Was this playoff appearance worth it?

[Iggzilla]

Yes, this playoff stint is pretty much worth it, if only because it appeases Brad Stevens, our greatest asset right now. Keeping Stevens happy and engaged is, in my opinion, worth more than a chance at a lottery pick.

And I'll take a playoff appearance any day over being in the lottery. Some people keep harping on about how a lottery pick will give us the best chance to land a star that will lead us to Banner 18, when the draft is really a crap shoot when it comes to acquiring a bonafide star. Being in the playoffs, meanwhile, gives us a higher probability of winning Banner 18 simply because we're one of the few teams standing with a chance to win the title. As they say, anything can happen, so I'll take the chance we have at the playoffs over the chance that a lottery pick presents us.

[CFAN38]

I am curious as to the thoughts of people here on Celticsblog. I oscillate quite a bit on the topic. On one hand playing this time of year has to help, on the other, it is clear we need more talent and getting a better pick would have helped us. I do not see anyone helping us at the 16th pick. I am honestly torn. We have played great basketball against a team with superior and more experienced talent. Has that helped us? Thoughts?

If not in the playoffs the Cs would have been drafting 10-11. This draft seems to have a tiers that go #1-2 (Okafor + Towns), 3-4 (Mudiay + Russell), 5-9 (Prozingis, Winslow, Herzonja, WCS, S Johnson), then 10-18 (in my opinion). This means the Cs would have been higher in the end of the 4th tier rather then the lower half. This isn't a huge deal If DA really likes the guy going 11th or 12th I have little doubt that he can cash in some assets and get his guy. The playoff experience will prove invaluable down the road for a super young group of players and coach. It also helps DA see who can step up in the bright lights.

[GreenGoggles]

No. This has all been a quick fix and once the beginning of next season begins and we have largely the same level of talent I think reality will set in. Just another season of being a "feel good" story.

Like those Suns right? Anyone remember them?

I think it's been largely a wasted season.

[The One]

Yes.

For the present: entertaining series

For the future: the team (2nd youngest in the NBA) and the coach will benefit from the experience.

[littleteapot]

Even taking out how fun it is for me to watch the C's in the playoffs, I do believe it helped our team in some ways. I think last night's game really showed how much playoff experience mattered. I think games like that where everyone is just way to geeked up and makes a bunch of sloppy plays are just something you have to do a couple times in the playoffs to get out of your system. I also think Stevens needs playoff experience - I think the adjustments change a lot.

Overall, I would rather have been one of the worst teams this year if there was a way to do that without taking crap deals on our assets or telling players to throw games. I think Danny just didn't like the deals he was getting on his vets. Tough to say if this is right or wrong without knowing the deals available. I think plan A was to tank, but the way the league is going, the best deals were to acquire players like Isiah Thomas, that other teams were trying to dump but weren't sought after because so many teams are also tanking.

So I guess my answer is sort of?

[dreamgreen]

WOW!!! What a loser mentality on here. Watching our team get swept in the first round is fun?

Do you guys think this is the new little league and everyone gets a trophy?

Of course it wasn't worth it, this is why the top 1/10th of 1% have everything, unreal.

[Bankshot]

Yes it was worth it. Now we know who can play under pressure and who can't. Smart, IT, Crowder, Turner and Jarebco I want back on the team. I want Avery gone. I like Sully as a backup. Our 7 footers are soft as Charmin!

[MrMorrill]

Yes. The C's we're never going to get a top 5 pick unless Ainge traded half the team away. CBS is too good a coach.

Haha, he tried that (rondo & green). But CBS is who you'd have to get rid of to really tank.

[littleteapot]

Yes. The C's we're never going to get a top 5 pick unless Ainge traded half the team away. CBS is too good a coach.

Haha, he tried that (rondo & green). But CBS is who you'd have to get rid of to really tank.

I think we would have had to trade Rondo, Green and Bass at the start of the season and not made trades to get guys like Thomas and Zeller.

[tazzmaniac]

For the umpteenth time, I'd like to point out that noting the uncertainty of the rebuild, and expressing the opinion that making the playoffs probably won't make a significant difference long term, is not equivalent to "lottery or bust, ping pong balls to the extreme."

Right, but you posit the opposite as a certainty. And it is just as uncertain. You seem ideologicaly attached to the lottery as an absolute value. I don't think anything is certain. What I am not doing is dismissing the advanced development of this team, against the perceived timeline, as being a neccesarily bad thing.

The Pelicans are certain to be a relevant team, with a shot at 50 wins, so long as Davis stays healthy.

So it's not a certainty, but they have a clear focus for their team.  If they have success, it will be with Davis leading the way, and they've got him for at least another 5 or 6 years.

