I think we are two all-nba team players away from a champion

[Celtics4ever]

I think we are two all-nba team players away from a champion

At least they are easy to get and grow on teams.....

[Surferdad]

rondo and sully are looking like the leaders. jeff and avery are right behind them and it sux we are missing a legit 5.

we need to give sully consistent minutes because hes still growing

we have 2 top talented players and i agree a 3rd would put them in contention.. avery and green compliment this team perfect and hopefully crawford can be that 6thman.. its really a solid team going forward.

When I see the word "solid" I think of a team full of B+ guys that win regular season games but inevitably lose to the team with two As in the playoffs.

The Heat have done allright with a bench and supporting cast that are probably below average for a typical championship team. They've been able to overcome it because they have LeBron, Bosh, Wade and a decent enough coaching staff.

Agree.  "solid" and "champion" are very different things.  Yes adding two allNBA players to any teams puts them in contention and perhaps garners a championship. The real question is, what is the core you are adding to?  Is it Rondo, Green, Sully, Bradley?  Rondo has a ring so that's good, but what about the others?  Green is better as a 4th option, Sully has lots of upside but lack experience.  Now Bradley, that's tricky.  His shot is better this year but IMO your SG has to be an OUTSTANDING shooter and at least a decent defender. I still see Bradley as. Good sixth man who can come in and provide solid defense and knock down open shots. Frankly, I would trade Bradley and any other assets except Rondo and Sully to get back an all-NBA player or two.

[BballTim]

Danny Ainge needs to figure out who will be tomorrow's all-NBA top 15 players and have a sound plan for acquiring those players (tanking is definitely not the way to go). Seems like Phoenix made an accurate call on picking up Eric Bledsoe, keeping Goran Dragic, and getting Jason Plumlee. Portland stayed the course with LeMarcus Aldridge and Nicholas Batum while getting Robin Lopez. In the East, Larry Bird built a powerhouse lineup by staying the course. They could trade Danny Grange (not to the Celtics) for someone looking to clear cap space and keep building for instance. The league is changing landscape and no team, even Miami, is guarenteed to be a powerhouse. For a bit of good news, I was delighted the Lakers decided to pony up 48 million dollars for two more years of Kobe.

You don't want to tank but then you named a team that was fully planning to tank this season, the Phoenix Suns. Their roster wasn't supposed to be good enough to compete this year and Dragic was their big piece to deal away during the season. It's unclear now what their plan is but they definitely were not expecting this. Also, it's Miles Plumlee, not Jason (the Plumlee bros. all have names starting with "M", you may have been thinking of Mason Plumlee on the Nets).

Portland's two most important players are Aldridge (2nd overall pick) and Lillard (6th overall). They've done a great job of supplementing those picks with talent, but those are still their two primary building blocks. How did they get such low picks? They were bad! Lillard is already a top 5 PG (yes, past Rondo).

I'm not saying either are world beaters (Portland's defense is horrible and they've had an easy schedule) but they are definitely not examples of a non-tanking philosophy.

I respect the Pacers a lot for not completely tanking but getting a franchise center in Hibbert at 17 and a great wing at 10 is definitely an exception, not a rule. They have a great development system, hopefully the Celtics do too. You can definitely get good players in the teens but the best talent, on average, is still going to be there earlier rather than later. I don't think Ainge is perfect (he certainly missed on Giannis last draft but so did a lot of teams).

  I'd wonder whether Phoenix meant to tank or that people assumed they were, just like they assumed the Celts were tanking and the Lakers were setting themselves up to be the worst team in the league. Also, I thought Portland got Lillard in a trade, not by being bad.

Phoenix was definitely tanking, that's why they traded Gortat. They planned to rebuild with Bledsoe and use Dragic as trade bait before the deadline.

  But we were definitely tanking, that's why we traded KG and PP. And it was said often enough to be taken as fact that Danny hired Stevens in a move to tank because Stevens was going to do such a bad job of coaching in his rookie year.

[cman88]

I think right now the only players you can say should be a big part of our future are Rondo/Sullinger...rondo is an all-star and sullinger has all-star potential.

I like Avery Bradley, but I dont think he is allstar material...if we nab a nice SF in the draft I keep him. but if we can get someone like parker I would let bradley go

[staticcc]

Isn't every team two all-nba team players away?

[aporel#18]

I think that if we draft Wiggins and then trade for Marc Gasol without giving up Green,Rondo or Sully, we'll be contending for #18.

Rondo/Wiggins/Green/Sully/Marc Gasol 

[badshar]

I think that if we draft Wiggins and then trade for Marc Gasol without giving up Green,Rondo or Sully, we'll be contending for #18.

