The very fact that this Kevin Love rumor is even going on validates the tanking.

[BballTim]

If the Celtics had barely made the playoffs, Ainge would still have a ton of draft picks to offer in a deal and Kevin Love would currently be viewed as the guy who could boost the team from playoff contender to title contender.  The Celtics having a high lottery pick didn't cause Kevin Love to be available.  He'd still be out there and Boston would be seen as one of the likely suitors.

  No kidding. We've got 8-9 first rounders over the next 5 years, the thought that we couldn't swing a deal without this year's pick is fairly ludicrous.

[mmmmm]

If the Celtics had barely made the playoffs, Ainge would still have a ton of draft picks to offer in a deal and Kevin Love would currently be viewed as the guy who could boost the team from playoff contender to title contender.  The Celtics having a high lottery pick didn't cause Kevin Love to be available.  He'd still be out there and Boston would be seen as one of the likely suitors.

This^.

All it would change is what sort of package we'd have to send out to get him (assuming he is even moved).

Our pick for this year would be worth far less.  But in theory -- had we made a playoff run -- the value of our player assets would have shown themselves to be worth far more.  And one could always pile on additional future picks.

Nothing really is 'validated' without a control.   We can't play it back out any other way to compare how it would have turned out.   

This is simple the point in time and situation we are at.

[LooseCannon]

If the Celtics had barely made the playoffs, Ainge would still have a ton of draft picks to offer in a deal and Kevin Love would currently be viewed as the guy who could boost the team from playoff contender to title contender.  The Celtics having a high lottery pick didn't cause Kevin Love to be available.  He'd still be out there and Boston would be seen as one of the likely suitors.

Sure does help grease the wheel quite a bit though...

The team has enough trade assets that I am wondering if the Celtics can put a competitive offer out there without giving up their own 2014 pick.

[LarBrd33]

If the Celtics had barely made the playoffs, Ainge would still have a ton of draft picks to offer in a deal and Kevin Love would currently be viewed as the guy who could boost the team from playoff contender to title contender.  The Celtics having a high lottery pick didn't cause Kevin Love to be available.  He'd still be out there and Boston would be seen as one of the likely suitors.

  No kidding. We've got 8-9 first rounders over the next 5 years, the thought that we couldn't swing a deal without this year's pick is fairly ludicrous.

10 nickles doesn't equal a dollar. 

While I agree that a boatload of marginal late 1st rounders is theoretically nice... A top 5 pick is still significantly more valuable than a #15 pick.

For instance...

If you had to trade Rondo, would you rather trade him for a Top 5 pick in this draft... or 3-4 picks in the #17-25 range?

And if 3-4 picks in the #17-25 range = a Top 5 pick... we best be packaging those picks for a Top 5 pick

[Celtics18]

The tankers won.  Congratulations.

I'm just hoping Danny can put us in a position where we are all rooting for the same thing--wins--next season and beyond. 

[LooseCannon]

The question isn't whether a package of picks is more valuable with a top five pick than without.  The question is whether a trade package without a top five pick is still more valuable than what other teams can offer to Minnesota.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

The question isn't whether a package of picks is more valuable with a top five pick than without.  The question is whether a trade package without a top five pick is still more valuable than what other teams can offer to Minnesota.

guess we will find out soon!!!

[Celtics39]

My question is this: can't we get Love without giving up the lottery pick this year?

We can give them the 4 Brooklyn picks, the LAC pick, and 1 or 2 of our own draft picks, plus Sullinger. That's 6-7 1st round draft picks + Sullinger. Who the HELL can offer a better package than that?

[staticcc]

Wrong. The only way the tanking gets validated is if we get Love and be contenders or if our draft pick this year pans out and we contend in the future. What's the use for tanking if we don't contend for a championship? None.

[badshar]

People aren't realizing that even if we don't get Love, we have a lottery pick. We win either away.

Franchises like Milwaukee and Philadelphia don't get Love because they don't have anything to give back besides a pick. We have quality players that Minnesota would be interested in. They don't. The ones they have, they wouldn't trade, else it would be a star-for-star swap.

[BballTim]

If the Celtics had barely made the playoffs, Ainge would still have a ton of draft picks to offer in a deal and Kevin Love would currently be viewed as the guy who could boost the team from playoff contender to title contender.  The Celtics having a high lottery pick didn't cause Kevin Love to be available.  He'd still be out there and Boston would be seen as one of the likely suitors.

  No kidding. We've got 8-9 first rounders over the next 5 years, the thought that we couldn't swing a deal without this year's pick is fairly ludicrous.

10 nickles doesn't equal a dollar. 

While I agree that a boatload of marginal late 1st rounders is theoretically nice... A top 5 pick is still significantly more valuable than a #15 pick.

For instance...

If you had to trade Rondo, would you rather trade him for a Top 5 pick in this draft... or 3-4 picks in the #17-25 range?

And if 3-4 picks in the #17-25 range = a Top 5 pick... we best be packaging those picks for a Top 5 pick

   You don't have any idea where the picks will end up, neither does the team that trades them, neither does the team that trades for them. Just look at how everyone's opinions of the Nets picks have changed over the last year, including the 2014 pick which is a number of spots better than you'd have predicted it would be at the start of the season. Not to mention we got KG without trading a top 5 pick...

[Smokeeye123]

If the Celtics had barely made the playoffs, Ainge would still have a ton of draft picks to offer in a deal and Kevin Love would currently be viewed as the guy who could boost the team from playoff contender to title contender.  The Celtics having a high lottery pick didn't cause Kevin Love to be available.  He'd still be out there and Boston would be seen as one of the likely suitors.

  No kidding. We've got 8-9 first rounders over the next 5 years, the thought that we couldn't swing a deal without this year's pick is fairly ludicrous.

10 nickles doesn't equal a dollar. 

While I agree that a boatload of marginal late 1st rounders is theoretically nice... A top 5 pick is still significantly more valuable than a #15 pick.

For instance...

If you had to trade Rondo, would you rather trade him for a Top 5 pick in this draft... or 3-4 picks in the #17-25 range?

And if 3-4 picks in the #17-25 range = a Top 5 pick... we best be packaging those picks for a Top 5 pick

the nets picks could just as easily be high lottery picks than late first round picks at this point. Its baseless to assume the nets will be a comparatively similar team record wise in 2016, 2017, and 2018.

[Neurotic Guy]

Not sure why anyone cares about validating or criticizing our performance this season.  We are what we are and that is a very bad team with a lot of potentially valuable assets.  Every one of us here wants DA to make moves that bring the C's to contential and we all want to see it happen sooner rather than later.   

To say "I was right" or "you were wrong" about tanking is meaningless.  We have assets to use to make this team better, and we all want to use them wisely.  Congrats to everyone who thought we should tank. Congrats to everyone who thought we shouldn't.  You are all correct.   

Now let's win us a lottery!

[footey]

Tanking was the right thing to do, we just should have done a better job of it, so that we could have improved our odds of getting a top 3/4 pick.

Got me thinking:  When we were tied with Orlando with the third worst record going into the final few games, and just kept losing, our chances of finishing with a top 4 pick would have jumped dramatically.  Makes me wonder whether Danny puts that much value on have the 4th pick vs. the 5th pick.  In other words, maybe he doesn't think Exum is all that much of a can't miss guy, any more than guys like Gordon, Randle or Vonleh. 

[86MaxwellSmart]

We'll know tomorrow night---and you just know the Lakers will move up...On Tanguay's show---he did 3 Mock Drawings--and The Lakers Won ALL 3 times....that was depressing--and it didn't even count.