The Celtics Will Be Taking A Step Back This Upcoming Season

[LakersLegacy]

Smart will really help the Grizzles
Back to back DPOY

It’s like Pippen + Rodman + Ja the Napoleon gunman off the court, just bliss on the court

Celtics bigger matches up better with the Nuggets. Tatum needs to play defense like Smart to make it a good move

[celticfan42487]

Maybe, so far the trade basically ended up being Smart and Grant Williams for KP. That's not a massive gain to me.

And depending on the matchup with the Nuggets and Bucks given Grants amazing defensive abilities against Greek Freak and Jokic that very well may be an overall downgrade.

Filled the rotation up with the most injury prone players you can find with Brogdon, Rob Williams, KP, and an ancient Horford.

They really need one of Tatum or Jaylen Brown to step up playmaking to kind of make things work and honestly between the two of them there's a canyon that Brown can work to improve in that area and I'm not sure Tatum can be much better than he is as a SF, he's just not a playmaking guard.

As always the offense will roll easy in the regular season, it even did with Udoka because the playmaking doesn't show it's head with Tatum as the only playmaker on the team until you get to a good defensive team with playoff defense. So we'll find out then.

It's probably a better regular season team unless 2/3rds of them get injured at once which is possible.

[ForeverTFC]

You don't win too often in this league without a DPOY candidate (past or present). Denver did it last year, but that's the first in forever. I don't like the idea of trading Smart for Porzingis either. Smart missed less games and has less knee, ankle, foot injuries to worry about.

Knid of looks like they should step back. But their guys are pretty young still.

I feel like everyone argued with Celtics fans about how over-rated Smart was (rightly so in my opinion) and now that he's gone, everyone keeps preaching his importance to that team. It doesn't really make sense to me. White was way better than Smart on the defensive end last year and made all defense second team. Timelord was the real DPOY the previous year anyways if it had to be a Celtic.

Outside of the Porzingis fit, I actually think Timelord's diminishing role is the real risk to the Celtics' success next year.

[KodiakBear]

Possibly. Porzingis isn't reliable. You traded for a guy who has had major injury issues his whole career. Having him healthy for a deep playoff run isn't likely.

[tamaraw08]

As a Lakers fan, I kept waiting for them to regress.
They lose a great player like Kyrie, nope.
They lose Kemba, nope.
Lost good post guys like Baynes, Theis, then Hordford, nope.
Lose a great coach and replaced by a rookie? You think they’ll struggle in the regular season?
And now they lose one of the best perimeter defenders in the league…

[AussieCeltic]

This is why you're on my foes list.

Totals; KP - 402 games over 8 seasons, Smart - 581 over 9 seasons.

Average; KP - 50/year, Smart 64 games/year. That's not 6.

Playoffs; Smart, 108 games to KP, 10. Sheesh. Yeah, really downplaying those injuries.

And my entire point was KP has recurring injuries to certain areas more than Smart.

Eh I missed the season KP had out with his ACL. Honest mistake.

The reason I’m on your foes list is because you’re a Raptors homer who kept crying when Celtics kept beating the Raptors over and over again.

Sure, just missed the entire year out for injuries when taking about injuries. And omitting that season still doens't make the math 6 games, but at least its getting closer to being honest.

And if that were the case, it might be every Celtics fan. Its not, its just you, and because this is how you always are.

You're right, it makes it 6.58 to be exact. Sorry my math wasn't down to the 2nd decimal point your highness.

I have the exact time you added me to the foe list. It was when you said the Raptors were a top 5 deepest team in the league in 21 and used guys like Malachi Flynn, Khem Birch and Goran Dragic (even though I said he'd be traded) as examples Then I laughed at you and it turns out I was right and you were wrong (again) so you blocked me.

Then you tried to say FVV/Gary Trent were the best defensive backcourt duo in the league even though every statistic pointed against it.

Then you had a cry every time I replied to one of your posts. If you're going to block me, do it properly and stop responding otherwise what's the point.

[Fencer reregistered]

You don't win too often in this league without a DPOY candidate (past or present). Denver did it last year, but that's the first in forever. I don't like the idea of trading Smart for Porzingis either. Smart missed less games and has less knee, ankle, foot injuries to worry about.

Knid of looks like they should step back. But their guys are pretty young still.

The Celtics still have White (2nd team all-defense, ahead of Smart) and Timelord (2nd team all-defense the year before).

[Johnny Bball]

You don't win too often in this league without a DPOY candidate (past or present). Denver did it last year, but that's the first in forever. I don't like the idea of trading Smart for Porzingis either. Smart missed less games and has less knee, ankle, foot injuries to worry about.

Knid of looks like they should step back. But their guys are pretty young still.

The Celtics still have White (2nd team all-defense, ahead of Smart) and Timelord (2nd team all-defense the year before).

