What a great time to be a Celtics Fan

[ScoobyDoo]

Seriously -

1. We knew a rebuild was coming and we were able to unload Jason Terry and also get a reasonable return for Pierce and KG in the form of draft picks.

2. Of course, you hate to see KG and Pierce go, but Danny trades them together and to Brooklyn - giving these two great players a legitimate shot at winning another championship - something he most likely just couldn't do in Boston at this point. If I'm Pierce and KG I'm thanking Danny - I can come back and retire my jersey in a year or two. Meanwhile I'm in championship contention for the rest of my career, which translates to Danny basically creating situations - either in Boston or Brooklyn - where these two legends are legitimately fighting for a ring for the last 8 seasons of their careers. Only last year was questionable and that was mostly due to injuries.

* There are some very uncomfortable people in Miami right now. James and Wade are looking at that starting lineup and saying if that works out, we're screwed. They knwo exactly how tough KG and Pierce are in a seven game series. And with Joe Johnson, Deron and Lopez still young enough to carry the offensive load night in and night out, Pierce and KG can pick apart the the opponent as they no longer will be the focus of the defenses. 

* KG and Pierce will also bring much needed mental and physical toughness and playoff experience to that team. If they both stay healthy, Brooklyn is going to be an absolute beast of a team to play. That is a big, physical, bruising team, nasty team. How would like to mix it up with KG, Evans and Pierce?

* They need to add another athletic wing defender and that's about it. Maybe a back up center.

2. Doc wants to leave and ends up with the Clippers - we get a first round pick.

* Doc will make that Clipper team significantly tougher, both mentally and physically this season. If the rumor that they're going after Tony Allen is true that team will become very good defensively.

* The Clipper also probably just leap frogged the Lakers as the free agent "destination" team in LA. You can see Howard heading for the exits now and I wouldn't be surprised if seeing Doc land with the Clippers as another nail in the coffin in Howard's decision making process to either stay with or leave the Lakers.

* We end up with:

Olynik, Melo, Sully, Green, Bradley, Lee and Rondo as our young nucleus to begin rebuilding with. Most teams have started with "much" worse young nucleus' than that when rebuilding.

* Oh and a total of 8 or 9 unprotected first round picks over the next 4 years, including two in next year's draft - rumored to be one of the deepest in many a year.     

Conclusion:

So in the matter of a couple days, Ainge managed to:

1. Stick a major thorn into the side of Miami's dynasty dreams - at least over the next two seasons, which might be enough...

2. Give KG and Pierce a legit shot at a title - putting them somewhere they should be.

3. Sticks it to the Lakers by agreeing to let Doc out of his contract and help the Clippers rise.

4. Our re-building is off and running - big time. And that's exactly what we need to be doing right now. Over the next season or two he will shed all bad contracts to clear cap space and amass solid young players. At the right time, he will package players in a deal for a max talent or he will sign a max free agent to a young, maturing core of young guns.

I predict will will legitimately be back in contention inside of two seasons.

And once in contention, it's "possible" that we may be receiving Lottery picks in the process.

Thank you Danny Ainge.

[cltc5]

TP.  So well said and what I've been feeling.  Im happy for PP and KG and will watch them this year.  I can live with it being Brookly becasue its not Miami,and its different then ray becasue they were moved there and arent the enemy,lol.  Would love to see these guys get a ring again.  Excited about our youth and draft options.  Doc, as much as i didnt like him as coach this year, still like him and think he'll be a better fit for the Clips.  They will be fun to watch this year too.  Im optimistic.

[PhoSita]

I must say, this is a thread title I did not see coming.  At least not without sarcasm.

[RyNye]

I really don't understand why people think Brooklyn is now a serious contender. If KG and PP can give them a full healthy season, and Deron Williams returns to form, and Brook Lopez isn't too terrible on defense, and Joe Johnson doesn't shoot them out of games, and if they manage to upgrade their bench ... they are still far behind Miami and Indiana. Depending on their seed, it is unlikely they make it past the second round of the playoffs.

EDIT: Deron Williams is a downgrade over Rondo in many ways. He won't be able to get them to their sweet spots the same way, and he is more of a score-first player anyway.

Brook Lopez is offensively skilled, but defensively poor and a terrible rebounder.

Joe Johnson is a rich man's Monta Ellis or JR Smith. A volume shooter that's good when he's hot, terrible when he's not.

