Why do we need to have so many damn kids?

[GuyClinch]

Disagree, i think it definitely does have to do with the future.
It's not money. You could always get a bunch of min vets to fill out a roster.

Of course its money. With vets you have a proven commodity - so they demand x amount of dollars for those services. You don't get bargains (except perhaps with guys judged done or "bad apples")However if your a good drafter (which Danny generally is) you get better value for your dollar. Its one of the few ways you get more for your money.

BBD makes what 200k? Last year he played like 4 million dollar guy. Rondo what million plus? And he played like a 7 or 8 million dollar guy. You can easily see the savings. Cheap Vets dont' command that kind of reward.

If however you think Ainge drafted THESE young players with some "eye" to the future you got another thing comin. They represent cheap labor if you draft correctly. Ainge has proven over and over again these guys are nothing but chips. Whether its West, Green, Jefferson, Gomes - its been established without a doubt.

If you look back over old Celtics rosters you notice of course that most "young guys" don't stick around. That's with OTHER gms. With OUR gm he turned over our entire roster several times. These guys aren't going to be here in the "future" IMHO. The only guy that MIGHT make it is Rondo and even that's kind off iffy..

Not that there is anything wrong with Rondo really. It's just that I don't think Danny believes a can't shoot PG is worth the kind of max money he will end up demanding.. Swingman and bigs win championships.

I don't know why people get so caught in some role player 'growing" into the future. As if our future lineup is going to have Pruitt at point, BBD as PF and so on. <g> Guys who are good come in and COMMAND playing time. They take over. Those are the guys that stick. You know guys like Pierce - our only holdover from the time Danny took over.

Pete

[ParticleMan]

BBD made about 800k last year. a vet would have made about 1.2 mil, but remember only part of that counts towards the luxury tax, so in the end it's a wash financially.

filling a bench with walker, giddens, BBD, powe, and pruitt isn't any cheaper than filling it with pollard, moore, etc.

rondo was a #21 pick, and perk a #27. so that tells you that late 1st picks can indeed end up being quality players if you're patient. rondo didn't come in and "command" anything. he wasn't even our starting PG until telfair shot himself in the foot (no pun intended). perk also took several years before he saw any meaningful court time.

the point is that you have to draft well and invest the time, then these guys (at least some) turn into good players. if you fill out the bench with the mikki moores of the world, you would never reap the reward of the small fraction of kids who actually turn out to be pretty damn good. of course many don't, but you have to give them the chance to grow and contribute.

that's why you keep these guys around at the end of the bench.