Anthony Davis traded to Lakers(page 272)

[Roy H.]

Well, if the gamble worked out, our “future” would be two All-NBA guys, supplemented by Hayward, Horford and Brown.  We won’t do better than that.

[Donoghus]

Well, if the gamble worked out, our “future” would be two All-NBA guys, supplemented by Hayward, Horford and Brown.  We won’t do better than that.

Agreed.  To me, that's the ideal route.   If Kyrie walks, I'd rather pass on the AD trade and go the youth/vet mix route maintaining the assets that would've been used in an AD trade. That'd be my Plan B. 

[JBcat]

Well, if the gamble worked out, our “future” would be two All-NBA guys, supplemented by Hayward, Horford and Brown.  We won’t do better than that.

Yep you take that chance with both entering their prime.  Worst case we hit the reset button trading off vets Hayward, Horford ect for young assets if it doesn’t all work out.

If we don’t trade for Davis we’ll be good, but imo never good enough especially with Horford aging. 

[celticsclay]

I share your concerns.  I'm not excited about the idea of giving up the farm to try and pair Kyrie and Davis.  I would not be confident that Davis would stay in that scenario.


Just to play devil's advocate, though, here's a list of all the players who made All-NBA this season, with the year that they will enter Unrestricted Free Agency and the age they will be in that year:

Curry (2022, age 34)
Harden (2023, age 34)
Giannis (2021, age 26)
George (2022, age 32)
Jokic (2023, age 28)
Lillard (2021, age 31)
Kyrie (2019, age 27)
Durant (2019, age 31)
Kawhi (2019, age 28)
Embiid (2023, age 28)
Kemba (2019, age 29)
Westbrook (2023, age 34)
Griffin (2022, age 33)
LeBron (2022, age 37)
Gobert (2021, age 29)



Setting aside the 2019 names, Giannis and Rudy Gobert are the only guys on this list entering UFA under age 30 in the next couple of years.


Does anybody think that the Bucks are going to look to trade Giannis next summer?  Assuming they won't, do you think he's going to look at Boston in free agency in 2021? 


I think it's fair to say that Rudy Gobert isn't a guy who by himself makes a good team into a contender.  I don't think he's the answer, even if we assume he could be available in a year.



The bottom line, I think, is that if you are hoping for the Celts to add a MVP caliber player via trade or free agency, that player is either somebody who is nowhere close to playing at that level right now or is a guy who hasn't entered the league yet.



All of this is why I think Ainge is going to be aggressive and take risks this summer.

Yea I am in that camp too. Both George and Leonard were pretty adamant about where they wanted to go. It seems like Leonard is now likely to stay in Toronto despite someone that actively admitted really hating cold weather. George stayed without his team even winning anything in one of the smallest markets of the NBA, basically cause he liked Westbrook. The biggest thing AD has ever said anti-boston is actually his dad mentioning the IT trade (which would be a bizarre reason for AD to leave 3 years after the IT trade was made (and when time has shown Thomas was not going to be the same player ever again due to unfortunate injury circumstances). Brown and Tatum and Hayward are all good hard working players that seem to have good personalities. Isn't there a good chance he becomes close friends with one of them?

[td450]

Assuming that the C's don't know something we don't, I'm still hopeful we go for Davis, but I don't want Kyrie back. Risk wise, I think the odds are better at keeping Davis without him.

Too much of what is required to make this work would fall on Kyrie's shoulders if he stays, and I don't think he'd be able to handle it. He can be counted on to be who he is, but they need a major chemistry reset. He can't be counted on to figure out how to make a team work. I'd rather bet on Ainge and Stevens figuring it out.

The thing that gives me the confidence is that its starting to look like the other teams aren't giving Davis an obvious place to go. He says he prefers the Lakers and the Knicks, but I'm fairly confident in their ability to screw up. Kawhi and Durant may not create opportunities for a pairing.

[Chris22]

Davis yes, Kyrie no.

[ObjectivityOverBias]

Kyrie and Davis on BOS equals Boston Celtics as the 2020 NBA champions.

But, as the OP stated, Kyrie has nothing but bad feelings towards Boston, deservedly so. I see him going elsewhere.

The smart basketball thing to do; not the armchair basketball fan thing, not the fan whom is a fan of players more than "His team," thing, but the smart basketball move. The smart thing to do is to move everything for Kyrie & Davis. History shows team with a AD & Irving wins. Teams without that type of talents usually does not.

Every other emotional move is not basketball related. It is feelings from grown men who are too invested in other grown men, and maybe should get outside, or a girlfriend....

Gilbert could not stand LBJ, but brought him back because it was the best economic move for Cleveland, & basketball move overall. LBJ eventually did what us Cav fans knew he would, leave. His heart was never in Cleveland, but we have something to show for it.

Every Cav fan knew he was not finishing his career in Cleveland being the Hollywood star he is. Us Cav fans are smart; we were burned once, so we knew no star was a "Lifer." However, we wanted to get at least one title out of out superstars.

