So... What lessons did we learn?

[JHTruth]

Smart is a keeper. Crowder is a keepr. Thomas is a bench spark plug so I hope he's ok with that. Everyone else should be available.

yep. not many keepers sadly. almost everyone is available and expendable. two that need to go are wallace and bass. addition by subtraction.

I think we should know by now no one is untouchable in a DA squad. Don't get attached to any of these guys

[SHAQATTACK]

LeBron control the eastern conference ......where ever he goes ...he automatically has the best team on the floor ...until he playes western conference teams

[Kuberski33]

Zeller's a very good offensive center in terms of his ability to score. He's a liability defensively and especially off the boards.  Pair him defensively with Sully/KO/Bass etc and you have a problem against better teams.  The mix needs to change up front but I'm not certain that gets resolved in one off season. 

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Smart is a keeper. Crowder is a keepr. Thomas is a bench spark plug so I hope he's ok with that. Everyone else should be available.

I'd add Tyler Zeller and Brandon Bass to that list, but they can't be our starters moving forward.

Zeller would destroy 2nd unit bugs with his activity on the court. Bass is an all out pro who can also give us a spark off the bench and would give consistent effort grabbing the boards. While it's not necessary. I'd love to keep those two along with the three names you mentioned.

But they can't be our starters. For us to move forward, those two have to be coming off the bench.

[Forza Juventus]

Sign Khris Middleton! 

And we need an athletic shot blocking center.

PG Smart | Isaiah
SG Bradley | Young
SF Middleton | Crowder
PF Sullinger | Olynyk
C New Player | Zeller

[CoachBo]

Smart is a keeper. Crowder is a keepr. Thomas is a bench spark plug so I hope he's ok with that. Everyone else should be available.

Agreed.

It was a good and unexpected run. Now, the pressure is on Ainge to make additions to this team to get it to 50 wins next year. None of this 'step back' nonsense from the perpetual rebuilding fans.

It's time to define the foundation, keep it and add to it.

[PhoSita]

Smart is a keeper. Crowder is a keepr. Thomas is a bench spark plug so I hope he's ok with that. Everyone else should be available.

Agreed.

It was a good and unexpected run. Now, the pressure is on Ainge to make additions to this team to get it to 50 wins next year. None of this 'step back' nonsense from the perpetual rebuilding fans.

It's time to define the foundation, keep it and add to it.

All good and well.

I'm interested to hear your ideas on how this roster can be refashioned into a 50 win team this summer.

[LarBrd33]

Can't compete with a well-coached team of role players. Need a star or three to be relevant.  Getting a legitimate NBA starter on the squad would be a nice start.

Everyone will be made available.  Smart would be the most painful to part with... Which might make him the most likely to be moved.  Gotta give something to get something. Nobody is trading us an Allstar for Phil Pressey.

[BudweiserCeltic]

- Size and talent wins in the playoffs
- The Celtics are a small-ball perimeter team that can't shoot
- The best players on the Celtics can't consistently get good shots against even a mediocre defensive playoff opponent.
- Bradley and Turner are wholly inadequate as starting options on the wing
- Bass and Zeller get overwhelmed by physically superior opponents

A complete myth at this point that the Cavs are a mediocre defensive team. This is not October 2014, that roster changed quite a bit and added quite a few talented defenders at the wings and competent center that bothered us plenty, to say nothing of Thompson and his rebounding prowess.

Cleveland defended well, let's not discredit that based on some prior preconceptions.

[Chris22]

You need to make your threes.
Shooting 13% from three is not going to make it.
The NBA is all about the three.

[Bosstown]

that we should of tanked and this series was a waste of a good draft pick.

[Kuberski33]

I wonder about their PG situation.  Do they commit to Smart/Thomas or do they need to bring in someone who's more of a distributor/QB?  Cleveland pressured constantly and that helped mess up the C's offense.

I'm not certain what the answer is either.  Probably short term they need to figure out whether Smart can run the offense.

[PhoSita]

Can't compete with a well-coached team of role players. Need a star or three to be relevant.  Getting a legitimate NBA starter on the squad would be a nice start.

I guess we should qualify "legitimate NBA starter."  I think a couple of these guys could start for a good team if the lineup had a few All-Stars in it. 

None of these guys is a bona fide "would start on the majority of teams in the league" starter.

[LarBrd33]

Can't compete with a well-coached team of role players. Need a star or three to be relevant.  Getting a legitimate NBA starter on the squad would be a nice start.

I guess we should qualify "legitimate NBA starter."  I think a couple of these guys could start for a good team if the lineup had a few All-Stars in it. 

None of these guys is a bona fide "would start on the majority of teams in the league" starter.

True.  Bradley could have filled the Mario Chalmers role on the Heat title teams.

[PhoSita]

- Size and talent wins in the playoffs
- The Celtics are a small-ball perimeter team that can't shoot
- The best players on the Celtics can't consistently get good shots against even a mediocre defensive playoff opponent.
- Bradley and Turner are wholly inadequate as starting options on the wing
- Bass and Zeller get overwhelmed by physically superior opponents

A complete myth at this point that the Cavs are a mediocre defensive team. This is not October 2014, that roster changed quite a bit and added quite a few talented defenders at the wings and competent center that bothered us plenty, to say nothing of Thompson and his rebounding prowess.

Cleveland defended well, let's not discredit that based on some prior preconceptions.

The Cavs are certainly better than they were to start the season.

That said, I don't regard Mozgov as a great defensive player by any means, and unless Shump and Lebron are out there together, they don't have a lot of defense on the wing or at point.

Definitely a good enough team to bother the Celtics plenty.  We'll see how they do against opponents with true offensive talent.