Would you be ok with 3-5 more years of rebuilding?

[PhoSita]

I mean, how do you define rebuilding?  The team made the playoffs the last two years.

If taking a raw guy gives the team the best chance of actually contending at some point, I'm in favor of it.

And if prioritizing development over immediate returns helps in that regard, too, I'm okay with moves aimed more in that direction than improving the teams playoff chances next year.

What I don't want to see is moves that only serve to improve the team in the short term and otherwise only preserve flexibility for maybe making a move to acquire a long term piece at some indeterminate point in the future.

[CFAN38]

The Cs are in an interesting position, unlike most teams they can actually build the team on two fronts. It isn't ideal but if "fireworks" type trades are not available DA can go about drafting BPA and use FAs to build on last seasons success. They could effectively compete with the current core while building a team using the Nets and future grizz pick.

Example

Draft Bender, prince, and Zizic then draft and stash the entire 2nd maybe trade up for Hernagomez

That would give two draft and stash and two roster spots. Then moving forward they have a young core of Rozier, smart, prince, bender and Zizic to go along with young hunter and Mickey. Obviously this group will need to be consolidated.

With this group as a base the Cs have to bank on development and hitting on a start with the nets or griZz picks.

As for the current roster smart FA moves can be made to save long term cap flexibility while staying a Pugh playoff out. Maybe sign iilyasova and Noah to large short term contracts and adding a wing like budinger to back up the wing

[PhoSita]

I feel like you're using the term "rebuilding" rather loosely here. The rebuilding going on right now is what most teams call their normal existence (or better!).

If rebuilding means winning 50 games or more while continuing to build towards being a contender, I don't see how anyone could fault Ainge.

Plus, what's the alternative, blow it all up?

The C's aren't just another franchise tho. That gold ball as my avatar is there for reason. That's what sets the C's apart from almost every other NBA franchise. I'd never be content with a ceiling of the ECF like Toronto is currently experiencing.

If the celts go a decade without winning a series you may feel differently.

[dannyboy35]

3-5 more years is better than 10-15 of being the Atlanta Hawks. I can't believe people don't have this kind of patience. This is just how it is. We are nowhere close. We'd be lucky to be 3-5 years away. Lucky.

[CelticSooner]

I feel like you're using the term "rebuilding" rather loosely here. The rebuilding going on right now is what most teams call their normal existence (or better!).

If rebuilding means winning 50 games or more while continuing to build towards being a contender, I don't see how anyone could fault Ainge.

Plus, what's the alternative, blow it all up?

The C's aren't just another franchise tho. That gold ball as my avatar is there for reason. That's what sets the C's apart from almost every other NBA franchise. I'd never be content with a ceiling of the ECF like Toronto is currently experiencing.

If the celts go a decade without winning a series you may feel differently.

That should never happen again honestly. It's not hard to make the playoffs in the NBA unless you have complete inept ownership. Only two teams to not make the playoffs the past 10 years are Minnesota and Sacramento.

[BitterJim]

I feel like you're using the term "rebuilding" rather loosely here. The rebuilding going on right now is what most teams call their normal existence (or better!).

If rebuilding means winning 50 games or more while continuing to build towards being a contender, I don't see how anyone could fault Ainge.

Plus, what's the alternative, blow it all up?

The C's aren't just another franchise tho. That gold ball as my avatar is there for reason. That's what sets the C's apart from almost every other NBA franchise. I'd never be content with a ceiling of the ECF like Toronto is currently experiencing.

This isn't our cieling, though. We've been steadily improving and, even without any big moves, it looks like we'll continue to do so

No GM could go from a teardown to a a championship in less than 5 years without stupid amounts of luck, and it seems like we're one player away from the ECF, which would put us just an injury short of the Finals

Considering that we'll still have good picks coming up, that's a really good spot to be in, whether you're the Celtics, the Lakers, or the Hornets

This team as currently constructed is hovering around it's ceiling of 50 wins IMO. It'd be nice to actually have some guys that can score besides IT and Bradley.