Mission accomplished. We do not care about being a "True Cavalier." Can you get us to were we want? Ok, fine, good enough for us.

[nickagneta]

lol AD is telling everyone who'll listen he doesn't want to come to Boston, but some fans are so desperate they're still willing to throw Tatum away based on Paul George. Because hey, there was this one time where I guy stayed instead of going home.

Zero chance AD comes to Boston. I'm sure Win**** or Kyler or someone will throw the possibility out there in the next week and a half, but it ain't happening. Ainge would get fleeced nearly as bad as he did to Brooklyn. There's no way Ainge gets beat that badly in a trade.

I would love if you would provide the quotes where Davis actually said he didn't want to come to Boston. There has been reports of it from talking heads, but I haven't read direct quotes anywhere or seen video of such. When directly asked where he wanted to be he made some comment about wanting to be traded to any of the 29 other teams.

[nickagneta]

Kyrie and Davis on BOS equals Boston Celtics as the 2020 NBA champions.

But, as the OP stated, Kyrie has nothing but bad feelings towards Boston, deservedly so. I see him going elsewhere.

The smart basketball thing to do; not the armchair basketball fan thing, not the fan whom is a fan of players more than "His team," thing, but the smart basketball move. The smart thing to do is to move everything for Kyrie & Davis. History shows team with a AD & Irving wins. Teams without that type of talents usually does not.

Every other emotional move is not basketball related. It is feelings from grown men who are too invested in other grown men, and maybe should get outside, or a girlfriend....

Gilbert could not stand LBJ, but brought him back because it was the best economic move for Cleveland, & basketball move overall. LBJ eventually did what us Cav fans knew he would, leave. His heart was never in Cleveland, but we have something to show for it.

Every Cav fan knew he was not finishing his career in Cleveland being the Hollywood star he is. Us Cav fans are smart; we were burned once, so we knew no star was a "Lifer." However, we wanted to get at least one title out of out superstars.

Mission accomplished. We do not care about being a "True Cavalier." Can you get us to were we want? Ok, fine, good enough for us.

Well, the Cavs have absolutely no legacy, no tradition and no rich and glorious history. The Celtics do. Celtics fans demand not only titles or nothing, but a need for Celtic players to buy into being and comporting themselves like a "true Celtic", like a champion. We Celtic fans want our players to fit into and propagate the rich history and legacy of being a Celtic.

It's completely different than anything "smart" Cleveland fans could understand. And I know because I spent 4 years on Euclid Avenue at CWRU.

[jpotter33]

Kyrie and Davis on BOS equals Boston Celtics as the 2020 NBA champions.

But, as the OP stated, Kyrie has nothing but bad feelings towards Boston, deservedly so. I see him going elsewhere.

The smart basketball thing to do; not the armchair basketball fan thing, not the fan whom is a fan of players more than "His team," thing, but the smart basketball move. The smart thing to do is to move everything for Kyrie & Davis. History shows team with a AD & Irving wins. Teams without that type of talents usually does not.

Every other emotional move is not basketball related. It is feelings from grown men who are too invested in other grown men, and maybe should get outside, or a girlfriend....

Gilbert could not stand LBJ, but brought him back because it was the best economic move for Cleveland, & basketball move overall. LBJ eventually did what us Cav fans knew he would, leave. His heart was never in Cleveland, but we have something to show for it.

Every Cav fan knew he was not finishing his career in Cleveland being the Hollywood star he is. Us Cav fans are smart; we were burned once, so we knew no star was a "Lifer." However, we wanted to get at least one title out of out superstars.

Mission accomplished. We do not care about being a "True Cavalier." Can you get us to were we want? Ok, fine, good enough for us.

Beyond the irony of the "Us Cav fans are smart" comment, I don't think the bolded part really is true. Sure, the title definitely helped make Lebron's departure less painful, and the second time around was in no way comparable to the disaster that was the original "Decision". However, plenty of Cavs fans that I know in Cleveland (in addition to several basketball talking heads) still thought Lebron would retire a Cav, especially after getting Cleveland a title.

And after recently living in Cleveland for several years, the sad part of it is that no matter how good the Cavs are, they still seem to come behind both the Indians and the Browns in the fans' eyes. That was my experience when living in Cleveland, anyways.

[jpotter33]

Kyrie and Davis on BOS equals Boston Celtics as the 2020 NBA champions.

But, as the OP stated, Kyrie has nothing but bad feelings towards Boston, deservedly so. I see him going elsewhere.

The smart basketball thing to do; not the armchair basketball fan thing, not the fan whom is a fan of players more than "His team," thing, but the smart basketball move. The smart thing to do is to move everything for Kyrie & Davis. History shows team with a AD & Irving wins. Teams without that type of talents usually does not.

Every other emotional move is not basketball related. It is feelings from grown men who are too invested in other grown men, and maybe should get outside, or a girlfriend....

Gilbert could not stand LBJ, but brought him back because it was the best economic move for Cleveland, & basketball move overall. LBJ eventually did what us Cav fans knew he would, leave. His heart was never in Cleveland, but we have something to show for it.

