Smart2Nesmith43 wrote:Oh look the Celtics keep sending out picks to get rid of legit NBA players but people are going to keep pretending that Bill Chisholm is serious about winning and that the cost cutting moves were about the "basketball penalties" of the second apron. Well at least Bill's accountant is happy. Good luck to Georges Niang on his new team.
I’m still confused by posts like this, no offense (honestly). Do people actually want to win this season? We need a way to lose while keeping Brown, White, and PP. Depleting the bigs and reducing depth to players on rookie contracts is how you do it.
I’ll be more worried about this when Tatum is back, and they still operate this way.
I'm a Boston Celtics fan not a Bill Chisholm's accountants fan. I care more about the product the Celtics put on the floor than the balance sheet of the owner's personal estate. So yes to answer your question I root for the Celtics to win basketball games. Not sure why that's a controversial take here.
People have been telling me everything is fine, the new owners are going to spend money, they just want to get out the second apron for basketball reasons. My point has been from the moment the ownership group was announced that these are not people that care about spending money to win NBA championships, no matter the amount of PR spin they want to apply. Excuse me if I don't cheer the systemic destruction of the best team the Celtics have had in the last 15+ years so that the vulture capitalists from Sixth Street can line their pockets. Today is another piece of evidence that I'm a lot closer to the truth than those folks considering the Celtics just threw away a couple picks to get rid of salary AFTER they already dipped below the second apron (and spoiler alert, I don't think they are done).
But fine let's accept your premise that the Celtics should aim to lose games this season and that somehow Georges Niang was going to win them too many games. Why throw assets out the door to get rid of him ? Just tell him to stay home or cut him. This was done with a single goal in mind which is to shed his salary and considering the Celtics were already below the second apron there was no reason to do so. Except to save the owners money. Why are you happy the Celtics are throwing away picks to save the owners money instead of using them to improve the team when you seem so invested in tanking and the draft in general ?
Time will tell (I know less than nothing about the owners) but I don't think it's fair to make that assumption based on this offseason. If Tatum was healthy and they were cutting salary like mad I feel like I'd be closer to agreeing with you though even then I could see getting under the second apron in order to prepare for more all in attempts in the near future. One thing about the Niang move is it made room to sign an arguably better player that fills a bigger need in Boucher and still left us with more space below the 2nd apron, that feels like it was well worth some seconds. I'm not saying you're wrong about the owners, just saying it's probably too early to fairly judge.
No, he's a solid if unspectacular pro. Sorry he had to go, but Boucher is a better player.
"Numbers lie alot. Wins and losses don't lie." - Jerry West
"You are what your record says you are."- Bill Parcells
"Offense sells tickets. Defense wins games. Rebounding wins championships." Pat Summit
DarkAzcura wrote: I’m still confused by posts like this, no offense (honestly). Do people actually want to win this season? We need a way to lose while keeping Brown, White, and PP. Depleting the bigs and reducing depth to players on rookie contracts is how you do it.
I’ll be more worried about this when Tatum is back, and they still operate this way.
I'm a Boston Celtics fan not a Bill Chisholm's accountants fan. I care more about the product the Celtics put on the floor than the balance sheet of the owner's personal estate. So yes to answer your question I root for the Celtics to win basketball games. Not sure why that's a controversial take here.
People have been telling me everything is fine, the new owners are going to spend money, they just want to get out the second apron for basketball reasons. My point has been from the moment the ownership group was announced that these are not people that care about spending money to win NBA championships, no matter the amount of PR spin they want to apply. Excuse me if I don't cheer the systemic destruction of the best team the Celtics have had in the last 15+ years so that the vulture capitalists from Sixth Street can line their pockets. Today is another piece of evidence that I'm a lot closer to the truth than those folks considering the Celtics just threw away a couple picks to get rid of salary AFTER they already dipped below the second apron (and spoiler alert, I don't think they are done).
