Officially Wiggins or Bust

[Evantime34]

Its not just Wiggins. Its also Parker, Randle, Smart. I'd be satisfied with a top four pick. As of right now, at the very least, it looks like the 2014 draft could be a poor man's version of the 2003 draft.

Wiggins = LeBron (reaching here obviously)
Parker = Carmelo (again reaching)
Smart = Wade (I see some similarities)
Randle = Bosh (Randle is more Chris Weber than Chris Bosh)

Knowing our luck we'll draft the next Darko.

Aaron Gordon= Blake Griffin
Andrew Harrison=? Not sure but I know he's going to be very good.

[LilRip]

Thanks for the well written response.  I definitely see where you are coming from, but I don't think we could've feasibly built this team into a serious contender in the next couple of years.  And I agree that at the rate we are going Rondo will be 30 by the time we contend, and that is why I think he must (and I'm guessing will) be traded in the next year. 

Also, I don't think we could expect to get the kind of haul in separate trades for PP and KG than what we got in this deal from NJ.  The option to swap in 2017 and that 2018 pick is huge.  I can easily see them being in the lotto both those years.

I don't think we would have gotten any kind of haul in separate trades. KG holds a NTC. I doubt he'd accept a trade to go anywhere else if he knew that Pierce wasn't coming along for the ride.

[rondohondo]

Bottom line:   This is the smart move.  It's the best move.  It's not for sentimental folks.  Danny Ainge is a cold-hearted beast of a GM and we're lucky to have him calling the shots.  I wouldn't have been able to pull the trigger on this, but I'm sure as heck glad we have a GM who IS willing to.   KG and Pierce get to keep being relevant, Boston gets assets for the future... and we have hope at buiding a real dynasty.  Some people lack perspective so this is going to be really hard to wrap your mind around... but a year from now the hardcore Celtic fans will be overflowing with hope and optimism.   I have tons of trust in Ainge.  Dude couldn't have gotten a better package than this.

TP+  If things fall right this is could be our Herschel Walker trade.

Emphasis on the word if.

Now if things don't fall the way they are supposed to be, with now a locker room with no leaders and no identity, what happens?

exactly...one word...if...

someone else posted this the following...

"The worst team in the league has a better chance of picking fourth ($35.7%) than it does of picking first (25%)."

it comes down to risk vs reward...to me the risk is huge and not worth the sacrifice...it's called rolling the dice...you win...then...you're a hero...you lose...then...you're a goat...it isn't simply about #18...it's about Celtic Pride...basically...trading the Capt and KG and everything that is Celtic Pride is worth the "chance" at #18...not #18...but...the "chance" at #18...it's not just the name on the front of the jersey or the number of banners...it is what it stood for...

We will have a better shot at winning the lottery than we do winning a title with KG and PP as main pieces .

Keeping KG and PP doesn't guarantee you #18 , so that is a chance too. At the end of that chance KG and PP walk away for nothing and you have to rebuild anyways.

What are you talking about ?

[Celtics Insider]

Imagine if we traded Rondo...

Imagine if we could get even more high 2014 picks for him, with other assets...

2-3 year rebuild, then we're (hopefully) the Thunder.

[LilRip]

Bottom line:   This is the smart move.  It's the best move.  It's not for sentimental folks.  Danny Ainge is a cold-hearted beast of a GM and we're lucky to have him calling the shots.  I wouldn't have been able to pull the trigger on this, but I'm sure as heck glad we have a GM who IS willing to.   KG and Pierce get to keep being relevant, Boston gets assets for the future... and we have hope at buiding a real dynasty.  Some people lack perspective so this is going to be really hard to wrap your mind around... but a year from now the hardcore Celtic fans will be overflowing with hope and optimism.   I have tons of trust in Ainge.  Dude couldn't have gotten a better package than this.

TP+  If things fall right this is could be our Herschel Walker trade.

Emphasis on the word if.

Now if things don't fall the way they are supposed to be, with now a locker room with no leaders and no identity, what happens?

exactly...one word...if...

someone else posted this the following...

"The worst team in the league has a better chance of picking fourth ($35.7%) than it does of picking first (25%)."

it comes down to risk vs reward...to me the risk is huge and not worth the sacrifice...it's called rolling the dice...you win...then...you're a hero...you lose...then...you're a goat...it isn't simply about #18...it's about Celtic Pride...basically...trading the Capt and KG and everything that is Celtic Pride is worth the "chance" at #18...not #18...but...the "chance" at #18...it's not just the name on the front of the jersey or the number of banners...it is what it stood for...

We will have a better shot at winning the lottery than we do winning a title with KG and PP as main pieces .

Keeping KG and PP doesn't guarantee you #18 , so that is a chance too. At the end of that chance KG and PP walk away for nothing and you have to rebuild anyways.

What are you talking about ?

exactly what i was thinking. i don't understand what the fascination is with winning just enough to land a 7th seed and get bounced in the first round over the next 2 years. the rebuild was bound to happen, whether now or later.

Winning #18 is hard. Putting ourselves in a position to win #18 is hard. But we need to take risks in order to do so. The trade wasn't the "alright, we'll take whatever scraps we can" type of trade. I think expiring contracts plus 3 first rounders is a pretty decent haul.

