My sneaky plan to upgrade our roster

[Joe Green]

I think it is widely accepted that in order to compete at the next level we need:
A. A long rim protector who can board as well
B. A solid wing who can defend and knock down the 3 ball at a high rate

The problem - teams are going to spend whatever it takes to protect their free agents. Looking at the potential FA targets, it seems two teams present a strong option to "steal" and quality player from.

First our rim protector. The Pelicans have two excellent defensive centers BOTH hitting free agency. Omer Asik and the leser know - Alexis Ajinca

First Omer, one of Danny's long time targets is doing a fine job posting 7 pts, 10 reb and a block at about 26 minutes. He is a FA and would possibly welcome a chance to start on a playoff team.

Second Ajinca. This guy came into the league as a project - a huge (7"2) dude he has improved every year and is now one of the best shot blockers / rim protectors in the league. With only 14 minutes per game, he is posting 6 pts / 5 rebs and a block. He has soft hands shoots over 50% from the field and 80% from the line.

I would make offers to both, and see if the pelicans can match.

Next - wing 3&D. San Antonio is holding a pair of FA aces. First Kawhi Leonard. I will not even waste time telling you this in a superstar wing player and we heard Danny and every other GM in the league will chase him. Assuming he will not leave SA to come to Boston I suggest we look at Danny Green who was nearly the MVP of the previous finals.

One of the nest 3pt shooters in the NBA, Green is posting 42% from behind the arc. That alone would make him one of the most deadly offensive players on our team. He is a competent rebounder and passer (5 rebs 2.5 ast per 36) and a remarkable pickpocket at 2.5 steals per 36 !!! To complete his all around great game, he is blocking 1.5 shots per 36 which would make him the best shot blocker on the Celtics !!!!

His advanced stats are off the charts - a 108 offensive, 98 defensive +10 net make him one of the best 2 way players in the league.

If we throw 44 mil / 4yr to Green - do the Spurs match? Add a 30 mil / 4 yr for ajinca and our lineup will look something like

Smart / IT / Pressy
Green / AB / Smart
ET / Green / Crowder
Sully / KO / Jerebko
Zeller / Ajinca

I an ideal world, we package Sully or KO and a boatload of pick for Cousins (or insteam maybe get Love) and man our PF with a true superstar. But even without them, we would address our two weakest points taking us from borderline playoff team to contenting with Raptors for the 3rd position in next year's Playoffs.

Your thoughts?

[PhoSita]

First:

No plan to upgrade our roster should involve Evan Turner continuing to be a starter.

Second:

I love Danny Green.  He's probably my ideal not-a-star-shooting guard.  I think 4 years / 44 million would be a fair price for him, given the right situation. 

That said, the Celtics are not that situation.  Green is a substantial upgrade over Bradley, it's true.  But he's a finishing piece at that price, not a starting point.

[CelticGuardian]

I disagree mainly because some of the players we already have annoy me to no end.

But you may have an interesting find with Ajinca, he seems to be quietly productive, it's a shame he doesn't get the playing time he deserves. Everytime he gets extended playing time he performs well. Should be the replacement for Bass.

However we don't need another undersized wing. Especially at the 3.

[Joe Green]

First:

No plan to upgrade our roster should involve Evan Turner continuing to be a starter.

Second:

I love Danny Green.  He's probably my ideal not-a-star-shooting guard.  I think 4 years / 44 million would be a fair price for him, given the right situation. 

That said, the Celtics are not that situation.  Green is a substantial upgrade over Bradley, it's true.  But he's a finishing piece at that price, not a starting point.

I like our team with ET a lot. I think he is way better than AB.

Also - how is Danny Green not a good get? If he is a FA we get him for cap without spending picks. He is instantly turbo boosts our offense and defense. Since we are not getting Lebron and most likely now Kawahi, Green becomes one heck of of consolation prize, don't you think?

Also, what do you think about Asik / Ajinca ? They both give us size, rim protection and rebounding on a budget. How is our team + Center + Danny Green not a top 4 team in the East?

[CelticGuardian]

First:

No plan to upgrade our roster should involve Evan Turner continuing to be a starter.

This. I'm tired of people continuing to put him as a starter in their "roster projections". I see him being a good sixth man, that brings plenty of energy to the floor. I'd rather have Jae Crowder starting over Turner.

[PhoSita]

First:

No plan to upgrade our roster should involve Evan Turner continuing to be a starter.

Second:

I love Danny Green.  He's probably my ideal not-a-star-shooting guard.  I think 4 years / 44 million would be a fair price for him, given the right situation. 

That said, the Celtics are not that situation.  Green is a substantial upgrade over Bradley, it's true.  But he's a finishing piece at that price, not a starting point.

I like our team with ET a lot. I think he is way better than AB.

Also - how is Danny Green not a good get? If he is a FA we get him for cap without spending picks. He is instantly turbo boosts our offense and defense. Since we are not getting Lebron and most likely now Kawahi, Green becomes one heck of of consolation prize, don't you think?

Also, what do you think about Asik / Ajinca ? They both give us size, rim protection and rebounding on a budget. How is our team + Center + Danny Green not a top 4 team in the East?

Danny Green is a good get, but tying up 11 million a year on a guy who is a finished product and will probably look worse (but still be useful) once he leaves the Spurs does not make sense for a Celtics team that is still trying to put together a foundation for winning.

Green is the type of player you add in free agency when you already have a handful of talented young players and what you need to add is veterans with a couple of elite skills that know how to win.  The Celtics are not there yet.  Don't let this playoff push fool you.



