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Boston CelticsBoston has the veteran talent and potential defensive chops to stay in a lot of games, but the idea that these guys are going to challenge for the no. 8 spot is way overblown. The C's have been a bottom-10 scoring team for two straight seasons with Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett (and Ray Allen in 2011-12). Every single basket is going to be an unwatchable grind, and the season will probably end with Boston around 25th or worse in points per possession.They'll be solid defensively on the perimeter, and Brad Stevens will have them executing precisely on both ends, but they're severely lacking rim protection. It's going to be ugly, and if the Celtics do somehow find themselves in the race for no. 8 at midseason, they'll happily trade themselves out of it if they can find any useful assets for Courtney Lee, Brandon Bass, Kris Humphries, and others. A Rondo trade is the sexier angle — and not implausible — but a trade involving one of those names is much more likely; dealing Lee or Bass would allow Boston to get serious cap room in July.
I'm a little more optimistic than Zach but I find it hard to argue with anything he says reallywe should get some opportunistic buckets and Stevens should improve some aspects of the offense, but overall it will be a difficult year to pick up wins
As usual, Zach Lowe makes me sad about the Celtics, but he's usually spot-on with his analysis. Although I am so used to the "clogged toilet offense" at this point, that maybe "unwatchable" becomes "kinda watchable".
Quote from: Jeff on October 08, 2013, 01:20:24 PMI'm a little more optimistic than Zach but I find it hard to argue with anything he says reallywe should get some opportunistic buckets and Stevens should improve some aspects of the offense, but overall it will be a difficult year to pick up winsAgreed. I'm expecting a lot of games like last night, though. Competitive, fun, and interesting. I think we can reasonably expect that the team will not be terribly dysfunctional or out of sync. They won't play terrible basketball. They'll just be at a significant disadvantage in terms of size and talent almost every night.
Add Zach Lowe to the long list of people who are going to be surprised by this year's Celtics team.
Quote from: Jeff on October 08, 2013, 01:20:24 PMI'm a little more optimistic than Zach but I find it hard to argue with anything he says reallywe should get some opportunistic buckets and Stevens should improve some aspects of the offense, but overall it will be a difficult year to pick up winsOver at Grantland, Bill S thinks Rondo will be traded before the season ends. But, of course, he's Bill S.
Quote from: kozlodoev on October 08, 2013, 02:30:07 PMQuote from: Jeff on October 08, 2013, 01:20:24 PMI'm a little more optimistic than Zach but I find it hard to argue with anything he says reallywe should get some opportunistic buckets and Stevens should improve some aspects of the offense, but overall it will be a difficult year to pick up winsOver at Grantland, Bill S thinks Rondo will be traded before the season ends. But, of course, he's Bill S.It's not just Bill. Most around the league seem to think the same thing. Rondo probably would have been traded already if anyone was offering anything of value. I guess the hope is that he comes back healthy, proves he can still play... and then maybe we get a couple future assets for him.Hanging onto him is dangerous.
Quote from: LarBrd33 on October 08, 2013, 02:36:10 PMQuote from: kozlodoev on October 08, 2013, 02:30:07 PMQuote from: Jeff on October 08, 2013, 01:20:24 PMI'm a little more optimistic than Zach but I find it hard to argue with anything he says reallywe should get some opportunistic buckets and Stevens should improve some aspects of the offense, but overall it will be a difficult year to pick up winsOver at Grantland, Bill S thinks Rondo will be traded before the season ends. But, of course, he's Bill S.It's not just Bill. Most around the league seem to think the same thing. Rondo probably would have been traded already if anyone was offering anything of value. I guess the hope is that he comes back healthy, proves he can still play... and then maybe we get a couple future assets for him.Hanging onto him is dangerous. I don't doubt he's on the trading block in a sense, and he has been for a couple of years now. But because we're not giving him away for pocket change, I doubt he gets traded.
Quote from: LarBrd33 on October 08, 2013, 02:36:10 PMQuote from: kozlodoev on October 08, 2013, 02:30:07 PMQuote from: Jeff on October 08, 2013, 01:20:24 PMI'm a little more optimistic than Zach but I find it hard to argue with anything he says reallywe should get some opportunistic buckets and Stevens should improve some aspects of the offense, but overall it will be a difficult year to pick up winsOver at Grantland, Bill S thinks Rondo will be traded before the season ends. But, of course, he's Bill S.It's not just Bill. Most around the league seem to think the same thing. Rondo probably would have been traded already if anyone was offering anything of value. I guess the hope is that he comes back healthy, proves he can still play... and then maybe we get a couple future assets for him.Hanging onto him is dangerous. According to Ainge, the only deal he ever considered making with Rondo was for Chris Paul. If Rondo does get traded, it will likely be in a deal that brings that kind of super star talent back. I don't see him getting traded for "a couple of future assets."
