simple offseason- bring in 2 bigs

[Hemingway]

We can argue all day about who to keep out of Amir, Zeller and Sully. But really we need 2 guys that are clearly better. We are set at the 1 2 and 3 and I like our rookies there too. The D is great now even without great D for 48 minutes at the 4 and 5. Ainge can fix that. So who do we target?

[Bucketgetter]

I agree that we are set 1-3 and need 2 quality starting big men. We obviously need rim protection, and the other should provide scoring. An easy scenario would be get one through the draft (Simmons, Poeltl, Bender, Rabb, Ellenson) and get the other through free agency (Horford, Gasol, Drummond, Whiteside, Howard). However if we don't like any of the bigs at where we are drafting, or cannot convince any top bigs to sign with us, we will have to look through trade (Cousins, Okafor, Ibaka, Monroe). That would be my plan, build through the draft and free agency, and if that doesn't work, package picks + prospects + fillers for a big. Don't give up IT, Smart, AB, or Crowder in trade because those are the guys you want playing next to the big you trade for.

[Celtics4ever]

We can argue all day about who to keep out of Amir, Zeller and Sully. But really we need 2 guys that are clearly better. We are set at the 1 2 and 3 and I like our rookies there too. The D is great now even without great D for 48 minutes at the 4 and 5. Ainge can fix that. So who do we target?

Very true, I think the price has to be right for Sully.   Maybe what we are paying Bradley, perhaps but I would not go higher.  Zeller, would have to be much cheaper.

But I think some upgrades there, like say Horford would help us a lot.

[chilidawg]

I think we need wing scoring as much as a big man upgrade, so I'd focus on one of each.  Ingram and Horford would be a nice upgrade.

[Hemingway]

We have wign scoring in Crowder. He's good for 15 or so a game and I don't see why he won't get better and better too. A sharpshooter would be nice, but thats more like a last step kind of move. Basically, we need to upgrade Sully and Zeller. And even if we keep Amir, we shouldn't bank next season on him being healthy and playing a lot- he will at some point break down.

Howard s an interesting choice. His max contract would be huge and maybe that scares other teams away and we can get him for 1-3 years at huge money. I think thatwould be ok. 

[RockinRyA]

Crowder isnt a scorer. He is a 3 and D guy. We cannot run plays through him like we do IT and even Turner and expect him to create.

[Hemingway]

IF IF IF DMC is traded and we can get him for picks. We should def bite the bullet and overpay for Howard of another FA big. We could have a line up like this next season and it's not really fantasy anymore, it is plausible.

Howard/Amir?/Mickey
DMC/KO
Crowder/Turner
AB/Smart
IT/Rozier

If we could trade the nets picks for DMC, why wouldn't Howard want to come here if Ainge let him know he was wanted and that we would pay him. That roster above could win a title next year. IF we could make this happen, I think PP would be interested in coming back on a vet min deal.

[greece66]

We need wing scoring more than anything.

The same roster with a SF who scores 20 ppg is a 60+ wins team.

[Hemingway]

We need wing scoring more than anything.

The same roster with a SF who scores 20 ppg is a 60+ wins team.

So someone who can score 5 more points a game then Crowder? I cant think of too many guys who could do that and give us the same production on D. So we would trade D or O?

No, a better strategy is to improve our 2 weak spots- 4 and 5 and then look for some ring chasers to join us and give us some extra scoring/ vet presence.

[Smartacus]

Really don't see us going after Cousins but I'm still hoping that were laser focused on signing Al Horford.

Horford just fits in so well with how we operate he's the one guy that I'll be disappointed if we don't manage to acquire. I know a lot of people are worried about his contract but what other multple All Star that would easily slide right into our 4 or 5 slot are we going to come across?

Horford may not blow other players out of the water with his production but he's been a key contributor on some elite teams. Sometimes there's more value in a guy that can go into any situation and drop 18/8 than someone who averaging 20+ on a bottom feeding team.

Find a way to draft Skal Labissiere to develop into the rim protecting 5 that Horfords always wanted to play with and this could be the start of a real power house. They could even speak Spanish too each other to confuse opposing front lines.

[BornReady]

Horford is a better bet than Howard at this stage of their careers
As Howard has relied much on his athleticism so he's game is going down
While horford is based on skill so will age much gradually

[greece66]

We need wing scoring more than anything.

The same roster with a SF who scores 20 ppg is a 60+ wins team.

