Ok, since Jan. 1, they are 14-4 and playing as well as any other team in the league.
Irving
Smart
Morris
Tatum
Horford are pretty much killin' it. Not a hole to be found there.
Brown
Rozier
Hayward
Baynes are the bench
Except for Baynes, they could all start on most NBA teams and they are rounding into form now.
No team in either conference wants to play these guys. Golden State is a generational all star team, there is nothing to be done until they break up other than get to the finals and these guys look fine in a series with Milwaukee or Toronto who are better this year than last.
Just why in he%$ do you want to blow this up for more draft picks?
In 2019 and then 2020 the Celtics have nowhere to put all the picks they have. Essentially the Celtics HAVE to trade two picks this year and one next year depending on results, while chucking their second rounders.
More picks for Davis? Ainge will stiff the Pelicans like he stiff's everyone else. The Pelicans will get what one year of Davis is worth and nothing more.
Because a team is performing well, doesn't have to mean that all components do. But you are right those starters are ''pretty much killin' it''. The Celtics have the 2rd best starting line up in the NBA behind GSW, based on advanced stats, net rating (15.4 NR). Our offense, offensive rating (118.7 OR), is 2nd best (again) behind the Warriors. Our defensive rating (103.3 DR) on the other hand is not in the top 10.
The 15 best (NR +3 or better) starting line ups this year are: 1.Golden State, 2.Boston, 3.Philadelphia, 4.Detroit (surprise), 5.Oklahoma City, 6.Orlando (surprise), 7.Memphis, 8.Milwaukee, 9.Toronto, 10.Charlotte, 11.Denver, 12.Portland, 13.Indiana, 14.Utah and 15.Minnesota. This group contains mostly playoff teams of course.
Current playoff teams that are not on here are: Houston (injuries, no regular good performing starting line-up), San Antonio (relying on bench), LA Clippers (heavily relying on bench), Brooklyn (injuries, no common line up) and Miami (injuries, good bench). Even though there's a reasonable chance that Detroit overtakes Miami in the standings, I will exclude them with Orlando, Memphis and Minnesota (who will almost surely not make the playoffs), in my next comparison with Boston. So then I have the 11 best and relevant starting line-ups.
Out of those 11 playoff teams the Boston Celtics rank #5 in DR (103.3). Not even that bad perhaps. Their DREB% (72,6) ranks #8 , AST% (58,9) ranks #8, while their TS% (62,6) ranks #2. What I'm getting out of this, is that our defense with this line up is pretty good, but far from spectacular. That we often have trouble with rebounding the ball and that our offense is a bit stagnant. However we shoot the ball very well.
To me that are stats that meet the eye. All our starters can shoot the 3-ball, most (Irving, Tatum, Morris) are capable of creating points in isolation and often do that. None of the starters is known to be an exceptional rebounder. So the offense is excellent, but I worry about the defense. Specifically about our frontcourt duo Morris/Horford.
Of all Celtics duo's, that have at least played 100 minutes together, the combination Morris/Horford ranks #52 (of 53 possibilities!) as defensive rating (105.8 DR). Some DR examples of other combo's: Horford/Baynes (
78.8 on 52 mins), Morris/Theis (99.2) and Morris/Baynes (101.5).
Also Horford is one none of the 30 best combinations (that play 100+ mins) and Morris only once (the combo with Theis). If you look at those stats you get the impression that Morris and Horford are terrible defenders. Their individual DR's are also the worst on the whole team (105.4 and 105.2). Irving's DR (104.4) isn't good either, but it's interesting that he's much better playing with Baynes (96.4) or Theis (97.7) at center than with Horford (103.7).
So my point is that our current starting line-up (Irving/Smart/Tatum/Morris/Horford) is doing quite well, despite that our frontcourt in this combination is terribly defensively. We're vulnerable, but we shoot so well that it doesn't seem to make a difference. But I think during the playoffs it will. We need a basis we can rely on. And as I often have done I advocate to try Horford/Baynes (if healthy).
My personal opinion is that Horford isn't a bad defender at all, but that he drowns on this team. Give him Baynes to help him rebound and protect the rim. It will help Irving and others (knowing that they'll be covered in the case they get beat by their man). Morris works well with Theis, so you have your back-up frontcourt laid out as well. Do we give up something on offense? Yes, probably a little bit, but that's well worth it if that improves the defense by a big margin. Also Baynes isn't useless on offense, he sets great screens, can shoot a little (percentages: 47/33/85) and he's an elite offensive rebounder (11,4%)
So our new Celtics starting line-up would become: Irving/Smart/Tatum/Horford/Baynes. Curious how that line-up has done so far? Here are the stats:
Offensive rating: 162.5
Defensive rating: 84.2
Net rating: +78.3DREB%: 85,7
TS%:
105,5 (LOL!)
Granted this is a very small sample size of only 8 minutes, but definitely worth a try in my book. And since when has Brad Stevens stopped caring about our defense?
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Topic: Selling off Rozier and Morris for picks? (Read 4370 times)