Why the Celtics should NOT trade up in this draft!

[bcgenuis]

It seems that certain Celtics fans still have not shook off the draft fever that accompanies losing teams.  It appears that many fans are still in a rebuilding mindset.

The Celtics, in case you missed it, had a lead with 6 minutes left and if they could hit a few more shots would be playing tonight against the Warriors. The Celtics are no longer in rebuilding mode.

They are in run it back mode.  This time with a healthy Kyrie and Gordon Hayward.  The focus should not be on trading valuable proven assets for a rookie "big man" that most likely will not see the parquet much.

The focus should be on signing Baynes and Smart. And having a roster as follows:

Kyrie/Smart/Larkin
Brown/Rozier/Bird
Heyward/Morris/Semi
Tatum/Theis/Yabu
Horford/Baynes/FA Vet Min

The Celtics should follow the Spurs model and try to find an international player that is a diamond in the rough that can play overseas for a year or two and gain valuable experience.

Has anyone heard of Isaac Bonga?

[knuckleballer]

The reason many of us want to trade up in this draft is because we have a lot of future picks and this is a great year for bigs.  Next near we might have the Sac pick which will probably be in the top ten and maybe top five, the Memphis pick which might be late lottery, and the Clippers pick which might be in the mid to late teens.  Plus we have our own first rounders.  We don't need that many players, but we could definitely use a young big who could be decent depth next season and an important contributor in the near future. 

There's also concern about keeping both Smart and Rozier beyond next season.  And I don't see Rozier getting many minutes with a healthy team in the regular season and especially the playoffs.  A lot of people think we need Rozier in case Kyrie gets hurt again, but I don't think we can win a championship without Kyrie anyway.  Now is the right time to consolidate to get the right player if we can.

[bcgenuis]

1. While #11 and #20 and #27 will hopefully all be healthy, they are coming off injury and would be wise to ease them in.  There will be minutes for the first 10 players.

2. If they run it back -- I think the team has a very good shot at beating the Bulls W-L record.  4/5 bench are potential starters in the league.  There are lottery teams that would want 6-10 to start for them (unless they were starting their own process).

3. The thought should be to keep the train rolling,  roll those picks, stash the picks.  The Celtics are stacked now.  Have the picks bear fruit when it is time to reload. Trade #27 for an unprotected 2022. The Celtics do not need a rookie this coming year. 

[nickagneta]

Like what you're saying. Agree completely. Next year, eith all our picks, we can package them next year and move up as far as we want to get the player we want. At this point you bring everyone back healthy and go for it all.

[Phantom255x]

After 2019, I don't think we have any extra picks coming besides the one which may not convey next summer (Grizzlies and/or Clippers - IF they don't convey next June), just our own ones from there on (2020 and beyond). We have to be careful and have the belief that we have our roster essentially set. Packaging practically our entire 2019 draft stash and #27 this year to move up in this draft, as most suggest on here, could be risky. We also don't have any 2nd rounder this year and probably not next year either.

[liam]

It seems that certain Celtics fans still have not shook off the draft fever that accompanies losing teams.  It appears that many fans are still in a rebuilding mindset.

The Celtics, in case you missed it, had a lead with 6 minutes left and if they could hit a few more shots would be playing tonight against the Warriors. The Celtics are no longer in rebuilding mode.

They are in run it back mode.  This time with a healthy Kyrie and Gordon Hayward.  The focus should not be on trading valuable proven assets for a rookie "big man" that most likely will not see the parquet much.

The focus should be on signing Baynes and Smart. And having a roster as follows:

Kyrie/Smart/Larkin
Brown/Rozier/Bird
Heyward/Morris/Semi
Tatum/Theis/Yabu
Horford/Baynes/FA Vet Min

The Celtics should follow the Spurs model and try to find an international player that is a diamond in the rough that can play overseas for a year or two and gain valuable experience.

Has anyone heard of Isaac Bonga?

I have been ranting irrationally about Bonga in serval threads including "Who's your 2018 draft binkie?

