Targeting Jimmy Butler and trading for Nerlens Noel

[gpap]

Not sure how realistic this is, but some of the threads on this board gave me this idea.

If the Celts made a max offer to Jimmy Butler to be his own man on a new team and if the Celts pull off a draft night trade for Nerlens Noel (maybe offering Sully and a pick), could this be a good team?

PG-Smart/Isaish
SG-Bradley
SF-Butler/Turner/Crowder
PF-Olynyk
C-Noel

This would certainly make for an athletic team and wonder if this can be pulled off.

Also, DA would have to pick up another power forward and shooting guard.

[LarBrd33]

I think you'll need more than Sully + a pick for Nerlens.  If they land Okafor in the draft, you might be able to entice them with Marcus Smart, Sully and our #10-15 pick, but I doubt it.  He's putting up historic defensive numbers for a rookie big man his age.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/nerlens-noel-the-other-rookie-of-the-year/

But for nonconformists who rebel against the tyranny of points, Nerlens Noel is your guy. The Sixers? 20-year-old rookie is a lanky strand of sinew with a Big Daddy Kane flattop, a limited offensive game, and some of the most stunning defensive numbers ever posted by someone of his tender age. Not only does Noel lead all rookies in rebounds, blocks, and steals, he?s also the only NBA player in the top 10 in both blocks (eighth) and steals (10th). That?s not, you know, normal.

Since the All-Star break, Noel has averaged 11.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.8 blocks, and 2.8 steals a night. He rejected nine shots in a game against the Pacers last month. In the Sixers? recent upset of the Hawks, he amassed 11 points, 17 rebounds, and five steals. (He has an absurd total of 19 acts of thievery in his last four games.) If you want to unspool a convincing narrative for why Noel should be rookie of the year, look no further than his defense.
...

Basically, he?s a 6-foot-11, 228-pound cable of razor wire that stretches from the rim to the 3-point line, with a 7-foot-4 wingspan and tightly coiled springiness. He ends up at locations and altitudes far more rapidly than opponents expect. On a single possession, he might poke the rock away from a point guard, swipe at the dribble of a big man posting up, and then bound across the paint to alter a shot as the weakside helper. According to Brown, Noel?s exceptional attributes include ambidextrous shot-blocking, an uncanny sense of timing, and a pogo-stick second jump. Plus, with the NBA?s emphasis on pick-and-rolls, the ability for a center to switch onto point guards is critical when assembling an effective modern defense.

...

Advanced metrics support the eye test. Noel?s Defensive Box Plus/Minus ranking is second in the NBA, his Defensive Rating is eighth, and, according to Spor**** player tracking, opponents shoot only 45 percent at the basket against him, which places him in elite rim-protector territory. The Sixers surrender 99.5 points per 100 possessions when he?s on the floor ? which is slightly better than the Rockets and Blazers, the third- and fourth-best defenses in the league. He?s the primary reason Philly?s defense has jumped from 27th last year to 12th this season ? and it plunges back down when he leaves the hardwood, according to NBA.com.

Noel?s cross-categorical stat-glomming has led to flurries of hyperbolic and arbitrary historical comparisons: The last player to rack up precisely eight points, 13 rebounds, five blocks, and four steals was a holographic Wilt Chamberlain going against Dan ?Mimbo? Cortese in the 1993 MTV Rock N? Jock game! But generating statistical similarities to David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Ben Wallace is not exactly a bad look.

20 year old raw rookie coming off major surgery... huge potential.  Would love to have him. 

Nerlens in the 2012-13 Andre Drummond zone where some fans say "we should trade for him" while others counter "yeah, but I've seen him play boston once this year and I wasn't impressed"... and while both sides argue there's a 3rd sect that points out how ridiculous it would be for the elite big man prospect to be traded for middling assets.

[Endless Paradise]

Trading for Noel isn't realistic in the least unless Philly is really high on Towns and your team has the first overall pick. It took the Lakers' pick to get MCW and Philly was never even quite sold on him.

[Rosco917]

Not sure how realistic this is, but some of the threads on this board gave me this idea.

If the Celts made a max offer to Jimmy Butler to be his own man on a new team and if the Celts pull off a draft night trade for Nerlens Noel (maybe offering Sully and a pick), could this be a good team?

PG-Smart/Isaish
SG-Bradley
SF-Butler/Turner/Crowder
PF-Olynyk
C-Noel

This would certainly make for an athletic team and wonder if this can be pulled off.

Also, DA would have to pick up another power forward and shooting guard.

I don't know about Kelly Olynyk being the starting PF.