The New Big 3: Irving, Hayward, Horford

[vjcsmoke]

So how do you feel about our new Big 3?

Irving is arguable a top 10 player in the league.
Hayward coming off an all star season in the west will likely be an all star again in the east.
And Horford with the all around game that keeps the team ticking - great passing, good floor spacing, and decent rim protection.

The key question is will Kyrie take his game to that Next level when he takes over as the #1 player on the Celtics.  If his game evolves to the Harden/Westbrook level I feel like DA finally landed the Superstar we need to seriously contend. 

If that happens, we can give the Cavs serious problems this year and certainly take over the East next year when Lebron moves to LA or Houston.

To beat Golden State we might need more than that though.  We're going to need 1 of Tatum or Brown to reach an all star level of play.  We need 4 stars to beat Golden State.  But with our current big 3, I see us having legit chances to dethrone Cleveland.  Kyrie's evolution is Key to that happening.

Now that you guys have had time to take in all the changes to the new look Celtics, how do you feel about our odds and our new Big 3? 

[CelticsElite]

Great 3 that should mesh well. And horford although not a star at the same level as the other 2 provides the veteran leadership, playoff experience, and intangibles that many players don't have

[vjcsmoke]

I think a lot of people are still in shock from the news.

1, because IT had become so beloved in Boston and
2, because that 2018 nets pick promised to be another pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

However if you think of it logically from DA's perspective
1, IT likely has a bad hip.  That could significantly slow him down from elite undersized scorer to just above average undersized scorer and
2, the acquisition of the Lakers/Sacramento pick made the Nets 18 expendable

The timing of how things went down gave us kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward, and still a potential top 5 pick in 2018/19, and Jason Tatum.

Going back in time if the fultz and kyrie trades  don't happen...
We get Markelle fultz, an injured IT, and maybe jimmy butler or a PG13 who can bolt in a years time to LA Lakers.  No future top 5 pick because we gave it to get butler or George.  Is that team better than what we have now?

Feel like Ainge did the best he could under the circumstances.  When you can land a young top 10 player in the NBA who could become top 5 if he makes the leap, you need to pay a steep price.  And pay it we just did.

The future is now.  HAIL to the new Big 3!

[nebist]

Horford could be the 3rd best player on a championship team.  Hayward could be the 2nd best player.  Irving has shown he can be the 2nd best but not the best.  We either need Irving to make a leap, or we need Tatum/Brown to develop into at least the Irving/Hayward tier of player.  Still need some development, but we are closer to having championship talent.

[gouki88]

Horford could be the 3rd best player on a championship team.  Hayward could be the 2nd best player.  Irving has shown he can be the 2nd best but not the best.  We either need Irving to make a leap, or we need Tatum/Brown to develop into at least the Irving/Hayward tier of player.  Still need some development, but we are closer to having championship talent.

Yeah, this is about right.

I trust Brad to make Irving a #1 guy.

He made IT a #1 guy, made Crowder a starter and helped Bradley have easily his best season last year. If anyone can get Kyrie to the next level it's BS

[LilRip]

Yes! I love it! 3 all stars! Al Horford is going to be the most underrated player on our team, I feel. But yeah, these 3 guys' talents look like they mesh well! I think we stand a really good chance at making it to the Finals, probably with a G7 win over Cleveland.

GSW is another story. Brown or Tatum need to set the world on fire (or Smart? But I'm not holding my breath for that one). They may eventually do so 2 years down the line. Or we need an ace vet min signing to help us out.

[Surferdad]

This team is reminding me of the 2004 Pistons who won it with stars but no superstars. That was going to be the model for the NBA but it never caught on. Still, I like that model and I think it has a shot even with the current trends towards analytics and overemphasis on 3-point shooting.

[jdz101]

Still think Danny will chase one more piece.

[vjcsmoke]

Well if Davis becomes available then you push your chips to the middle of the table.  But until that happens, you still have a very potent big 3 that will certainly see us top 2 in the east.  The only question is can we knock off Ckeveland this year or do will we need to wait another year.

