Brad Stevens Thread – Finding The Way

[jmr07019]

Brown made the 39th most 3's in the league this year. Tatum made the 9th most. Sometimes people waaaaay over think these advanced stats. If you make more 3's than all but 8 guys you are a good 3 point shooter. No need to make it complicated.

I don't think we need someone to take the ball out of hands of Brown and Tatum as Bows suggest. I want better pressure relief valves for them. Guys who can make a shot without sacrificing the defense. If you are game planning for the Celtics you are more than happy to let everyone not named Tatum and Brown try and beat you.

Randle is the guy I really want. He has been miscast his entire career as a #1 guy but as a number 3 offensive option attacking mismatches he would be lethal. He should come cheap-ish in terms of what you need to give up to get him.

[BK_2020]

Grant and Pritchard are the only guys on our team above league average from 3 outside of the J's

Jaylen is 1% above league average for 3 point shooting % and Tatum is at league average. Neither is a good three point shooter, all things considered.

When Tatum was just another guy - for like 2 months as a rookie - who stood in the corner…..he shot nearly 60% from 3. He is so far above average that he is the primary focus of every defense that plays the Celtics. When compared to other guys like that….yeah he’s not as good as Curry or Booker but to see he isn’t good is ludicrous.

Yeah I agree with you and the others on Tatum. He would absolutely mog Grant Williams if he gets to shoot open shots in the corners.
I'm sticking with what I said on Jaylen, though. He is better than the likes of Grant Williams for sure, but he is just above average.

[165bows]

Brown made the 39th most 3's in the league this year. Tatum made the 9th most. Sometimes people waaaaay over think these advanced stats. If you make more 3's than all but 8 guys you are a good 3 point shooter. No need to make it complicated.

I don't think we need someone to take the ball out of hands of Brown and Tatum as Bows suggest. I want better pressure relief valves for them. Guys who can make a shot without sacrificing the defense. If you are game planning for the Celtics you are more than happy to let everyone not named Tatum and Brown try and beat you.

Randle is the guy I really want. He has been miscast his entire career as a #1 guy but as a number 3 offensive option attacking mismatches he would be lethal. He should come cheap-ish in terms of what you need to give up to get him.

Well I’m 1000% not saying we should return to the ball dominant PG days with a John Wall/Rondo/Westbrook style of guy that needs the ball all the time.

I am agreeing with what I believe patsfan is saying in that the offense would be really benefitted by a PG that can be an offensive threat along with putting guys in great spots to succeed, including the Js. Smart does a great job of it despite his scoring limitations. But you can see how the Bucks let him move, and move around him in a sense, rather than are forced towards him.

To bring this back around, I think Brad’s spending to bring in White is a statement of this, needing a guy that can play fast and get guys to their spots while attacking the basket. Problem is he and Smart as a pair just don’t present a huge shooting threat playing together so it allows defensive to sag more than they would otherwise.

[jmr07019]

Fair enough. I love the size of Smart Brown and Tatum on the perimeter. Putting a pg with those guys and downgrading size at 2, 3 or maybe even 4 positions is not something I am interested in at all. It will make our defense significantly worse. I acknowledge that having Smart Brown and Tatum as the perimeter guys does create a lack of ball handling but it is a negative I am willing to work around. I don't see it as a fatal flaw. Bringing a guy like White (who has great size for a pg) in off the bench could is a nice why to help our core guys.

[snowman]

I know Brad was just filling the end of the bench at the end of the regular season, but we have 5 regular roster spots and 2 2-ways that are in play for next season.

Kornet
Fitts
Morgan
Stauskas
Hauser
Thomas
Ryan

Hauser, Fitts, Stauskas and Morgan all have team options for next season, and Thomas has a qualifying offer. I have a very hard time believing any more than 2 of these will be with the Celtics next season. I feel Hauser and Stauskas have a chance, but that is really about it out of all seven. This is where Brad has the chance improve the roster this summer.

Kornet is known as a shooting big man but finished the regular season at .000 on 3 pointers, with 3 teams, granted over only 15 games, but not one single made 3 for the entire year. With an average of 6.9 minutes a game, he averaged 2 points and less than 2 rebounds a game at 7'1. As an example, Moses Brown, who we basically gave away, averaged 4+ points and 3+ rebounds in just 8.6 minutes a game last season. With Williams knee, and Horford's age, Brad MUST find better than Kornet.

Fitts and Morgan, basically identical stats, barely got off the bench except to wave a towel. Sure, they did good in G League, but these are our PF's to back up Horford and Grant. Again, Brad MUST find better than Morgan and Fitts.

