We should have traded Avery Bradley while he was hot

[connor]

Marcus Thornton would be another interesting option in that Nick Young type mold.

I wonder if Sacramento would part with Thornton for Bass and the Celtics 2013 first round pick. Would anyone be interested in that? In giving up that pick to get Marcus Thornton?

Keep the MLE to spend on a different need. Probably a big man.

In my mind, getting Marcus Thornton is very similar to starting Crawford and giving him 38 minutes a game. Thornton is a little more efficient, but he couldn't keep his starting spot on a horrible Sacramento squad. Not particularly intrigued by this option, frankly.

I think Thornton is definitely an upgrade over Crawford (he is just far more efficient), but when you take the economics of it into consideration I think he isn't enough of an increase over what Crawford can provide given his 8m price tag.

If we are going to move our 2013 first we should focus on bringing in someone to fill out our front court rather than trying to upgrade our SG position. Besides I think Sacramento like having Thornton around because he gives them flexibility when it comes to their future with Tyreke Evans.

[PhoSita]

Marcus Thornton would be another interesting option in that Nick Young type mold.

I wonder if Sacramento would part with Thornton for Bass and the Celtics 2013 first round pick. Would anyone be interested in that? In giving up that pick to get Marcus Thornton?

Keep the MLE to spend on a different need. Probably a big man.

I can't say I'm very interested in Nick Young or Marcus Thornton.  Neither is good for much other than being what Jordan Crawford already is for us.  They're both better than Crawford, but we have bigger needs.

[RIPRED]

I strongly beleive that Avery will be back to his old self when/if Rondo is back and he doesn't have to worry about ball-handling responsibilities.

[CelticConcourse]

I strongly beleive that Avery will be back to his old self when/if Rondo is back and he doesn't have to worry about ball-handling responsibilities.

He can return to cutting

[LEHGOCELTICS]

While he is a much better player when paired with Rondo, a lot of the people here were severely overrating him, which isn't necessarily unjustified because that's what homer fans do. But some people wouldn't even insert Bradley into trades for legit all-stars. Doesn't work that way. Role players almost always never equal all-stars in terms of what they do for a team. The NBA is a star driven league anyways.

I'd like to see DA dangle Bradley and other assets to bring us all-star caliber guys, near-all star breakout candidates, or high draft picks. This team is severely flawed and is just begging for a rebuild, IMO.

[EJPLAYA]

We all get it. We all agree. AB will play better with Rondo handling the basketball and him sliding over to the two again. What many are dismissing though is the idea that this backcourt pairing is an offensive nightmare and highly doubtful to be competitive in the playoffs. I don't care if AB plays a little better. I care that he can't be a starting two on a championship squad.

[BballTim]

We all get it. We all agree. AB will play better with Rondo handling the basketball and him sliding over to the two again. What many are dismissing though is the idea that this backcourt pairing is an offensive nightmare and highly doubtful to be competitive in the playoffs. I don't care if AB plays a little better. I care that he can't be a starting two on a championship squad.

  First of all a lot of people here said Rondo couldn't be the starting pg on a championship squad and they said the same thing about Perk. Secondly a Rondo and AB backcourt isn't an offensive nightmare and is very likely to be competitive in the playoffs.

[CelticConcourse]

Secondly a Rondo and AB backcourt isn't an offensive nightmare and is very likely to be competitive in the playoffs.

Rondo = proven
Bradley = not

Still remains to be judged

[BballTim]

Secondly a Rondo and AB backcourt isn't an offensive nightmare and is very likely to be competitive in the playoffs.

Rondo = proven
Bradley = not

Still remains to be judged

  Did you see the playoffs last year? Ray and Avery were both playing through injuries and both were playing poorly. Are you going to claim that our backcourt wasn't competitive, or are you expecting AB to play significantly worse than he did with 2 bad shoulders?
 

[hpantazo]

We all get it. We all agree. AB will play better with Rondo handling the basketball and him sliding over to the two again. What many are dismissing though is the idea that this backcourt pairing is an offensive nightmare and highly doubtful to be competitive in the playoffs. I don't care if AB plays a little better. I care that he can't be a starting two on a championship squad.

  First of all a lot of people here said Rondo couldn't be the starting pg on a championship squad and they said the same thing about Perk. Secondly a Rondo and AB backcourt isn't an offensive nightmare and is very likely to be competitive in the playoffs.

Rondo and Perk as the 4th and 5th best players on a championship team is one thing, but with the regression of Pierce and KG, and the departure of Ray, Rondo and now Bradley as your 2 best players is a disaster.

[bobbyv]

Agreed. People forgot how good it was last year. Check out our lineup with Bradley last year

                                                                                                                                                         

Code: [Select]

                                                         Net                                                                                                               
Rk                                         Lineup     MP   FG  FGA   FG%  3P  3PA   3P%  eFG%   FT  FTA   FT%   PTS  ORB ORB%  DRB DRB%  TRB TRB%   AST  STL  BLK  TOV   PF
2    B. BassA. BradleyK. GarnettP. PierceR. Rondo 218:24 +6.8 -7.0 +.111 0.0 -9.3 +.193 +.113 +5.7 +6.7 +.012 +19.4 -4.9 -5.5 +6.5 -5.5 +0.7 +1.6 +10.0 +2.0 -0.5 -1.8 -2.1


+19 in points??

[BballTim]

We all get it. We all agree. AB will play better with Rondo handling the basketball and him sliding over to the two again. What many are dismissing though is the idea that this backcourt pairing is an offensive nightmare and highly doubtful to be competitive in the playoffs. I don't care if AB plays a little better. I care that he can't be a starting two on a championship squad.