Davis is amazing and he will only get better but I do disagree with them trading two lottery picks for Holiday, mainly because one of them was Noel who I am a huge fan of. Also I would probably not have traded a first round pick for Asik but that is less of a big deal. I think a center that stretches the floor would have been a better fit on this team. I don't think they are really a smartly run team, I think they just got lucky by getting the first pick and took Davis who everyone knew was going to be amazing.

NO really screwed up on that trade.  The other pick ended up being Payton.  Davis/Noel/Payton would have been a real up and coming team.  Their front office really needs to make some good moves so they don't fall back out of the playoffs next year or else I could see Davis pulling a Monroe. 

[MBunge]

Worth it.  The team obviously needs more talent but I think Stevens especially needed the validation of making the playoffs.

Mike

[MBunge]

For the umpteenth time, I'd like to point out that noting the uncertainty of the rebuild, and expressing the opinion that making the playoffs probably won't make a significant difference long term, is not equivalent to "lottery or bust, ping pong balls to the extreme."

Right, but you posit the opposite as a certainty. And it is just as uncertain. You seem ideologicaly attached to the lottery as an absolute value. I don't think anything is certain. What I am not doing is dismissing the advanced development of this team, against the perceived timeline, as being a neccesarily bad thing.

The Pelicans are certain to be a relevant team, with a shot at 50 wins, so long as Davis stays healthy.

So it's not a certainty, but they have a clear focus for their team.  If they have success, it will be with Davis leading the way, and they've got him for at least another 5 or 6 years.

Davis is amazing and he will only get better but I do disagree with them trading two lottery picks for Holiday, mainly because one of them was Noel who I am a huge fan of. Also I would probably not have traded a first round pick for Asik but that is less of a big deal. I think a center that stretches the floor would have been a better fit on this team. I don't think they are really a smartly run team, I think they just got lucky by getting the first pick and took Davis who everyone knew was going to be amazing.

NO really screwed up on that trade.  The other pick ended up being Payton.  Davis/Noel/Payton would have been a real up and coming team.  Their front office really needs to make some good moves so they don't fall back out of the playoffs next year or else I could see Davis pulling a Monroe.

NO is suffering from the same problem Cleveland did with LeBron.  They're too focused on short term moves to try and make Davis happy.

Mike

[fantankerous]

It is too early to tell.  We need to see what free agents we sign in the offseason (and determine what role making the playoffs played in their decision to sign with us).  We need to see how our guys improve in the offseason.  We need to see what type of chemistry, focus and intensity the team begins the season with.  Finally, we need to see what player(s) we missed out on by making the playoffs. 

[Casperian]

That also doesn't answer the question of what you posit as a plan, or seeing worth in somethign different than your vision. I don't even know what you think. you dismiss any progress made, and you dismiss lottery (maybe? can't tell). So, what is your idea of a plan.

I don't believe the Celts are certain to be mired in mediocrity.  In fact, I believe in Danny Ainge to find a way to the promised land again.

I just can't figure out a plausible path to get there right now.  It's too murky.  I spend so much time wracking my brain trying to figure out how the Celtics are going to become exciting and genuinely competitive again, and I just don't know.  There's too much uncertainty.  That's frustrating.

The name of the game is "flexibility". Don't commit to middling players like the Pistons did when they signed Ben Gordon and Charlie V, or the Pelicans did just because they desperately wanted to surround Davis with some talent.

Of course, it's a lot simpler to flat out tank year after year and hope the ping pong balls fall in your favor, but that's just as uncertain as any other rebuilding "plan". It only looks like a plan  because it allows fans to convince themselves that "this is finally our year".

If we agree that an NBA team needs superstars to win a title, we also have to acknowledge that they're incredibly rare. We can't simply go out there and get one, we have to wait until one becomes available. Then we have to convince said superstar to play for us, and we either need desirable, matching pieces if we want to trade for him, or a successful/promising program if we want to sign him in FA.

Say what you want about the sixers' "plan", but they're not going to convince any superstar to sign for them in the near future. Neither did the whole tanking thing help them acquire one, yet.
They are rebuilding, we are rebuilding, and neither team is closer to winning a title than the other. The difference is, we have playoff basketball, we have success stories, we build actual values in the form of increased reputation for our whole program, all with a core of rather young and cheap players.

So, you can either focus on the negatives, that we're far away from contending, or focus on the positives, that we're just as far away from contending as any other rebuilding team without a superstar, only with more intermediate success.

[cman88]

the sixers plan is all based on luck. and so far they have had bad luck this year losing 2 potential 1st rounders. they also have to hope they not only win the lottery, but do it in a year that there is a bonafide star.

right now the only prospect they have is nerlens noel...and who knows if he is just putting up stats on a losing team.