Thomas and Ryan are going to be in direct competition with Stauskas and Hauser, not to mention Nesmith, and they will not come out on top over any of those three for regular roster spots. Brad can find better for the 2-ways.

Brad needs two basic improvements to the roster.
(1) A "bigger" big man to back up Williams and Horford than Grant and Theis for the rotation. Grant and Theis are fine against PF''s and switching onto smaller players but have a tough time against centers.
Possibility:
I would like to see Brad sign Thomas Bryant, 6'10, 248 lbs, unrestricted free agent from the Wizards. Don't know if we could get him for the mid level exemption because we can't do a sign and trade due to the fact that it would hard cap us.

(2) A "bigger" backup wing behind Tatum and Brown than Nesmith. Nesmith has yet to prove his worth, but I believe he will. However, he may be fine as a backup at SG behind Brown, but not backing up Tatum at forward.
Possibility:
I would like Brad to trade for Rudy Gay from Utah to back up Tatum. We may be able to get him for a 2nd round pick, since they may be wanting to cut salary. He makes 6.1 mil next year (and 6.4 mil player option in 23/24) and we could use the TPE created in the Hernangomez trade to take in the contract. Yes, he older, but he's proven he can still do it for 15-20 min a game, which is more than enough for backing up Tatum.

Possible line up:
PG: Smart, White, PP
SG: Brown, Nesmith, Stauskas
SF: Tatum, Gay, Hauser
PF: Horford, Grant, (FA or maybe Fitts or Morgan)
C: Timelord, Bryant, Theis

[darrendaye]

I know Brad was just filling the end of the bench at the end of the regular season, but we have 5 regular roster spots and 2 2-ways that are in play for next season.

Kornet
Fitts
Morgan
Stauskas
Hauser
Thomas
Ryan

Hauser, Fitts, Stauskas and Morgan all have team options for next season, and Thomas has a qualifying offer. I have a very hard time believing any more than 2 of these will be with the Celtics next season. I feel Hauser and Stauskas have a chance, but that is really about it out of all seven. This is where Brad has the chance improve the roster this summer.

Kornet is known as a shooting big man but finished the regular season at .000 on 3 pointers, with 3 teams, granted over only 15 games, but not one single made 3 for the entire year. With an average of 6.9 minutes a game, he averaged 2 points and less than 2 rebounds a game at 7'1. As an example, Moses Brown, who we basically gave away, averaged 4+ points and 3+ rebounds in just 8.6 minutes a game last season. With Williams knee, and Horford's age, Brad MUST find better than Kornet.

Fitts and Morgan, basically identical stats, barely got off the bench except to wave a towel. Sure, they did good in G League, but these are our PF's to back up Horford and Grant. Again, Brad MUST find better than Morgan and Fitts.

Thomas and Ryan are going to be in direct competition with Stauskas and Hauser, not to mention Nesmith, and they will not come out on top over any of those three. Brad MUST find better for the 2 position's I have listed below.

Brad needs two basic improvements to the roster.
(1) A "bigger" big man to back up Williams and Horford than Grant and Theis for the rotation. Grant and Theis are fine against PF''s and switching onto smaller players but have a tough time against centers.
Possibility:
I would like to see Brad sign Thomas Bryant, 6'10, 248 lbs, unrestricted free agent from the Wizards. Don't know if we could get him for the mid level exemption because we can't do a sign and trade due to the fact that it would hard cap us.

(2) A "bigger" backup wing behind Tatum and Brown than Nesmith. Nesmith has yet to prove his worth, but I believe he will. However, he may be fine as a backup at SG behind Brown, but not backing up Tatum at forward.
Possibility:
I would like Brad to trade for Rudy Gay from Utah to back up Tatum. We may be able to get him for a 2nd round pick, since they may be wanting to cut salary. He makes 6.1 mil next year (and 6.4 mil player option in 23/24) and we could use the TPE created in the Hernangomez trade to take in the contract. Yes, he older, but he's proven he can still do it for 15-20 min a game, which is more than enough for backing up Tatum.

Commenting on 2nd item first, I think if you get the right fit in item 1 it pushes Grant Williams into more SF minutes. He's taking baby steps in trying to create off the dribble. But I do agree with more size at the backup 3, but I believe this is where they ultimately get it.

I really like Thomas Bryant, love the energy he played with though I don't know if injury and age may have sapped that over time. He still seems to get criticism about his defense however. And though he has a standing reach over 9'4" I don't know if he's truly at a level to give Lopez a real challenge. But I 100% agree with you that this is a position that, if addressed, mitigates the rebounding struggle that materializes versus some matchups.