So someone who can score 5 more points a game then Crowder? I cant think of too many guys who could do that and give us the same production on D. So we would trade D or O?

No, a better strategy is to improve our 2 weak spots- 4 and 5 and then look for some ring chasers to join us and give us some extra scoring/ vet presence.

That was a good one, made me chuckle. TP

I'm talking of a stud here: a player that together with IT will keep the enemy's D constantly busy and open up opportunities for the other players.

A good wing could also solve our low team 3pt% issue. Despite lost of good looks in every game out % remains low.

OK, since you mentioned it, why I don't think Crowder is enough (despite him having had an amazing year)

First, as his injury made obvious, we do not have enough depth in this position.

Second, his PPG is 14.4 on 31.9 mpg. His points are mostly transition baskets and 3pts: he's had an impressive improvement this year in perimeter shooting, but his career avg remains low. His D and transition game are great, but we need someone to cover his weakness on half court offence.

Now on bigs: I'm not sure we even want a traditional center to play for this team.

We did not get one in FA last summer and notice that DA went after Winslow in the draft instead of the much advertised in Celtics Blog WCS.

Now, if a big talent such as Okafor or Cousins became available, you make a scream of joy, grab him and make the necessary adjustments.

But unless we are talking of a talent of this caliber, I'd love Horford who has enough flexibility to adjust to our system instead of us adapting to him. And just go on playing without a real center.

tl;dr  CBS has worked his magic to make our D work without a rim protector. But our offence is still weak, as we only have one consistent scorer. Make them two, and this could take our team to the next level.

[trickybilly]

We need wing scoring more than anything.

The same roster with a SF who scores 20 ppg is a 60+ wins team.

So someone who can score 5 more points a game then Crowder? I cant think of too many guys who could do that and give us the same production on D. So we would trade D or O?

No, a better strategy is to improve our 2 weak spots- 4 and 5 and then look for some ring chasers to join us and give us some extra scoring/ vet presence.

That was a good one, made me chuckle. TP

I'm talking of a stud here: a player that together with IT will keep the enemy's D constantly busy and open up opportunities for the other players.

A good wing could also solve our low team 3pt% issue. Despite lost of good looks in every game out % remains low.

OK, since you mentioned it, why I don't think Crowder is enough (despite him having had an amazing year)

First, as his injury made obvious, we do not have enough depth in this position.

Second, his PPG is 14.4 on 31.9 mpg. His points are mostly transition baskets and 3pts: he's had an impressive improvement this year in perimeter shooting, but his career avg remains low. His D and transition game are great, but we need someone to cover his weakness on half court offence.

Now on bigs: I'm not sure we even want a traditional center to play for this team.

We did not get one in FA last summer and notice that DA went after Winslow in the draft instead of the much advertised in Celtics Blog WCS.

Now, if a big talent such as Okafor or Cousins became available, you make a scream of joy, grab him and make the necessary adjustments.

But unless we are talking of a talent of this caliber, I'd love Horford who has enough flexibility to adjust to our system instead of us adapting to him. And just go on playing without a real center.

tl;dr  CBS has worked his magic to make our D work without a rim protector. But our offence is still weak, as we only have one consistent scorer. Make them two, and this could take our team to the next level.

I love Chowda more than anyone on here, but .348 (currently) looks to be around his 3pt% ceiling (prove me wrong Bae), although there is no good reason to think that he won't stay around that mark for several years to come, given how this year he has taken so many. That doesn't really cut it these days. His defense is elite though. I think you only really trade him in for Durant, Paul George, Giannis, Kawhi, and Draymond. Not sure if there are many other swings whose defense is as elite...

[chilidawg]

You don't have to replace Crowder, you get another wing to augment what he does.  We're obviously thin at that spot, and you can play 2 or even 3 "wings" together at the same time.

[TheSundanceKid]

We need wing scoring more than anything.

The same roster with a SF who scores 20 ppg is a 60+ wins team.

So someone who can score 5 more points a game then Crowder? I cant think of too many guys who could do that and give us the same production on D. So we would trade D or O?

No, a better strategy is to improve our 2 weak spots- 4 and 5 and then look for some ring chasers to join us and give us some extra scoring/ vet presence.

You aren't replacing Crowder with this 20ppg scorer. You are adding a 20ppg scorer to the roster. At the moment we are 1 man deep at SF