What will the problems be?

[VeryMuchWoke]

I still hope we can get Nerlens Noel.. With Sully/Olynyk in Boston and Okafor/Noel/Embiid in Philly there's a weird mix of players who might be swapped for better fits..

But Sully for Noel is great for us, but a Sully/Okafor pairing is lousy for the Sixers..

A Sully for Noel swap would likely require at least 1 BK pick. Hinkie reportedly turned down Smart + Picks for Noel, and while I don't know if that's true it certainly wouldn't surprise me. Noel's value is pretty high.

[Tenbomber]

I still hope we can get Nerlens Noel.. With Sully/Olynyk in Boston and Okafor/Noel/Embiid in Philly there's a weird mix of players who might be swapped for better fits..

But Sully for Noel is great for us, but a Sully/Okafor pairing is lousy for the Sixers..

I'd love to get Noel too....but Philly just picked up his option.....so we will have to wait a couple of years for him to become a free agent....

But in the meantime, there's always Jordan Mickey......His skill level seems very much like Noels....and Mickey perhaps, has a sweeter shooting touch....

But yeah....were Noel to be offered to us at a fair price, I hope Danny is interested....Who knows what Philly, in the end, will do?

I think Philly's biggest problem is at point guard.....You'd think they might be interested in Isaiah Thomas?.....Who reminds me so much of Allen Iverson.....Who knows?

[Valid]

I still hope we can get Nerlens Noel.. With Sully/Olynyk in Boston and Okafor/Noel/Embiid in Philly there's a weird mix of players who might be swapped for better fits..

But Sully for Noel is great for us, but a Sully/Okafor pairing is lousy for the Sixers..

I'd love to get Noel too....but Philly just picked up his option.....so we will have to wait a couple of years for him to become a free agent....

But in the meantime, there's always Jordan Mickey......His skill level seems very much like Noels....and Mickey perhaps, has a sweeter shooting touch....

But yeah....were Noel to be offered to us at a fair price, I hope Danny is interested....Who knows what Philly, in the end, will do?

I think Philly's biggest problem is at point guard.....You'd think they might be interested in Isaiah Thomas?.....Who reminds me so much of Allen Iverson.....Who knows?

I like Jordan Mickey, but his ceiling is not even remotely close to Noel's. Noel is a seven-footer who challenges every single shot near the rim. Mickey just doesn't have the length to be that dominant.

[Pacino62]

I still hope we can get Nerlens Noel.. With Sully/Olynyk in Boston and Okafor/Noel/Embiid in Philly there's a weird mix of players who might be swapped for better fits..

But Sully for Noel is great for us, but a Sully/Okafor pairing is lousy for the Sixers..

A Sully for Noel swap would likely require at least 1 BK pick. Hinkie reportedly turned down Smart + Picks for Noel, and while I don't know if that's true it certainly wouldn't surprise me. Noel's value is pretty high.

I'd give up Sully, the Memphis pick and any other pick outside of "16" Nets or the Mavs pick. "17"/"18" Nets or any of our own picks all day.

[BfB]

Strange, I typically masturbate to fantasy scenarios that will never happen in 100 years that involve women...Noel isn't going anywhere. He's one of their keepers.

[rickrolled]

Lee isnt a good player, but its unfair to have him start and look awful/getting all the blame. He should be an end of the bench guy, just like Gerald Wallace. Then add some veteran leadership if we make the playoffs. But he shouldnt be playing alot. I prefer Mickey to get his minutes. And trade Young and ET so Hunter can play, maybe even Rozier will get minutes late in the season.

[Andrew McCeltic]

Strange, I typically masturbate to fantasy scenarios that will never happen in 100 years that involve women...Noel isn't going anywhere. He's one of their keepers.

Sorry to hear that..

I think Noel is a 'keeper' and have been boosting him for a year.. But they've got three centers, the rebuild's stuck in neutral, and I'm sure there'll be pressure from agents.. Do you think Noel/Okafor can play together?