[ConstableGeneva]

I like Isaiah Hartenstein, Maxi Kleber, Smith guy in Indy or even Kevon Looney. Not sure if any of them are attainable. But they better trade Theis in this scenario. Can't be paying him that much as the 5th big.

[Smart2Nesmith43]

Pat Connaughton has a 5.7 million player option for next season. I wonder if he can get more on the open market (if he keeps up his level of play from this series he can for sure) and if the Celtics would be interested (probably for the midlevel).

Problem is we'd only be able to offer the mini-MLE of about $6.4M. MIL would have bird rights to match that and pay him more. If that's the modest raise he's opting out for, no reason for MIL not to match. The way he's playing, maybe he gets some offers for the full MLE of ~$10M. That could make it tougher on MIL luxury tax wise (because Portis could opt out for the same type of raise as well). But even in that event, we probably can't be the team offering him the full MLE.

We could waive/stretch Al Horford's partial guarantee (unless it becomes fuller guaranteed if we win it all) to open up the full MLE. But that seems very counterproductive as he's a better player and it would make for ugly dead money in future tax years.

Yeah I keep forgetting we don't have the full MLE, my bad. Agree you don't cut Horford to make room for Connaughton.

Brown made the 39th most 3's in the league this year. Tatum made the 9th most. Sometimes people waaaaay over think these advanced stats. If you make more 3's than all but 8 guys you are a good 3 point shooter. No need to make it complicated.

I don't think we need someone to take the ball out of hands of Brown and Tatum as Bows suggest. I want better pressure relief valves for them. Guys who can make a shot without sacrificing the defense. If you are game planning for the Celtics you are more than happy to let everyone not named Tatum and Brown try and beat you.

Randle is the guy I really want. He has been miscast his entire career as a #1 guy but as a number 3 offensive option attacking mismatches he would be lethal. He should come cheap-ish in terms of what you need to give up to get him.

I'm not sure I follow. Randle would single handedly sabotage the entire Celtics defense. It's also debatable as to wether he qualifies as a shotmaker. He certainly doesn't stretch defenses with his outside shooting which has been abysmal his entire career (except for a huge outlier the year he wanted to get paid).

I like Isaiah Hartenstein, Maxi Kleber, Smith guy in Indy or even Kevon Looney. Not sure if any of them are attainable. But they better trade Theis in this scenario. Can't be paying him that much as the 5th big.

All good suggestions. Hartenstein, Smith and Looney are all UFA. Kleber has a 9.25m non guaranteed year left (with 500k in unlikely incentives) which I can't see Dallas declining. I can't really see Looney leaving Golden State, he already has 7 seasons and 2 titles there, with a few more years he can low key be a candidate to have his jersey retired there. Clippers are already paying Kawhi, George, Morris, Powell, Kennard, Covington and Reggie Jackson a combined 154 millions. I know Ballmer has deep pockets but I'm not sure he wants to pay like 25 millions a year in luxury tax payments to retain Hartenstein. Smith as a young guy with upside would fit in well in the Pacers rebuild, not sure why they wouldn't make him a competitve offer except perhaps because they don't have his bird rights.

[165bows]

Pat Connaughton has a 5.7 million player option for next season. I wonder if he can get more on the open market (if he keeps up his level of play from this series he can for sure) and if the Celtics would be interested (probably for the midlevel).

Problem is we'd only be able to offer the mini-MLE of about $6.4M. MIL would have bird rights to match that and pay him more. If that's the modest raise he's opting out for, no reason for MIL not to match. The way he's playing, maybe he gets some offers for the full MLE of ~$10M. That could make it tougher on MIL luxury tax wise (because Portis could opt out for the same type of raise as well). But even in that event, we probably can't be the team offering him the full MLE.

We could waive/stretch Al Horford's partial guarantee (unless it becomes fuller guaranteed if we win it all) to open up the full MLE. But that seems very counterproductive as he's a better player and it would make for ugly dead money in future tax years.

Yeah I keep forgetting we don't have the full MLE, my bad. Agree you don't cut Horford to make room for Connaughton.

Brown made the 39th most 3's in the league this year. Tatum made the 9th most. Sometimes people waaaaay over think these advanced stats. If you make more 3's than all but 8 guys you are a good 3 point shooter. No need to make it complicated.

I don't think we need someone to take the ball out of hands of Brown and Tatum as Bows suggest. I want better pressure relief valves for them. Guys who can make a shot without sacrificing the defense. If you are game planning for the Celtics you are more than happy to let everyone not named Tatum and Brown try and beat you.