I sincerely hope Pierce and KG win one more ring, but i don't think it's in the cards for them to win it with us. They had their chance in previous years, but injuries and all sorts of bad luck happened along the way. Adding Olynyk while more or less staying put wouldn't have made us contenders who could seriously challenge the Heat.

[Celtics18]

I'm not disputing that. It's also largely inconsequential.

Rajon Rondo is a better basketball player than Damian Lillard.

Damian Lillard is a better trade asset, and holds more trade value, than Rajon Rondo.


If you've spent 4 million dollars of your 80 million dollars on your starting point guard, you have 76 million dollars to fill out your roster with other starting caliber,all-star, and reserve players.

If you've spent 20 million dollars of your 80 million dollars on your starting point guard, you only have 60 million dollars to fill out your roster with other starting caliber,all-star, and reserve players.

Not every team is going to pay 20 million dollars for Rajon Rondo.

Every team will pay 4 million dollars for Damian Lillard.

I have no idea why you've changed the discussion to be about Damian Lillard.  Let me remind you that we were initially talking about Rajon Rondo at the end of next season vs. the #5 pick in the upcoming draft. 

Let's say (and this isn't a completely unrealistic scenario) that Rajon Rondo fully recovers from his knee surgery, returns to the court, plays some of the best basketball of his career, with a further improved jump shot, and helps lead the "rebuilding" Celtics to the playoffs.  You may not think this is likely, but you must admit that it's within the realm of possibility.

Let's also say that the #5 pick in next year's draft turns out not to look like a surefire future perennial all-star and core building block in his rookie season (also not a completely unrealistic scenario).

If those things happen, then, despite his higher price tag, Rondo will be a much more valuable asset than the #5 pick.  I'm not talking about how good each is as a player, but about value as an asset.  In the case above, you could probably trade Rondo for another star player if you wanted.  The same couldn't be said for that top five pick. 

The statement that the #5 pick will 100% certainly be a more valuable asset than Rajon Rondo at the end of next season is not a fact.  It is, in fact, merely speculation.

[rondoallaturca]

Thanks for the well written response.  I definitely see where you are coming from, but I don't think we could've feasibly built this team into a serious contender in the next couple of years.  And I agree that at the rate we are going Rondo will be 30 by the time we contend, and that is why I think he must (and I'm guessing will) be traded in the next year. 

Also, I don't think we could expect to get the kind of haul in separate trades for PP and KG than what we got in this deal from NJ.  The option to swap in 2017 and that 2018 pick is huge.  I can easily see them being in the lotto both those years.

I think right now, it just comes to two schools of thinking.

1: Could we retool quickly around Rondo and Green and make a winning product out of that?
2: Should we tank and try to make something out of the 2014 draft?

There reason I'm #1 and not #2 is that we're so fortunate to be in a position where we have Rondo/Green moving forward. Not every team has two young guys entering their primes on contracts like that when they head into a rebuild. Additionally, neither option is a guarantee, but there's far more risks to be had with #2, for obvious reasons.

[LarBrd33]

Bottom line:   This is the smart move.  It's the best move.  It's not for sentimental folks.  Danny Ainge is a cold-hearted beast of a GM and we're lucky to have him calling the shots.  I wouldn't have been able to pull the trigger on this, but I'm sure as heck glad we have a GM who IS willing to.   KG and Pierce get to keep being relevant, Boston gets assets for the future... and we have hope at buiding a real dynasty.  Some people lack perspective so this is going to be really hard to wrap your mind around... but a year from now the hardcore Celtic fans will be overflowing with hope and optimism.   I have tons of trust in Ainge.  Dude couldn't have gotten a better package than this.

TP+  If things fall right this is could be our Herschel Walker trade.

Emphasis on the word if.

Now if things don't fall the way they are supposed to be, with now a locker room with no leaders and no identity, what happens?

exactly...one word...if...

someone else posted this the following...

"The worst team in the league has a better chance of picking fourth ($35.7%) than it does of picking first (25%)."

it comes down to risk vs reward...to me the risk is huge and not worth the sacrifice...it's called rolling the dice...you win...then...you're a hero...you lose...then...you're a goat...it isn't simply about #18...it's about Celtic Pride...basically...trading the Capt and KG and everything that is Celtic Pride is worth the "chance" at #18...not #18...but...the "chance" at #18...it's not just the name on the front of the jersey or the number of banners...it is what it stood for...

We will have a better shot at winning the lottery than we do winning a title with KG and PP as main pieces .

Keeping KG and PP doesn't guarantee you #18 , so that is a chance too. At the end of that chance KG and PP walk away for nothing and you have to rebuild anyways.

What are you talking about ?

A fully healthy Boston team wasn't even playing .500 ball last year.  Rondo went out and we limped to 41 wins.  We got beaten badly by a mediocre Knicks team in round 1.   "Running it back" is nonsense.

Some people act like if we fail to win the lotto this will be a "failure".  THey don't get it... KG and Pierce might be both out of the league next year... even if we're picking #7-13, it was worth it.