Every Cav fan knew he was not finishing his career in Cleveland being the Hollywood star he is. Us Cav fans are smart; we were burned once, so we knew no star was a "Lifer." However, we wanted to get at least one title out of out superstars.

Mission accomplished. We do not care about being a "True Cavalier." Can you get us to were we want? Ok, fine, good enough for us.

Well, the Cavs have absolutely no legacy, no tradition and no rich and glorious history. The Celtics do. Celtics fans demand not only titles or nothing, but a need for Celtic players to buy into being and comporting themselves like a "true Celtic", like a champion. We Celtic fans want our players to fit into and propagate the rich history and legacy of being a Celtic.

It's completely different than anything "smart" Cleveland fans could understand. And I know because I spent 4 years on Euclid Avenue at CWRU.

Oh nice! I didn't know you lived there for awhile. What did you do at CWRU, or did you go to school there?

While completing my postdoc fellowship at Cleveland Clinic, I frequently taught medical students and bioethics masters students at CWRU. It's a nice and high-end (but very pricey) school.

[Sketch5]

lol AD is telling everyone who'll listen he doesn't want to come to Boston, but some fans are so desperate they're still willing to throw Tatum away based on Paul George. Because hey, there was this one time where I guy stayed instead of going home.

Zero chance AD comes to Boston. I'm sure Win**** or Kyler or someone will throw the possibility out there in the next week and a half, but it ain't happening. Ainge would get fleeced nearly as bad as he did to Brooklyn. There's no way Ainge gets beat that badly in a trade.

I would love if you would provide the quotes where Davis actually said he didn't want to come to Boston. There has been reports of it from talking heads, but I haven't read direct quotes anywhere or seen video of such. When directly asked where he wanted to be he made some comment about wanting to be traded to any of the 29 other teams.

Yeah, I even saw a quote saying he'd consider resigning in Boston even with out Irving.

S&T Irving to Nets for Russel in a S&T back(if that can happen)

S&T Rozier for bench help

[Irish Stew]

I must admit that I find the sentiment of some posters that they want Davis but not Irving to be a bewildering one. If you want to have the best shot to keep Davis, it's probably best to surround him with the best talent possible. It also doesn't hurt that the two are friends. Having said that, Irving may very well leave even if we get Davis.

[nickagneta]

Kyrie and Davis on BOS equals Boston Celtics as the 2020 NBA champions.

But, as the OP stated, Kyrie has nothing but bad feelings towards Boston, deservedly so. I see him going elsewhere.

The smart basketball thing to do; not the armchair basketball fan thing, not the fan whom is a fan of players more than "His team," thing, but the smart basketball move. The smart thing to do is to move everything for Kyrie & Davis. History shows team with a AD & Irving wins. Teams without that type of talents usually does not.

Every other emotional move is not basketball related. It is feelings from grown men who are too invested in other grown men, and maybe should get outside, or a girlfriend....

Gilbert could not stand LBJ, but brought him back because it was the best economic move for Cleveland, & basketball move overall. LBJ eventually did what us Cav fans knew he would, leave. His heart was never in Cleveland, but we have something to show for it.

Every Cav fan knew he was not finishing his career in Cleveland being the Hollywood star he is. Us Cav fans are smart; we were burned once, so we knew no star was a "Lifer." However, we wanted to get at least one title out of out superstars.

Mission accomplished. We do not care about being a "True Cavalier." Can you get us to were we want? Ok, fine, good enough for us.

Well, the Cavs have absolutely no legacy, no tradition and no rich and glorious history. The Celtics do. Celtics fans demand not only titles or nothing, but a need for Celtic players to buy into being and comporting themselves like a "true Celtic", like a champion. We Celtic fans want our players to fit into and propagate the rich history and legacy of being a Celtic.

It's completely different than anything "smart" Cleveland fans could understand. And I know because I spent 4 years on Euclid Avenue at CWRU.

Oh nice! I didn't know you lived there for awhile. What did you do at CWRU, or did you go to school there?

While completing my postdoc fellowship at Cleveland Clinic, I frequently taught medical students and bioethics masters students at CWRU. It's a nice and high-end (but very pricey) school.

I got my degree in engineering there back in the 80's. Cleveland was such a pit back then, though, the campus was always beautiful. That area around Case was like a tiny oasis amongst the ghettoes that surrounded it. I hear the city has really transformed itself since then. I haven't been there since the early 90's.

Do have to say, I was able to snag nearly courtside seats at Richfield Arena to watch the Celtics back then when they came into Cleveland. The Cavs absolutely sucked(they struggled to get to 30 wins) back then, so getting great seats cheap was easy, even for a dirt poor college student.

It's a tremendous university, one most New Englanders haven't ever heard of. I wanted to go to RPI but Case Western gave me a full boat scholarship to go there. Yup, even back then they were pricey(I think the last year was $15000 for tuition and R&B). Without that scholarship I would have had to go to Lowell University(now UMass Lowell) just due to money.

[GreenCoffeeBean]

KI and AD is not a shoe in to be NBA champs.