Randle is the guy I really want. He has been miscast his entire career as a #1 guy but as a number 3 offensive option attacking mismatches he would be lethal. He should come cheap-ish in terms of what you need to give up to get him.

I'm not sure I follow. Randle would single handedly sabotage the entire Celtics defense. It's also debatable as to wether he qualifies as a shotmaker. He certainly doesn't stretch defenses with his outside shooting which has been abysmal his entire career (except for a huge outlier the year he wanted to get paid).

I like Isaiah Hartenstein, Maxi Kleber, Smith guy in Indy or even Kevon Looney. Not sure if any of them are attainable. But they better trade Theis in this scenario. Can't be paying him that much as the 5th big.

All good suggestions. Hartenstein, Smith and Looney are all UFA. Kleber has a 9.25m non guaranteed year left (with 500k in unlikely incentives) which I can't see Dallas declining. I can't really see Looney leaving Golden State, he already has 7 seasons and 2 titles there, with a few more years he can low key be a candidate to have his jersey retired there. Clippers are already paying Kawhi, George, Morris, Powell, Kennard, Covington and Reggie Jackson a combined 154 millions. I know Ballmer has deep pockets but I'm not sure he wants to pay like 25 millions a year in luxury tax payments to retain Hartenstein. Smith as a young guy with upside would fit in well in the Pacers rebuild, not sure why they wouldn't make him a competitve offer except perhaps because they don't have his bird rights.

I think the Clippers have the same issue with Hartenstein. No Bird rights or anything on him. Great assist rates, he might fit great. I’ve never really seen much of him, but I’ve thought his profile was pretty intriguing since draft days. His per minute production is pretty damn good. High foul rates and turnover prone, but only 23 last year.

[sam_I_am]

I think the Celtics will make a hard push for local hero Pat Connaughton. After seeing him in this series I think he would fit like a glove in our lineup.

[snowman]

I know Brad was just filling the end of the bench at the end of the regular season, but we have 5 regular roster spots and 2 2-ways that are in play for next season.

Kornet
Fitts
Morgan
Stauskas
Hauser
Thomas
Ryan

Hauser, Fitts, Stauskas and Morgan all have team options for next season, and Thomas has a qualifying offer. I have a very hard time believing any more than 2 of these will be with the Celtics next season. I feel Hauser and Stauskas have a chance, but that is really about it out of all seven. This is where Brad has the chance improve the roster this summer.

Kornet is known as a shooting big man but finished the regular season at .000 on 3 pointers, with 3 teams, granted over only 15 games, but not one single made 3 for the entire year. With an average of 6.9 minutes a game, he averaged 2 points and less than 2 rebounds a game at 7'1. As an example, Moses Brown, who we basically gave away, averaged 4+ points and 3+ rebounds in just 8.6 minutes a game last season. With Williams knee, and Horford's age, Brad MUST find better than Kornet.

Fitts and Morgan, basically identical stats, barely got off the bench except to wave a towel. Sure, they did good in G League, but these are our PF's to back up Horford and Grant. Again, Brad MUST find better than Morgan and Fitts.

Thomas and Ryan are going to be in direct competition with Stauskas and Hauser, not to mention Nesmith, and they will not come out on top over any of those three. Brad MUST find better for the 2 position's I have listed below.

Brad needs two basic improvements to the roster.
(1) A "bigger" big man to back up Williams and Horford than Grant and Theis for the rotation. Grant and Theis are fine against PF''s and switching onto smaller players but have a tough time against centers.
Possibility:
I would like to see Brad sign Thomas Bryant, 6'10, 248 lbs, unrestricted free agent from the Wizards. Don't know if we could get him for the mid level exemption because we can't do a sign and trade due to the fact that it would hard cap us.

(2) A "bigger" backup wing behind Tatum and Brown than Nesmith. Nesmith has yet to prove his worth, but I believe he will. However, he may be fine as a backup at SG behind Brown, but not backing up Tatum at forward.
Possibility:
I would like Brad to trade for Rudy Gay from Utah to back up Tatum. We may be able to get him for a 2nd round pick, since they may be wanting to cut salary. He makes 6.1 mil next year (and 6.4 mil player option in 23/24) and we could use the TPE created in the Hernangomez trade to take in the contract. Yes, he older, but he's proven he can still do it for 15-20 min a game, which is more than enough for backing up Tatum.

Commenting on 2nd item first, I think if you get the right fit in item 1 it pushes Grant Williams into more SF minutes. He's taking baby steps in trying to create off the dribble. But I do agree with more size at the backup 3, but I believe this is where they ultimately get it.

