It's crazy, but we're finally in the rebuilding phase, and it's sort of interesting that of all the dominoes that we had lined up, Doc Rivers was the first to fall. Now the question is: what's next? I've stripped down the team to every individual giving my opinion, and I want to hear yours. (Note: After each player, I've assigned a number 1-10, 1 being we shouldn't move him, 10 being we absolutely should.)
Coach: I don't think there's a more qualified coach than Lionel Hollins for our unique situation right now. Hollins has been through the rebuilding phase and did a heck of a job with it. He's an excellent player development guy and nurtured that Conley/ZBo/Gasol core they have into an annual Western postseason threat. He does a good job handling egos, and is a hard-nosed defensive-oriented coach. Not only will Hollins be ideal for this rebuilding phase, he'll also be a solid candidate to lead our team once deep postseason runs become a reality again. Meanwhile, other names I've seen thrown around, such as George Karl or Brian Shaw, have one thing or another that don't really mesh with the C's right now. I definitely think there's no better choice than Hollins right now.
Garnett (1): His interest in LA is fading, and it's not like David Stern's going to help a deal out anyway. I'm hearing he's looking to come back for one year and then retire, but I don't get the reasoning behind that. However, until he suddenly changes his mind and decides he'd be willing to waive his no-trade clause elsewhere, it's basically impossible for Boston to get any sort of assets in return for him. I say we grant him his wish and just let him retire in green (although, we sort of have to), and let him mentor the hell out of the young ones.
Pierce (8 ): One might argue that if KG is going to stay, we might as well keep Pierce and make one final run, without Doc. However, it'd be weird to take step 1 towards rebuilding only to wait a whole year before taking the next step. There's a definitive trade market out there for Pierce, and I say we take advantage of the supposed "above average" interest in Pierce right now. Stockpile those assets!
Rondo (2): If my stance on him hasn't been made clear, well hopefully this will help. Rondo is one of the best PGs in the league right now, is on a crazy favorable contract, and is a certified Heat killer. There's absolutely no incentive for us to trade him unless it's an offer we just have to take. And let me tell you right now that pennies-on-the-dollar trades like Rondo for Vasquez and a pick ARE NOT offers we just can't pass up.
Green (3): After an excruciatingly painful start to the season, Green really rounded into form towards the end of the season and in the postseason (all one round of it). He still makes his fair share of boneheaded mistakes, however, and there's still a lot of flaws he hasn't fixed yet, but I'd say he's certainly made that contract of his look a lot more reasonable. He's young and versatile, and while he's no where near the franchise player of the future, he's a solid piece to have when rebuilding. It wouldn't make too much sense trading him, but he's one of our most attractive assets right now and it might just take him to pull off a truly blockbluster trade.
Bass (9): For all the contempt he's drawn from Boston fans this past year, I honestly can't help but defend him. He simply isn't a $6M player, but that's what DA paid him and that's the level of expectation fans had from him. But all that aside, Bass is one of those solid rotational guys on a championship-caliber team. There's absolutely no reason he needs to hang around for next year. Unfortunately, the problem is finding a suitor for him, and I really doubt there's another team in the NBA who thinks he's worth getting paid $6M. Hopefully we can ship him off in some sort of package deal.
Terry (9): Like Bass (but for different reasons of course), Terry has absolutely no business being apart of a rebuilding team next year. Despite a huge down year, I think there will still be plenty of teams in the hunt for a championship that will bite on him. That's why I was quite disappointed that it was Lee's or Terry's contract we would be dumping, and not Bass's.
Lee (5): Like I said above, I didn't like how Lee's contract was being considered to be dumped on in the Cliptics talks. Why? I don't feel like Lee ever got a proper chance last year. Between getting thrown around the rotation by Doc and getting nagged by some pretty frustrating injuries, he never had the role or the rhythm to be himself. Despite all that, he still put up a career best FG% and his 3P% was better than JJ Redick's. His defense is strong, and I feel like he would slide in as a perfect rotational player for a rebuilding team. He's still young, and I hope the next coach actually gives him room to develop and really flourish, unlike what Doc did last year.
