We Need to Stop Confusing Potential with Being a Championship Piece

[fandrew]

My biggest problem right now is that I don't see what we could get for pierce and garnett. Maybe the clippers still have something to offer for KG, and maybe we can trade pierce or a draft pick and pieces to a contending team.

Also, if we can wrangle Al Jefferson for Bass and maybe Terry and a draft pick, we do it. Big Al is at best a mediocre defender, but I do think that his defense would improve on such a defensive team as the Celtics...nothing crazy like KG, but better than what teams he has played for. Also he fills the need for a Big, specifically a center, who can score 20 points a game and rebound 10+ a game. And from what I understand, Utah is looking to move on without him anyhow, and this gets them something in return for him, and we get instant offense and boards.

I think that JG is capable to score anywhere from 20-25 points a game as a first option, and I think that with a training camp after a year of being with the team and actually playing and learning their style, he could find success in that role. I also think that I hold him in higher regard than other GM's in the league, and that no one will trade us anything useful for him anyhow, so we are pretty much stuck with him, and should really try and see what we have.

With Bradley, he needs this summer to be healthy and work on his offense. Work on his ball handling skills and passing skills so he isn't a disaster at the point. As a 2 guard who plays off the ball, he really shines, but he should never have to play the point for more than a handful of minutes. In addition, a summer of training and an actual training camp will do him good in finding out how much he can offer this team; is he just an undersized defensive specialist or can he grow an all around game that works well with Rondo, Green, Sully, and anyone else still around. Either way he needs work, and by the end of next year, I think we will know exactly what we have with him.

Sully. I honestly do not know what to say about him other than I would like to see him work on a Perk-like transformation of his body, and of his defense. I think that he could easily score 17 points a game and grab 12 rebounds a game just by being around the basket if he can get into the right shape. He also has to stay healthy, of course. And, like Bradley, he has a lot of work to do on his game this summer, both offensively, and defensively; he needs to work on defending without fouling so much, and he needs to add one or two offensive moves to his game to make him more of a threat down low, and keep teams honest. I am not saying he is going to be a superstar over night or at all, but man do I like his potential and his hard work.

All in all, I like our young guys, and if we can get Al Jefferson, I think that we could become a pretty dangerous team in the East. And if we were to hold on to Pierce and KG as Bench player for like 20-25 minutes a game, I see a potential for another championship run.

pipe dream line up as follows.

Big Al 20, 10 rbds
Sully 15, 12 rbds
JG     20
Bradley 11
Rondo   13, 11 assist

Pierce 15-17 points
KG     12, 6 rbds

This won't happen, but in my mind this is a best case scenario.

[EJPLAYA]

There are so many posts floating around out there stating that we just need to tweak things and that players like Bradley, Green, Sully, etc are pieces that if added to will make us contenders. Facts are this. Bradley still is only a solid defender that can harass another teams PG. Green shows flashes of being a very good consistent scoring option but isn't anywhere near the Rebounder or Passer that PP has been for us. Sully looks like he has upside and appears to be a pretty good rebounder.

That being said, they are all just "Potential" guys that haven't developed anywhere close to where they would need to be for us to compete with the Heat. And that's assuming we can add another all-star to the roster. How often does a player develop into what you "hope" that he will become? We have said for 6 years now that Rondo only needs to develop his shooting in order to be the best PG in the league, and although he is a little better in that department, we still have a PG that is a good passer and rebounder for his position but a guy who can't really shoot still. He is basically the same player he was 4 years ago, and although that is a really good PG overall, he didn't become a great shooter and the best in the league. It is much more likely that these guys are going to be just what they are now. Green an off and on scorer who doesn't really rebound or pass well. Sully a solid rebounder who can put the ball in the basket at times but not dominant. Bradley a one dimensional defender who every once in a while shows an offensive flash.

That isn't going to win it all guys no matter who you add. We only won ONE championship and had Rondo plus 3 Hall of Famers. Miami has 2 likely Hall of Famers and an All Star in Bosch. You aren't going to beat that with potential filled role players. Time to rebuild for real and hope we get lucky with the draft so we can trade them like we did with KG and Ray.

You make some good points, especially on all the hyperventilating around here about Bradley. Sullinger, et al. But I would tell you flatly that if Ainge tries to rebuild around Rondo - while Pierce and Garnett disappear - it will. not. work. This franchise will be bombed back to the mid-2000s and it will take years to escape it. There are few, if any, legitimate pieces for a rebuild on this roster right now. Maybe Green. Maybe not. Beyond that ...

They've talked at length about rebuilding on the fly. It is a dicey proposition at best and it cannot be done by walking away from Pierce and Garnett and using Rondo and the above pieces as the foundation.

We are in 100% agreement. My point is these "pieces" and Rondo are not even as good as this team is this year with KG and PP. If they both go we aren't likely making the playoffs, let alone be contenders. We'd have to add a star just to be a 7th-8th seed.

My plan is very simple. Trade Rondo and a "piece" if needed for a high draft pick spot. Then we will likely have 2 lottery selections and hopefully one of them will turn out to be a franchise guy. Two if the stars align. One more lottery pick the next season and we will either have a squad that can compete like OKC did, or a team that can trade a couple guys around like we did with Ray and KG. That is the only way we get back to contenders because as much as some guys hate to admit it, Boston is not the destination city for elite tier one free agents.