Strategy moving forward

[arctic 3.0]

What do you all think?
With trading season coming up do we
1: trade for proven talent (if available) to improve this year?
2: trade for young prospects to fill holes and balance roster (with little to no short term gain)
3: stick with developing current players (I.E tank) and look to improve through draft/ FA, trades down the road?

I'm kind of in the 2 boat myself.

[manl_lui]

What do you all think?
With trading season coming up do we
1: trade for proven talent (if available) to improve this year?
2: trade for young prospects to fill holes and balance roster (with little to no short term gain)
3: stick with developing current players (I.E tank) and look to improve through draft/ FA, trades down the road?

I'm kind of in the 2 boat myself.

as of now

Rondo/Bradley/Jeff/Sully/Zeller

Zeller, Thorton, Wallace needs an extra 5 minutes added, Turner depending on situation and game. Kelly needs 5 minutes taken away (to be changed imo when Smart comes back)

We need a real center coming in. Defensive minded, rebounder and shotblocker
Still a go-to-scorer away from being a playoff team.

Bench still needs some re-modeling

[playdream]

Grab Towns at all means and we are good to go

[Who]

I would go with option 2 for now (I like the Biyombo trade idea) while waiting for a better opportunity to make itself available to pursue option 1 since nobody really seems available right now that is capable of drastically changing team's outlook.

I want to trade Olynyk in near future. Before trade deadline. I am not interested in keeping Olynyk here. I would like Ainge to cash in on his trade value sooner rather than later before it peters out. I want to see Ainge look for starting caliber center and starting two guard. Do not consider Olynyk or Bradley part of Celtics future. Happy to trade Smart in move for high quality player / prospect at either SG or C position. 

[Evantime34]

What do you all think?
With trading season coming up do we
1: trade for proven talent (if available) to improve this year?
2: trade for young prospects to fill holes and balance roster (with little to no short term gain)
3: stick with developing current players (I.E tank) and look to improve through draft/ FA, trades down the road?

I'm kind of in the 2 boat myself.

I think number two. I'm assuming the cost of obtaining young prospects is Rondo, Green, Bass, and or Thornton which I'm fine with.

Trading for younger players presumably also makes us worse which helps to improve the C's through the draft.

[CFAN38]

I say go with option 2,

On the current roster I would leave Sully, AB, Smart, Young, KO and Zeller out of any trade talks this season. The rest of the roster should be made available for future assets as I do not see any of them really being a part of this team in the future. Rondo is the big sticking point. I just don't see a situation in the next 3 years where DA brings in enough talent to make a Rondo lead team anything better then a bottom 4 playoff team that fights the big guys (Cavs, Bulls) and loses every year. Last off-season was the last real short to build a contender around Rondo. If they landed Love then Asik would have fallen into place and maybe Afflolo. Without Love I just don't see a #1 guy who is joining Rondo in Boston to compete for rings.

With trading season coming up I would look to move the vets Rondo, Bass, Green, Thorton, and Turner to add a third guard who compliments Smart and AB (scorer), an athletic big to help the D, and a player to fill in at SF if Green is moved. In a rebuild there is no reason to pay out assets to move wallace so he might as well stay.   

[Fred Roberts]

We have lost SEVERAL nail biters, and currently sit 2.5 games out of a playoff spot. The either / or games haven't gone our way (similar to last season but more agonizing).

We are pretty much a tweak or two away from having a 2nd huge win over Chicago, a win over Cleveland, a win over the Hawks. Dallas comeback was sick but fell short. We had Toronto. We had the Suns.

6 very close games we lost. If we got 1/2 of those, we are 7-8 right now. Point blank, the team gets cold and goes soft in the 4th quarter. That could be maturity & personnel at the same time.

Keep playing the season to win, and see if we can pick up Al Horford on a reasonable deal. Any big with a little skill and some teeth on defense will work wonders for us. Get Smart back, keep developing Young and the rest and we'll be alright.