But fine let's accept your premise that the Celtics should aim to lose games this season and that somehow Georges Niang was going to win them too many games. Why throw assets out the door to get rid of him ? Just tell him to stay home or cut him. This was done with a single goal in mind which is to shed his salary and considering the Celtics were already below the second apron there was no reason to do so. Except to save the owners money. Why are you happy the Celtics are throwing away picks to save the owners money instead of using them to improve the team when you seem so invested in tanking and the draft in general ?
Time will tell (I know less than nothing about the owners) but I don't think it's fair to make that assumption based on this offseason. If Tatum was healthy and they were cutting salary like mad I feel like I'd be closer to agreeing with you though even then I could see getting under the second apron in order to prepare for more all in attempts in the near future. One thing about the Niang move is it made room to sign an arguably better player that fills a bigger need in Boucher and still left us with more space below the 2nd apron, that feels like it was well worth some seconds. I'm not saying you're wrong about the owners, just saying it's probably too early to fairly judge.
I understand the sentiments expressed by S2N43, looking at this trade specifically. I'll wait to see what other dominos fall but I wasn't happy they felt so compelled to deal Niang now that they sent draft capital away. Getting under the 2nd apron this season after Tatum's injury is a basketball focused decision as much as it is financial, IMO. But anything else is certainly worth holding to a microscope.
I support trading Niang, let me be clear. This is an audition season. I think they should have spots 8, 9, 10 filled by Garza, Minott, and Scheierman (with Walsh getting frequent cameos when they can get in 11). And I was concerned about the rover role. Hal is right, Boucher subject to being overpowered, but he's a weakside shot blocker and very good blocking 3's. Jaylen Brown is going to have to really take Tatum's role on defense and throw his weight around.
Final thought, will be interesting to try to figure out how they MIGHT plan to use that Niang TPE as a trade asset?
Smart2Nesmith43 wrote:I'm a Boston Celtics fan not a Bill Chisholm's accountants fan. I care more about the product the Celtics put on the floor than the balance sheet of the owner's personal estate. So yes to answer your question I root for the Celtics to win basketball games. Not sure why that's a controversial take here.
People have been telling me everything is fine, the new owners are going to spend money, they just want to get out the second apron for basketball reasons. My point has been from the moment the ownership group was announced that these are not people that care about spending money to win NBA championships, no matter the amount of PR spin they want to apply. Excuse me if I don't cheer the systemic destruction of the best team the Celtics have had in the last 15+ years so that the vulture capitalists from Sixth Street can line their pockets. Today is another piece of evidence that I'm a lot closer to the truth than those folks considering the Celtics just threw away a couple picks to get rid of salary AFTER they already dipped below the second apron (and spoiler alert, I don't think they are done).
But fine let's accept your premise that the Celtics should aim to lose games this season and that somehow Georges Niang was going to win them too many games. Why throw assets out the door to get rid of him ? Just tell him to stay home or cut him. This was done with a single goal in mind which is to shed his salary and considering the Celtics were already below the second apron there was no reason to do so. Except to save the owners money. Why are you happy the Celtics are throwing away picks to save the owners money instead of using them to improve the team when you seem so invested in tanking and the draft in general ?
Time will tell (I know less than nothing about the owners) but I don't think it's fair to make that assumption based on this offseason. If Tatum was healthy and they were cutting salary like mad I feel like I'd be closer to agreeing with you though even then I could see getting under the second apron in order to prepare for more all in attempts in the near future. One thing about the Niang move is it made room to sign an arguably better player that fills a bigger need in Boucher and still left us with more space below the 2nd apron, that feels like it was well worth some seconds. I'm not saying you're wrong about the owners, just saying it's probably too early to fairly judge.
I understand the sentiments expressed by S2N43, looking at this trade specifically. I'll wait to see what other dominos fall but I wasn't happy they felt so compelled to deal Niang now that they sent draft capital away. Getting under the 2nd apron this season after Tatum's injury is a basketball focused decision as much as it is financial, IMO. But anything else is certainly worth holding to a microscope.
