Best/Worst case scenarios for the 2014 Celtics

[VitorSullyandKOFan]

Best case scenario for the C's:

-Development of KO,Sully,AB,Fav and Pressey.
-Jeff Green becomes a reliable preformer
-Unload some of the bad contracts
-Acquire more picks for 2014
-Stevens learning year
-Top 7 pick in the draft

Worst case scenario:

- The young players regress
- Rondo suffers a few setbacks

[D.o.s.]

Worst case scenario is probably MRSA in the lockerroom/team facilities, and then landing a pick in the 8-10 range.

Best case is banner 18.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Worst case?

We still suck. I don't think it going to be worse than that.

Best case?

There's going to be a ton of Best Case Scenarios. But I hope this is one of them.

[slamtheking]

Worst case?

We still suck. I don't think it going to be worse than that.

Best case?

There's going to be a ton of Best Case Scenarios. But I hope this is one of them.

If that's your best case, we're screwed.

[indeedproceed]

Best case: Olynyk and Sullinger continue to develop, Rondo takes his time coming back but returns 100% healthy and with a serviceable jumpshot that extends to the arc, and Faverani looks like a legitimate backup center. Meanwhile showcasing Wallace and Humphries lands us some future assets and we end up with a top-3 pick due to some lottery magic.

Worst case: we finish just inside the lottery and everyone looks like they'll be good, but not great, except Rondo who looks poor.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Worst case?

We still suck. I don't think it going to be worse than that.

Best case?

There's going to be a ton of Best Case Scenarios. But I hope this is one of them.

If that's your best case, we're screwed.

I don't know. Word is that Julius Randle kid is a star in the making.

Gay is not the most efficient, but the talent is there. Relatively young at 28.

Asik is a very solid defender.

And Asik, Gay, Ariza and Rondo are all expiring contracts at 2014. If they didn't work as a team, lineup wise, they clear up a ton of money by 2015 or are great trade chips.

I don't think we're screwed at all with this starting 5.

[indeedproceed]

Henry Abbot and David Thorpe called Asik, "Possibly the best defensive center in the NBA, and one of the best rebounders on the planet" today.

But Rondo/Ariza/Gay/blue chip rookie/Asik would be sooo...SOOOOOOOO ugly.

[saltlover]

Best case: Rondo returns and becomes his old self almost immediately.  We sneak into the playoffs, whereupon Rondo shows how amazing he is, and we win the championship.  Meanwhile, D-Will gets hurt, Brooklyn misses the playoffs, and we get a top 10 pick from them.

Worst case: We miss out on the playoffs on a tiebreaker, and pick 14th.  Brooklyn has the best regular season record, giving us pick #30, but falls to Miami in the playoffs as they three-peat.  And the Lakers win the lottery.

[LatterDayCelticsfan]

That is a nightmare scenario

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Henry Abbot and David Thorpe called Asik, "Possibly the best defensive center in the NBA, and one of the best rebounders on the planet" today.

But Rondo/Ariza/Gay/blue chip rookie/Asik would be sooo...SOOOOOOOO ugly.

I think it depends on what Randle will become. He's being billed as very skilled with a mix of finnese and power. He's also looks like to have an inside-outside game. He's part of that crop of supposed next stars. That says something.

Then you got Asik who can control the boards and protect the paint.

And as much people hate him, Rudy Gay is a legit 20ppg scorer. May not be highly efficient but certainly talented enough to have the opponent defense to focus on him. Very good defender too.

Ariza, I'll give. But at worst he's a very good defender. And then Rondo.

If Randle is this star talent scouts are billing him to be. Thats a great lineup.

[LooseCannon]

Best case

Sullinger is a double-double guy. Olynyk is a ROY candidate.  Bradley silences those who doubt his ability to be a starting shooting guard.  The Celtics would have made the playoffs if Rondo had been healthy the entire season, but just barely miss.  Then, they get some magical ping pong balls, leading to fans of the rest of the league complaining that the lottery was rigged.

Worst case
Sullinger and Bradley are injury prone and not suitable as starters.  All of the veterans on long contracts suffer injuries that make them untradeable.  Rondo is a shell of his former self.  Olynyk is a bust.  The locker room mutinies against Stevens.  Three teams with more wins leapfrog ahead of the Celtics in the draft lottery.

[2short]

best case...green flowing
rondo becomes 80% free throw shooter, adds 3 pt range and comes back EVEN better
bradley is a defensive force who is a good 10 pt a gamer
crawford finally gets it as is a solid , young team player off the bench who can eddie house it at any minute
sully turns into a starting double double guy
wallace and humphries play so well for us that both guys are traded for future picks or something along that idea
fav turns out to be dirk part II
olynyk rookie of year
bass solid play see above wallace/humphries

worst case, rondo comes back and hurts knee,  shame on me for even typing it
raise the green glasses lads, all positive!

[birdwatcher]

Straight to the point: best case=championship, worst case= finishing 7th-9th in the East.

Being fringe playoff team or getting the 7,8 or 9 seed is a death sentence for a rebuilding team

[mqtcelticsfan]

Worst case: I've resigned myself to Danny not fully committing to this rebuild. Rondo will end up coming back way too early, they'll hold on to a revitalized Hump and Wallace all year, and wind up just outside of the playoffs. No Wiggins, no Parker or Exum. Just a late lottery pick, and then they'll just keep on with mediocrity for the foreseeable future.

Best case: They do go full out into tanking. I just hope they can keep Rondo off the court for a while this year, let him play 15-20 games and shut him down with a sore shoulder or something. Trade every halfway respectable player except for Bradley, Sullinger, Faverani and Olynyk, all of whom improve. Hopefully find a way back into the lottery (through whatever we get for our traded vets and the Nets pick) and take a tumbling Joel Embiid along with Wiggins.

Open the year with Rondo-Bradley-Wiggins-Sullinger-Faverani with Embiid and Olynyk on the bench along with whatever assets they could get from Green, Hump, Lee, Bass and Wallace. Admittedly those guys wouldn't pull many pieces, but if we're really looking for a best case scenario, we'd at least get one decent backup guard and/or wing.

/late night rosterbation


 

[saltlover]

Straight to the point: best case=championship, worst case= finishing 7th-9th in the East.

Being fringe playoff team or getting the 7,8 or 9 seed is a death sentence for a rebuilding team

I think it depends how many games Rondo misses as to whether or not being a fringe playoff team is bad this year.  Suppose Rondo misses 32 games, during which time they go 6-26 without him, but go 35-15 with him.  I'm not saying that will happen, but I'd be happy with a 7th or 8th seed if we had a great record with Rondo, because that means we're at least contender at full strength.