There is NO ONE to be afraid of in the East. Really. No team scares me. We got blown out by San Antonio, Houston and Memphis. Otherwise, we can scrap with any of these guys. Flawed teams abounding in the East.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I like option 3, we need to be giving these kids run.  I never thought we were going to be good this year and after looking at our schedule, this is about where I thought we would be.  I think if we added say Carmelo and Hoford and put Smart, Rondo, Bradley, Sully, KO, Young, Bass and Zeller around them, we'd be really good, but those are two huge, unlikely moves.  In the mean time, a lot of our guys still need to log a whole bunch of minutes to get their games down.

The best course of action is sit tight, know that we have tens of millions coming off the books this year, we're drafting two first rounders in a good draft and 2 more 1st rounders every year for several years to come. 

What I don't want to see is a panic trade where we become a 4th seed in the weak east at the expense of our long term future.  I think following a championship contender is the most fun thing to happen, but following a rebuilding team like this is the second most fun.  Following a mediocre team is fine and there is always the chance that they overachieve like the 2002 team, but now that I have a taste for championships that's all I really want now.  I would love to see our approach to team building take down the 76ers in a few years.

[LooseCannon]

I think Ainge looks to upgrade the roster, so long as the deal doesn't give up a first round pick or increase the salary committed for next season.  (Those conditions evaporate if Ainge can acquire a legitimate star.)

[gpap]

I like option 3, we need to be giving these kids run.  I never thought we were going to be good this year and after looking at our schedule, this is about where I thought we would be.  I think if we added say Carmelo and Hoford and put Smart, Rondo, Bradley, Sully, KO, Young, Bass and Zeller around them, we'd be really good, but those are two huge, unlikely moves.  In the mean time, a lot of our guys still need to log a whole bunch of minutes to get their games down.

The best course of action is sit tight, know that we have tens of millions coming off the books this year, we're drafting two first rounders in a good draft and 2 more 1st rounders every year for several years to come. 

What I don't want to see is a panic trade where we become a 4th seed in the weak east at the expense of our long term future.  I think following a championship contender is the most fun thing to happen, but following a rebuilding team like this is the second most fun.  Following a mediocre team is fine and there is always the chance that they overachieve like the 2002 team, but now that I have a taste for championships that's all I really want now.  I would love to see our approach to team building take down the 76ers in a few years.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

[Quetzalcoatl]

[/b]

Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

Yeah I mean it's fine to watch an ok team over a couple of beers every few nights, but you always know you're going to lose in the end.  With a rebuilding team, I can suddenly watch not just the Celtics, but every good college player and I can watch the Clippers and root for them to lose every game!  The message boards are always more filled with a bad team vs an ok team and it is because everyone can think about all the great stuff we can do in the future.  It's a lot like playing the lottery in a way. 

[gpap]

[/b]

Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

Yeah I mean it's fine to watch an ok team over a couple of beers every few nights, but you always know you're going to lose in the end.  With a rebuilding team, I can suddenly watch not just the Celtics, but every good college player and I can watch the Clippers and root for them to lose every game!  The message boards are always more filled with a bad team vs an ok team and it is because everyone can think about all the great stuff we can do in the future.  It's a lot like playing the lottery in a way.

I guess.

I just get really frustrated watching a losing product.

I understand the whole trajectory in the NBA of having good years and lean years (well, sorta.)

It's just not fun when your team is on the down swing as opposed to being on the upswing.

I wish there was a way to know how soon we'll be good again.

Because if it's as soon as next season, then it wouldn't make the current skid we are in feel as bad.

But no one can tell the future.

[Chris22]

Trade Rondo and build with our 5 first round picks in the next two years.

[CFAN38]

[/b]

Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

Yeah I mean it's fine to watch an ok team over a couple of beers every few nights, but you always know you're going to lose in the end.  With a rebuilding team, I can suddenly watch not just the Celtics, but every good college player and I can watch the Clippers and root for them to lose every game!  The message boards are always more filled with a bad team vs an ok team and it is because everyone can think about all the great stuff we can do in the future.  It's a lot like playing the lottery in a way.

As a draft junkie I agree that rebuilding makes watching college games interesting and with the picks the Cs have amassed their is always hope for the future.

[gpap]

Trade Rondo and build with our 5 first round picks in the next two years.

There's an awful lot of uncertainty involved with that however.

No one knows how good these draft picks will end up becoming and how long it will take them to "develop."