"The team as currently constructed" doesn't make sense as a concept.  This team, as currently constructed, won nearly 50 games.  With absolutely no changes to the roster, yeah, 50 wins is probably the max we could get.  But we have the #3 overall pick with 2 more possible top picks on the way (without tanking), so things are obviously going to change

It's like saying that the 76ers, as currently constructed, have no shot at making the playoffs in the next three years.  I mean, yeah, it's technically true, but it totally ignores things like their top pick this year and the other assets they have to improve with.  Changes are inevitable with them just as they are with us

[Eja117]

Does it end with a ring? Or with us getting the 5th pick when we should have gotten the 2nd?


I picked yes because that's the window of how much longer Steph Curry and Lebron will be dominant and I can't see Danny getting us either of those guys during that time. And there's not a lot else that can challenge that. Durant, and I don't really see us getting him either.

[alldaboston]

Early prediction for who said "I do not trust Ainge":

CoachBo

[Bucketgetter]

I just don't understand how Celtics always get the raw deal. The one time we get the #1 pick the kid goes n overdoses. Then we get the worse record in the league and we pick #6. We finally get lucky and acquire the #3 pick and we get a 4 year project. Lol and we are the one franchise who has a clover as the team logo. Man I just hope whoever we pick turns out to be great.

Well this is all wrong. Len Bias was picked #2, not #1. Also if you get the worst record in the league you can't finish lower than 4th, so I don't even know what year you are talking about.

[PhoSita]

Yes, the Celts won nearly 50 games this year (actually 50 including the playoffs) and have draft picks up the wazoo coming in, plus plenty of cap space.

Tons of ways to improve the team.

That said, we saw in the playoffs that simply removing a piece or two from the equation of this roster can make the rest fall apart.  It's a deep team that relies on that depth to be as successful as it was this season.

This is a team with major strengths (defense, especially forcing turnovers, playing with pace, creating good shot opportunities) and major weaknesses (rebounding, free throws, finishing shot opportunities).

An important thing to remember is that improving this team will inevitably requiring swapping out some of the current pieces for better ones.  In an ideal world those replacement pieces are perennial All-Stars and we immediately have a much better team. 

In practice some of the swapping out and replacing might force the team to take a step back, even if it's intended as a win-now move (look at what happened with David Lee).  We should not assume that the trajectory will always be linear and ever upward.

All of that is in some ways an argument to appreciate the team we have in front of us for what it is, since we just don't know when we will have a contender again, and it's always possible that necessary changes to get the team closer will mean experiments and gambles that go the wrong way and young players that need time to develop, all at the cost of beloved role players heading out the door in free agency and via trade.

[CelticSooner]

I feel like you're using the term "rebuilding" rather loosely here. The rebuilding going on right now is what most teams call their normal existence (or better!).

If rebuilding means winning 50 games or more while continuing to build towards being a contender, I don't see how anyone could fault Ainge.

Plus, what's the alternative, blow it all up?

The C's aren't just another franchise tho. That gold ball as my avatar is there for reason. That's what sets the C's apart from almost every other NBA franchise. I'd never be content with a ceiling of the ECF like Toronto is currently experiencing.

This isn't our cieling, though. We've been steadily improving and, even without any big moves, it looks like we'll continue to do so

No GM could go from a teardown to a a championship in less than 5 years without stupid amounts of luck, and it seems like we're one player away from the ECF, which would put us just an injury short of the Finals

Considering that we'll still have good picks coming up, that's a really good spot to be in, whether you're the Celtics, the Lakers, or the Hornets

This team as currently constructed is hovering around it's ceiling of 50 wins IMO. It'd be nice to actually have some guys that can score besides IT and Bradley.

