Ainge: Celtics need another 'dynamic scorer

[LGC88]

It makes sense to hold on at the guard positions another year to see what Smart can be (PG or SG). It's not that he's satisfied with the back court but at least it's not the biggest weakness in this team right now. Looking for SF, C and maybe PF makes perfect sense, priority wise.
That being said, if Lawson becomes available, DA will go for it. If opportunity comes at any position, he will grab it.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Sully, KO, Zeller, Turner are all walking on thin ice and could be traded or replaced by a better talent.

  Sully is the only one on thin ice.   They all have flaws that could be upgraded though.   They would all three be tough bench players, I just cringe when I think of them as starters.

Ainge is pretty satisfied with the current guard rotation and sees the frontcourt as the priority for upgrades.

I agree, we got maimed on the boards, Sully can rebound with anyone but is bad at D.

Why is Sullinger the only one in thin ice? It makes no sense. I mean Olynyk, Stevens' binky as it is, saw his role and minutes significantly reduced after being exposed for what he is as the series went on... and whose minutes and role increased? Sullingers.

I mean, yes there are health concerns, yadda yadda, but from a basketball stand point, Sullinger is the easy choice to remain here. And younger too.

All this to say that singling out Sullinger as the only one in thin ice shows your anti-Sully bias more than anything.

[PhoSita]

I really like Monroe, but he's not a dynamic scorer.  He's more an Al Horford / Paul Millsap / Serge Ibaka / Derrick Favors complementary scorer, only he has zero range so he's harder to fit into an offense.

Still, he's better than anyone on the Celtics other than IT.  But he's not so much more dangerous offensively than, say, Jared Sullinger.

[Tr1boy]

It makes sense to hold on at the guard positions another year to see what Smart can be (PG or SG). It's not that he's satisfied with the back court but at least it's not the biggest weakness in this team right now. Looking for SF, C and maybe PF makes perfect sense, priority wise.

I agree.   I just keep thinking how good Justise Winslow would be for the Celts. He can score, rebound and even block shots.   He is predicted to go 4-6 by many mock sites.  Danny would have to give up quite a bit (our 1st 2015 picks, maybe even a 2016 1st) and/or plus a Sully to try to get him. Even then a team like the Magic would be hesitant to make a trade

[Tr1boy]

RHJ is not the scorer Winslow is but can really rebound and block shots for a SF also

[saltlover]

The question is if Kris Middleton is a dynamic-enough scorer.  He's efficient, but those aren't necessrily the same things.

I don't think scoring is a problem to be solved by anyone we draft.  Rebounding or shot-blocking may be, but the only player I'd feel could come in and be a dynamic scorer next year is Russell.  Maybe Porzingis, but probably not until year 2 for him.  It's virtually impossible to see us getting Russell.  Small chance we can move up for Porzingis.  I'm not even convinced Okafor can do it year 1, either.

Mind you, I like a lot of the other players in the draft.  I'm just saying they're not going to be able to score while playing for a competitive team as a rookie, so the draft shouldn't be seen as solution to that particular problem, unless it's by trading our draft picks.

If Sacramento is willing to move in a different direction, I would love to try to get Stauskas.  He had a few good games after Karl took over.  He was a rookie on a nightmare of a team with three different head coaches, and I still really believe in his offensive talent.  I'd love to see him in Stevens' offense.

[Tr1boy]

The question is if Kris Middleton is a dynamic-enough scorer.  He's efficient, but those aren't necessrily the same things.

I don't think scoring is a problem to be solved by anyone we draft.  Rebounding or shot-blocking may be, but the only player I'd feel could come in and be a dynamic scorer next year is Russell.  Maybe Porzingis, but probably not until year 2 for him.  It's virtually impossible to see us getting Russell.  Small chance we can move up for Porzingis.  I'm not even convinced Okafor can do it year 1, either.

Mind you, I like a lot of the other players in the draft.  I'm just saying they're not going to be able to score while playing for a competitive team as a rookie, so the draft shouldn't be seen as solution to that particular problem, unless it's by trading our draft picks.

If Sacramento is willing to move in a different direction, I would love to try to get Stauskas.  He had a few good games after Karl took over.  He was a rookie on a nightmare of a team with three different head coaches, and I still really believe in his offensive talent.  I'd love to see him in Stevens' offense.

