last year's combination of Pietrus, Dooling, Sasha, Steamer and Hollins?

Again, I am very optimistic.     

[Jon]

As many people have said, it makes little sense to consider blowing it up in August.  Clearly, that can be an option later if things don't work out.  But as others have also said, rebuilding through blowing it up is easier said than done 

No team run by Rondo is ever going to be totally terrible, so that's a problem.  And even if we are to tank so badly as to be mid 90s terrible again, we not only have to win the lottery, we have to win the lottery in a year that a Kevin Durant, LeBron James, or Tim Duncan is at the top.  Many years there aren't transcendent players out there. 

I think DA is doing it right now.  He's keeping the team competitive, giving us a shot at a title, but keeping enough assets and financial flexibility to be able to upgrade the team if the opportunity comes across. 

Because let's not pretend like this is the 2010 Celtics with the Big Three, Shaq, JO, and not much else besides Rondo.  We now have some nice young assets that we're building and can potentially have our cake (winning) and eat it too (having young talent to trade or develop).