I support trading Niang, let me be clear. This is an audition season. I think they should have spots 8, 9, 10 filled by Garza, Minott, and Scheierman (with Walsh getting frequent cameos when they can get in 11). And I was concerned about the rover role. Hal is right, Boucher subject to being overpowered, but he's a weakside shot blocker and very good blocking 3's. Jaylen Brown is going to have to really take Tatum's role on defense and throw his weight around.
Final thought, will be interesting to try to figure out how they MIGHT plan to use that Niang TPE as a trade asset?
The new owners don't want to pay NBA players they already have on the roster or indeed that are incoming (see how the draft was handled). What makes you think they want to add NBA players that aren't on their rosters without sending out at least as much salary ?
A quick reminder of the timeline of the new ownership group
- Owners come in making noise about being willing to spend to hang banners. - After a couple weeks, owners start hinting in the media that actually the goal is to get out the second apron this summer. - Celtics trade away Jrue Holiday for Anfernee Simons and a couple seconds. - Celtics trade away Kristaps Porzingis and a second rounder for Georges Niang and a future second rounder. - Celtics select Hugo Gonzalez with pick #28. - Celtics trade away #32 pick which would have expect a four year deal with at least the first couple seasons for late second rounders they can use on guys willing to accept two way deals and a couple of future second rounders. - Celtics select Amari Williams with pick #46. - Celtics select Max Shulga with pick #57. - Reports come out that the Celtics were trying to find players willing to take less than the full rookie scale contract with their first round pick. - Celtics let Luke Kornet (and probably Al Horford) leave in free agency. - Celtics sign Luka Garza to a minimum deal. - Celtics sign Josh Minott to a minimum deal. - Blazers amend the Holiday trade after his medical to rescind the two seconds going to Boston. - Celtics cut JD Davison. - Once the Celtics are out the second apron, rumors start circulating that actually the goal is to get out of the tax entirely. - Celtics trade away Georges Niang and two second round picks for RJ Luis Jr. - Celtics sign Chris Boucher to a minimum deal.
I'm almost impressed by how well the PR has been handled to gradually condition the fans to accept lower and lower payroll numbers as the optimal target to hit so that the Celtics can contend 'soon'.
Spoiler:
Still to come
- Celtics find a way to get under the tax line by the deadline by continuing to shed assets and talent. - Tatum comes back from injury. - Celtics enter the offseason with no cap space, limited assets and no matching salary to use in trades (since Tatum, White and Brown aren't on the move with the Celtics 'contending' again). - Ownership makes a big show of saying they tried to add to this team but other teams weren't willing to engage. Which makes total sense because why would they give away cheap (remember the Celtics don't have anything left to use to match salaries), good players to the Celtics for crappy assets ? Thats exactly what ownership wanted to set up when they forced Stevens to get rid of all the players with mid to high salaries during the 2025-2026 offseason. Fanbase buys the excuse instead of holding them accountable for the myriad cost cutting moves of the last 12+ months that boxed them into that situation. - Celtics roll into 2026-2027 with limited payroll. - Rinse and repeat the next offseason. - Within the following couple seasons, White gets traded because he is getting up there in age and the Celtics want to go with guys that are 'more aligned with Tatum's timeline'. - Then, after a couple of seasons of fake competing with Tatum and Brown and a bunch of scrubs, ownership mandates a major shake up and Jaylen gets traded because that's the realistic move they have to add a star next to Tatum. - Trading one flawed star for another doesn't really change the team's fortune. After giving it a couple go with this new configuration, Tatum, now in his early-mid thirties can see the writing on the wall and asks out to play for contender. - Presumably by that point, at least Sixth Street and probably more members of the ownership group, realize they are halfway through the new media deal, that the next one isn't going to be nearly as big and franchise valuations might go down soon so it's time to cash out. - Celtics get a new ownership group that might be willing to pay to field a winner which won't matter because the Celtics will be out of talent and assets by then.