They have no bench.

Terribly flawed team, and PP and KG just arent young enough to completely make up for them anymore.

[manl_lui]

great piece. I'd also like to add, perfect time to see if you are a true Celtic fan or a bandwagon :-p,

We will suck next year, but will you stick with the team.

[rondoallaturca]

I really don't understand why people think Brooklyn is now a serious contender. If KG and PP can give them a full healthy season, and Deron Williams returns to form, and Brook Lopez isn't too terrible on defense, and Joe Johnson doesn't shoot them out of games, and if they manage to upgrade their bench ... they are still far behind Miami and Indiana. Depending on their seed, it is unlikely they make it past the second round of the playoffs.

EDIT: Deron Williams is a downgrade over Rondo in many ways. He won't be able to get them to their sweet spots the same way, and he is more of a score-first player anyway.

Brook Lopez is offensively skilled, but defensively poor and a terrible rebounder.

Joe Johnson is a rich man's Monta Ellis or JR Smith. A volume shooter that's good when he's hot, terrible when he's not.

They have no bench.

Terribly flawed team, and PP and KG just arent young enough to completely make up for them anymore.

+1

But every other point the OP makes is refreshing and fun to think about.

[Evantime34]

Seriously -

1. We knew a rebuild was coming and we were able to unload Jason Terry and also get a reasonable return for Pierce and KG in the form of draft picks.

2. Of course, you hate to see KG and Pierce go, but Danny trades them together and to Brooklyn - giving these two great players a legitimate shot at winning another championship - something he most likely just couldn't do in Boston at this point. If I'm Pierce and KG I'm thanking Danny - I can come back and retire my jersey in a year or two. Meanwhile I'm in championship contention for the rest of my career, which translates to Danny basically creating situations - either in Boston or Brooklyn - where these two legends are legitimately fighting for a ring for the last 8 seasons of their careers. Only last year was questionable and that was mostly due to injuries.

* There are some very uncomfortable people in Miami right now. James and Wade are looking at that starting lineup and saying if that works out, we're screwed. They knwo exactly how tough KG and Pierce are in a seven game series. And with Joe Johnson, Deron and Lopez still young enough to carry the offensive load night in and night out, Pierce and KG can pick apart the the opponent as they no longer will be the focus of the defenses. 

* KG and Pierce will also bring much needed mental and physical toughness and playoff experience to that team. If they both stay healthy, Brooklyn is going to be an absolute beast of a team to play. That is a big, physical, bruising team, nasty team. How would like to mix it up with KG, Evans and Pierce?

* They need to add another athletic wing defender and that's about it. Maybe a back up center.

2. Doc wants to leave and ends up with the Clippers - we get a first round pick.

* Doc will make that Clipper team significantly tougher, both mentally and physically this season. If the rumor that they're going after Tony Allen is true that team will become very good defensively.

* The Clipper also probably just leap frogged the Lakers as the free agent "destination" team in LA. You can see Howard heading for the exits now and I wouldn't be surprised if seeing Doc land with the Clippers as another nail in the coffin in Howard's decision making process to either stay with or leave the Lakers.

* We end up with:

Olynik, Melo, Sully, Green, Bradley, Lee and Rondo as our young nucleus to begin rebuilding with. Most teams have started with "much" worse young nucleus' than that when rebuilding.

* Oh and a total of 8 or 9 unprotected first round picks over the next 4 years, including two in next year's draft - rumored to be one of the deepest in many a year.     

Conclusion:

So in the matter of a couple days, Ainge managed to:

1. Stick a major thorn into the side of Miami's dynasty dreams - at least over the next two seasons, which might be enough...

2. Give KG and Pierce a legit shot at a title - putting them somewhere they should be.

3. Sticks it to the Lakers by agreeing to let Doc out of his contract and help the Clippers rise.

4. Our re-building is off and running - big time. And that's exactly what we need to be doing right now. Over the next season or two he will shed all bad contracts to clear cap space and amass solid young players. At the right time, he will package players in a deal for a max talent or he will sign a max free agent to a young, maturing core of young guns.

I predict will will legitimately be back in contention inside of two seasons.

And once in contention, it's "possible" that we may be receiving Lottery picks in the process.

Thank you Danny Ainge.

TP for the optimism.

I will root for the Clippers and the Nets in the playoffs. During the regular season I hope the Nets lose enough games to make them the 8 seed (with Atlanta being even worse than that.