Evan Turner is OK.  His numbers, though, are largely fools gold.  This has been said plenty elsewhere, but it's worth repeating.  Turner is almost entirely an on-ball player.  He is not effective playing off the ball.  He is not a good enough scorer, despite his occasional hot streak from 10-15 feet, to be one of the primary ball-handlers for a good team.  His defense and rebounding are not totally awful due to his size, but they are still not good enough to really make up for his shortcomings offensively.

Turner is a nice enough role player, especially for a team that lacks ball-handlers and shot-creators.  Ideally, though, the Celtics will find ways to upgrade on the wing and add superior two-way players so that Turner's skillset will become wholly redundant.

[CFAN38]

I was on board until you listed AB as coming off the bench.

First off the big men. I agree with your idea but would make the two targets Ajinca and Biyombo not Asik. Asik is going to warrant to large of a contract and his skill set on offense is a poor fit as a starter. Biyombo and Ajinca would both be brought in as the Cs 4th big and would provide defense and rebounding to a group lacking in length.

Second Green, I like the idea of pressuring Green but only if he is replacing Turner. If Smart develops more as a PG this off season (already plans to play summer league and my guess running the O will be major point of focus) then Turner becomes less valuable. If turner is replaced with Green at the SF and Crowder is brought back as the backup the Cs have a very impressive group of wing defenders. Green would also give this team a Korver like element as an elite 3pt shooter. While having AB and Green as the starting 2/3 is less then ideal size wise I think it would work as both are + defenders.

possible 8 man Rotation

PG Smart 16mpg, IT 32mpg
SG AB 32mpg, Smart 16mpg
SF Green 30mpg, Crowder 20mpg
PF Sully 29 mpg, KO 17mpg, Crowder 2mpg
C Zeller 22mpg, Biyombo 20mpg, KO 6mpg

[BballTim]

First:

No plan to upgrade our roster should involve Evan Turner continuing to be a starter.

This. I'm tired of people continuing to put him as a starter in their "roster projections". I see him being a good sixth man, that brings plenty of energy to the floor. I'd rather have Jae Crowder starting over Turner.

  I'd like to see Danny "sell high" on ET, although that's probably a pipe dream.

[hwangjini_1]

First:

No plan to upgrade our roster should involve Evan Turner continuing to be a starter.

This. I'm tired of people continuing to put him as a starter in their "roster projections". I see him being a good sixth man, that brings plenty of energy to the floor. I'd rather have Jae Crowder starting over Turner.

i see turner as being on another team. his performances are so irregular and uneven within a single game makes me wince multiple times.

with time, over time, in CBS' system he produces at a rate the outweighs his poor decision making for a mediocre to poor team. but he makes too many sudden decisions to pass the ball when he is in the air. too many ill advised shots with time on the clock. too many poorly chosen passes. he is not a very bright decision maker on the court.

but as a starter on a good team? his shortcomings would be too pronounced.

simply stated, the celtics can and should do better than turner as starter at sf. if the celtics can get for turner what they got for jordan, i would be satisfied. if they can get more for him, so much the better.

[PhoSita]

First:

No plan to upgrade our roster should involve Evan Turner continuing to be a starter.

This. I'm tired of people continuing to put him as a starter in their "roster projections". I see him being a good sixth man, that brings plenty of energy to the floor. I'd rather have Jae Crowder starting over Turner.

  I'd like to see Danny "sell high" on ET, although that's probably a pipe dream.

I don't think the Celtics could really "sell high" on ET, at least insofar as his value is as high right now as it will ever be, and it's not very high. 

Like Bass, I think Turner is the sort of player that some other teams would be glad to have in a limited role, but he's not good enough for anybody to give up any real value to acquire him.

[CelticGuardian]

First:

No plan to upgrade our roster should involve Evan Turner continuing to be a starter.

This. I'm tired of people continuing to put him as a starter in their "roster projections". I see him being a good sixth man, that brings plenty of energy to the floor. I'd rather have Jae Crowder starting over Turner.

i see turner as being on another team. his performances are so irregular and uneven within a single game makes me wince multiple times.

with time, over time, in CBS' system he produces at a rate the outweighs his poor decision making for a mediocre to poor team. but he makes too many sudden decisions to pass the ball when he is in the air. too many ill advised shots with time on the clock. too many poorly chosen passes. he is not a very bright decision maker on the court.

but as a starter on a good team? his shortcomings would be too pronounced.

simply stated, the celtics can and should do better than turner as starter at sf. if the celtics can get for turner what they got for jordan, i would be satisfied. if they can get more for him, so much the better.

I agree Turner needs to go. There's just too many Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline.s happening when he has the ball in his hands.

[Celtics4ever]

I like our team with ET a lot. I think he is way better than AB.

Maybe at filling a stat sheet, but AB is a better shooter and defender hands down.  I  also think he is more consistent of the two.

[Nowee]

I like the idea of Alexis Ajinca!
Only  "Add a 30 mil / 4 yr for ajinca" is too much for a unproven player.
He's no Whiteside

I think Danny Green is good!
But i think Avery Bradley is getting better each year.
Also Bradley is paid 8 million and Danny Green will probably cost more.

[Eddie20]

You say "sneaky", I say overpay.

[PhoSita]

You say "sneaky", I say overpay.

Yes.  Sneaky would be to nab guys like Green before they become big commodities.

Bismack Biyombo might be a better "sneaky" target in that sense.  Maybe see about taking Eric Gordon off the Pelicans' hands for cheap.