"The team as currently constructed" doesn't make sense as a concept.  This team, as currently constructed, won nearly 50 games.  With absolutely no changes to the roster, yeah, 50 wins is probably the max we could get.  But we have the #3 overall pick with 2 more possible top picks on the way (without tanking), so things are obviously going to change

It's like saying that the 76ers, as currently constructed, have no shot at making the playoffs in the next three years.  I mean, yeah, it's technically true, but it totally ignores things like their top pick this year and the other assets they have to improve with.  Changes are inevitable with them just as they are with us

Will they tho? The premise of this thread is based around the C's not changing much the next few years. If the team does change then a whole new set of expectations arise. I guess if I thought Ainge was an elite drafter I'd feel more content with where things are.

[jpotter33]

If we are going to keep the pick and opt for the slower process, I'd really like to try and get either Ingram or Simmons somehow. I'd be okay with the Bender pick, but I'd feel a lot better about our longer-term future with Ingram than Bender.

[chambers]

If it takes 5 years for us to acquire a star by either developing them or trading for them/signing for them, then yes.

What I don't want is 5 years of mediocrity being the cannon fodder while the real contenders use us as a warm up for the ECF.

I think getting Okafor or Bender = this slower process. But also means we can use one of them to trade for a star (potentially).

[BitterJim]

I feel like you're using the term "rebuilding" rather loosely here. The rebuilding going on right now is what most teams call their normal existence (or better!).

If rebuilding means winning 50 games or more while continuing to build towards being a contender, I don't see how anyone could fault Ainge.

Plus, what's the alternative, blow it all up?

The C's aren't just another franchise tho. That gold ball as my avatar is there for reason. That's what sets the C's apart from almost every other NBA franchise. I'd never be content with a ceiling of the ECF like Toronto is currently experiencing.

This isn't our cieling, though. We've been steadily improving and, even without any big moves, it looks like we'll continue to do so

No GM could go from a teardown to a a championship in less than 5 years without stupid amounts of luck, and it seems like we're one player away from the ECF, which would put us just an injury short of the Finals

Considering that we'll still have good picks coming up, that's a really good spot to be in, whether you're the Celtics, the Lakers, or the Hornets

This team as currently constructed is hovering around it's ceiling of 50 wins IMO. It'd be nice to actually have some guys that can score besides IT and Bradley.

"The team as currently constructed" doesn't make sense as a concept.  This team, as currently constructed, won nearly 50 games.  With absolutely no changes to the roster, yeah, 50 wins is probably the max we could get.  But we have the #3 overall pick with 2 more possible top picks on the way (without tanking), so things are obviously going to change

It's like saying that the 76ers, as currently constructed, have no shot at making the playoffs in the next three years.  I mean, yeah, it's technically true, but it totally ignores things like their top pick this year and the other assets they have to improve with.  Changes are inevitable with them just as they are with us

Will they tho? The premise of this thread is based around the C's not changing much the next few years. If the team does change then a whole new set of expectations arise. I guess if I thought Ainge was an elite drafter I'd feel more content with where things are.

I don't think anyone would be okay with Danny sitting pat and making literally no moves to improve the roster, if that's what you mean by 3-5 years of rebuilding

I look at 3-5 more years of rebuilding as similar to what Danny has done since the Pierce/KG trade:  steadily improving the team in the short term without sacrificing the long term.  So, basically, no shortsighted, win-now moves if they hurt us in the future (like trading for a past-his-prime star that doesn't put us over the edge).  Just keep on the current course and keep looking for another chance to make a big leap

As for drafting, I tend to trust Ainge, but also doubt we'll use all 3 of the Nets picks.  At some point, one of them will be traded/packaged for a more established player

[BitterJim]

I just don't understand how Celtics always get the raw deal. The one time we get the #1 pick the kid goes n overdoses. Then we get the worse record in the league and we pick #6. We finally get lucky and acquire the #3 pick and we get a 4 year project. Lol and we are the one franchise who has a clover as the team logo. Man I just hope whoever we pick turns out to be great.

Well this is all wrong. Len Bias was picked #2, not #1. Also if you get the worst record in the league you can't finish lower than 4th, so I don't even know what year you are talking about.

I think he's refering to 2007, where we had the 2nd best odds at the #1 pick, but then fell to 5th