In 2015 I will be rooting for the same situation to befall the CLippers. While I would like to see Pierce, Kg and Doc win it is more important to me that we get a high pick.

[GreenEnvy]

I must say, this is a thread title I did not see coming.  At least not without sarcasm.

I thought this was a bump from a thread created sometime between August 2007 and February 2009.

[LarBrd33]

I actually totally agree.  This is this the path I've wanted the Celtics to take since early in the 2011-12 season when it was apparent we were no longer official contenders.  Either luck into a big man or blow it up, I said.  I was horrified when the deadline came and went without a trade.  For what it's worth, Boston did end up getting a couple lucky draws in the playoffs, snuck into the ECF and gave Miami a nice little fight.  So it was kind of a nice victory lap for our short-lived contender.  But it still felt a bit like a wasted season.

Last season was an abomination.  Fully healthy we were below .500.  Rondo goes out and we sneak into the playoffs... get destroyed by a mediocre Knicks team.  Not fun.  Didn't enjoy it.  Like one heavyweight fight too many for a washed up former contender.  Mike Tyson vs Danny Williams.  Ray made a smart move getting out of dodge when he did so he could avoid that embarrassment.

And now with this season looming, I wasn't anxious to run it back and have Mike Tyson vs Kevin McBride.  Enough was enough.

Finally this team is putting themselves in position to rebuild in a big way.  There's no better time to bottom out than the 2013-14 season.  The 2014 draft is supposed to be the best in a decade.  There were few highlights of the past couple years that I'm glad we got to see... but I'm sick of eating stale popcorn.  As good a time as any to toss it out and start popping some new kernels. 

[CapnDunks]

Seeing KG and Pierce get another ring would be bittersweet, but it would make me feel better about trading paul. Brooklyn will be good. If they can mesh in a hurry, and get a solid backup 5, Blatche? I put them easily as 1A in the east.

KG is the perfect counterpart for Lopez.
Pierce and JJ
I really don't like DWill, but he's getting underestimated, he was injured for a lot of last season.

[Tgro]

While I wish our old team players and coach well, I have no interest in feeling like watching them on the Nets and Clippers as a great alternative or benefit to being a Celtics fan. I didn't get off on seeing Ray win a ring and I doubt I'll feel much if our old guys do great as well on other teams. Sure I'll love seeing them do well but it's not going to mean 1/2 as much to me as it would seeing them do well with the Celtics.

Otherwise, I'm optimistic about the future. I will keep my eyes on the team. I don't think this is going to be as bad as it could have been. I think DA has a master plan and he's only in the early phases.

I can't wait to see what he does in the end.   

[aingeforthree]

TP Scooby Doo.  Great post.

Exactly my thoughts as well.  We're setup perfectly to make this rebuilding process look easy.  Ainge has done one heckuva job.

[cltc5]

I actually totally agree.  This is this the path I've wanted the Celtics to take since early in the 2011-12 season when it was apparent we were no longer official contenders.  Either luck into a big man or blow it up, I said.  I was horrified when the deadline came and went without a trade.  For what it's worth, Boston did end up getting a couple lucky draws in the playoffs, snuck into the ECF and gave Miami a nice little fight.  So it was kind of a nice victory lap for our short-lived contender.  But it still felt a bit like a wasted season.

Last season was an abomination.  Fully healthy we were below .500.  Rondo goes out and we sneak into the playoffs... get destroyed by a mediocre Knicks team.  Not fun.  Didn't enjoy it.  Like one heavyweight fight too many for a washed up former contender.  Mike Tyson vs Danny Williams.  Ray made a smart move getting out of dodge when he did so he could avoid that embarrassment.

And now with this season looming, I wasn't anxious to run it back and have Mike Tyson vs Kevin McBride.  Enough was enough.

Finally this team is putting themselves in position to rebuild in a big way.  There's no better time to bottom out than the 2013-14 season.  The 2014 draft is supposed to be the best in a decade.  There were few highlights of the past couple years that I'm glad we got to see... but I'm sick of eating stale popcorn.  As good a time as any to toss it out and start popping some new kernels.

TP +1

[Celtics18]

It's always a great time to be a Celtics fan. 

[Roy H.]

That's one way to look at it, I guess.

I thought the summer of 2007 was a great time to be a Celtics fan.