Y'all better hope that Stevens can find a future all star caliber player late in the first round or some other piece of GMing magic because this run is over otherwise. If you find this assessment to be far too bleak, I'm consistently one of the most optimistic posters here so this isn't me being a spoiled brat and constantly whining about everything.
I generally agree with the above even to the point that the whole ‘Wyc had daddy’s credit card’ story seems shady in hindsight.
Counterpoint is they didn’t do the most obvious cost cutting. Which is dump the first round pick and sign three 2nd round guys to the leagues bottom basement contract which would have saved the $4M in salary that would have made dumping Simons and getting under the tax substantially easier.
Smart2Nesmith43 wrote: If you find this assessment to be far too bleak, I'm consistently one of the most optimistic posters here so this isn't me being a spoiled brat and constantly whining about everything.[/spoiler]
You're definitely not one of the whiners which is why I made it a point to disagree respectfully rather than my usual douche-baggery. You may end up being right but I feel like you're making a lot of predictions off of a small sample size that can also be explained by the convergence of impending 2nd apron penalties and Tatum's likely lost season.
My perspective is I would have been surprised and concerned if there wasn't a massive salary shed this off season. I thought teams were going to hold our feet to the fire understanding that it badly needed to happen and have been happily surprised that we didn't have to use any 1st rounders to shed Jrue and KP. If Tatum was healthy I don't think it would have happened this offseason but it would have had to happen no matter what within the next couple, it's inevitable with the current CBA. By attacking it now we stand a better chance of being able to go all in again when JT is healthy and still in his prime rather than hanging on to aging players. We still have some role players on decent contracts and we have all(?) of our 1st rounders but more importantly we'll have more freedom to use them by resetting the incremental penalties.
The other aspect of this is the lost players in Jrue, KP, Al, and Luke. KP is never healthy and if he ever is whoever bet on it should be rich. Jrue fell off this season due to nagging injuries and age and while he still is a big loss due to all the little things he does he had a big contract and he'll be 37 in 26-27, our next reasonable shot at competing for a title. Al has turned into one of my all time favorites but he'll be 41 in 26-27. I also am a big Luke fan but he's pretty replaceable and getting out of the penalty is more valuable for this season. The guys we lost weren't going to gain in trade value, weren't going to be as strong (other than Luke) when it mattered, and would have been harder to move with the apron penalties.
Smart2Nesmith43 wrote: If you find this assessment to be far too bleak, I'm consistently one of the most optimistic posters here so this isn't me being a spoiled brat and constantly whining about everything.[/spoiler]
You're definitely not one of the whiners which is why I made it a point to disagree respectfully rather than my usual douche-baggery. You may end up being right but I feel like you're making a lot of predictions off of a small sample size that can also be explained by the convergence of impending 2nd apron penalties and Tatum's likely lost season.
My perspective is I would have been surprised and concerned if there wasn't a massive salary shed this off season. I thought teams were going to hold our feet to the fire understanding that it badly needed to happen and have been happily surprised that we didn't have to use any 1st rounders to shed Jrue and KP. If Tatum was healthy I don't think it would have happened this offseason but it would have had to happen no matter what within the next couple, it's inevitable with the current CBA. By attacking it now we stand a better chance of being able to go all in again when JT is healthy and still in his prime rather than hanging on to aging players. We still have some role players on decent contracts and we have all(?) of our 1st rounders but more importantly we'll have more freedom to use them by resetting the incremental penalties.
