I wouldn't count on Brooklyn sucking. They finished the season strong. Brook Lopez and Thad Young made a difference. I think our pick from them will end up in the 12-17 range.
This is exactly what I thought too. Then they traded Plumlee, KG left, Teletovic went down, Johnson got older and had his 5th straight season of decline.
I'm getting pretty bored of this topic, but i'll just briefly touch on this.
- Plumlee was irrelevant in the second half of the season.
- Swapping KG for Thad Young gave them a major positive Jolt
- Teletovic? Lol
- Johnson... eh... still a solid player
- Lopez was beasting over the past three months of the season. That makes a difference as a healthy Lopez is a force down low.
Agree to disagree. Hope you guys end up right.
I hope you see the irony in saying 'lol' to Teletovic and Plumlee but somehow have faith in Bargani, Larkin and Willy Reed whilst the rest of the East gets considerably better? lol
Their starting PG is Jarrett Jack. Their back up is Larkin- not a typo.
Their starting SG is Johnson. Their back ups are Markel Brown and Wayne Ellingtion with some Karasev thrown in.
Their SF is Bogdanovic with Karasev and Quincy Miller.
Their PF is Thadeus with Bargani, Willy Reed and Thomas Robinson.
Their C is Lopez with Bargani and Willy Reed. That's not a typo. Bargani and Willy Reed.
That is arguably the poorest line up in the NBA or is definitely in the conversation and it's a bottom 5 defense.
They are going to be terrible. They are an injury away from being a genuine dumpster fire.
Brooklyn's 3 best players would probably be the 3 best players on the Celtics. *shrug*
Okay, I'll give you Brook Lopez if he's healthy and playing like he did at the end of last season.
But A 35 year old Joe Johnson wouldn't be the best player on the Celtics. He's not better than Isaiah Thomas, not at this stage of his career. And Thad Young? C'mon man. He might be the 3rd best player on the Celtics, like he is on the Nets but not by much.
Here's the thing your just totally skipping. Even if we accept that what you just said was true; that Brooklyn's 3 best players are better than anyone on the Celtics, which I think is ridiculous but regardless, they would hardly be. Lopez deff would be, but not but a huge margin. And considering that players 4-12 (a vital component to how well a team does in the regular season) are much, much better than Brooklyn's that theory just doesn't hold up. Andrea Bargnari wouldn't even get to wear warm ups on the Celtics, and he's gonna be playing major minutes. He's a Lopez injury or Johnson trade away from starting! Jarrett Jack wouldn't play at all here either, and let's not even discuss Shane Larkin and Willie Reed.
And lemme ask you, if someone like say Phoenix or Utah calls Brooklyn offering a top-12 protected 1st in some kinda deal for Johnson, do you think they'll turn them down?