The most likely plan spells the end for IT, Crowder, and possibly Smart.

[celtics2030]

Hayward...can he be a stretch 4? If he can manage as a PF, our Smart problem is solved.

Fultz
Smart
Brown
Hayward
Horford

Crowder could come off the bench,
Isaiah moves elsewhere, Bradley too.

Millsap instead could work, too. It'd be re-forming last year's Hawks except, if Fultz and Jaylen bloom early, then Millsap and Horford would be the 3rd and 4th best players on the team as opposed to 1st and 2nd.

Fultz
Smart
Brown
Millsap
Horford

Weak, i don't care how much of a hater I am of Smart.

What is the point of having Smart on the floor with Fultz. The guy can't score or shoot, and he is horrific at it. Fultz is his own guy. Unless Fultz is a solidified two guard, Smart is of no use in a starting lineup. Unless you don't care about winning a championship.

[iadera]

Hayward...can he be a stretch 4? If he can manage as a PF, our Smart problem is solved.

Fultz
Smart
Brown
Hayward
Horford

Crowder could come off the bench,
Isaiah moves elsewhere, Bradley too.

Millsap instead could work, too. It'd be re-forming last year's Hawks except, if Fultz and Jaylen bloom early, then Millsap and Horford would be the 3rd and 4th best players on the team as opposed to 1st and 2nd.

Fultz
Smart
Brown
Millsap
Horford

Weak, i don't care how much of a hater I am of Smart.

What is the point of having Smart on the floor with Fultz. The guy can't score or shoot, and he is horrific at it. Fultz is his own guy. Unless Fultz is a solidified two guard, Smart is of no use in a starting lineup. Unless you don't care about winning a championship.

True.

[cltc5]

If we're going young than let's go full on....trade IT, olynyk, Bradley for picks.  Keep brown, rozier, maybe smart.  Go draft lonzo ball and tell Brad to grow a pair.  Bring in zizic, Nader, yasuble.

Trade whomever can't deal with being a role player...i.e. Crowder, horford,etc.

So we suck next year, which is just as bad as going into the ECF and getting swept.  We have our pick and nets to add more young talent.  In about 4-5 year when the Cavs and warriors are older we're primed to take over.

OR keep doing the same thing year after year expecting different results...which is the definition of insanity

[Bostonborn62]

Draft Fultz, sign Hayward, trade AB for a legit big, let Kelly ,Amir and JJ walk.Zizic,Yabs and Nader coming,give them a good look early in the 2018 season, if they need to be sent back to the DL then sign or trade for some vets to shore up the weak positions.                              Nice position to be in.    

[Darío SpanishFan]

If you are going to draft Fultz (should do it), it's time to sell Isaiah now that his value is higher than will ever be. He will command a max contract in 2018 after being underpaid for some years, and that's legit. Some teams will offer it hoping to carry people to their arenas, but not good playoff teams will pay IT more than 20 per year. I've thought even before he's been more exposed in this PO that Ainge won't pay him the max.

Buy low, sell high. We can get a good young player/pick for him now rather than letting him go for free in 2018.

If we land GH, a team of Smart/Bradley/Hayward/veteran FA/Horford, with Fultz, Brown, Crowder and Zizic off the bench is very good and balanced.

[Celtics4ever]

No one knows what Ainge will do.   He has shown some foresight, in not adding a player during the trade deadline when one player clearly would not help us beat the CAVs.  He is playing the long game.   

A few positives:
1)   We had a good season, won our conference, and got the number one pick.  We literally had a our cake and ate it, too.
2)  There have been long stretches where we have been blown out that have let him seen what some young guys can do with adversity in terms of the young guys.  This is prime time for evaluating.
3)   Trader Ainge has vision and a plan.   He has done it once.   We are rebuilding still although it does not like look like it we are a work in progress
4)   Ainge is a realist.   A loss in this series will wake him up in terms of his love for his prospects and he will realize that some of these guys are not keepers.  He traded KG and PP for crimminy's sake, so he is not afraid to make hard and unpopular decisions.  He is playing the long game.

Patience, Grasshoppers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrUN7XGcDqQ&list=RDKrUN7XGcDqQ#t=31

[jambr380]

If we are trading IT, I hope that we can sign Hayward first. I hate to trick Hayward like that, but he would be a good replacement for 'go-to scorer' and we would hopefully be able to bring back some major value for IT. With his contract, anybody on a rookie contract would obviously work.

[RockinRyA]

Hayward...can he be a stretch 4? If he can manage as a PF, our Smart problem is solved.

Fultz
Smart
Brown
Hayward
Horford

Crowder could come off the bench,
Isaiah moves elsewhere, Bradley too.