The other aspect of this is the lost players in Jrue, KP, Al, and Luke. KP is never healthy and if he ever is whoever bet on it should be rich. Jrue fell off this season due to nagging injuries and age and while he still is a big loss due to all the little things he does he had a big contract and he'll be 37 in 26-27, our next reasonable shot at competing for a title. Al has turned into one of my all time favorites but he'll be 41 in 26-27. I also am a big Luke fan but he's pretty replaceable and getting out of the penalty is more valuable for this season. The guys we lost weren't going to gain in trade value, weren't going to be as strong (other than Luke) when it mattered, and would have been harder to move with the apron penalties.
IMO the key indicator will be what assets they accumulate to facilitate trades for next year. So far there's the 22mm Porzingis TPE and the 8mm TPE from this trade. 8mm TPE is NOT what I'd consider a major 26-27 asset in trade, but if they use it to fit in a player in trade this year that is signed for next year or if it's used to create a significant TPE in a Simons trade by the deadline, Brad is back in my good graces lol.
Smart2Nesmith43 wrote: If you find this assessment to be far too bleak, I'm consistently one of the most optimistic posters here so this isn't me being a spoiled brat and constantly whining about everything.[/spoiler]
You're definitely not one of the whiners which is why I made it a point to disagree respectfully rather than my usual douche-baggery. You may end up being right but I feel like you're making a lot of predictions off of a small sample size that can also be explained by the convergence of impending 2nd apron penalties and Tatum's likely lost season.
My perspective is I would have been surprised and concerned if there wasn't a massive salary shed this off season. I thought teams were going to hold our feet to the fire understanding that it badly needed to happen and have been happily surprised that we didn't have to use any 1st rounders to shed Jrue and KP. If Tatum was healthy I don't think it would have happened this offseason but it would have had to happen no matter what within the next couple, it's inevitable with the current CBA. By attacking it now we stand a better chance of being able to go all in again when JT is healthy and still in his prime rather than hanging on to aging players. We still have some role players on decent contracts and we have all(?) of our 1st rounders but more importantly we'll have more freedom to use them by resetting the incremental penalties.
The other aspect of this is the lost players in Jrue, KP, Al, and Luke. KP is never healthy and if he ever is whoever bet on it should be rich. Jrue fell off this season due to nagging injuries and age and while he still is a big loss due to all the little things he does he had a big contract and he'll be 37 in 26-27, our next reasonable shot at competing for a title. Al has turned into one of my all time favorites but he'll be 41 in 26-27. I also am a big Luke fan but he's pretty replaceable and getting out of the penalty is more valuable for this season. The guys we lost weren't going to gain in trade value, weren't going to be as strong (other than Luke) when it mattered, and would have been harder to move with the apron penalties.
IMO the key indicator will be what assets they accumulate to facilitate trades for next year. So far there's the 22mm Porzingis TPE and the 8mm TPE from this trade. 8mm TPE is NOT what I'd consider a major 26-27 asset in trade, but if they use it to fit in a player in trade this year that is signed for next year or if it's used to create a significant TPE in a Simons trade by the deadline, Brad is back in my good graces lol.
Brad's definitely in my good graces, lol. The ownership is a wait and see and believe me when I say I'm ready to turn on some rich (insert your favorite insult) investment guy at a moments notice. To really simplify it I think the ownership of a team should be willing to spend on a contender and without Tatum this season I don't think we are that and with the money tied up in injured and aging players I don't think we were the following season as constructed. I think the right moves are being made in a difficult to navigate cba, and of course I think that in the scope of my understanding of the cba which isn't nearly as strong as some of the board so...
Bad-Thoma wrote: You're definitely not one of the whiners which is why I made it a point to disagree respectfully rather than my usual douche-baggery. You may end up being right but I feel like you're making a lot of predictions off of a small sample size that can also be explained by the convergence of impending 2nd apron penalties and Tatum's likely lost season.
