Say the c's struggle through January, Could Danny tank it?

[chambers]

I've said this before, but I believe Ainge has structured the roster so that if he wants to pull the plug and rebuild around the Brooklyn picks with Smart+all our under 23 guys then he can easily do it.

I don't think we'll be that bad by January though, so I think a 'blow up' is more likely after this season if it's ever going to happen and would happen after we've selected in the top 3 with a Brooklyn pick.

Still pretty unlikely but he's 100% left himself the 'plan c' option of just dumping everyone over the age of 23-25 and going for draft picks while Lebron runs the East for the next few years. If Durant comes over and joins that Washington team then it's even more reason for him to do so.

If Durant comes to Washington then they probably resign Beal too. You cant wait that out. I think it might be wise to try to time the rebuild so you peak in about 2 or three years where Lebron will probably have declined from dominant force to superstar

Yep that's exactly my point. And they will 100% re-sign Beal, they just want to keep the cap room open a bit longer because they can re-sign him over the cap without any penalty while they wait to see what happens with Durant.

[wdleehi]

Whether they are in it or not, I see a lot of the vets on one year deals available.

[oldtype]

It's trivially easy to start tanking and building around the young players again if we want to. That's the nice thing about flexibility.

[fairweatherfan]

Whether they are in it or not, I see a lot of the vets on one year deals available.

Amir and Jerebko were both given those tradebait nonguaranteed contracts for a reason.  Wish I wasn't already getting irrationally attached to Amir, though. 

[Quetzalcoatl]

Whether they are in it or not, I see a lot of the vets on one year deals available.

Amir and Jerebko were both given those tradebait nonguaranteed contracts for a reason.  Wish I wasn't already getting irrationally attached to Amir, though.

Yeah Amir's deal is specifically designed to be traded.  He's just a $12 million waivable contract after this season.  I really doubt we keep him

[Ogaju]

It really is not tanking If you are not good to begin with.

[Denis998]

[konkmv]

Let the team find its rotations... there is always a possibility that we are not goog enough for playoffs... i thonk cbs smart and thw nets picks will turn it around...

[cb8883]

He needs to do a proper tank just like he should have last year. Everyone on the team over 25 should be traded. Do what Philadelphia is doing. They will be kings of the East within 5 years with the Noel/Okafor front court. Then Embiid actually comes back healthy? My god! Boston cannot match that talent. 

[Boris Badenov]

What do you mean struggle? We're only 2 games out of the #1 seed in the conference!

[MikeJelly]

Just saying we could technically have 4 Lottery picks

Nets (1-14)
Cs (1-14)
Mavs (8-15)
TWolves (12-14)

So technically we could have 1, 2, 8, 12.

[PhoSita]

Whether they are in it or not, I see a lot of the vets on one year deals available.

Nic Batum is a guy to keep an eye on, if the Hornets keep struggling

[Moranis]

What would "tanking it" really look like here, though?  Waiving all the veterans with expiring / non-guaranteed contracts and then signing a bunch of D-Leaguers to fill out the roster?

I doubt it.

It's not like Lee, Amir, Jerebko, Turner etc have a whole lot of trade value, especially if the team is doing as badly as you hypothesize.  The Celts don't need another fist-full of low-value draft picks.


I don't think there's any reason to believe the team is gonna start playing the rookies ahead of the veterans if the team is struggling, either.

For better or for worse the team is gonna stay all-in on making the playoffs again this year.  They'll give a lot of playing time to guys with no future here in the process, and the rookies won't get much opportunity to develop, but at least we can count on the Nets to tank for us.

I could certainly see someone like Lee getting waived (to save a few bucks) and where the decision is made to just play all the young guys as much as you can (so playing Mickey instead of Johnson).  I could also see some scenarios where some vets are traded for younger players, maybe even Boston throws in a late first (I'm not saying this would be out there but something like Steven Adams (and filler) for Amir Johnson + 1st - you know the kind of trade where OKC goes all in and gains a 1st)

[alewilliam789]

I say trade Bradley and Thomas away to make room for a Rozier/Smart backcourt. Rozier is probably the best all around point guard we have on the team. Smart is blossoming offensively, but as an off ball threat and not a primary ball handler. Hopefully we can land some young talent with either Thomas or Bradley and then we sit back and wait for our 2 top 8 lottery pick in this deep draft class.

[rondohondo]

If Smart is out for a month, it could really put this team in a hole . IT is to small to be a starter , and I don't see our defense holding up well while Smart is out .

This looks like a very mediocre team to me .

I would be willing to tank it if we are just fighting for a playoff spot with no hope of winning a series .

IT , Turner, KO , Amir, Lee are the guys most likely to be moved IMO .

Get a top 5 brk pick, and by trading some of those guys the c's would likely fall into a top 10 pick themselves .