We deserve a top 5 pick this yr. not these other teams

[GreenWarrior]

so what were they supposed to do?

What they did. I just wouldn't get sanctimonious about it.

To truly be competitive while still rebuilding? How about significantly better options than Pressey and Faverani off the bench? Keeping Crawford until Rondo got his feet under him?

lol, if you don't think pressey is an upgrade at PG over Crawford I don't think you'll want to continue this discussion. Crawford had 2 good weeks this yr. for us. that's it. was he a better PG than Bradley? you bet! but that's not saying much at all.

what better options than fav or pressey are there? that don't hurt us financially or able to remain flexible cap-wise or draft-wise?

[Snakehead]

lol, if you don't think pressey is an upgrade at PG over Crawford I don't think you'll want to continue this discussion.

He was though.

[mmmmm]

A 30 win season is a .365 W-L percentage.

Number of teams finishing at or below that mark in recent years:

2000   6
2001   7
2002   7
2003   7
2004   6
2005   6
2006   5
2007   4
2008   7
2009   7
2010   9
2011   7
2012   8
2013   8
2014   7*

*  (projected, based on current standings)

So ... why do folks all of a sudden think that teams are 'tanking' this year more than any other year?

I think the truth is probably that around 7 teams each year are just plain not very good.

This year, so far, we are one of them (barely - we are at .352).

The weighted lottery system is not perfect, but I haven't heard of a better alternative being proposed yet.

[Nerf DPOY]

so what were they supposed to do?

What they did. I just wouldn't get sanctimonious about it.

To truly be competitive while still rebuilding? How about significantly better options than Pressey and Faverani off the bench? Keeping Crawford until Rondo got his feet under him?

lol, if you don't think pressey is an upgrade at PG over Crawford I don't think you'll want to continue this discussion. Crawford had 2 good weeks this yr. for us. that's it. was he a better PG than Bradley? you bet! but that's not saying much at all.

what better options than fav or pressey are there? that don't hurt us financially or able to remain flexible cap-wise or draft-wise?

For PG, I can't say who'd have been willing to come here but maybe Augustin, Livingston, heck Kendall Marshall. For centers, Kaman, BJ Mullens and Stiemsma signed for cheap. In a way you're right though they probably wouldn't have signed here, one reason being that they knew Boston wasn't really trying to be competitive.

So you think Pressey > Crawford? What do you think Pressey would be worth in a trade?

[Endless Paradise]

with the way the hawks and the Nets are playing, it's still possible that they both end up missing the playoffs and we get a 2nd lottery pick this year. It's not too much to think that two of the Knicks, Cavs, and Pistons make the playoffs, particularly with the pressure that the Cleveland and Detroit GMs are facing to win now, and the Knicks not owning their first rounder this year.

The Hawks and the Nets have easily been far, far better than those other three teams you mentioned.  You might as well say it's possible for the Heat to miss the playoffs and the Celtics to win the championship this year.

[LarBrd33]

I know we are only a half game out of the #4 pick, but a nice little winning streak would put us right back into the thick of the 8th seed race.  We've played well since rondo's return.  We will probably make the playoffs this year.

Either you are extremely easily swayed by recent events, or you just love getting a reaction from as many people as possible.

I'm guessing the latter combined with being really bored.

Wait a week from now.

[Future Celtics Owner]

I'm happy to see this as a topic. Me and my friends are somewhat supersticious  about the nab draft, as many are. We believe that whoever is responsible for the lottery will take in to account us trying to win each game and take pity on us.

I agree there are at least 2 teams that encourage loss in the locker room.

[Nerf DPOY]

I know we are only a half game out of the #4 pick, but a nice little winning streak would put us right back into the thick of the 8th seed race.  We've played well since rondo's return.  We will probably make the playoffs this year.

Either you are extremely easily swayed by recent events, or you just love getting a reaction from as many people as possible.

I'm guessing the latter combined with being really bored.

Wait a week from now.

If you're hinting at Rondo being dealt, I disagree it happens now and here's why: The two teams where a trade makes the most sense (to me) are Sacramento and LA, and I don't think the Lakers can trade their pick until the draft. Sacto I'm not sure on their trade restrictions on their pick but I wouldn't risk them making a deal presently and have it wind up 9th or tenth. With a gun to my head I think Rondo stays anyway.

 I do think Green's a goner and that'll all but extinguish any chance of us digging our way out of the bottom. I guess we both are banking on an exciting trade deadline.

[GreenWarrior]

So you think Pressey > Crawford? What do you think Pressey would be worth in a trade?

nothing. he's a guy who has a very small body of work. he only has value to us as a back up PG.

at worst Golden State gets the Crawford that us & Washington are familiar with a guy who can score. at best they get that guy that played extremely well for us for 2 weeks. just because he had some trade value doesn't necessarily mean he was the better player for us.

after that 2 week stretch crawfords' game deteriorated back to being that guy that Washington traded us. the PG position was killing our offense while he was running it after that stretch. pressey and rondo improved that dramatically.

[vjcsmoke]

The problem for LA and NYK is that they might want Rondo, and need him, but they have nothing to offer that we would want.  We're not going to deal him out of the kindness of our heart, when he's a basic building block for our franchise.

