Am I the only one thinking like this?

[pokeKingCurtis]

I wish more people felt this way. The OP gets it. It's not about "trolling" it's about the big picture. Would you rather watch the Celtics turn into the Knicks or would you rather them turn into the Thunder? One is a contender every year and the other battles for 4-8 seeds yearly.

You couldn't have picked a worse example. The Knicks have done the exact opposite as we've done. They have traded away their future for their current mediocrity. They gave up Jeremy Lin for Felton. Their management is terrible. Even despite being one of the most prominent big market teams in the league, Dolan screwed it all up.

Other examples of bad business? The Hawks before this year. The Bucks before this year. They achieved perennial mediocrity by, again, trading away young players for players that are not game changers.


On the other hand, to be OKC you would have to be bad not for just this year. You would have to be bad for multiple years to be in the lottery for multiple years. You have to hope that the lottery won't screw you over.

OKC was not only smart, they were also incredibly lucky.





Your "big picture" thinking seems to be that we put all our hopes into ONE lottery pick.

Meanwhile, Ainge has been stockpiling picks and maintaining flexibility.

Is there value in winning? Ainge is developing players. He's fielding a team that looks half decent and thereby driving up the value of his players (getting picks, potentially another first, out of the deal). He's allowing his coach to gain experience with a half decent team.








The payoff of tanking could be great. But the expected value is far less when you consider that: it's a lottery, there are busts, there are players who could be very good but not good enough.

[manl_lui]

it's actually a tough choice for me. I love rooting for the Celtics and not against them. While I understand this year is meaningless and the point is to grab a top 3 pick, but it's so hard to wish for them to lose.

Of course I want a top 3 pick, but at the same time I want them to win.

[BballTim]

I wish more people felt this way. The OP gets it. It's not about "trolling" it's about the big picture. Would you rather watch the Celtics turn into the Knicks or would you rather them turn into the Thunder? One is a contender every year and the other battles for 4-8 seeds yearly.

 Assuming there's a Durant-level player in the draft (big assumption) then if we're a really bad team we'll have a 1 in 5 or so chance at him. Do we still get to be the Thunder if we lose the lottery and pick 4th or 5th?

[pokeKingCurtis]

I wish more people felt this way. The OP gets it. It's not about "trolling" it's about the big picture. Would you rather watch the Celtics turn into the Knicks or would you rather them turn into the Thunder? One is a contender every year and the other battles for 4-8 seeds yearly.

 Assuming there's a Durant-level player in the draft (big assumption) then if we're a really bad team we'll have a 1 in 5 or so chance at him. Do we still get to be the Thunder if we lose the lottery and pick 4th or 5th?

Or we could be picking the Oden of the draft.

[LooseCannon]

it's actually a tough choice for me. I love rooting for the Celtics and not against them. While I understand this year is meaningless and the point is to grab a top 3 pick, but it's so hard to wish for them to lose.

Of course I want a top 3 pick, but at the same time I want them to win.

Just root for the Celtics to win and root for them to get lucky in the lottery with a top three pick despite not having one of the worst records.

[D.o.s.]

it's actually a tough choice for me. I love rooting for the Celtics and not against them. While I understand this year is meaningless and the point is to grab a top 3 pick, but it's so hard to wish for them to lose.

Of course I want a top 3 pick, but at the same time I want them to win.

Just root for the Celtics to win and root for them to get lucky in the lottery with a top three pick despite not having one of the worst records.

Seriously. It's not that hard.

[BballTim]

it's actually a tough choice for me. I love rooting for the Celtics and not against them. While I understand this year is meaningless and the point is to grab a top 3 pick, but it's so hard to wish for them to lose.

Of course I want a top 3 pick, but at the same time I want them to win.

Just root for the Celtics to win and root for them to get lucky in the lottery with a top three pick despite not having one of the worst records.

  Forget about the lottery until it happens. Root for the team to win. If they end up with 28 wins and a top draft pick you can enjoy his play for the next 10+ years with a clean conscience.

[Celtics4ever]

DA doesn't care what we think.   I see both sides of the coin.   On one side we need a good pick but once the games start I find myself rooting for us to win while watching.  Old habits die hard.

[chambers]

I wish more people felt this way. The OP gets it. It's not about "trolling" it's about the big picture. Would you rather watch the Celtics turn into the Knicks or would you rather them turn into the Thunder? One is a contender every year and the other battles for 4-8 seeds yearly.

I prefer the Indiana or Houston models to assembling a roster rather than OKC.

Getting incredibly lucky with mid range draft picks turning out okay, and signing free agents from teams like OKC that used their top 5 picks to draft 3 superstars?

[Moranis]

I wish more people felt this way. The OP gets it. It's not about "trolling" it's about the big picture. Would you rather watch the Celtics turn into the Knicks or would you rather them turn into the Thunder? One is a contender every year and the other battles for 4-8 seeds yearly.

