Our legacy and legend is the face of our franchise. Immortal players that win championsips.
IT is not on the same par with a PP, can't play D in the playoffs against someone like the Cavs where we can't hide him. IT is our best player but also does not have to share being a scorer with anyone because he's the only player who can create on the team. If we are going to win a championship we can't hide our best player for half the game while paying himm the MAX, especially when he will already be 29 and undersized....especially if we draft a superstar pg #1 overal and the guy we just picked #3 overall is ready.....that's my opinion.
Also, the "we can't trade the face of our franchise" argument was used with RR all the time....we still traded him for a protected pick though. And that's the same guy who IT was defending in the 1st round (first 2 games at home) that tore this team apart.....on both sides.
I loved Pierce - he and Walker made Celtics bball enjoyable to watch again, but he wouldn't have been anything more than what IT is now if we didn't trade for KG. I obviously don't think you keep a player forever just because he is the face of your franchise, but now that we have a solid team around him (which almost definitely will get better this summer) and are winning in the playoffs makes it kind-of a slam dunk that he will stay.
He is 28, not 35, and is just reaching the prime of his career. He also doesn't have that much mileage on his legs since he played 4 years in college and has remained relatively healthy in his career to this point.
No coach ever had to "HIDE" PP on defense. Even if we look at their stats PP not only averaged 2 steals and 1block per game, but he hovered around that for many seasons...and his defense elevated in the playoffs. Wait till we play CLE and we can't HIDE IT. PP stepped defensively to players like T-Mac, Lebron, Kobe, and could defend on the switch. IT is not even in same realm as PP defensively.
Look at the pieces PP had around him. Walker could create but he was highly inefficient. The C's only had 2 guys average over 10points, which was the worst in the league and never really improved much till KG and Ray. Still, PP was able to get us into the playoffs a few times and the ECF.....with nothing. Besides drafting PP the front office did almost everything they could to ruin the C's future. Trading Billups and Joe Johnson(JJ 4 Tony Delk and Rodney Rogers).
IT is 28 but like I said when/if we sign him he will be 29. I'm pretty sure we will re-sign him but as a fan I have to be skeptical about a grossly undersized pg that will be up for a 4-5 year deal. IT had a 40'' max vertical in the combine and eventually, like Horford's vertical/jumping ability, his athleticism and speed will decrease. IT plays HARD and that is a good thing but all those bumps and falls take a toll. I will continue to be skeptical of a player that after the age of 29 IMO will return us a bad value for what we pay him....especially if we draft FULTZ
I am with you 100%. Problem is I can't see Danny trading IT, especially if we go past the Wizards and have a competitive series against the Cavs. In any case, if we were to trade him, what could we get for him? Do you believe the Pacers would do Myles Turner for IT straight up? In all honesty, I highly doubt it. What about sending him to the Sixers for Saric and the 2019 Sacramento unprotected first? I mean, it's not like we have plenty of options out there. Any other ideas?
Ya I think they will sign him too. But that does not mean "put on my green goggles" and "IT is a top 10 player", which makes no sense to me because in a 7 game series teams can expose him/we find ways to hide him. But what is great is that he is getting a lot of press and attention/acclaim, which may make him attractive to teams that lost in the playoffs or have hopes of making the playoffs.
IT 4 Myles Turner: this was discussed on here a few days ago and 99.99% said they would rather have IT for next season and then sign him to the max. IMO this is a no brainer and I'd much rather have Turner, especially if we draft Fultz. I don't think Indy would do it unless PG gave them more security bc if he leaves or they decide to trade him they already said they would build around Turner.
Instead of Saric they would be much more willing to give Okafor and it would not cost us IT. IMO Okafor is undervalued and misused and def not close to a finished product.
Jabari is another guy that we could use one of IT/AB/Crowder to get.
A lot depends on what happens in the draft.
Also, 2018 draft we own our own 1st rounder and BKN's