Rondo/Wiggins/Green/Sully/Marc Gasol 

By the time Wiggins "reaches his potential" and develops into an NBA talent, Gasol would be very old and Green and Rondo would be on the downhill.

Basically, we are thinking about the future right now and when the expected delivery time arrives for the lineup you mentioned above, we will be about the future again.

[aporel#18]

I think that if we draft Wiggins and then trade for Marc Gasol without giving up Green,Rondo or Sully, we'll be contending for #18.

Rondo/Wiggins/Green/Sully/Marc Gasol 

By the time Wiggins "reaches his potential" and develops into an NBA talent, Gasol would be very old and Green and Rondo would be on the downhill.

Basically, we are thinking about the future right now and when the expected delivery time arrives for the lineup you mentioned above, we will be about the future again.

If we had Rondo/Green/Sully/Marc Gasol, Wiggins wouldn't need to "reach his potential", he has the tools (and the right mindset) to be a Tony Allen type defender right off the bat, and that alone would help the team win games.

It's a shame we won't get them, though... but what a Christmas present it would be. Go Celtics!

[Fan from VT]

Isn't every team two all-nba team players away?

I was gonna say... us and everyone else.

[obnoxiousmime]

I think that if we draft Wiggins and then trade for Marc Gasol without giving up Green,Rondo or Sully, we'll be contending for #18.

Rondo/Wiggins/Green/Sully/Marc Gasol 

By the time Wiggins "reaches his potential" and develops into an NBA talent, Gasol would be very old and Green and Rondo would be on the downhill.

Basically, we are thinking about the future right now and when the expected delivery time arrives for the lineup you mentioned above, we will be about the future again.

I like that if Ainge decides a player in the draft is a game changer he will go for it. He tried to trade Pierce for the rights to draft Chris Paul. He was ready, luck permitting, to draft Durant and build the team around him, not Pierce.

I wish I knew how he felt about this year's prospects so far and if he feels any of them are going to be superstars. It appears so far Wiggins isn't going to have the great college career Paul and Durant did, so I wonder if that means he would prefer someone like Parker. Or does he think Embiid will develop into a great big man?

[Stig]

So is every other team in the NBA.....

that's wrong, a lot of other teams are far away from that.

Not if the 2 all NBA team players are Lebron and Wade (or Lebron and anyone else). And that is the point.

2 David Lees don't make anyone a contender unless they are already a contender. Even CP3 and David Lee would not make us a contender. The all-NBA category is only useful in that in includes the best players in the NBA. Limit that to first team all-NBA, and you will see an even stronger correlation to winning titles.

You are missing my point, we need two MORE all nba team players to win a title.

Sure insert two all nba team players to any team will make them a good team, or even a contender, but they won't win if that's all they have. They won't beat the Heat in a playoff series. Even the two are LBJ and Wade. Do you think the Heat can win a third title without Bosh?

My point is, we already have Rondo, we need two more players on the same level as him. Adding guys like Asik will make us good, but won't make us better than Miami Heat.

[Neurotic Guy]

I think if the title of this thread was:
"Analysis of Star NBA Players we could Target"

There would be less pushback and we'd be having a more productive debate about the analysis of who is talented enough and who is accessible enough to go after.  I think that's really the point.  Rondo can be one of three stars needed, but where do the others come from?

Is it about patience and a long-term effort through drafting and developing?
Is it a less patient patchwork re-build with good,not great, players? 
Or how about a semi-patient, wait for the opening on one/two targeted players while building assets through the draft and developing our current roster players?

[hardlyyardley]

As long as the two are Russell and West  in their primes.....if West is unavailable....take Robertson

[BballTim]

So is every other team in the NBA.....

that's wrong, a lot of other teams are far away from that.

Not if the 2 all NBA team players are Lebron and Wade (or Lebron and anyone else). And that is the point.

2 David Lees don't make anyone a contender unless they are already a contender. Even CP3 and David Lee would not make us a contender. The all-NBA category is only useful in that in includes the best players in the NBA. Limit that to first team all-NBA, and you will see an even stronger correlation to winning titles.

You are missing my point, we need two MORE all nba team players to win a title.

Sure insert two all nba team players to any team will make them a good team, or even a contender, but they won't win if that's all they have. They won't beat the Heat in a playoff series. Even the two are LBJ and Wade. Do you think the Heat can win a third title without Bosh?

My point is, we already have Rondo, we need two more players on the same level as him. Adding guys like Asik will make us good, but won't make us better than Miami Heat.

  Add Asik and a top level wing player and we may or may not be better than the Heat but we'd certainly be capable of beating them in the playoffs. A high level player and a solid center would do it.

[BballTim]

As long as the two are Russell and West  in their primes.....if West is unavailable....take Robertson

  I'd personally take Oscar over West.