Trade all the young backups for picks and bring in the vets

[cfan79]

Why would you trade Pruitt? He's looked good when he has played, and he is still very young. I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes one of the top 2 reserves on Boston within 2 years. I think we've had 4 or 5 threads about the bench within 24 hours. Do we really need this many?

I like him, but he's not going to help us this year and probably won't next year. We only have a certain time window to get titles. I don't care if we are like the Thunder once the Big 3 retires as long as they've gotten the most titles they could.

[elrod enchilada]

My sentiments as well. Pruitt, POB, Walker and Giddens have little trade value and have potential upside. It makes no sense to trade them at all. Use Big Baby and Cassell and Scal as far as I am concerned.

I think if we cannot deal for a big, we really have little to lose by playing POB a shift or two every game, ideally with Rondo on the floor. Maybe the last four minutes of the 1st and 3rd quarter. I say that because I think we are going to struggle if Big Baby is playing very much come April and May, home court notwithstanding. There may not be a June.

As for POB, I am not certain his turnovers are due to bad hands. Guys with bad hands (see Kleine, Joe) tend not to be very good rebounders on a per-minute basis. POB seems careless more than anything, with passes and with offensive moves. He gets his turnovers because he is trying to do too much. We have to hope experience will lessen the turnovers, He is always going to be a bit of a turnover machine, but he need to cut the number to stay on the floor.

Pogue, a query: what is your take on Varejao and Ben Gordon, and whether they would be guys to consider for the MLE slot in summer 2009?

[cfan79]

Do we really need to develop talent? We've already got 2 starters that are young and will be with us for a long time. Bill Walker is the only other young guy I can see keeping. He looks like he could be really good and has an nba-ready body. The rest are either too short, too skinny or at a position where there is better veteran options.

[cfan79]

Doesn't sound crazy to me...give them a month of practice.

It'd definitely be interesting haha

With the way our bench has been playing the 1960's Celtics could beat them.

How about this trade? I think its been on the board multiple times. Unless it was just in my head next to playboy bunnies and silly putty which is possible.

Baby, Tony Allen and Scala

for

Joe Smith and a future 2nd rounder

New Roster

Perkins/Mourning/Powe
KG/Joe Smith
Pierce/A.Walker
R.Allen/House/B.Walker
Rondo/Marbury/Cassell

[elrod enchilada]

Of the four plausible prospects -- POB, Pruitt, Walker, Giddens -- it is likely that only one or maybe two will ever be viable rotation players. (Or they could all be out of the league in two or three years. Likewise one of the four may become a quality starter.) But we do not know which one, so let's keep them all for now. Why trade them or release them? They have almost no trade value as is. Trading one of them will not be the key to landing a vet, as far as I can see. And their salaries are all minimum wage.

I disagree that we can only project Walker as a legitmate prospect at this point. I think all four have the physical tools to be quality NBA players. On paper, if one looked at ht, wt, length, coordination, speed, quickness, etc each of these four has the requirements one would want from a prospect projected as a high number one pick. They have the physical necessities to play their positions at a high level. (There are no Darren Morningstars or Steve Hamers in the bunch.) But lots of young players do, and most do not succeed at the NBA level. The issue for each is how their skill set develops, bb IQ and work ethic. Patience seems to be the order of the day. We have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

[cfan79]

But we do not know which one, so let's keep them all for now. Why trade them or release them? They have almost no trade value as is. Trading one of them will not be the key to landing a vet, as far as I can see. And their salaries are all minimum wage.

I see your point E, its hard to determine which players will step up. If we can make a trade to open up spots then I'd be all for keeping the one's with the most potential. But we can't however keep players that would effect our chances of acquiring vets that can help us this season.

[cfan79]

for instance with the Joe Smith trade above we could hold onto

O'Bryant, Powe, B.Walker, Giddens

Perkins/Mourning/O'Bryant
KG/Joe Smith/Powe
Pierce/A.Walker/B.Walker
R.Allen/House/Giddens
Rondo/Marbury/Cassell

I don't think that the Thunder will want to trade Joe Smith to us though. Other teams can offer more. So that's why we may need to trade the young guys for picks and just sign vets.