OldCeltics wrote:bisme37 wrote:I didn't like the Theis trade but Ainge got a 20 pt scorer for two 2nd round picks. That's not a fail.
Don't really care about Gordon and Vuc. Not sure why we wanted to become the Orlando Magic.
Team basketball is all about fit, and doing your job. KG was interior roaming PF defensive anchor. Pierce was the slasher. Ray Allen was the sniper. Rondo and Perkins were defensive oriented players.
People on this board have to understand, you can have five 20 pt scoring guards, and it won't make a difference. There is just 1 ball, and 1 person shoots this ball.
You are right about defense normally being very important. Other than perhaps a Nets like attack when the Nets won't have to probably face a truly great all around team like the Duncan/Leonard/Manu/Parker Spurs, very tough to win a championship without good defense.
One thing about this trade, even though Fournier is not a very good defender, his presence may allow Tatum/Smart/Brown to play closer to their full capabilities on defense. Takes pressure off of their scoring. NBA players have just so much energy and someone like Tatum this year has had to work a little harder for his shots at least from what I have seen...that may impact effort on defense even if Tatum didn't suffer from covid.
As for Theis, from what I saw at least, he appeared to normally be a floor raising but ceiling lowering defender. I like his contributions for the small salary but I didn't want him in the rotation medium term so this change even if it leads to losses instead of wins from my perspective is not a hindrance medium to long term.
And Celtics even if they wanted Theis back next year in a bench role...chances of having him next year for a reasonable price probably only increased with this trade. If he doesn't do very well with his new team, he won't get the huge raise on his existing salary that some fans expected.