[aim2please]

Is it just me or do we miss a sticky Celtics 14-15 season thread? We have one for draft, trades, pick watch, around the NBA.. I really miss a place where I could bother all the David Lee and Evan Turner fans on a daily basis 0_o

Anyway, I dig out this thread to give my daily 'why the hell did we traded for David Lee' dose. I know it's stupid to single out one guy and put all of the blame on him, but if there ever was that guy, it's David Lee this season.

This is what basketball reference has to say about David Lee' performance so far. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/leeda02/on-off/2016/

After 13 games, we're rebounding way better when he's off the floor, there goes that myth, we turn it over more, get less steals and most importantly our Ortg is -2.4 in 197 minutes he's played, and +9.7 in 427 minutes he's been off the floor. That's -12.1 on-off split, basically a difference between Warriors and Nets.

If you almost fell asleep after reading all these nerdy mambo jambo, go back and watch a game against the Nets. We were down 19-17 before he came in at the 10 minute mark in the 1st quarter. Seven minutes later we were down 39-27. In a span of 7 minutes he got his shot blocked 3 times, and we were outscored 20-10.

I know, I know, he shared a floor with Rozier for 5 minutes, it's not all his fault yada yada.. What's interesting is that we had the same problem, as in digging ourselves a hole in short period of time, in the first 3 games of the season when he was a starter. First game of the season, we were down 6 after 1st quarter against Sixers. We eventually won by 17. Lee was -4 in 22 minutes.

Brad is in a tough spot, because he can't just give him DNPs, although he obviously doesn't think highly of Lee - considering his minutes are down. He's playing for a new contract and it won't be long before he starts pouting. On the other hand, we are forced to play Jerebko at the 3.

But I know some people will still say we won the trade in which we saved GSW a ton of money without getting a sweetener, replacing 10.5 million dead wood with extra deluxe 15 million dollar dead wood.

[Slartibartfast]

Is it just me or do we miss a sticky Celtics 14-15 season thread? We have one for draft, trades, pick watch, around the NBA.. I really miss a place where I could bother all the David Lee and Evan Turner fans on a daily basis 0_o

Anyway, I dig out this thread to give my daily 'why the hell did we traded for David Lee' dose. I know it's stupid to single out one guy and put all of the blame on him, but if there ever was that guy, it's David Lee this season.

This is what basketball reference has to say about David Lee' performance so far. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/leeda02/on-off/2016/

After 13 games, we're rebounding way better when he's off the floor, there goes that myth, we turn it over more, get less steals and most importantly our Ortg is -2.4 in 197 minutes he's played, and +9.7 in 427 minutes he's been off the floor. That's -12.1 on-off split, basically a difference between Warriors and Nets.

If you almost fell asleep after reading all these nerdy mambo jambo, go back and watch a game against the Nets. We were down 19-17 before he came in at the 10 minute mark in the 1st quarter. Seven minutes later we were down 39-27. In a span of 7 minutes he got his shot blocked 3 times, and we were outscored 20-10.

I know, I know, he shared a floor with Rozier for 5 minutes, it's not all his fault yada yada.. What's interesting is that we had the same problem, as in digging ourselves a hole in short period of time, in the first 3 games of the season when he was a starter. First game of the season, we were down 6 after 1st quarter against Sixers. We eventually won by 17. Lee was -4 in 22 minutes.

Brad is in a tough spot, because he can't just give him DNPs, although he obviously doesn't think highly of Lee - considering his minutes are down. He's playing for a new contract and it won't be long before he starts pouting. On the other hand, we are forced to play Jerebko at the 3.

But I know some people will still say we won the trade in which we saved GSW a ton of money without getting a sweetener, replacing 10.5 million dead wood with extra deluxe 15 million dollar dead wood.

Yep. It's not just David Lee the performer (hosting a Bargs block party near you), but the dislocation effects on Jerebko, Crowder and Zeller and the reduced minutes for KO.

Oh well.

I think we're stuck with this problem til the deadline. Don't think the C's will alienate his agent with an outright benching and I don't think the trade market will heat up until midseason.