 Assuming there's a Durant-level player in the draft (big assumption) then if we're a really bad team we'll have a 1 in 5 or so chance at him. Do we still get to be the Thunder if we lose the lottery and pick 4th or 5th?

sure finding a Durant is difficult, but that draft also had Horford, Noah, M. Gasol, Conley, Afflalo all of which are certainly respectable players (as well as a number of solid starter type players including our very own Jeff Green).  Of course they were drafted all over the darn place, which is the real issue.  You not only have to have the picks, you have to correctly utilize the picks.  That said it is harder to really mess up the higher your draft pick is.

[LilRip]

On the other hand, to be OKC you would have to be bad not for just this year. You would have to be bad for multiple years to be in the lottery for multiple years. You have to hope that the lottery won't screw you over.

OKC was not only smart, they were also incredibly lucky.

OKC was perennially one of the worst teams in the league (record-wise) when they drafted Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka and Harden. Their 'draft position' was not really luck (except maybe for Durant) but more of the odds playing themselves out.

I get that the lottery hasn't been kind to the Celtics, but i still would think that one of the most solid strategies the C's can do this year is try and get the best draft position possible and to also get the guys healthy.

The 2014 pick is either a rookie or trade bait, however you want to view it. Like in 07, we missed Oden/Durant, but flipped the #5 for Ray Allen. A top5 pick this year will hold more value than Green+Bass+Hump put together.

Lastly, as a general question, i wonder what the sentiments were around Oden and Durant, or Lebron and Melo when they were entering the draft? Because I think this 2014 draft class is overhyped to the point that some people have gone completely opposite the hype machine, discrediting the top prospects (Embiid/Wiggins/Parker) and maintaining that the C's are better off drafting around 13th overall if it means winning a few extra games in the season.

[Fafnir]

I know for the Oden/Durant draft I wanted Oden very badly. I was also excited for Durant, but I thought he'd take longer to become an impact guy. (I was right on this, though Oden's immediate impact was followed by an immediate injury everytime)

[ddb]

I wish it were that black and white as far as rebuilding goes.  But it's far more complicated then losing games, getting a top 3 pick and then you're on your way to winning titles.  It just doesn't work like that. 

A- there's a lottery and asus C fans have already experienced twice, having a horrible record doesn't guarantee a top 3 pick. 

B- Even if you get a top 3 pick, you could just as easily draft a Greg Oden, Anthony Bennett-type bust over a Kevin Durant type success.  And even with Durant it takes a few years before those kids are ready to start winning. 

C-We have a great PG entering his prime in Rondo.  If the plans are to build around him then you need to act sooner rather then later.  He wants to win.  This year he's been patient. next year losing will start getting old which is right when he's a Free Agent.  So Danny needs to monitor this situation very closely and make sure that he either trades to help Rondo or trades Rondo AT THE RIGHT TIME for a great asset.  I say keep him. 

D- now might be the ultimate time to be "buyers" for next season. with so many teams "tanking" for Wiggins/Embiid/Parker maybe it's a great opportunity for Ainge to pick up good players at a reasonable price. 

All I know is that Ainge is competitive as sh*t and wants to win.  I don't know what he will do but I sure as heck trust him

[LilRip]

I wish it were that black and white as far as rebuilding goes.  But it's far more complicated then losing games, getting a top 3 pick and then you're on your way to winning titles.  It just doesn't work like that. 

A- there's a lottery and asus C fans have already experienced twice, having a horrible record doesn't guarantee a top 3 pick. 

B- Even if you get a top 3 pick, you could just as easily draft a Greg Oden, Anthony Bennett-type bust over a Kevin Durant type success.  And even with Durant it takes a few years before those kids are ready to start winning. 

C-We have a great PG entering his prime in Rondo.  If the plans are to build around him then you need to act sooner rather then later.  He wants to win.  This year he's been patient. next year losing will start getting old which is right when he's a Free Agent.  So Danny needs to monitor this situation very closely and make sure that he either trades to help Rondo or trades Rondo AT THE RIGHT TIME for a great asset.  I say keep him. 

D- now might be the ultimate time to be "buyers" for next season. with so many teams "tanking" for Wiggins/Embiid/Parker maybe it's a great opportunity for Ainge to pick up good players at a reasonable price. 

All I know is that Ainge is competitive as sh*t and wants to win.  I don't know what he will do but I sure as heck trust him

Everybody is handicapped by the lottery. The best way to do well in the lottery (or in a rebuild, in general) is to put yourself in a position to 'succeed'. It's similar as to like how despite having a terrific team, championships aren't guaranteed either. We lost game 7 in LA despite  leading most of the game. it happens. same goes with the lottery.

And obviously, rebuilding doesn't end with acquiring a top-3 pick. But it is a good place to start. Much better than having the 10-15th pick. And even if you have little faith in rookies, there will be a losing team willing to flip proven talent to get that top-3 pick.

regarding buyers though, i think it only reaches to a certain point. You know how we're reluctant to trade Rondo away despite tanking? I'm sure it's like that for every other team. The most value you could probably squeeze out of any team for pennies on the dollar are the Courtney Lee/Jordan Crawford types. Solid role players who are good enough to start in the right situation (which we have plenty of) but not surefire starters.