Butler vs Middleton vs Hayward

[Quetzalcoatl]

Butler is on the best contract, plays the best D, is the most natural 2, played with Crowder in college and is good friends with him and can play next to him now, spreads the court the most, is the most efficient scorer, would have the smallest cost in a trade, would rack up fouls along with IT as ThePaintedArea points out.....I mean this is a no brainer.  I like Hayward too, but Butler is the clear A1 choice here.  3 + Bradley + something of lower value for Butler is a no-brainer for us.  A no brainer.

[Big333223]

The reason I like Butler the most is because he can get to the hole and score- which will only benefit with more spacing in a movement offense.
Middleton is a good shooter but not the best dribble/drive scorer.

This is the advantage Butler brings. He only took 1 more shot per game than Middleton (15.4 to 14.5) but averaged 3 more FT's (7.1 to 3.9). Getting to the basket and getting to the line puts pressure on opposing defenses and it Butler's shooting gets back to where it was a year ago, then he has the ability to space the floor as well.

But I'd be happy adding any of the 3 on the right deal.

[mctyson]

If Utah sucks again, Hayward is expiring and they will deal him.  We could easily nab him for a future first and other expiring deals.

[Smokeeye123]

I want Hayward. Brad coached him at Butler and would get the most out of him. Guys a borderline star. Only reason he's not nationally is the blackhole of media coverage around Utah. Same with Middleton I suppose.

NOT a Butler fan. Guard is our area of strength and making an upgrade there seems 'bleh'. Butler is better than Bradley...but is he THAT much better. Theres also been mumbles of Butler being egotistical and not a great teammate. I don't want anything to hurt the Celtics locker room which I think is near perfect. If Butler was that good why would Chicago want to dump him?

[snively]

Butler is on the best contract, plays the best D, is the most natural 2, played with Crowder in college and is good friends with him and can play next to him now, spreads the court the most, is the most efficient scorer, would have the smallest cost in a trade, would rack up fouls along with IT as ThePaintedArea points out.....I mean this is a no brainer.  I like Hayward too, but Butler is the clear A1 choice here.  3 + Bradley + something of lower value for Butler is a no-brainer for us.  A no brainer.

Why would you think Butler would have the smallest cost in trade?

I would rather Middleton or Hayward - better shooters (we need shooting more than defense) and likely to be significantly cheaper to acquire.

[chambers]

I want Hayward. Brad coached him at Butler and would get the most out of him. Guys a borderline star. Only reason he's not nationally is the blackhole of media coverage around Utah. Same with Middleton I suppose.

NOT a Butler fan. Guard is our area of strength and making an upgrade there seems 'bleh'. Butler is better than Bradley...but is he THAT much better. Theres also been mumbles of Butler being egotistical and not a great teammate. I don't want anything to hurt the Celtics locker room which I think is near perfect. If Butler was that good why would Chicago want to dump him?

Well Butler is the better player and far, far, far better defender. He gets the free throw line and puts pressure on defenses to collapse on him so he can find open 3 pt shooters.

We have Crowder at the SF already, and you could argue that Crowder may end up a better player than Gordon Hayward considering this was his first season as a full time starter.

My point is that a line up of IT, Butler, Crowder....is better than....IT, Bradley, Hayward.

[Future Celtics Owner]

I would rather keep our assets and sign someone that will produce in the same vicinity as these 3, at least in 3 plus d.
The #3 pick is an asset that can, alone or in a package, net us a player in our most needed position and the only position that gives us an edge over the current ECF/WCF champs...a CENTER. Using the 3rd pick, alone or in package, we could net: Cousins or Okafor(cost is less, some say the #3 could do it) or something else.

If we need a 2 that can provide 3 and D may I suggest...

The career and path to success that Butler and Middleton have taken reminds me of a RFA from Portland Blazers: Allen Crabbe
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Allen-Crabbe-6477/
Crabbe is an excellent defender. Do your own research but he was the guy who POR assigned to defend the best wing on the court each night. He obv is on the same team as CJ and Lillard

[LarBrd33]

Bumping this from a few weeks ago, because Ainge is not surprisingly willing to trade #3 for either one of these guys.