I really like Thomas Bryant, love the energy he played with though I don't know if injury and age may have sapped that over time. He still seems to get criticism about his defense however. And though he has a standing reach over 9'4" I don't know if he's truly at a level to give Lopez a real challenge. But I 100% agree with you that this is a position that, if addressed, mitigates the rebounding struggle that materializes versus some matchups.

Bryant is only 24 or 25

[Fencer reregistered]

I think the Celtics will make a hard push for local hero Pat Connaughton. After seeing him in this series I think he would fit like a glove in our lineup.

Can he play better defense than he's playing in this series? Perhaps if his minutes were shorter?

[1st banana]

Backup bigs should be attainable ive been conducting the kevon looney train for a solid two seasons now. He’s quietly really switchable for a guy that size and a great rebounder but not sure he’s attainable.

Ibaka is an end of the bencher in Milwaukee Id bring him in forsure he can shoot it and decently defend the rim.

Not sure about richaun Holmes’ personal situation but he’s always been a guy I’ve liked as well.

Backup wings/pf bring uncle Jeff home he’s still a solid contributor would be good off the bench. Or real deep cut bottom of the barrel would be Stanley johnson he played good for the lakers really improved his shot.

[BK_2020]

Looney looks too much like Robert Parish to not be a Celtic.

[hugepatsfan]

Theis definitely has his flaws but he's a solid reserve and under contract for 2 years and $18M left. He's our 4th big. If you find a draft pick who hits and beat him out or get a steal of a vet min signing, then that'd be awesome to upgrade him. But unless he's traded to either dump salary (which probably costs a 1st based on the multiple years left) or to re-allocate the depth to another position, then it's not really feasible for us to allocate any resources to upgrading him IMO.

Looney would be an amazing add. But he's a starter for one of the NBA's ongoing dynasties. They have his bird rights to keep him where he's played his whole career. Extremely difficult to imagine he'd sign here for the minimum. Impractical for us to open up the full MLE or S&T possibilities under the hard cap. And a poor allocation of resources for us to prioritize upgrading Theis over our non existing shooting depth with the full MLE.

Thomas Bryant is young and tall and posts decent 3 point % so people will go gaga. In reality, he sucks at basketball. He is, quite obviously, worse at the sport than Theis is. Truly one of the least competent defensive players in the entire game. He is a minimum salary level player who might get more because of "upside". We can afford to pay more than the minimum for such a bad player and if he does settle for the minimum, there are likely to be places that have weaker depth charts to offer him a bigger role to try and jumpstart his career.

Richaun Holmes is a good player but his legal situations seem over (it was a custody battle that he won). He would likely cost a future 1st to acquire and that's just bad value for a backup center considering our greater needs elsewhere (ball handling, shooting, starting caliber PF to replace Horford long-term).

Ibaka would be a good vet min signing but he's really a break glass in case of emergency type of guy at this stage of his career. More of a locker room signing than anything.

[Theocy]

Ayton will be available soon

What can we offer

[165bows]

All of Brad’s moves: https://prosportstransactions.com/basketball/Search/SearchResults.php?Player=&Team=Celtics&PlayerMovementChkBx=yes&BeginDate=2021-6-2&EndDate=3000-5-21&submit=Search&start=0

[165bows]

All of Brad’s moves: https://prosportstransactions.com/basketball/Search/SearchResults.php?Player=&Team=Celtics&PlayerMovementChkBx=yes&BeginDate=2021-6-2&EndDate=3000-5-21&submit=Search&start=0

Brad's MO (if one year is a trend):

Keep's his core guys.

Uses FA to acquire 1 year deals (on offense-oriented guys interestingly) that can be used for future movement. Package spare parts and picks for core rotation pieces.

Looking at his track record I wouldn't be surprised if they trade out of 53 this year for a future pick. Seems like just as good value outside the draft at that point and possibility he prefers the flexibility of roster spot as the asset.

[sam_I_am]

I think the Celtics will make a hard push for local hero Pat Connaughton. After seeing him in this series I think he would fit like a glove in our lineup.

Can he play better defense than he's playing in this series? Perhaps if his minutes were shorter?

I think he can play in our system and I think his vertical leap and size would offset some of his issues with lateral quickness. His 3 point shooting is of course his calling card. I just like him as a backup to both the Jays in a limited 10-15 min. per game role. If we could get a younger guy who is better defender as 3 and D wing reserve, sign me up. Josh Hart is a guy I’d love to see but I doubt Portland let’s him go. I still wouldn’t mind seeing JRich come back too.

[ConstableGeneva]

Mo Bamba reclamation project. Close with Tatum and has that Drew Hanlen connection. There's reporting that Magic don't plan on keeping him.