Bradley (7): I'm going to catch a lot of flak for this, but as much as I like him as a person, I can't really be a fan of his. When he doesn't have Rondo by his side, his offense becomes absolutely useless, and his confidence becomes crushed. We saw it this past offseason. Defensively, he's a stud, and that's inarguable. But wouldn't you rather have some like Lee, who plays solid defense, but can also provide you something on the offensive end, too? We're inevitably going to have to cough up some assets when we make an offseason splash, and I wouldn't mind having Bradley as a casualty. I think he's overvalued as a whole by many folks because everyone raves about his stellar defense.
Sullinger (5): Great rebounder, great work ethic, and one of my most favorite C's right now. However, there's no way so many teams would've passed on him, and there's no way so many doctors would've called his injury a career-long issue, if one simple surgery would've fixed it for good. When his trade value builds back up after next season begins, I think he's in a similar situation as Bradley. Both of them should be trade assets DA looks to offload.
Melo (5): It's too early to tell what to make of him, but I think we should keep him stashed in the D-League and have him continue to develop.
Crawford (3): Still on his rookie contract, and has a lot of talent. Considering what we gave up to get him, it's clear he doesn't have a lot of trade value, so I'd prefer we keep him around and continue to try and get his head on straight. He had a lot of bright points last year with Boston, so it can't hurt to stay optimistic with him.
The Chinamen (3): Particularly with Williams and Randolph, who showed flashes of promise last season, I say we keep them. All their contracts are practically near the minimum and there's really not much to lose.
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Next, I briefly go over some players we should target in the offseason:
Paul Millsap: Crazy work ethic, prolific rebounder, and a versatile offense. Definitely not the face of the future, but he's one of the best complementary players in the league IMO. Of course, just like any other free agent, it'll really depend on what he's asking for, but I'd be very excited to see him in green.
Thomas Robinson: The Rockets are desperate to open up cap space for Dwight this summer, and are literally offering Robinson for pennies-on-the-dollar. This guy never truly got his chance with either the Kings or Rockets, but I remember he was pegged as one of the most NBA-ready talents in last year's draft class. For Houston's asking price, there's no reason to take a chance on a kid who never got that chance.
JJ Redick: When it comes to Rondo's backup, DA has always shown a tendency towards a combo PG/SG rather than a legitimate pure PG. Maybe it's because Rondo's going to get 35-40 minutes a night anyway, so it wouldn't make sense to bring in a guy who can only play PG for about 10 minutes a night. To date, none of the guys DA brought in have really excelled in the role, but Redick would. He's proven to have thrived in the PG/SG role, and I was truly shocked to see how far his playmaking came from his Duke days. I've always admired his work ethic as he made his way from near-bust to key rotational player, and I think he would fit in with Boston well. However, I have a feeling teams will be lining up to overpay for his services this summer, in which case I would avoid him.
Marcin Gortat: This guy is a great center on a great contract. You can't say that for many other centers these days. Fact of a matter is that teams will pay anything for a big man these days. I mean, Deandre freaking Jordan gets paid over $10M! Gortat gets paid a bit over $7M but is far superior to Jordan. He's a double-double threat who also blocks shots, and the Suns are known to be shopping him. Hopefully McDonough will do us a favor and send him up to Boston.
Two common guys being talked about, Josh Smith and Al Jefferson, are not on my wishlist. I understand Smith is Rondo's close buddy, but the dude is putrid on offense but ignores it and continues to chuck up bricks. His FT% is putrid, and placing him alongside Rondo really creates some challenging offensive hurdles. His on-court issues are only compounded by the fact that he's looking for a near-max contract. No thanks.
As for Jefferson, I don't know why but there's just nothing about his game that really blows me away. Defensively, he's always been underwhelming, and offensively, he's been the same player for about 5 years now. I don't know what sort of contract he's looking for, but there's no way I'm paying him way he earned on his last one. I'd much prefer Gortat over Jefferson at this point.
Topic: What's next? (Read 730 times)