You are forgetting Kaminsky.  He can score. You can nitpick regarding his defense (concerns at the next level). One thing he will be able to do in the NBA is score. And unlike KO will be confident from the start imo

[wdleehi]

I like the Monroe option and looking to replace the starting PF with a more defensive option.



He may not be "dynamic" but he a good step in the right direction and his game down low could attract other "outside dynamic" scores by opening up space.

[Evantime34]

I think adding someone who is a dynamic scorer now is unlikely. We need to try and add someone that could become a dynamic scorer through development. I still have hope for Marcus Smart or Young to become that scorer but that hope isn't so much based on reason.

What I want the C's to do is improve at any position they can to make the team incrementally better with fairly young players who have room to grow. Getting incrementally better will improve the assets this team has, so that if a dynamic scorer becomes available we can move on such a player.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I like the Monroe option and looking to replace the starting PF with a more defensive option.



He may not be "dynamic" but he a good step in the right direction and his game down low could attract other "outside dynamic" scores by opening up space.

Thing with Monroe is that he's been stuck on a team pairing him with Drummond who can only play very close to the basket.

All our bigs can shoot the ball from the midrange and beyond, that should be huge for having a player like Monroe around working down low, and to say nothing of his good passing.

[BudweiserCeltic]

All this said, Ainge will certainly be exploring trade options to bring a player he views as a dynamic scorer or whatever. Very hard to speculate on that, so we can only focus on free-agents and draft options, but by no means the options are limited to that.

[LooseCannon]

How many dynamic scorers are there in the whole league at the 3, 4, and 5?  It's such a guard centric league in terms of volume scorers.

How do you define "dynamic scorer"?  Can someone be a dynamic non-volume scorer?

[wdleehi]

I like the Monroe option and looking to replace the starting PF with a more defensive option.



He may not be "dynamic" but he a good step in the right direction and his game down low could attract other "outside dynamic" scores by opening up space.

Thing with Monroe is that he's been stuck on a team pairing him with Drummond who can only play very close to the basket.

All our bigs can shoot the ball from the midrange and beyond, that should be huge for having a player like Monroe around working down low, and to say nothing of his good passing.

Charles Oakley, where are you. 


Need defense PF with a respectable jumpshot.

[heyvik]

It starts with Monroe, that's the guy we need to get.

All indications is that he wants to go to the Knicks. He has hinted to it and talked up to Phil Jax

[saltlover]

The question is if Kris Middleton is a dynamic-enough scorer.  He's efficient, but those aren't necessrily the same things.

I don't think scoring is a problem to be solved by anyone we draft.  Rebounding or shot-blocking may be, but the only player I'd feel could come in and be a dynamic scorer next year is Russell.  Maybe Porzingis, but probably not until year 2 for him.  It's virtually impossible to see us getting Russell.  Small chance we can move up for Porzingis.  I'm not even convinced Okafor can do it year 1, either.

Mind you, I like a lot of the other players in the draft.  I'm just saying they're not going to be able to score while playing for a competitive team as a rookie, so the draft shouldn't be seen as solution to that particular problem, unless it's by trading our draft picks.

If Sacramento is willing to move in a different direction, I would love to try to get Stauskas.  He had a few good games after Karl took over.  He was a rookie on a nightmare of a team with three different head coaches, and I still really believe in his offensive talent.  I'd love to see him in Stevens' offense.

You are forgetting Kaminsky.  He can score. You can nitpick regarding his defense (concerns at the next level). One thing he will be able to do in the NBA is score. And unlike KO will be confident from the start imo

I'm absolutely not forgetting Kaminsky.  He will not be a dynamic scorer that you can give the ball to when you need points, at least not as a rookie big.  The transition from college to the NBA is very hard, even for a senior.  More games, longer games, much faster pace (especially for Kaminsky, who played for one of the slowest teams in the country), and most importantly, stronger and faster competition.  I think Kaminsky will do well in the NBA, and I'd be glad to have him on the Celtics if we moved Olynyk, but I don't see him being ready to take over an offense when things get bogged down, at least as a rookie.