[Captain_Caveman]

Spoiler:

Is it just me or do we miss a sticky Celtics 14-15 season thread? We have one for draft, trades, pick watch, around the NBA.. I really miss a place where I could bother all the David Lee and Evan Turner fans on a daily basis 0_o

Anyway, I dig out this thread to give my daily 'why the hell did we traded for David Lee' dose. I know it's stupid to single out one guy and put all of the blame on him, but if there ever was that guy, it's David Lee this season.

This is what basketball reference has to say about David Lee' performance so far. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/leeda02/on-off/2016/

After 13 games, we're rebounding way better when he's off the floor, there goes that myth, we turn it over more, get less steals and most importantly our Ortg is -2.4 in 197 minutes he's played, and +9.7 in 427 minutes he's been off the floor. That's -12.1 on-off split, basically a difference between Warriors and Nets.

If you almost fell asleep after reading all these nerdy mambo jambo, go back and watch a game against the Nets. We were down 19-17 before he came in at the 10 minute mark in the 1st quarter. Seven minutes later we were down 39-27. In a span of 7 minutes he got his shot blocked 3 times, and we were outscored 20-10.

I know, I know, he shared a floor with Rozier for 5 minutes, it's not all his fault yada yada.. What's interesting is that we had the same problem, as in digging ourselves a hole in short period of time, in the first 3 games of the season when he was a starter. First game of the season, we were down 6 after 1st quarter against Sixers. We eventually won by 17. Lee was -4 in 22 minutes.

Brad is in a tough spot, because he can't just give him DNPs, although he obviously doesn't think highly of Lee - considering his minutes are down. He's playing for a new contract and it won't be long before he starts pouting. On the other hand, we are forced to play Jerebko at the 3.

But I know some people will still say we won the trade in which we saved GSW a ton of money without getting a sweetener, replacing 10.5 million dead wood with extra deluxe 15 million dollar dead wood.

The thing with Lee that is hard for some to process is that he can be such a net negative despite putting some stats up, because he gets scored on so easily. As a 5th big man, who is just giving us net neutral minutes in an "innings pitcher" kind of role, so be it... but yeah, why pay an additional $5m for that?

Also, despite what some tried to convince themselves this summer, his contract will be harder to move than Wallace's as an expiring. No one is trading for Lee the player, it would only be to match up salary numbers.

[Setshot33]

Our main problem is what it's always been since the 2008 season wrapped up: length and rebounding.

It's the one major flaw with Danny Ainge: he only pays lip service to the front court.

He tries to address it with cheap,bargain basement free agents or late first/ 2nd round picks or waiver wire acquisitions.

Cannot understand how the guy played with the best frontcourt in NBA history but undervalues those positions as GM and tends to go guard heavy on the roster.

"In my day, you needed someone to get the ball"- Red Auerbach

Danny should brush up.

[165bows]

Our main problem is what it's always been since the 2008 season wrapped up: length and rebounding.

It's the one major flaw with Danny Ainge: he only pays lip service to the front court.

He tries to address it with cheap,bargain basement free agents or late first/ 2nd round picks or waiver wire acquisitions.

Cannot understand how the guy played with the best frontcourt in NBA history but undervalues those positions as GM and tends to go guard heavy on the roster.

"In my day, you needed someone to get the ball"- Red Auerbach

Danny should brush up.

A point in favor of this and one against:
Celtics' defense in currently 4th best in the league, while being 24th on the defensive boards, and 27th in FTs awarded to the other team. A quality big who could clean the boards and protect the rim would likely cement this team as a top 3 defense.

On the other hand, going small, or at least skilled up front, has been a huge advantage for this team (ie, at the end of last season), and others like GS around the league.

My guess is they prioritize total skill/ability in their players, and that a lot of bigs have a lower total ability relative to other players, outside of their size.