Best case scenario-- we beat Cleveland to get to the finals this year AND the Lakers pick ends up #2 overall.  How sweet would that be to take the next young superstar using our rival's draft pick?? Take that Magic!! 

[Phantom255x]

Man I wish Horford was like 3 years younger and playing at an all-star level.

Still a solid veteran who can give you around 13-15 PPG and 7-8 rebounds and assists/game.

But definitely now past his prime and not as electric.

Still think Danny is chasing another piece for that 'Big 4' of Irving/(Brown or Tatum)/Hayward/?, with ? being Davis or Porzingis (and hopefully only one of Brown/Tatum gone in that package so we keep one guy)

Or of course, we could hope Brown and Tatum both become superstars in 2-3 years too. That works too. 

[droopdog7]

To be fair, Kyrie's first three seasons without lebron he was like 19-22 years old.  He was still growing.  Of course, one can argue that without Lebron he'd be approaching 30 ppg, which I think it actually abotu accurate and I fully expect it next year.

[Surferdad]

Man I wish Horford was like 3 years younger and playing at an all-star level.

Still a solid veteran who can give you around 13-15 PPG and 7-8 rebounds and assists/game.

But definitely now past his prime and not as electric.

Still think Danny is chasing another piece for that 'Big 4' of Irving/(Brown or Tatum)/Hayward/?, with ? being Davis or Porzingis (and hopefully only one of Brown/Tatum gone in that package so we keep one guy)

Or of course, we could hope Brown and Tatum both become superstars in 2-3 years too. That works too. 

I actually don't see Horford as part of a "New Big-3" but rather part of the IT/Horford Transition Era.  The New Big-3 is not in place yet, but could be Kyrie/Hayward/Tatum  assuming the kid explodes out of the block.

[bopna]

Horford could be the 3rd best player on a championship team.  Hayward could be the 2nd best player.  Irving has shown he can be the 2nd best but not the best.  We either need Irving to make a leap, or we need Tatum/Brown to develop into at least the Irving/Hayward tier of player.  Still need some development, but we are closer to having championship talent.

Can you explain to me how you can be the best player in tyour team if your teammate is Lebron?

Kyrie just went out of the shadows of him a yr earlier so we can find out soon enough but for me the guy nearly ave 32 points during the time Lebron was out. That is not sustainable for an entire yr but you can see the extreme talent to score is there when out of the shadow of the king so my expectation for Kyrie is easily 29/5r/8a. And 23/8r/4 for GH.

[johnnygreen]

Horford could be the 3rd best player on a championship team.  Hayward could be the 2nd best player.  Irving has shown he can be the 2nd best but not the best.  We either need Irving to make a leap, or we need Tatum/Brown to develop into at least the Irving/Hayward tier of player.  Still need some development, but we are closer to having championship talent.

I don't buy this notion that Irving needs to make a leap to prove he can be a #1 player. Hasn't he already proven that he is, when on the biggest stage in The Finals? Two years ago when Cleveland won the title, yes LeBron went beast mode, but it was Irving closing those games out including hitting the series clinching shot. He is a elite scorer, and arguably one of the best in the league in isolation. Irving's problem is that he just needs to get out from under LeBron's shadow and prove it to the world on a different (Celtics) team. Look at it this way, LeBron would be considered a team's #1 player on every team in the NBA.

The other idea that has me puzzled is going all in on Anthony Davis. In 5 years, he has only made the playoffs once, and was swept as the 8th seed. Davis is arguably one of the top 5  players in the NBA. However, in what universe does a top 10 or even 20 NBA player only take his team to the playoffs in 1 out of 5 years? To me, Davis seems more like a #2 type of player, and his record seems to point that out. He kind of reminds me of the current Carmelo Anthony, who puts up great numbers on a bad team. The difference is Anthony has made the playoffs every year for ten straight seasons before missing out on the last four. Having said that, I would love Davis on the Celtics, but I wouldn't go all in to get the deal done. If he misses the playoffs again this season, then I can't imagine his trade value not being effected. I'm very curious, but can anyone come up with a player of Davis's caliber, who only made the playoffs in 1 out of his first 5 seasons?