Millsap instead could work, too. It'd be re-forming last year's Hawks except, if Fultz and Jaylen bloom early, then Millsap and Horford would be the 3rd and 4th best players on the team as opposed to 1st and 2nd.

Fultz
Smart
Brown
Millsap
Horford

Weak, i don't care how much of a hater I am of Smart.

What is the point of having Smart on the floor with Fultz. The guy can't score or shoot, and he is horrific at it. Fultz is his own guy. Unless Fultz is a solidified two guard, Smart is of no use in a starting lineup. Unless you don't care about winning a championship.

This is all you need to say so people will stop taking your point seriously.



OT: IT no, Smart maybe, Crowder probably.

[Wretch]

I think the plan is to keep IT and sign a max FA this year or next. The Cs keep the picks unless there is a god father offer for it, but I think the plan is to have Brown, and the next 2 lottery picks be the core with strong veteran influences with the max FA, Horford, IT and probably Smart. If IT begins to decline significantly towards the end of the contract he will be traded with a pick in a salary dump with a protected 1st round pick.

[Roy H.]

If we are trading IT, I hope that we can sign Hayward first. I hate to trick Hayward like that, but he would be a good replacement for 'go-to scorer' and we would hopefully be able to bring back some major value for IT. With his contract, anybody on a rookie contract would obviously work.

"Tricking" Hayward would not only immediately cause bad blood with Hayward, but every agent in the NBA.

[Future Celtics Owner]

Hayward...can he be a stretch 4? If he can manage as a PF, our Smart problem is solved.

Fultz
Smart
Brown
Hayward
Horford

Crowder could come off the bench,
Isaiah moves elsewhere, Bradley too.

Millsap instead could work, too. It'd be re-forming last year's Hawks except, if Fultz and Jaylen bloom early, then Millsap and Horford would be the 3rd and 4th best players on the team as opposed to 1st and 2nd.

Fultz
Smart
Brown
Millsap
Horford

Weak, i don't care how much of a hater I am of Smart.

What is the point of having Smart on the floor with Fultz. The guy can't score or shoot, and he is horrific at it. Fultz is his own guy. Unless Fultz is a solidified two guard, Smart is of no use in a starting lineup. Unless you don't care about winning a championship.

This is all you need to say so people will stop taking your point seriously.



OT: IT no, Smart maybe, Crowder probably.

I think it is perfectly reasonable to hold legitimate criticisms of Smart. We took him 6th overall and we were already expecting great defense out of him, he was supposed to be a 2-way player but he still looks like Tony Allen . That can anger some people. Many people notice Smart's unfortunate struggle with an adept first-step and quickness on offense. No reason to say that this poster should not be taken seriously.

Unfortunatly, Smart has still yet to improve his first-step and overall quickness. I was very excited to see Smart drafted by the Celtics bc his athletic measurements were impressive but he had the realistic potential to improve them greatly by reducing his body fat%. Smart is the fattest pg ever drafted in the lotto since the began testing in 2000. We are talking NBA pg's here so "fat" is a relative term, especially with pg's. Pg's should have 5% bf or try too keep it in that realm to help quickness and conditioning...Smart's bf% was double that and he is jacked so it is not from being passive on the weights. Anyways, it looks like to me that Smart has gained more weight and he is truly struggling to get by people on offense. IMO Smarts decision to not lean out hampered his developemnt more than anything offensively.

[Future Celtics Owner]

If you are going to draft Fultz (should do it), it's time to sell Isaiah now that his value is higher than will ever be. He will command a max contract in 2018 after being underpaid for some years, and that's legit. Some teams will offer it hoping to carry people to their arenas, but not good playoff teams will pay IT more than 20 per year. I've thought even before he's been more exposed in this PO that Ainge won't pay him the max.

Buy low, sell high. We can get a good young player/pick for him now rather than letting him go for free in 2018.

If we land GH, a team of Smart/Bradley/Hayward/veteran FA/Horford, with Fultz, Brown, Crowder and Zizic off the bench is very good and balanced.

I agree with you about trading IT.

I just do not agree with you when ti comes to Smart and AB. IMO Smart can not run the point for a contending team, do you notice how he has really been struggling to get past defenders. If Smart is the starting pg he needs to be able to penetrate and drive/kickout. Though Smart would be valuable as a role player for a contender that already has go-to scorers and is filled guys that can penetrate off the dribble, which Smart also struggles with.

IMO Fultz will be ready to play from day 1. Even if the coach gave him limited minutes off the bench IMO Fultz would play himself right into the starting lineup and take a large share of minutes.

Also, IMO Jaylen Brown will be ready for us next year.

[mctyson]

IT didn't qualify for the super max.

