Respect to Detroit

[Smartacus]

I may have been in favor these past couple of weeks of breaking up a part of the core to acquire one of the Horford/Love/Howard, but I'll be the happy to concede that -as many of the posters here have been preaching- keeping the chemistry together is a better option than bringing in new rotation guys that might be only be incrementally better than what we have now.

One team that did cash in a good deal of their chips to upgrade their core was Detroit. Gotta say Stan Van Gundy had a great trade deadline. Detroit shows great promise but remains a work in progress. Adding a volume scorer like Tobias Harris (and Marcus Thorton for that matter) was a bold move that while an obvious talent upgrade might prove to ruffle some feathers in the current core.

Then deciding to send out your 1st round pick with only limited protection to bring in the player that was supposed to be Dwight's ideal running mate with his size and spacing ability in Donatas Motiejunas, but is also coming off a nasty injury and has yet to really get his rhythm back to replace Ersan Illyasova.

Van Gundy has a vision for how he wants that team to operate and is not gunshy in the slightest about making changes until it meets his expectations. Now his roster goes 7 deep of players 24 and under and has the potential to gel into a real monster for years to come. Props to Detroit for being proactive with their team building, looking forward to the next time we matchup.

TLDR: Standing pat may have been the best option for us, but Detroit should be praised for having a bold trade deadline.

[fairweatherfan]

Detroit might very well be a 1st round opponent for us.  Given how well they've played us this season, I hope we avoid them.

[Smartacus]

Detroit might very well be a 1st round opponent for us.  Given how well they've played us this season, I hope we avoid them.

Definitely rather have the Heat or Pacers at this point.

[Surferdad]

Detroit did well, no doubt. Jennings replaced by Thorton is sort of a wash. They lose Ilyasova who has plateaued out but picking up Tobias gives them a great young core.

[BornReady]

detroit are the biggest winners
they made all the right moves that they could possibly make

getting tobias without losing a 1st rounder + picking up montie
while losing illysova and jennings
means they got younger and better

[ssspence]

Detroit did well, no doubt. Jennings replaced by Thorton is sort of a wash. They lose Ilyasova who has plateaued out but picking up Tobias gives them a great young core.

Question for me is: does Tobias give them a lift right away? I think it's more likely he weighs them down a bit at first. He's a volume guy with a reputation for tunnel vision -- could take him a while to get settled with his teammates.

Like the long term move, and that's what i think it was about -- not necessarily the short term.

I've always liked Thornton (and players like him). Just so valuable to have a fearless chucker who can impact a game in 15 minutes on small money. I'd bet he resigns there this summer.

I thought the Montiejunas portion was a reach, but I understand why SVG took a shot.

[Surferdad]

Detroit did well, no doubt. Jennings replaced by Thorton is sort of a wash. They lose Ilyasova who has plateaued out but picking up Tobias gives them a great young core.

Question for me is: does Tobias give them a lift right away? I think it's more likely he weighs them down a bit at first. He's a volume guy with a reputation for tunnel vision -- could take him a while to get settled with his teammates.

Like the long term move, and that's what i think it was about -- not necessarily the short term.

I've always liked Thornton (and players like him). Just so valuable to have a fearless chucker who can impact a game in 15 minutes on small money. I'd bet he resigns there this summer.

I thought the Montiejunas portion was a reach, but I understand why SVG took a shot.

Well Tobias is going to get his shot now ( there was a bit of a logjam down in Orlando). I agree it may not help them right away. Losing two vets like Ilyasova and Jennings will make the ship unstable, at first. But long-term, a core of Tobias, Jackson and S.Johnson will grow together.

[Timdawgg]

Detroit did well, no doubt. Jennings replaced by Thorton is sort of a wash. They lose Ilyasova who has plateaued out but picking up Tobias gives them a great young core.

Question for me is: does Tobias give them a lift right away? I think it's more likely he weighs them down a bit at first. He's a volume guy with a reputation for tunnel vision -- could take him a while to get settled with his teammates.

Like the long term move, and that's what i think it was about -- not necessarily the short term.

I've always liked Thornton (and players like him). Just so valuable to have a fearless chucker who can impact a game in 15 minutes on small money. I'd bet he resigns there this summer.

