Ainge & Mannix interviews on Toucher and Rich

[RIPRED]

Ainge getting roasted by Fox Sports.

http://www.foxsports.com/nba/gallery/nba-trade-rumors-deadline-one-week-bulls-nets-celtics-021617

Another quick article suggesting the Celtics trade everything away for a rental.

Not exactly true.  Butler wouldn't be a rental....

But he would be the end of the "forever rebuild."

what are you even talking about

Forever rebuild?

You'd think we were a bottom 5 team or something


Instead we're a top five ish team with top picks. SUCH an enviable position...

..

But I guess I'm just an ainge apologist..

The game isn't being in the top 5, Skippy.

Take a look at the banners the next time you're in the Garden.

The Celtics are about championships. Period. It isn't about hoarding draft choices - half of which Ainge will screw up anyway - and continually kicking the can four years down the road.

The assets have to become value someday - or someone gets fired.

Anything else is losing.

Adding Butler alone to this team would not bring us a championship.

Agreed. And you have to give to get anyway. Chicago may want real players in return for Butler and not our "assets." Unfortunately, we can't just tell other teams that Boston is about championships and have them hand over their best players for nothing.

[Phantom255x]

Ainge getting roasted by Fox Sports.

http://www.foxsports.com/nba/gallery/nba-trade-rumors-deadline-one-week-bulls-nets-celtics-021617

Another quick article suggesting the Celtics trade everything away for a rental.

Not exactly true.  Butler wouldn't be a rental....

But he would be the end of the "forever rebuild."

what are you even talking about

Forever rebuild?

You'd think we were a bottom 5 team or something


Instead we're a top five ish team with top picks. SUCH an enviable position...

..

But I guess I'm just an ainge apologist..

The game isn't being in the top 5, Skippy.

Take a look at the banners the next time you're in the Garden.

The Celtics are about championships. Period. It isn't about hoarding draft choices - half of which Ainge will screw up anyway - and continually kicking the can four years down the road.

The assets have to become value someday - or someone gets fired.

Anything else is losing.

Adding Butler alone to this team would not bring us a championship.

Adding Butler probably doesn't even get us past Cleveland still.

Even if you add a Carmelo OR Butler, you need a cheap, rebounding big as a complement.

Olynyk is playing great nowadays, but when we have to go up against the likes of Tristan Thompson in the playoffs, we will be at a huge disadvantage with Zeller/Olynyk. Horford can help a bit.

[Kuberski33]

There's no topic on these boards that more consistently inspires nonsensical, utterly mystifying discussion than: "Is ____ a max player?"


How this persists despite the fact that Isaiah is having a season UNLIKE ANYTHING ANY PLAYER WHO IS IN ANY WAY SIMILAR TO HIM HAS DONE BEFORE is baffling to me.

I think many just don't have a point of reference.  Not their fault.  There has never been another player like this guy.  Maybe similar styles (looking strictly at guys 6' and under), but nowhere near as good.  And he's still improving. 

30 pt a game scorers - who are also efficient - are rare.  You have one, you don't let him go.  I don't care if he get posted up once a game.  He more than makes up for it. 

Defensively right now your only chance is to cut off his penetration near the lane and surround him.  As long as he has decent shooters to play with you're not stopping him.  Why wouldn't you lock up a guy like that for as long as you can?

[Eddie20]

There's no topic on these boards that more consistently inspires nonsensical, utterly mystifying discussion than: "Is ____ a max player?"


How this persists despite the fact that Isaiah is having a season UNLIKE ANYTHING ANY PLAYER WHO IS IN ANY WAY SIMILAR TO HIM HAS DONE BEFORE is baffling to me.

I think that's a simplistic approach to it. Thomas now is a max player. If we were guaranteed he would continue at this level for the life of the contract then he would be a max player going forward. However, giving him a 4/5 year deal will be taking a leap of faith that he will continue this play into his early 30's. I prefer to pay someone based on calculated prognostication, rather than past performance. History isn't kind to small PG's in on the wrong end of 30.

[PhoSita]

There's no topic on these boards that more consistently inspires nonsensical, utterly mystifying discussion than: "Is ____ a max player?"


How this persists despite the fact that Isaiah is having a season UNLIKE ANYTHING ANY PLAYER WHO IS IN ANY WAY SIMILAR TO HIM HAS DONE BEFORE is baffling to me.

I think that's a simplistic approach to it. Thomas now is a max player. If we were guaranteed he would continue at this level for the life of the contract then he would be a max player going forward. However, giving him a 4/5 year deal will be taking a leap of faith that he will continue this play into his early 30's. I prefer to pay someone based on calculated prognostication, rather than past performance. History isn't kind to small PG's in on the wrong end of 30.

That's a conversation we can have, and I think it makes sense to talk about that.  You pay for expected performance, not past performance.

But this refrain I see about "He can't lead us to a championship so he's not a max player" is utter nonsense.

There's no grounding in the reality of how the league operates when people talk like that. 

The question to ask is if they're not going to pay market value to keep Isaiah, can the Celts find a better use for that money / cap space?  Chances are, the answer is going to be a resounding "NO" unless he really falls off a cliff.

[PhoSita]

The Celts may not be a contender, but they're worth watching on a nightly basis because they have an electrifying, exciting, historically productive player leading the way who also happens to be a really likable and friendly guy.

We are so fortunate to be in this situation.  We are less than five years out from the trade that sent away the players who defined this franchise.  Most teams have to spend years and years in the wilderness, shuffling endlessly through bad and mediocre players, trying to find an identity.  The Celts found that player in less than two years, and moreover, he is THEIR guy.  Nobody else believed in IT before the Celts did.


IT is a flawed player, for sure, and I have concerns about his longevity.  Still, I am in no rush to return to the days of wondering anxiously when the Celts would find their next franchise guy, the guy who gave them a clear focal point, personality, and identity on a nightly basis.

Instead of talking about trading him or not paying him, let's enjoy it.

[hwangjini_1]

Ainge getting roasted by Fox Sports.

http://www.foxsports.com/nba/gallery/nba-trade-rumors-deadline-one-week-bulls-nets-celtics-021617

Another quick article suggesting the Celtics trade everything away for a rental.

Not exactly true.  Butler wouldn't be a rental....

But he would be the end of the "forever rebuild."

what are you even talking about

Forever rebuild?

You'd think we were a bottom 5 team or something


Instead we're a top five ish team with top picks. SUCH an enviable position...

..

But I guess I'm just an ainge apologist..

The game isn't being in the top 5, Skippy.

Take a look at the banners the next time you're in the Garden.

The Celtics are about championships. Period. It isn't about hoarding draft choices - half of which Ainge will screw up anyway - and continually kicking the can four years down the road.

The assets have to become value someday - or someone gets fired.

Anything else is losing.

actually, given the draft position of the celtics since ainge has arrived, batting .500 would be pretty good by nba standards of success in the draft for those positions.

how odd, coach is complimenting ainge. progress is being made.