Trade/Free Agency Thread 2023-24, part 12 is my favorite thread. Out of a dozen...

[tfribs45]

It gave the Celtics a chance at a title. They weren't winning with the same core of Smart Brown and Tatum coming back. I get that no one does "winning plays" like Marcus but he also can shoot the team out of games.

Smart was gone regardless, despite posters here telling me that Brad would never move him.

And thank god. I still stand by the fact he was a big reason for this team being good but also a big reason why they never got over the hump.

a handful of you guys want to blame Smart for not winning a chip LMAO. How about the J's put their big boy pants on and lead the team! Mazzulla single handedly screwed this unit last year with amateur hour on the sidelines / "coaching". Miami played bully ball and we folded, 9 out of 10 times JB would disappear and JT deferred to Marcus. The lights were a little too bright for our "studs" .

No excuses this year.... this unit is stacked, especially with the addition of Jrue! Banner 18 or bust IMO. The only question is who are the leaders of the hate club going to blame on our roster this year? The Fall Guy is gone now boyeeeeeee . Go C's!

[Fierce1]

Yes, no excuses this season.

And it's also a fact that the Cs never won a chip with Marcus Smart as the lead guard.

[Fierce1]

The Marcus Smart debate will only end once the Cs win a chip.

[BK_2020]

Smart was gone regardless, despite posters here telling me that Brad would never move him.

And thank god. I still stand by the fact he was a big reason for this team being good but also a big reason why they never got over the hump.

a handful of you guys want to blame Smart for not winning a chip LMAO. How about the J's put their big boy pants on and lead the team! Mazzulla single handedly screwed this unit last year with amateur hour on the sidelines / "coaching". Miami played bully ball and we folded, 9 out of 10 times JB would disappear and JT deferred to Marcus. The lights were a little too bright for our "studs" .

No excuses this year.... this unit is stacked, especially with the addition of Jrue! Banner 18 or bust IMO. The only question is who are the leaders of the hate club going to blame on our roster this year? The Fall Guy is gone now boyeeeeeee . Go C's!

What exactly is your definition of "Bully Ball"? Miami shot a bunch of threes and played junk defense. They shot 20 fewer free throws than the Celtics. We had almost twice as many blocks, more total rebounds and 12 more offensive boards.
They won because they shot 43% from the three and we shot 30%. Bully ball had nothing to do with it.

[Edit] Just to show how huge the 3pt% discrepancy is, if Miami shot our percentages, they would've scored ~80 points less over the 7 game series. If we shot Miami's percentages, we would've scored ~100 points more over the 7 game series.

[MeanGeraldGreen]

Just sign Pierce at this point.

Edit: I’m dead serious.

Read on Twitter

[165bows]

Just sign Pierce at this point.

Edit: I’m dead serious.

Read on Twitter

Pierce's 19/6/5 at age 35 (his last Boston season) was a crazy productive season at an age where most guys are smoked if not long gone.

[tfribs45]

And thank god. I still stand by the fact he was a big reason for this team being good but also a big reason why they never got over the hump.

a handful of you guys want to blame Smart for not winning a chip LMAO. How about the J's put their big boy pants on and lead the team! Mazzulla single handedly screwed this unit last year with amateur hour on the sidelines / "coaching". Miami played bully ball and we folded, 9 out of 10 times JB would disappear and JT deferred to Marcus. The lights were a little too bright for our "studs" .

No excuses this year.... this unit is stacked, especially with the addition of Jrue! Banner 18 or bust IMO. The only question is who are the leaders of the hate club going to blame on our roster this year? The Fall Guy is gone now boyeeeeeee . Go C's!

What exactly is your definition of "Bully Ball"? Miami shot a bunch of threes and played junk defense. They shot 20 fewer free throws than the Celtics. We had almost twice as many blocks, more total rebounds and 12 more offensive boards.
They won because they shot 43% from the three and we shot 30%. Bully ball had nothing to do with it.

[Edit] Just to show how huge the 3pt% discrepancy is, if Miami shot our percentages, they would've scored ~80 points less over the 7 game series. If we shot Miami's percentages, we would've scored ~100 points more over the 7 game series.

Miami has been a thorn in this young C's A$$. The main topic was the blame game for Smart..... When the lights have been bright vs the Heat, Miami has had the advantage and Butler has owned us in the past. Call it bully ball, their culture, whatever you get the point.

[bigfoot_cryptozoology]

Right now, Tatum is on top of the Boston sports roost,
but there seems to be a lot of chatter about the Red Sox
signing Ohtani. They definitely should ink him, they need a supreme lifeline
and he's the best in the business,
though it will dethrone Jayson as the Number One Boston athlete.

