can't trade zeller

[rollie mass]

he is an ankle roll from playing again-a quality  reserve center that runs court shot high %from 15ft and over 80% from line-he is still young as bigs go-

[Evantime34]

Lately, we have played better going small. I think if a big in front of him rolled their ankle we could survive by just going small more often.

If we could package some of Lee, Zeller and Turner to upgrade Turner's spot we would still have 4 playable bigs in Sully, Amir, Olynyk and Jerebko. If one of the guys I just listed went down we could play Mickey.

That being said I'm not saying we should give Zeller away but use him to add a quality rotation piece upgrade.

[kozlodoev]

he is an ankle roll from playing again-a quality  reserve center that runs court shot high %from 15ft and over 80% from line-he is still young as bigs go-

Well then you can't trade anyone, since you're always 2 ankle rolls away from having to play your 15th guy...

[jambr380]

Zeller was a nice little surprise for a free player, but he doesn't appear to be in Boston's future plans. I don't see any way we sign him for more than $4-5M / yr this offseason, which obviously won't be enough. Hey, at least we will still have IT from the TPE trade after this season (or a solid return if we trade him).

[apc]

It is a mystery to me why Zeller is not playing this season.
He had a good season last year, and this year he went form a starter to DNP within a few games.
 

[jambr380]

It is a mystery to me why Zeller is not playing this season.
He had a good season last year, and this year he went form a starter to DNP within a few games.

At the beginning of the year, Zeller and Lee seemed to be given a 'decent' chance at starting with KO and Amir off the bench; Sully was clearly in the doghouse. When the former duo did not work out and Sully [unsurprisingly] proved to be effective, this moved Zeller to the bench. When the Cs realized that JJ was a much better version of Lee, Lee's minutes vanished.

It isn't totally fair to Zeller, nor is it fair to Mickey or Lee, but we have so much depth up front -  even if none are top notch starters. With so many players expiring, I would hope Danny will make a deal or else we will have a mass exodus (which is what many want anyway).

[Kuberski33]

I'm fine with losing any of our bigs - save for Mickey and that's just because we don't know what we have yet with him.  The others are all known entities and they're all expendable because none of them are consistent enough.

Zeller at least is consistent with his set of skills, but unfortunately they're limited.

[nickagneta]

Yeah, the Celtics can trade him and probably will. He is a free agent at year's end and its pretty obvious he doesn't  have a future here.

[CelticPride2016]

Yeah, the Celtics can trade him and probably will. He is a free agent at year's end and its pretty obvious he doesn't  have a future here.

Why not? I don't understand what changed. I think Brad takes Zeller for granted because they have a personal history. He needs to bench some of the logjam, so perhaps he picks his player/friend that he has known for years. Then Olynyk is the next in line for a scapegoat. I think Brad doesn't want another Bogans and feels that Lee and Sully are the closest to having potential to be disruptive to team chemistry.

Lee has been so bad, Brad had all the data/eye tests he needed to bench him. Sully is overweight but is more consistent than Olynyk. Amir Johnson clearly has separation over every other big. If he remains healthy, he is the man.

Danny needs to trim the roster to take out the guesswork (experimenting?) and politics (David Lee?) from Brad Stevens' job duties.

[apc]

Yeah, the Celtics can trade him and probably will. He is a free agent at year's end and its pretty obvious he doesn't  have a future here.

Why not? I don't understand what changed. I think Brad takes Zeller for granted because they have a personal history. He needs to bench some of the logjam, so perhaps he picks his player/friend that he has known for years. Then Olynyk is the next in line for a scapegoat. I think Brad doesn't want another Bogans and feels that Lee and Sully are the closest to having potential to be disruptive to team chemistry.

Interesting theory.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Yeah, the Celtics can trade him and probably will. He is a free agent at year's end and its pretty obvious he doesn't  have a future here.

Why not? I don't understand what changed. I think Brad takes Zeller for granted because they have a personal history. He needs to bench some of the logjam, so perhaps he picks his player/friend that he has known for years. Then Olynyk is the next in line for a scapegoat. I think Brad doesn't want another Bogans and feels that Lee and Sully are the closest to having potential to be disruptive to team chemistry.