I think most likely plan means AB is gone this summer. We pursue Hayward hard.

Everyone else stays put. We reevaluate Thomas and Smart the following summer and most likely resign both. That seems to be the most likely path.

I don't get why crowder is on his way out. His contract makes him the most logical option to keep long term as a role player.

Does this plan really make them substantially better for the next few years?  Replacing AB with Hayward is certainly an upgrade, but Hayward is a one-time all-star who didn't even come close to the All-NBA team.

I think Haywards is a likely option to sign here.  I just don't think the team will be that much better because of it.

Fultz on the other hand...

[OldSchoolDude]

IT didn't qualify for the super max.

I think most likely plan means AB is gone this summer. We pursue Hayward hard.

Everyone else stays put. We reevaluate Thomas and Smart the following summer and most likely resign both. That seems to be the most likely path.

I don't get why crowder is on his way out. His contract makes him the most logical option to keep long term as a role player.

He's cheap but a bench player at best and I don't think he's committed on playing behind younger guys. Not long and athletic enough to match up against the likes of Durant or Lebron. Lost his intensity on D and now sagging off his man. If you can upgrade him for better player, then do so.

Teams value Crowder because of his production and his contract, his contract is the top 5 most valuable according to REALGM. So we trade him and get some value back.

Personally I have been waiting a long time to hear that we traded IT/AB/Smart. I don't want to resign them and I'd rather trade them while they have some value instead of letting them walk. I know I'm in the minority and I get crap for it all the time, but I would love to see DA take this team in a different dirtection....we own our 1st rounder next year and it's been my opinion that we trade our vets for younger prospects and go into next years draft with 2 top 5 picks.

That production has been putrid in the playoffs. Trading all the current core at once is a suicide. Danny wants continuity and tearing down the foundation already established is not the way to go.  We want to replace IT and others but we might want to develop our future core first before shopping them around.

I am not trying to trade all the current core at once.  I’m saying one more year of IT and three more yeas of Crowder.   Look to see Smart or Bradley traded but I’m guessing its smart.   It will probably be IT gone in a year, then Smart the next year, then Crowder year after that.

Who knows what DA will do. After gauging this team to the only other contender in the Eastern Conf. for the next 2-3 years he could change his mind. He tried to trade IT last year for a lotto pick...wish he did...but who knows what DA will do. IMO Fultz will be ready to play right away and IMO Brown has a real chance to be a stud...for next year at the 2. Fultz and Brown would be the longest back-court in the entire NBA and could be a dynamic 2-way "smooth beast".......it's just my wish/ opinion I respect yours and that's cool.

I don't get why you would rather let players walk then trade them for value. Mostly because we are going to have 2 legit studs with Fultz and Brown...maybe more if we trade. And we have the opportunity to have 2 top 5 picks in next years draft.

It's not like we are close to competing with CLE to get out of the East. Very happy we made the ecf and can properly gauge how we match to a legit contender. I think this is a positive, especially bc Brown has shown up and shown flashes of stud potential.

It takes two teams to trade.  I'd prefer to trade them if possible but I don't think we can get fair value.  I am saying trade or no trade they are not really a part of the future for the team. 

[Darío SpanishFan]

If you are going to draft Fultz (should do it), it's time to sell Isaiah now that his value is higher than will ever be. He will command a max contract in 2018 after being underpaid for some years, and that's legit. Some teams will offer it hoping to carry people to their arenas, but not good playoff teams will pay IT more than 20 per year. I've thought even before he's been more exposed in this PO that Ainge won't pay him the max.

Buy low, sell high. We can get a good young player/pick for him now rather than letting him go for free in 2018.

If we land GH, a team of Smart/Bradley/Hayward/veteran FA/Horford, with Fultz, Brown, Crowder and Zizic off the bench is very good and balanced.

I agree with you about trading IT.

I just do not agree with you when ti comes to Smart and AB. IMO Smart can not run the point for a contending team, do you notice how he has really been struggling to get past defenders. If Smart is the starting pg he needs to be able to penetrate and drive/kickout. Though Smart would be valuable as a role player for a contender that already has go-to scorers and is filled guys that can penetrate off the dribble, which Smart also struggles with.

IMO Fultz will be ready to play from day 1. Even if the coach gave him limited minutes off the bench IMO Fultz would play himself right into the starting lineup and take a large share of minutes.

Also, IMO Jaylen Brown will be ready for us next year.

Yes, I understand and share your point. My assumption was that Fultz wouldn't be ready to star from day 1 due to physical reasons (strength, basically). Hopefully, I am wrong and he can start. Rozier, Smart, Jaylen Brown, Crowder and Zizic is a very strong defensive team to come off the bench. TP for you.