It all speaks to how quickly things can change in sports, it's very dynamic,
this ebb and flow, and highlights the laughable nature of 6 year windows.
As so many have noted, it's just a one year window, especially with the number
of impact free agents who could be available after the season and the possibility
that they may very well be inclined to deal Brown with both both Holiday and White
extended.

[MeanGeraldGreen]

I personally think a big issue against the Heat was that in the 51 minutes without Tatum on the court, the team had a -29.0 net rating. I also personally think that with Holiday and Porzingis, something like that will not be an issue.

[Fierce1]

Miami is a thing of the past.

If the Cs played Miami in the 1st rnd, semis, and east finals, Cs would win all 3 rounds.

[chakdaddy]

That's what they said about Miami going into the play in last year.

[Fierce1]

That's what they said about Miami going into the play in last year.

This season Miami will be a different team.

Last season was a fluke.

They just got hot at the right time.

[MeanGeraldGreen]

Miami is a thing of the past.

Florida isn’t a sunken lost civilization, yet.

[La Flame]

That's what they said about Miami going into the play in last year.

This season Miami will be a different team.

Last season was a fluke.

They just got hot at the right time.

Miami is ass and was ass last year. Just an incredibly soft celtic team last year.

[165bows]

That's what they said about Miami going into the play in last year.

I def said that last year lol.

[Hal14]

I think that going into the season, Boston and Milwaukee are ahead of Miami but I wouldn't underrate MIami too much.

They used this roster to beat us in 7 games:
C Bam
F Love
Wing Martin
Wing Butler
G Vincent

Bench: Strus, Lowry, Duncan Robinson, Zeller, Highsmith

Now, going into this season they have this roster:
C Bam
F Martin
F Butler
G Herro
G Lowry

Bench: J-rich, Love, Duncan Robinson, Highsmith, Jovic, Jaquez, Thomas Bryant, Orlando Robinson, Jamaree Boyuea

I actually think the 2nd squad might be a little bit better. The starting lineup is probably a bit better now. You go from Love and Vincent to Herro and Lowry. Love and Lowry are both pretty much washed. But going from Vincent to Herro, you would think that's a pretty solid upgrade. The defense gets worse but the offense gets better.

As for the bench, I honestly don't think going from Strus to J-rich is much of a downgrade, if any. I think that's pretty much a wash. Both bench units have 3 or 4 proven vets off the bench. Whoever wins the backup big man battle between Bryant and Robinson (honestly, I think it'll be Orlando Robinson, dude was a beast in summer league, and I am no very high on Bryant) I think will probably be just as good as Zeller was for them, if not better.

And I think there's a decent chance that either Jovic or Jaquez emerges as a solid player off the bench for them.

Miami is still a dangerous team. Thing is, with how old Lowry, Love and Butler are, Spo is probably gonna load manage them quite a bit throughout the season. They probably won't have a top 3 or 4 seed again. And it'll be tough for them to keep doing this where they have to keep going on the road and beating higher seeded teams in the playoffs.

With Love, Lowry and Butler being another year older, I just don't know if they can pull it off again. It might get to the point where they are having to rely too much on those young, unproven guys (Orlando robinson, Jovic, Jaquez, Bouyea). At least some of the guys we have in our 7-15th man crew are a bit more proven in the NBA than them (Hauser, Pritchard, Brissett, Stevens, Gabriel, Kornet).

With Jrue and Porzingis added to our team, with 2nd year Joe and with Cassell and Lee on staff, we really should not lose to Miami in the playoffs this year.

[zoyathedestroya]

Read on Twitter

Hoping it’s the Heat.

[Fierce1]

That's what they said about Miami going into the play in last year.

This season Miami will be a different team.

Last season was a fluke.

They just got hot at the right time.

Miami is ass and was ass last year. Just an incredibly soft celtic team last year.

They were just 34.4% from 3pt land in the regular season.

In the playoffs they shot 38% from 3.

[bisme37]

Read on Twitter

Hoping it’s the Heat.

The state of NBA journalism lol. Shams in one of the best we've got and his report is:

a) "The Sixers will work to trade Harden." Which we've known for months.

b) The Clippers and Heat are "expected" to emerge in the process. Who expects that? Someone nameless who told Shams that.

[hugepatsfan]

Under the old CBA you could take an extra $100K over the TPE value? Does that still apply?

Otto Porter Jr. would fit into the Grant TPE if so. Old, injury prone. I get it. But there's a reason I'm suggesting him as someone who'd be available for free. PF might be our lightest position in terms of guys who can play there, if you assume Horford and Porzingis will each spend most of their time at the 5 even when both are active. It's just Tatum and Brissett and even Brissett is undersized there.

Also, for the more future transaction minded folks, OPJ and Pritchard would be a nice little expiring salary package at the deadline if there's something available.