Yep. Like others I'm trying to figure out where and how they will play Timelord and if he gets enough minutes. I still think Smart is the better defender between him and White though, even if last year's accolades don't match up. I guess either fills the roll well though which is probabaly the point.

[Johnny Bball]

You're right, it makes it 6.58 to be exact. Sorry my math wasn't down to the 2nd decimal point your highness.

I have the exact time you added me to the foe list. It was when you said the Raptors were a top 5 deepest team in the league in 21 and used guys like Malachi Flynn, Khem Birch and Goran Dragic (even though I said he'd be traded) as examples Then I laughed at you and it turns out I was right and you were wrong (again) so you blocked me.

Then you tried to say FVV/Gary Trent were the best defensive backcourt duo in the league even though every statistic pointed against it.

Then you had a cry every time I replied to one of your posts. If you're going to block me, do it properly and stop responding otherwise what's the point.

Stop quoting me and I won't. Its not 6.58, and you're lying again. What a real piece of work. Bye.

[AussieCeltic]

You're right, it makes it 6.58 to be exact. Sorry my math wasn't down to the 2nd decimal point your highness.

I have the exact time you added me to the foe list. It was when you said the Raptors were a top 5 deepest team in the league in 21 and used guys like Malachi Flynn, Khem Birch and Goran Dragic (even though I said he'd be traded) as examples Then I laughed at you and it turns out I was right and you were wrong (again) so you blocked me.

Then you tried to say FVV/Gary Trent were the best defensive backcourt duo in the league even though every statistic pointed against it.

Then you had a cry every time I replied to one of your posts. If you're going to block me, do it properly and stop responding otherwise what's the point.

Stop quoting me and I won't. Its not 6.58, and you're lying again. What a real piece of work. Bye.

64 - 57.42 = ??

It’s a message board and I’m free to reply to anyone I like.

[dans1230]

You don't win too often in this league without a DPOY candidate (past or present). Denver did it last year, but that's the first in forever. I don't like the idea of trading Smart for Porzingis either. Smart missed less games and has less knee, ankle, foot injuries to worry about.

Knid of looks like they should step back. But their guys are pretty young still.

I feel like everyone argued with Celtics fans about how over-rated Smart was (rightly so in my opinion) and now that he's gone, everyone keeps preaching his importance to that team. It doesn't really make sense to me. White was way better than Smart on the defensive end last year and made all defense second team. Timelord was the real DPOY the previous year anyways if it had to be a Celtic.

Outside of the Porzingis fit, I actually think Timelord's diminishing role is the real risk to the Celtics' success next year.

Agree, last season White was the better defender, and it wasnt particularly close. For every steal Marcus had, he got beat twice by jumping the passing lane. He hits the floor for loose balls, and isnt afraid of looking like a fool by checking Embiid in the post. His play impacted the success of the Celtics but im not sure how much, and i dont think nearly as much as a healthy 7 footer who can protect the rim and hit 3's.
If healthy, Williams will always have a consistent 30 mpg, he can easily play alongside Porzingis. Horford will have his minutes affected, which isnt a bad thing. The Celtics have been consistently better when Williams is on the floor over the last few years.

[hauntedcomputer]

Tatum has the keys without Smart trying to take the wheel now. Time to see if he's a bus driver.

The other stuff is less important. I would've taken the risk, too, because they obviously had fatal flaws before. There might be new flaws now, but no sense running that group back. The good thing about making changes is that is okay to make some more changes as you go.

[Fencer reregistered]

You don't win too often in this league without a DPOY candidate (past or present). Denver did it last year, but that's the first in forever. I don't like the idea of trading Smart for Porzingis either. Smart missed less games and has less knee, ankle, foot injuries to worry about.

Knid of looks like they should step back. But their guys are pretty young still.

The Celtics still have White (2nd team all-defense, ahead of Smart) and Timelord (2nd team all-defense the year before).

Yep. Like others I'm trying to figure out where and how they will play Timelord and if he gets enough minutes. I still think Smart is the better defender between him and White though, even if last year's accolades don't match up. I guess either fills the roll well though which is probabaly the point.

Not just accolades, but actual play. Smart is unmatched in defensive plays of pure physicality, like wresting a ball from an opponent's hands or successfully battling somebody bigger. But those are actually pretty rare, and he seemed to do less of them last season than in previous years.

The one area in which his defensive impact is probably underrated is that offenses were just spooked about throwing bad passes against a team with Smart and Tatum on it. So Smart and Tatum got fewer of those kinds of steals (and I'd guess also deflections) than before, but surely gave up something harder to quantify in return.

[ATLTimekeeper]

The East is pretty weak this year, so unless there's a surprise contender I think this Boston team can sleepwalk to a 1st seed. I wouldn't be confident in their playoff chances with all those health concerns.

