If you are the GM / Coach this year -

[ScoobyDoo]

What is your strategy, the goals for the season?

I'm actually concerned that this team could be better than we think, especially if Rondo is truly healthy. Here is why:

Our starting lineup - potentially and open for argument...

Olynyk / Faverani or Melo
Humphries / Sully / Bass
Green / Wallace / Bogans
Bradley / Lee / Brooks
Rondo / Pressey / Crawford

* Olynyk is greased lightning for a seven footer end to end and Humphries and Green could be pretty good on the break as well- Humphries very good on the boards. Rondo and Bradley apply a lot of perimeter D and are fast on the break.

The bench:

If Pressey can apply pressure on both ends, even with the mistakes he'll make, he could make some good things happen with that second unit as well.

Anyway, that's why I'm concerned we may be better than a lot of people think.

What my goals would be, are:

1. Showcase Wallace and Humphries, trade them by the deadline

2. Play the crap out of the young guys, including Fab, Brooks and Pressey.

3. Hit the lottery for one season - hopefully get a top five pick. if we're really lucky, maybe top 1 or 2 pick. Isn't it time we get lucky for once? 

4. Young guys show big growth, we get a top five pick and as we clear major cap in the next 1-2 seasons, add some max level, mid 20 year old vets to the mix in 2015?

We compete for the title again within two seasons.

I actually am a little concerned though, that again, if Rondo is healthy and we keep Wallace and Humphries playing big minutes that we will be "just good enough" to land that 8th spot in the playoffs and secure that 15th to 16th pick...

I say, go all youth. Don't tank, but take the lumps this year and if that means we hit the lottery, so be it. With the cap space we have coming up by 2015, we won't be bad for long....   

Take the lumps this year - this is the time to do it.

Thoughts?

[wdleehi]

I play Humphries, Wallace, Lee and Green a lot to see if I can inflate their trade value.

[ScoobyDoo]

Yep -

Are you looking to trade green though. Trying to let him shine and then maybe package him with something else for a true franchise type player?

If Green can average 15-18 a game, with 5-6 boards and solid D, do you not see him as a nice 3rd or 4th option on a contending team?

Just curious the reasoning for showcasing Green along with Wallace, Hump and Lee... 

[wdleehi]

Yep -

Are you looking to trade green though. Trying to let him shine and then maybe package him with something else for a true franchise type player?

If Green can average 15-18 a game, with 5-6 boards and solid D, do you not see him as a nice 3rd or 4th option on a contending team?

Just curious the reasoning for showcasing Green along with Wallace, Hump and Lee...

Outside of Rondo and young players on rookie deals, I am all for trying to max out the trade value of players to rebuild. 


I see Green as more of a finishing touch for a team in need of a SF then a build block of a rebuilding team.

[slamtheking]

Yep -

Are you looking to trade green though. Trying to let him shine and then maybe package him with something else for a true franchise type player?

If Green can average 15-18 a game, with 5-6 boards and solid D, do you not see him as a nice 3rd or 4th option on a contending team?

Just curious the reasoning for showcasing Green along with Wallace, Hump and Lee...

Outside of Rondo and young players on rookie deals, I am all for trying to max out the trade value of players to rebuild. 


I see Green as more of a finishing touch for a team in need of a SF then a build block of a rebuilding team.

I pretty much agree with your assessment.

if we were to land a top pick next year, the player we take most likely plays SF so Green becomes redundant (as does Wallace but he's less likely to be moved).

Green's looking like a good supplemental player, not a prime time building block.  if for whatever reason we land a stud center or SG next year in the draft, Green's fine in his current role.

[ScoobyDoo]

No disagreement there. Unless Green makes major strides and becomes a monster at the SF spot, I could see us replacing him with a high lottery pick.

I seem him as a 3rd option on a contender, and in our case that would mean behind two other scoring options not named Rondo. 

[JBcat]

No disagreement there. Unless Green makes major strides and becomes a monster at the SF spot, I could see us replacing him with a high lottery pick.

I seem him as a 3rd option on a contender, and in our case that would mean behind two other scoring options not named Rondo.

Say if we draft a stud SF like Wiggins I wouldn't be opposed to starting Green and Wiggins at the 2 and 3.  I really liked it the few times we did that with Pierce and Green at the 2 and 3.  Plus Wiggins might not be quite ready to defend very physical SFs right off the bat.  Another point is say if KO and Sully really pan out and we want to start both, we won't have a true center..  The additional size on the wings might help.  Wiggins as your clear cut 1st option.  Then your 2 through 4 options could fluctuate depending on matchups between Sully, KO, and Green.  Plus Rondo will have his nights where he would serve as the 2nd scorer even top scorer for the team some nights.  Last point is SG is such a weak position in the NBA right now.  It would be difficult to find someone as talented as Green to start at SG so why not maximize our talent and just go big there.  Of course this scenario would only play out if KO, Sully, and Green come at least close to their potential, and we land a top pick.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Agree with everything but I will add one more thing.