  First of all a lot of people here said Rondo couldn't be the starting pg on a championship squad and they said the same thing about Perk. Secondly a Rondo and AB backcourt isn't an offensive nightmare and is very likely to be competitive in the playoffs.

Rondo and Perk as the 4th and 5th best players on a championship team is one thing, but with the regression of Pierce and KG, and the departure of Ray, Rondo and now Bradley as your 2 best players is a disaster.

  Who said anything about your two best players? But, hey, if Bradley plays better than what we're seeing from Green then Rondo/AB/Green/Sully would be a pretty strong core.

  And, yes, Rondo and Perk were the 4th and 5th best players on that title team, but that's my point. People like to say things like "AB (or other players) can't be starters on title teams". I don't think it's that hard to find starters on title teams worse than AB. Derek Fisher anyone?

[EJPLAYA]

We all get it. We all agree. AB will play better with Rondo handling the basketball and him sliding over to the two again. What many are dismissing though is the idea that this backcourt pairing is an offensive nightmare and highly doubtful to be competitive in the playoffs. I don't care if AB plays a little better. I care that he can't be a starting two on a championship squad.

  First of all a lot of people here said Rondo couldn't be the starting pg on a championship squad and they said the same thing about Perk. Secondly a Rondo and AB backcourt isn't an offensive nightmare and is very likely to be competitive in the playoffs.

Rondo and Perk as the 4th and 5th best players on a championship team is one thing, but with the regression of Pierce and KG, and the departure of Ray, Rondo and now Bradley as your 2 best players is a disaster.

  Who said anything about your two best players? But, hey, if Bradley plays better than what we're seeing from Green then Rondo/AB/Green/Sully would be a pretty strong core.

  And, yes, Rondo and Perk were the 4th and 5th best players on that title team, but that's my point. People like to say things like "AB (or other players) can't be starters on title teams". I don't think it's that hard to find starters on title teams worse than AB. Derek Fisher anyone?

Now you've really lost it. AB is better than Derek Fisher?! As much as I hate to give any Laker any love at all, Fisher is a very solid PG and has been instrumental in their championships for years. To throw him below AB's ability is nonsense.

We won one title with Rondo and he was clearly the least important by far of our starting 5. Since he has been more and more the focus we have won less and less. He is likely destined for injury issues the rest of his career with his slight frame. Add a one dimensional defender who is a poor offensive player and you have the makings of a nightmare, not a championship backcourt. AB is a solid bench player. That's it. We could have packaged him with something for a better big and we'd be a lot better right now.

[More Banners]

The rotation is all messed up.  That's the problem...

Start Rondo.  Start Pierce at SG, and pair him with KG (5-5-5-whatever).  Green starts at SF.

Bradley is the 3rd guard, subs for Pierce 5:00 into the game, and plays like heck.  Pierce subs back in for Green, and around we go.

Bradley must be off the ball, and off the bench, to be at his best and most effective.

[BballTim]

We all get it. We all agree. AB will play better with Rondo handling the basketball and him sliding over to the two again. What many are dismissing though is the idea that this backcourt pairing is an offensive nightmare and highly doubtful to be competitive in the playoffs. I don't care if AB plays a little better. I care that he can't be a starting two on a championship squad.

  First of all a lot of people here said Rondo couldn't be the starting pg on a championship squad and they said the same thing about Perk. Secondly a Rondo and AB backcourt isn't an offensive nightmare and is very likely to be competitive in the playoffs.

Rondo and Perk as the 4th and 5th best players on a championship team is one thing, but with the regression of Pierce and KG, and the departure of Ray, Rondo and now Bradley as your 2 best players is a disaster.

  Who said anything about your two best players? But, hey, if Bradley plays better than what we're seeing from Green then Rondo/AB/Green/Sully would be a pretty strong core.

  And, yes, Rondo and Perk were the 4th and 5th best players on that title team, but that's my point. People like to say things like "AB (or other players) can't be starters on title teams". I don't think it's that hard to find starters on title teams worse than AB. Derek Fisher anyone?

Now you've really lost it. AB is better than Derek Fisher?! As much as I hate to give any Laker any love at all, Fisher is a very solid PG and has been instrumental in their championships for years. To throw him below AB's ability is nonsense.

  You're kidding, right? Fisher's a very solid point guard, as long as he's not asked to score or run an offense. Bradley's defense impacts a game more than Fisher's play on both ends of the court does.

We won one title with Rondo and he was clearly the least important by far of our starting 5.

  Not really. Rondo had some pretty solid games in the finals that year.

Since he has been more and more the focus we have won less and less.

  In other words since the talent level of the team around him has dropped from best in the league to mediocre the team's won less. Again, this is how the world works. PP was more the focus of the pre-big three Celts and those teams were worse than the post-07 teams. Ray was more the focus of the Sonics teams that weren't as good as his Celts teams. KG was more the focus of those Minny teams that couldn't get out of the first round. Kobe was more the focus of the Lakers team that didn't make the playoffs. LeBron was more the focus of the Cavs teams than the more successful Heat teams.I could go on and on, but you probably get the point.

Add a one dimensional defender who is a poor offensive player and you have the makings of a nightmare, not a championship backcourt.

  If you're going to say that you watched Rondo and Bradley in last years playoffs and kept thinking "our backcourt is a nightmare" you should probably avoid using phrases like "Now you've really lost it" in your posts.