And come on OP, deserve?  The lottery is all luck.  No deserve involved.  In fact I think the team with the worst record has won the #1 pick less than 20% of the time or something ridiculously bad like that.  The NBA lottery just stinks.  They need to find a different way to do it.

Openly tanking, or weakening the roster so that it will end up with a bad record.  It's hard to say what 'deserves' a higher pick.  And it's definitely hard to say, well we deserve it more than any other team.

As a fan I definitely wish we'd land a top pick, but that's about it.  I'm not under the illusion we deserve it more than any other fanbase.

[GreenWarrior]

I was listening to felger and maz the other day and a guy called in with a decent suggestion to the lottery. he suggested the lottery teams all get put in a tournament at the end of the season and the winner gets the number 1 pick.

I don't love this idea but I don't hate it either. the main reasons I don't like it is your basically asking a bad team to win. which is something they obviously couldn't do.

plus, out in the west it's possible a good team is going to get a great pick.

the reasons I like it. more games. teams can't just throw the towel in.

[biggs]

I'd like to defend the OP..

Let's start this off by talking about "Basketball Gods, NBA Karma, and the former tyranny of Stern"

BBall gods supposedely frown upon tanking, wether it's the players or front office.

Karma- there is definitely a difference between our strategy and say The Lakers.  We actually try to win sometimes and can put more than 4 players on the court.

Stern- weighted balls and conspiracies aside, there has been a trend of teams with the most balls not winning. I'm sure the math guys will say "anomaly".

Having said all that, I agree that the C ' s deserve a higher draft pick than obvious tankers and hopefully the mythological and spiritual side of us outweighs the tyranny of stern.

This is supposed to be a bit comedic/sarcastic, but there's no denying the Celts have a strategy that the obvious tankers don't have and it's called trying to win. Hopefully we have some good luck on draft day for that. (karma) 

The team with the most numbers still has a 75% chance of not winning. So, no, it is not an anomaly. It is expect that the team with the most ball will most likely not get the top pick unless a person has not idea how the lottery works.

I give you a pass on the rest since you indicated you were serious about it.

(If understanding percentages makes one a math guy, then our education system has failed miserably! I'm pretty sure that percentages are middle school math!)

My sarcasm and conspiracy theory missed math class, you missed English I take it?   
Are you from Sochi? English, it is expect here.

edit- I give you a pass

[PhoSita]

A 30 win season is a .365 W-L percentage.

Number of teams finishing at or below that mark in recent years:

2000   6
2001   7
2002   7
2003   7
2004   6
2005   6
2006   5
2007   4
2008   7
2009   7
2010   9
2011   7
2012   8
2013   8
2014   7*

*  (projected, based on current standings)

So ... why do folks all of a sudden think that teams are 'tanking' this year more than any other year?

I think the truth is probably that around 7 teams each year are just plain not very good.

This year, so far, we are one of them (barely - we are at .352).

The weighted lottery system is not perfect, but I haven't heard of a better alternative being proposed yet.

I think this year there's an increase in the number of teams in the 30-40 wins category.  Maybe that's just perception, but it certainly seems like there's a top 10-12 and then all the other teams are a jumbled mess.

I'd like to see a system that creates incentive for teams to make an effort to get closer to the break-even line rather than purposefully stay in the 25-40 win range until a 50+ win core can be put together.

There will always be a set of elite teams at the top, but I think the league could be changed in such a way that you seem a lot more teams in the 40-50 win range.  It might not change things in May and June much, but it would probably mean fewer totally non-competitive regular season matchups, and some better 1st and 2nd round series.

[guava_wrench]

I'd like to defend the OP..

Let's start this off by talking about "Basketball Gods, NBA Karma, and the former tyranny of Stern"

BBall gods supposedely frown upon tanking, wether it's the players or front office.

Karma- there is definitely a difference between our strategy and say The Lakers.  We actually try to win sometimes and can put more than 4 players on the court.

Stern- weighted balls and conspiracies aside, there has been a trend of teams with the most balls not winning. I'm sure the math guys will say "anomaly".

Having said all that, I agree that the C ' s deserve a higher draft pick than obvious tankers and hopefully the mythological and spiritual side of us outweighs the tyranny of stern.

This is supposed to be a bit comedic/sarcastic, but there's no denying the Celts have a strategy that the obvious tankers don't have and it's called trying to win. Hopefully we have some good luck on draft day for that. (karma) 

The team with the most numbers still has a 75% chance of not winning. So, no, it is not an anomaly. It is expect that the team with the most ball will most likely not get the top pick unless a person has not idea how the lottery works.

I give you a pass on the rest since you indicated you were serious about it.

(If understanding percentages makes one a math guy, then our education system has failed miserably! I'm pretty sure that percentages are middle school math!)

My sarcasm and conspiracy theory missed math class, you missed English I take it?   
Are you from Sochi? English, it is expect here.

edit- I give you a pass

There is a big difference between a typo and not understanding math. There is a big difference between the words typed being wrong and the actual thoughts in someone's head being wrong.

Btw, it is 'whether', not wether. Few things are sadder than using the 'grammar' card when you aren't even editing your own typos.

[Finkelskyhook]

Deserve's got nothin' to do with it.

Maybe not under Silver but it sure did for us and the other shameless overt tankers in 06.  There is no chance the ping pong balls "fall" exactly as they did.