Try to play Brandon Bass at the SF spot and see if he can really play in that position. He showed that he can defend elite SF's like Melo and LeBron, maybe he can play a little SF. If anything it reduces our log jam in the 4 spot all while having a quality backup for Jeff Green.

[LarBrd33]

If this team is running on all cylinders, it's probably still going to struggle to win 30 games.  I wouldn't worry about it.  She'll tank good and proper. 

[LilRip]

oh this game is fun. let's see:

1. Have a mindset that no one is untouchable, not even Rondo. A deal might surface around the trade deadline for a team trying to find the "last piece to the puzzle" (we have a few of those guys in AB, Lee, Green, or even Wallace). I would particularly be on the hunt for a legit big man (whether 4 or 5).
2. Start Humphries. This helps both his trade value in being a starter and KO's value who will have to go up against the opponent's bench as opposed to their starters
3. Find out what we really have in Sully and Green and give them heavy minutes. We know pretty much what we have with Rondo but Sully and Green seem ripe to break out and they need to prove it.
4. Showcase Gerald Wallace (though he will likely earn his minutes through hard work anyway).
5. Bring back Rondo slowly, and even when healthy, he shouldn't be one of the league leaders in mpg.

We likely won't make the playoffs but that's fine. We will likely land a really good pick in 2014 and the fans will fall in love with our next rookies oozing with potential like they have with KO this offseason. However, rebuilding doesn't end there. Even if the C's land a player like Wiggins, he will still need a ton of help to make this into a contender. The C's need to land that "last piece", like a big, likely through FA or trade (because though i like sully, i don't see him being that big man. FWIW, I think he'd make a great complementary big).

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

And i know this is purely hypothetical, but imagine if in 2014-15, we had a lineup of

PG (a Calderon-type. Not a world-beater but solid all around, signed or acquired by using AB and/or Humphries' contract)
Wiggins (slottedin SG because i don't think he'd have an NBA-SF-ready body just yet)
Green
Sully
Drummond (acquired through some Rondo trade).

With bench of: Pure shooter (ala Novak or something. probably either a rookie or acquired through some other small deal) and KO.

That team is VERY young but it looks pretty good, sort of like a more balanced version of the modern-day Pacers. It's not a contender (yet!), but if afforded to grow, has a high chance of being one in the near future.

[bfrombleacher]

I'm actually concerned that this team could be better than we think, especially if Rondo is truly healthy.

I could never quite understand why it's a concern. But, of course, this is the question General Managers are paid millions to answer - to tank or not to tank. More later.

I kinda wish the arguments over this would just stop because it's pretty darn fruitless. But, of course, that would defeat the purpose of a forum.

Here is why:

Our starting lineup - potentially and open for argument...

Olynyk / Faverani or Melo
Humphries / Sully / Bass
Green / Wallace / Bogans
Bradley / Lee / Brooks
Rondo / Pressey / Crawford

* Olynyk is greased lightning for a seven footer end to end and Humphries and Green could be pretty good on the break as well- Humphries very good on the boards. Rondo and Bradley apply a lot of perimeter D and are fast on the break.

Hopefully Olynyk will be starting caliber some point this year. With rooks you never know what to expect.

I agree with those who think the most likely case scenario is Humphries being our starting center, though, with Sully at the 4. But it's not that much more likely than, for example, Faverani starting.

It'll be a far better watch than Jason Collins starting, I'll tell you that.

The bench:

If Pressey can apply pressure on both ends, even with the mistakes he'll make, he could make some good things happen with that second unit as well.

Again, with rooks, you never know. But as always, I go at it with hedged optimism.

Anyway, that's why I'm concerned we may be better than a lot of people think.

What my goals would be, are:

1. Showcase Wallace and Humphries, trade them by the deadline

Personally, I reckon Ainge is going to take a more passive approach to everything. After all the worst that could happen is we don't get an immediate rebuild and we wait for the picks to pay dividends. There is nothing to lose.

In line with the "passive" approach, I reckon the only thing Ainge will rally for is a salary dump just to get under the tax line.

Everything else, he'll make his due diligence phone calls but won't do anything until a deal comes up.

2. Play the crap out of the young guys, including Fab, Brooks and Pressey.

Stevens has said he values off-court performance more than playing time. Getting things right in practice is what he values more.

But I disagree with those who think it'll be exactly the same as the Doc era.

For one Stevens is not shooting for a championship here. People forget Doc also played rookies before '08.