[colincb]

We have but one major lineup issue to deal with in the future and this may well be the time to deal with it. Horford's 32 this Sunday, will be 33 with a player option before next season, and 34 when his contract expires. If we don't have a big lined up to take over, we're risking Al opting out after next year and or going into free agency the year after. Assuming we do agree on a three-year contract when his current contract expires, he'd be 37 if he, as a mobile 4-5 center, holds up.

So we have a hole to plug within 1-5 years, we have the assets to move up IF Danny thinks the value is there, and there are a lot of big man targets (I cannot remember a recent draft with as many). We don't have to do a trade this year, but the opportunity to get a big with a top 10 pick goes down considerably going forward.

[kgwannabe]

In 2019, Rozier walks and the Clippers pick (if the Clippers have a similar year to the year they had this year) may turn into a second rounder. Sacramento may be a lottery Say #6 or so) and if the Memphis pic coveys then if means that its the ninth pick or worse, and our own pick will be, we hope, in the 30s. So there will be no "consolidating our picks and moving up". No one with a pick in the top three, in a purported weak draft, likely wants the 6th pick (Sacramento), and the 10th pick (Memphis) and the 31st pick to move up from 6 to number three. It's trading two dimes and a nickel for a quarter and everyone knows it. Meantime, the Celts don't actually want or have roster space for their own picks. They would be nearly forced to "draft and stash", whether they liked any of the Europeans or not.  So, it is not unreasonable to try to maximize the value of those assets now.

The value for next years picks is that maybe an NBA star becomes disgruntled and forces a trade. Short of that, our assets that look so good now, will likely depreciate over the next year.

[Fred Roberts]

I'd like Noel at MLE, 1 year (or less) and stand pat

[wdleehi]

Didn't the Spurs use Hill to trade up?

[tenn_smoothie]

Would a lottery team this year trade their top 5 pick for our 3 picks next year with no current players having to be included in the deal ?

[gouki88]

Didn't the Spurs use Hill to trade up?

That really haunted them

I wouldn’t mind moving Rozier & #27 for a low lotto pick

[TheSundanceKid]

I understand people think this draft is loaded with bigs and we may get a long term replacement for Horford but do any of these guys actually replace Horford?

The answer is no. Horford has a very specific skill set that we build our team around. As this team evolves and Al gets older, our offense will change to focus on the wings.

What we want is a high pick next year or the year after. The issue is we can't see that far ahead and we don't know who will be there. This is the same problem every year but it does not mean panicking and trading up in the draft in front of you.

The best route is to stand pat this year and assess next year's draft, if there is nothing we like we can try to roll the picks to the following year.

To wrap up, most bigs in this draft are not Horford replacements. Better to wait and see.

[Celtics4ever]

In Ainge, I trust....

[td450]

I understand people think this draft is loaded with bigs and we may get a long term replacement for Horford but do any of these guys actually replace Horford?

The answer is no. Horford has a very specific skill set that we build our team around. As this team evolves and Al gets older, our offense will change to focus on the wings.

What we want is a high pick next year or the year after. The issue is we can't see that far ahead and we don't know who will be there. This is the same problem every year but it does not mean panicking and trading up in the draft in front of you.

The best route is to stand pat this year and assess next year's draft, if there is nothing we like we can try to roll the picks to the following year.

To wrap up, most bigs in this draft are not Horford replacements. Better to wait and see.

You are correct that Al is unique.

I would point you to Wendell Carter. He's somewhat more suited to playing the 5 while Al is more suited to playing the 4, but he has the potential to provide a similar skill set. He's shown a rare combination of intelligence, passing, shooting and all around two-way play you would want in an apprentice for Al.

We also don't need exactly the same player as Al going forward. There will be less of a need for Al's playmaking, as we will have 4 other starters and possibly Rozier off the bench) who can now create on their own, whereas just a few months ago that wasn't true. Jaren Jackson is enough of a two way player to make us a better team too. He just as good a shot blocker as Bamba, and a better overall defender. He's also already proved he can shoot. He would make us historically good on defense.