My perspective is I would have been surprised and concerned if there wasn't a massive salary shed this off season. I thought teams were going to hold our feet to the fire understanding that it badly needed to happen and have been happily surprised that we didn't have to use any 1st rounders to shed Jrue and KP. If Tatum was healthy I don't think it would have happened this offseason but it would have had to happen no matter what within the next couple, it's inevitable with the current CBA. By attacking it now we stand a better chance of being able to go all in again when JT is healthy and still in his prime rather than hanging on to aging players. We still have some role players on decent contracts and we have all(?) of our 1st rounders but more importantly we'll have more freedom to use them by resetting the incremental penalties.
The other aspect of this is the lost players in Jrue, KP, Al, and Luke. KP is never healthy and if he ever is whoever bet on it should be rich. Jrue fell off this season due to nagging injuries and age and while he still is a big loss due to all the little things he does he had a big contract and he'll be 37 in 26-27, our next reasonable shot at competing for a title. Al has turned into one of my all time favorites but he'll be 41 in 26-27. I also am a big Luke fan but he's pretty replaceable and getting out of the penalty is more valuable for this season. The guys we lost weren't going to gain in trade value, weren't going to be as strong (other than Luke) when it mattered, and would have been harder to move with the apron penalties.
IMO the key indicator will be what assets they accumulate to facilitate trades for next year. So far there's the 22mm Porzingis TPE and the 8mm TPE from this trade. 8mm TPE is NOT what I'd consider a major 26-27 asset in trade, but if they use it to fit in a player in trade this year that is signed for next year or if it's used to create a significant TPE in a Simons trade by the deadline, Brad is back in my good graces lol.
Brad's definitely in my good graces, lol. The ownership is a wait and see and believe me when I say I'm ready to turn on some rich (insert your favorite insult) investment guy at a moments notice. To really simplify it I think the ownership of a team should be willing to spend on a contender and without Tatum this season I don't think we are that and with the money tied up in injured and aging players I don't think we were the following season as constructed. I think the right moves are being made in a difficult to navigate cba, and of course I think that in the scope of my understanding of the cba which isn't nearly as strong as some of the board so...
To be clear I'm not mad at Brad at all either. I think he has done a masterful job of navigating the incredibly difficult position the ownership has put him in. To shed this amount of salary with this CBA in place without using a single first round pick is remarkable. And of course there's the Hugo Gonzalez pick where I was certainly the most vocal person on the forum saying that the Celtics should (and would) pick him if available.
I can certainly understand saying that we don't have enough data to judge the new ownership group. My point of view is more based on the way the ownership group is structured and the knowledge of how vulture capitalists operate in the real world than their limited set of transactions so far. If people care to find my messages I was willing to give Chisholm the benefit of doubt when he was announced considering that he is a legit fan (recalling some obscure parts of Celtics lore in his introductory interviews, being from the area, etc.) but the moment I saw how the deal was structured and who was actually investing I knew where this was going. It's not great that every data point we have had since then is going in that direction.
This is the VC playbook. You buy a company. You slash costs usually at the expense of the long term health of the business (and/or sell off parts of the business but that's not really applicable here) and maintain or even increase prices to momentarily juice up the profits. Then you find a sucker to impress with your momentary profit bump to buy the company for even more money than you did and you cash that in as well. That's why I think there is the multi year plan to slash spending I detailed in my previous post and that they are going to try to cash out at the tail end of the Tatum era before the next tanking cycle where interest will obviously wane and the profits will drop (and far enough before the end of this new media deal that you can find a sucker that doesn't realize how much lower the next one is going to be).
Now to go back to 165bows' observation about actually making the #28 pick when it could have been traded. I think they are very intentional about trying to minimize fan backlash (especially in the wake of the disastrous PR handling of the Doncic trade by the Mavs) because ownership needs them to keep watching the games and buying merch to maximize profits. That's easier to do when you can spin what you are doing as a genuine attempt at contention gone wrong rather than blatant cost cutting. And nothing screams cost cutting more than trading out of both the #28 and the #32 picks. So they are going to cut spending but not so blatantly that'll piss off the fanbase.