I also reckon Stevens's love for stats would make a difference. This is in contrast to Doc's apparent unwillingness to embrace stats.

Different how? I won't pretend to know. But I'd say it'd be a welcome change.

3. Hit the lottery for one season - hopefully get a top five pick. if we're really lucky, maybe top 1 or 2 pick. Isn't it time we get lucky for once? 

The lottery - is a lottery. Just so I don't further fuel the "(no) tanking" debate, I'll leave it at that.

4. Young guys show big growth, we get a top five pick and as we clear major cap in the next 1-2 seasons, add some max level, mid 20 year old vets to the mix in 2015?

And this is why I won't worry about being too good since it means our young guns are playing up their value - either to us or trade value.

We compete for the title again within two seasons.

Hopefully.

I actually am a little concerned though, that again, if Rondo is healthy and we keep Wallace and Humphries playing big minutes that we will be "just good enough" to land that 8th spot in the playoffs and secure that 15th to 16th pick...

I say, go all youth. Don't tank, but take the lumps this year and if that means we hit the lottery, so be it. With the cap space we have coming up by 2015, we won't be bad for long....   

Take the lumps this year - this is the time to do it.

Yup.

[LooseCannon]

if we were to land a top pick next year, the player we take most likely plays SF so Green becomes redundant (as does Wallace but he's less likely to be moved).

Green's looking like a good supplemental player, not a prime time building block.  if for whatever reason we land a stud center or SG next year in the draft, Green's fine in his current role.

If you drafted a stud SF, you could use Green in a sixth man combo forward role off the bench and keep one out of Sullinger and Olynyk (if PF turns out to be his best position) while using the other in a trade for a starting center.

[LooseCannon]

4. Young guys show big growth, we get a top five pick and as we clear major cap in the next 1-2 seasons, add some max level, mid 20 year old vets to the mix in 2015?

We compete for the title again within two seasons.

I actually am a little concerned though, that again, if Rondo is healthy and we keep Wallace and Humphries playing big minutes that we will be "just good enough" to land that 8th spot in the playoffs and secure that 15th to 16th pick...

I say, go all youth. Don't tank, but take the lumps this year and if that means we hit the lottery, so be it. With the cap space we have coming up by 2015, we won't be bad for long....   

Take the lumps this year - this is the time to do it.

Thoughts?

Wouldn't young guys showing growth make it harder to getr a top five pick?  Do you prefer young guys show big growth, leading to the team contending for the last playoff spot, or young guys show little growth, ensuring the team is near the bottom?

I say the Celtics should play the young guys, but don't automatically hand them minutes.  Make them earn playing time in a way that maintains a strong defensive identity and doesn't build a sense of entitlement.  If the team is close to making the playoffs, then be willing to improve the team with a deadline deal.  If not, then be prepared to, kind of, sort of, tank.

[slamtheking]

if we were to land a top pick next year, the player we take most likely plays SF so Green becomes redundant (as does Wallace but he's less likely to be moved).

Green's looking like a good supplemental player, not a prime time building block.  if for whatever reason we land a stud center or SG next year in the draft, Green's fine in his current role.

If you drafted a stud SF, you could use Green in a sixth man combo forward role off the bench and keep one out of Sullinger and Olynyk (if PF turns out to be his best position) while using the other in a trade for a starting center.

while that's certainly an option, I personally prefer my PFs to be big and beefy or at least one of those adjectives.  Green is neither.  Sully and KO are at least one of those.

Having those 3 as the frontcourt off the bench would seem like a pretty solid group at this point IF we could land a starting quality PF and C in the upcoming drafts (to go with that stud SF we hopefully get next year)

[More Banners]

if we were to land a top pick next year, the player we take most likely plays SF so Green becomes redundant (as does Wallace but he's less likely to be moved).

Green's looking like a good supplemental player, not a prime time building block.  if for whatever reason we land a stud center or SG next year in the draft, Green's fine in his current role.

If you drafted a stud SF, you could use Green in a sixth man combo forward role off the bench and keep one out of Sullinger and Olynyk (if PF turns out to be his best position) while using the other in a trade for a starting center.

while that's certainly an option, I personally prefer my PFs to be big and beefy or at least one of those adjectives.  Green is neither.  Sully and KO are at least one of those.

Having those 3 as the frontcourt off the bench would seem like a pretty solid group at this point IF we could land a starting quality PF and C in the upcoming drafts (to go with that stud SF we hopefully get next year)

TP - Power Forwards should have, well...Power.

Small forwards, though, shouldn't be small.

But Green is a starter in this league, no question.  If we have better players to start ahead of him so that there is no spot in the starting lineup for him, we'd better be challenging the 72 win record.