I thought the Montiejunas portion was a reach, but I understand why SVG took a shot.

Well Tobias is going to get his shot now ( there was a bit of a logjam down in Orlando). I agree it may not help them right away. Losing two vets like Ilyasova and Jennings will make the ship unstable, at first. But long-term, a core of Tobias, Jackson and S.Johnson will grow together.

Dont forget Drummond as well.

[saltlover]

A bit depends on how flush Detroit ownership is feeling.  They could have around $20 million in cap space, including the holds for D-Mo and Drummond.  They could go out and sign one more max/near-max player, and then go above the cap for their two restricted free agents.  They have the potential to create a roster with some good top-tier talent that also has depth.

[Smartacus]

Detroit did well, no doubt. Jennings replaced by Thorton is sort of a wash. They lose Ilyasova who has plateaued out but picking up Tobias gives them a great young core.

Question for me is: does Tobias give them a lift right away? I think it's more likely he weighs them down a bit at first. He's a volume guy with a reputation for tunnel vision -- could take him a while to get settled with his teammates.

Like the long term move, and that's what i think it was about -- not necessarily the short term.

I've always liked Thornton (and players like him). Just so valuable to have a fearless chucker who can impact a game in 15 minutes on small money. I'd bet he resigns there this summer.

I thought the Montiejunas portion was a reach, but I understand why SVG took a shot.

Well Tobias is going to get his shot now ( there was a bit of a logjam down in Orlando). I agree it may not help them right away. Losing two vets like Ilyasova and Jennings will make the ship unstable, at first. But long-term, a core of Tobias, Jackson and S.Johnson will grow together.

Stanley Johnson has some serious potential. That was actually the strangest part of the deal for me. Harris could block alot of the minutes and shots that would go to Johnson, they must either think that the two can coexist or Johnson too far away to worry about that right now.

Tobias is probably going to play the bulk of his minutes at the 4 but eventually Van Gundy is probably going to want to get a more traditional 4 like Ryan Anderson to run his system. Which of Johnson or Harris is going to go to the bench? The move could really backfire but then how can you argue against Tobias Harris for Jennings and Illyasova.

[Greenback]

Yeah, the Celtics stood by and watched.  At least they could of done something positive.

Tobias Harris could have been gotten cheap.  Harris probably would have immediately been the most talented player on the Celtics roster. 

I am sorry but a 5-9 point guard as your best player is a gimmick and will not take you very far.

[PhoSita]

So Detroit's top 8 now, if everybody is healthy, looks like this, right?

- Drummond
- Jackson
- Harris
- KCP
- Morris
- D-Mo
- Thornton
- Stanley J

SVG's got his work cut out for him getting all of those pieces to mix together, but if he does it right, they could be a tough matchup.  Harris has had some good games against the Celts, as I recall, and the Jackson / Drummond combo is a nightmare for our puny scrappers.

[Lucky17]

So Detroit's top 8 now, if everybody is healthy, looks like this, right?

- Drummond
- Jackson
- Harris
- KCP
- Morris
- D-Mo
- Thornton
- Stanley J

SVG's got his work cut out for him getting all of those pieces to mix together, but if he does it right, they could be a tough matchup.  Harris has had some good games against the Celts, as I recall, and the Jackson / Drummond combo is a nightmare for our puny scrappers.

Need KCP and Stanley to stay healthy. Those two and Drummond are the defensive grit of that roster.

Steve Blake is the only real backup for RJax, who also needs to stay healthy. They might need to target a buyout candidate for another steady hand in the backcourt.

[Evantime34]

I think they are going to get hot to end the season. I could envision a scenario where the current Detroit roster passes Miami, Indiana, Chicago and Charlotte in the standings.

They are probably too young to make any real noise but they have some very good pieces.

[alldaboston]

Yeah, the Celtics stood by and watched.  At least they could of done something positive.

Tobias Harris could have been gotten cheap.  Harris probably would have immediately been the most talented player on the Celtics roster. 

I am sorry but a 5-9 point guard as your best player is a gimmick and will not take you very far.

He would certainly be among the more talented players on this roster, but he would come at the expense of future flexibility. Remember, he signed a 4 yr $64M contract in the summer. That's a lot of money for a guy who is at best a 3rd option on a contending team.