[bisme37]

I will def miss Smarty and Grant. Love both those guys.

I'd agree Smart was the leader of the team but it's not like anyone ever assigned him that position. We haven't had a team captain for quite a while. It's just he had the loudest voice and was the one who called teammates/coaches out in the media and put himself front and center. For good and for bad.

So I'm looking forward to seeing a jump in leadership from Tatum. And Brown too. Those guys are hitting their prime and it's their team. And I think a change in voice/leadership will be beneficial. And Grampa Horford is still around to keep guys' heads on straight.

Then on the court, imo the biggest problem with the C's lately has been inconsistency. And Smart was a part of that as the starting point guard. There were times when we needed the team to settle down and make the right play at the end of games and Smart was the one freaking out the most and making questionable plays. He's a dude you really want on your team, but maybe not as the guy running he show. White and Brogdon are ready to step up and we have Pritchard who's been deserving of a bigger role too. And Banton was signed as well.

As far as Porzingis goes he checks a lot of boxes on both ends and I'm hoping for a terrific contribution from him. The good news is we don't need to run him into the ground in the RS. I imagine they'll keep the minutes low on all 3 of KP, Horford and Timemachine. And hopefully they and the team will be ready to get over the hump and win a title when the time comes.

[TheHartBreakKid]

As much as I would love to see the Celtics take a step back, I can't confidently agree with that prediction.

There are a lot of unknowns. How Porzingis fits and his health being the obvious ones. If the Celtics can play the same type of synchronized, tough team defense with Porzingis, I think what he could bring obviously can put them on another level. It's a big IF though.

I have no doubt the Celtics will be better on offense. But will they maintain the defense at an elite level for the offense improvement for it to be worth it?

[Clav]

I think at the point of attack [from whoever the 1 is guarding], Boston have a lot of questions to answer this year. Smart was a pivotal part of that defense and now it falls on Brogdon and lesser defenders. However, as far as wing and post defense are concerned I think they will be fine. Zinger is an imposing threat in the paint and that helps when Horford and Brown/Tatum are on the wing. This team has a high ceiling for sure. We know they are offensively dangerous.

Hoping for health with Horford and Porzingis because if either, or both, miss some significant time it will be a rough going on the defensive end. I'm pretty confident that Brown and Tatum will improve this year even more. Especially if Brown is improving on his dribbling and control.

[Karate Diop]

You don't win too often in this league without a DPOY candidate (past or present). Denver did it last year, but that's the first in forever. I don't like the idea of trading Smart for Porzingis either. Smart missed less games and has less knee, ankle, foot injuries to worry about.

Knid of looks like they should step back. But their guys are pretty young still.

I feel like everyone argued with Celtics fans about how over-rated Smart was (rightly so in my opinion) and now that he's gone, everyone keeps preaching his importance to that team. It doesn't really make sense to me. White was way better than Smart on the defensive end last year and made all defense second team. Timelord was the real DPOY the previous year anyways if it had to be a Celtic.

Outside of the Porzingis fit, I actually think Timelord's diminishing role is the real risk to the Celtics' success next year.

Actually seems like the opposite is happening. Celtics fans claimed for years that Smart was their heart and soul a better than the numbers guy, someone they could always rely on in the playoffs now they're doing the standard Boston two-step and pretending that he was never good.

No offense but this is how Boston treats all their players when they leave. They put them on the pedestal when they're in town once they're out it's a complete 180.

[Patsfan1081]

Possibly. Porzingis isn't reliable. You traded for a guy who has had major injury issues his whole career. Having him healthy for a deep playoff run isn't likely.

It feels like most teams are reliant on guys being healthy to make deep runs. Lakers, Suns, Clips, Sixers, Miami if they get Dame……..all have stars that have had injury issues. You not only need talent but luck to win a title.

[Riverwalk2021]

White is an overall upgrade over Smart especially in clutch time. Smart is a good player but to me, he would be best off the bench in a more limited role. White's ascension made Smart expendable and the Celtics will be better for it. Grant Williams regressed last season, looked heavier, and talked/complained too much for a limited role player. His best attributes or his corner 3 and paint defense but he's very limited on both ends.

Porzingis should be the perfect fit to bust Miami's zone. He reminds me of Pau Gasol, a talented big man who was labeled overrated until he got traded to an ideal situation with the Lakers and put them over the top. Although the Lakers had Phil Jackson and we have Mazzulla, one of the worst coaches in the NBA and that is tough to overcome even if you have the best roster. We saw how adjustments or lack thereof cost the C's in the POs in tight games. Jaylen Brown was also the worst player in the ECFs. That didn't help either

At the end of the day, the C's will be measured by what they do in the POs. Anything short of a title qualifies as a disappointment. I think Brown is gone if they don't at least make the Finals and they try to pair Tatum with another 'star' + their plethora of picks.