Lee has been so bad, Brad had all the data/eye tests he needed to bench him. Sully is overweight but is more consistent than Olynyk. Amir Johnson clearly has separation over every other big. If he remains healthy, he is the man.

Danny needs to trim the roster to take out the guesswork (experimenting?) and politics (David Lee?) from Brad Stevens' job duties.

Sorry but that's not accurate at all. Maybe with Lee a bit since he's a veteran, but Sullinger was out of the rotation, without complaints, coming into the season. When he was relegated to the bench, he did it without complaints.

He took advantage of a Olynyk suspension to show his value to Stevens, mainly as a big man defender and superior rebounder.

AND THAT'S where Zeller's failure began. It was quite easy to understand. Zeller sucked defending and rebounding, and then couple that with a cold offensive streak to start the season and Zeller was simply out of the top 3-man rotation.

A case can be made that Lee shouldn't have been part of the rotation in favor of Zeller, but it's also true that Lee broke out of his funk sooner. So could go one way or another.

Zeller was taken out of the rotation simply because he's sucked through some games. He's having trouble regaining the coach's trust. But there was a reason was he was taken out of the rotation early on.

[SHAQATTACK]

Rather see Lee go first ......but I'm predicting they both go in deal for a guy like Hornets KG ....a younger wing with good ceiling .

[ssspence]

I'd be happy to have Zeller back on team friendly deal. I like his pick-n-roll efficiency in short minutes off the bench.

[CelticPride2016]

Doc had a funky relationship with Big Baby. I admit this is speculation or personal opinion. Or it might be with Brad dependent on slower players such as Sullinger and Turner, the team vision of running and passing has been delayed.

It's like when we had Jameer Nelson. There was no way for Brad to crunch him into the running philosophy. Stevens wants wins and is willing to alter his coaching philosophy depending on the roster.

I don't blame Ainge for creating these imbalances as long as he keeps at it and continues to strive at getting rid of deadwood players who simply do not fit into the old-school Celtics running game Ainge/Stevens appear to want for direction (think of Tommy Heinsohn's run, run, run).

We had to suffer with Gerald Wallace to get the draft picks. We have a little bit more suffering to do with David Lee. A lot of guys have contracts running out, so Danny and Brad over the next year should be able to finally trim off the fat.

If we are going to become a running monster team, Zeller would fit in perfectly as a rotational big, imho.

I agree with Rollie, as usual.

[CelticPride2016]

Sorry but that's not accurate at all. Maybe with Lee a bit since he's a veteran, but Sullinger was out of the rotation, without complaints, coming into the season. When he was relegated to the bench, he did it without complaints.

He took advantage of a Olynyk suspension to show his value to Stevens, mainly as a big man defender and superior rebounder.

AND THAT'S where Zeller's failure began. It was quite easy to understand. Zeller sucked defending and rebounding, and then couple that with a cold offensive streak to start the season and Zeller was simply out of the top 3-man rotation.

A case can be made that Lee shouldn't have been part of the rotation in favor of Zeller, but it's also true that Lee broke out of his funk sooner. So could go one way or another.

Zeller was taken out of the rotation simply because he's sucked through some games. He's having trouble regaining the coach's trust. But there was a reason was he was taken out of the rotation early on.

I missed where Lee broke out of any funk.

You are probably correct that Sully should not be grouped with Lee as a potential Bogans.

However, it is beyond ridiculous that Sullinger hasn't gotten into shape. This isn't baseball where some fat slob is still able to hit home runs or throw a ball 95 m.p.h..

I also have the opinion that Sullinger is overrated. He's pretty useless as a defender unless he's up against strong bigs.

I'm also of the opinion that Zeller did break out of his funk, but that it didn't mean much to Stevens.

Brad is showing that he is still a rookie coach in regards to allotting minutes. There is no excuse for how he kept plugging in Lee. David Lee is done, period. If he's injured, I missed it. I haven't missed him coughing up the ball, getting blocked, being lame on defense, and ball hogging.

Look at Amir and then look at David Lee. One is still at the top of his game despite having plantar fasciitis.

I see Isaiah Thomas playing some awful games. He never gets benched. That's because there is no one to replace him. Guys like Olynyk and Zeller must be very confused and feel like they are walking on eggshells.