Hopefully I'm wrong but I would be shocked if I am. Like darredaye said, the most obvious indications we'll get in the next few months is how willing they are to add long term salaries/create means to add long term salaries (like a large TPE). Right now they've done very little of that.
darrendaye wrote: IMO the key indicator will be what assets they accumulate to facilitate trades for next year. So far there's the 22mm Porzingis TPE and the 8mm TPE from this trade. 8mm TPE is NOT what I'd consider a major 26-27 asset in trade, but if they use it to fit in a player in trade this year that is signed for next year or if it's used to create a significant TPE in a Simons trade by the deadline, Brad is back in my good graces lol.
Brad's definitely in my good graces, lol. The ownership is a wait and see and believe me when I say I'm ready to turn on some rich (insert your favorite insult) investment guy at a moments notice. To really simplify it I think the ownership of a team should be willing to spend on a contender and without Tatum this season I don't think we are that and with the money tied up in injured and aging players I don't think we were the following season as constructed. I think the right moves are being made in a difficult to navigate cba, and of course I think that in the scope of my understanding of the cba which isn't nearly as strong as some of the board so...
To be clear I'm not mad at Brad at all either. I think he has done a masterful job of navigating the incredibly difficult position the ownership has put him in. To shed this amount of salary with this CBA in place without using a single first round pick is remarkable. And of course there's the Hugo Gonzalez pick where I was certainly the most vocal person on the forum saying that the Celtics should (and would) pick him if available.
I can certainly understand saying that we don't have enough data to judge the new ownership group. My point of view is more based on the way the ownership group is structured and the knowledge of how vulture capitalists operate in the real world than their limited set of transactions so far. If people care to find my messages I was willing to give Chisholm the benefit of doubt when he was announced considering that he is a legit fan (recalling some obscure parts of Celtics lore in his introductory interviews, being from the area, etc.) but the moment I saw how the deal was structured and who was actually investing I knew where this was going. It's not great that every data point we have had since then is going in that direction.
This is the VC playbook. You buy a company. You slash costs usually at the expense of the long term health of the business (and/or sell off parts of the business but that's not really applicable here) and maintain or even increase prices to momentarily juice up the profits. Then you find a sucker to impress with your momentary profit bump to buy the company for even more money than you did and you cash that in as well. That's why I think there is the multi year plan to slash spending I detailed in my previous post and that they are going to try to cash out at the tail end of the Tatum era before the next tanking cycle where interest will obviously wane and the profits will drop (and far enough before the end of this new media deal that you can find a sucker that doesn't realize how much lower the next one is going to be).
Now to go back to 165bows' observation about actually making the #28 pick when it could have been traded. I think they are very intentional about trying to minimize fan backlash (especially in the wake of the disastrous PR handling of the Doncic trade by the Mavs) because ownership needs them to keep watching the games and buying merch to maximize profits. That's easier to do when you can spin what you are doing as a genuine attempt at contention gone wrong rather than blatant cost cutting. And nothing screams cost cutting more than trading out of both the #28 and the #32 picks. So they are going to cut spending but not so blatantly that'll piss off the fanbase.
Hopefully I'm wrong but I would be shocked if I am. Like darredaye said, the most obvious indications we'll get in the next few months is how willing they are to add long term salaries/create means to add long term salaries (like a large TPE). Right now they've done very little of that.
All very fair and like I said, I'm ready to turn on these rich as*****s pretty quickly as I know the vulture capitalist playbook as well. Parasites on the economy. I'm just hoping that the Celtics aren't that kind of target for them because if that's the case I'll be done with basketball, the constant gambling ads and the progression to the 3pt-centric offenses are wearing thin as it is. I already ended up canceling cable during the season which I had only kept in order to watch the Celtics and the Pats, it just wasn't worth the cost anymore. It's the first time in over 20 years that I didn't watch almost all the games.