[Banks2Pierce]

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4721087/danny-ainge-qa-brad-stevens-is-a-keeper

Ainge: Well, I think that Amir and David have been good additions. David has helped us win a couple of big games. I think he wants to play more. I don’t think he showed up to training camp in great shape, but he’s worked really hard since he’s been here and getting himself into shape. Amir, I think, is still trying to find his way with our team. But he’s the ultimate team guy. He really cares about his teammates, he cares about winning, he cares about doing the right thing. So I think Amir has been excellent, but as the season goes on, I think he’ll get more and more comfortable with our group and with the coaching staff and he’ll be a little bit more assertive.

Great veteran presence by Lee to show up to camp like that.

[165bows]

Our main problem is what it's always been since the 2008 season wrapped up: length and rebounding.

It's the one major flaw with Danny Ainge: he only pays lip service to the front court.

He tries to address it with cheap,bargain basement free agents or late first/ 2nd round picks or waiver wire acquisitions.

Cannot understand how the guy played with the best frontcourt in NBA history but undervalues those positions as GM and tends to go guard heavy on the roster.

"In my day, you needed someone to get the ball"- Red Auerbach

Danny should brush up.

A point in favor of this and one against:
Celtics' defense in currently 4th best in the league, while being 24th on the defensive boards, and 27th in FTs awarded to the other team. A quality big who could clean the boards and protect the rim would likely cement this team as a top 3 defense.

On the other hand, going small, or at least skilled up front, has been a huge advantage for this team (ie, at the end of last season), and others like GS around the league.

My guess is they prioritize total skill/ability in their players, and that a lot of bigs have a lower total ability relative to other players, outside of their size.

Good quotes from Stevens on this in today's Zach Lowe article.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14209124/is-small-ball-dominance-golden-state-blip-trend

[darrendaye]

The thing with Lee that is hard for some to process is that he can be such a net negative despite putting some stats up, because he gets scored on so easily. As a 5th big man, who is just giving us net neutral minutes in an "innings pitcher" kind of role, so be it... but yeah, why pay an additional $5m for that?

Also, despite what some tried to convince themselves this summer, his contract will be harder to move than Wallace's as an expiring. No one is trading for Lee the player, it would only be to match up salary numbers.

If the idea was to flip Lee for value, you're 100% right, dumb move.

To me, the idea better have been to deal Sullinger and have Lee fill the same role for the remainder of the season. I would not qualify "Sully insurance" as enough of a reason to take on the money, the need to give him playing time, and pushing Jerebko to the 3.

[jfs1000d]

Nm

[Green89]

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4721087/danny-ainge-qa-brad-stevens-is-a-keeper

Ainge: Well, I think that Amir and David have been good additions. David has helped us win a couple of big games. I think he wants to play more. I don’t think he showed up to training camp in great shape, but he’s worked really hard since he’s been here and getting himself into shape. Amir, I think, is still trying to find his way with our team. But he’s the ultimate team guy. He really cares about his teammates, he cares about winning, he cares about doing the right thing. So I think Amir has been excellent, but as the season goes on, I think he’ll get more and more comfortable with our group and with the coaching staff and he’ll be a little bit more assertive.

Great veteran presence by Lee to show up to camp like that.

A bit of a poke at Lee by Danny. Rightfully so, too, as Lee struggles to get most of his shots over the rim lately. He needs to put in more work or he'll find himself getting the vet's minimum next season.

All this concern over the team is way too premature. For people to be calling for tanking already is a massive overreaction. We have the same record as the Clippers, who have Chris Paul, Deandre Jordan, and Blake Griffin. A better record than the Rockets, who have Harden and Howard, and we're only two games in the loss column out of the 4th seed in the East. We'd be tied for the 6th seed if we were in the West. I'd say that's a pretty good 14 game start to be at .500. All of Brad's career here so far, he's had us well below .500 all season. The fact we're hovering over it is good progress, considering our roster.

We've only lost to one sub .500 team this season, and if you took any 14 game stretches during Brad's last two years, I bet we have many more losses than that against bad teams. We're going to make the playoffs and we're going to be the best team of Brad's coaching tenure thus far. There's a lot of positives this year, so let's not fly off the rails after a few bad losses. We'll turn it around tonight with a win over the Sixers (at least we better)!