Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Celtics' Woes Continue
Yesterday the NBA Draft lottery took place and the Boston Celtics were hurt by the lottery system once again. A decade ago, the Celtics had above a 40% chance at the number one pick because they were the worst team in the NBA and also had Dallas' lottery pick. On top of that, Vancouver was not allowed to receive the top pick. Thus, had Vancouver been number one and Boston number 2, Boston would have been moved to one because Vancouver was not allowed to be number 1.
The Celtics received the number 3 and 6 picks in this draft, where Tim Duncan was drafted first overall by the San Antonio Spurs.
This year, the Celtics suffered an enormous amount of injuries: most notably to Paul Pierce and Wally Szczerbiak. The injuries and lack of seasoned talent led to a miserable season where the Celtics posted their second worst record in franchise history. Unfortunately, the lucky Irish weren't so lucky once again. The Celtics now possess the 5th pick in this year's draft, this was the lowest position the team could have fallen to. That's right, no Tim Duncan a decade ago, and this time around, Greg Oden and Kevin Durant will not have the joy of playing in the Garden.
It is important to note that since Duncan went to the Spurs, he has won three championships and could potentially win a fourth this year, while the Celtics have had a decade of frustration. Boston has made the playoffs a few times, and reached the Eastern Conference finals, but poor managing by Rick Pitino and some poor trades by Danny Ainge have slowed down the most storied franchise in NBA history.
Now, let's look at the present. What can Boston do with that 5th pick? Will they draft the newest Chinese import in Yi Jianlian? Danny Ainge has certainly been talking himself into drafting the big man. Or will Al Horford slip to them? In any case, will any player actually them get to the NBA Finals in the next 2-3 years? Probably not.
In a best case scenario, Danny Ainge finds a way to deal this pick along with a package that include players such as Ryan Gomes, Delonte West, Rajon Rondo, Sebastian Telfair (as a mere throw-in), Tony Allen, or even Gerald Green, depending on the deal. Of course, guys like Theo Ratliff and possibly Wally may need to be included depending who the Celtics are trading for and the salary of that player. Maybe Kevin McHale can assist Danny one more time and help him land Kevin Garnett, now wouldn't that be something.
In any case, it seems there could be another decade of frustration in Boston, unless luck falls their way. Maybe there should be a change in the lottery system. Perhaps I'm just bitter.
15 Comments:
Vancouver Grizzlies? Funny, I thought they were playing in Memphis.
They are now. 10 years ago, which is what I referred to, they were in Vancouver.
whoops, didn't see that, I know they were in Vancouver, I was just skimming over the post.
Here's how I would fix the Celtics:
1. Trade Pierce for the best available player(s). If that means Zach Randolph and Ime Udoka, so be it, but you gotta build the roster.
2. Trade Gomes and Telfair for a guy who can play SF AND PF, maybe a Danny Granger type of guy.
3. Make a splash in free agency. Chauncey Billups is out there! So are several other players.
4. Kidnap Greg Oden.
They can't sign most players because of Rick Pitino's terrible managing of the cap. Also, trading Pierce does nothing for you since you would have to take on 21 mil in salary and also, find me a player that you can get that is as good as he is. For those that think Pierce and the #5 and maybe another piece will get you Oden, you're wrong.
Why trade for a player sho can play SF and PF? You use Pierce as your SF and leave Jefferson as your PF. Gomes also plays SF and has developed a 3-point shot and has that 15-foot jumper as well to compliment Jefferson.
Telfair's trade value is very low, they'll find a way to remove him, but it won't be a Gomes and Telfair for one guy deal. Just not going to happen. Also doesn't help you much.
Another point on trading Pierce: He might get you a mid-first rounder or possibly some chump change a team no longer wants -- that doesn't help the team. Also, trading Pierce would probably have every single season ticket holder cancel their tickets, which of course would mean that they wouldn't be able to improve since there is no revenue coming in.
Here is what I would do. Take all of the Celtics to an island. Drop them off and never look back. Here is the first thing you do...fire Danny Ainge.
Look at the Celtics roster. You have no solid PG, yet you traded Brandon Roy for one and you drafted another in Delonte West.
I agree, trade Pierce. Why? Cause this team ain't winning anytime soon. So you might as well get more young pieces for him, that can grow while your other young players grow. It is unfortunate that the Hawks didn't get the fourth pick, cause then it would have belonged to the Suns. I'm sure they would have wanted to trade it for Paul Pierce.
"Look at the Celtics roster. You have no solid PG, yet you traded Brandon Roy for one and you drafted another in Delonte West."
They didn't trade Brandon Roy. Roy was picked 6th overall, Boston traded the 7th pick.
One of the major problems with the team is that they are too young, that's why you can't trade Pierce. Also, you have to MATCH SALARY in the NBA. Paul Pierce is a max contract player, thus a team that is at the cap or over would have to trade away players with comparable salary. So yes, maybe Memphis would trade that 4th pick for Pierce (which they won't), but then you have to throw in a couple guys that match salary, which would be guys like Pau Gasol and even that wouldn't be enough to match salary. You really think that Memphis would give up #4, Gasol, and at least another player for Pierce? No. That wouldn't make sense for them.
Your scenario with Phoenix being 4 is the only one that could help Boston. Even then, Phoenix would have to give something up to get him, no NBA team is going to trade away their best marketing ploy for chump change and more young talent, which Danny Ainge has brought in and look where they are. How about you take that talent and trade for the veteran, that is how you get that big piece. Like Miami getting Shaq.
Also, Delonte West is a shooting guard. He has played point and done a decent job at that, but Boston found out that Rajon Rondo is their point guard and maybe Phoenix would like that one back, since after Nash they have nobody to play point. With Rondo at point, you can keep West as the SG where he can be quite useful since he is a decent shooter. That puts Pierce at the 3 with Jefferson starting at the 4 and Perkins (who actually showed some improvement) starting at the 1. Though, some of that will change as I don't think Ainge is going to leave the roster as is.
Delonte West's PER is at the league average, he was a solid draft pick for the mid-20s where Ainge got him. Ainge has done a good job drafting players, any NBA expert will tell you that, his weakness is trades.
The first bad move he made was trading Walker for LaFrentz. he did an okay job cleaning up his mess removing LaFrentz, but it cost them some time of not being able to sign a solid free agent because of the cap issues.
Anyway, I'm going to focus on the MLB best Red Sox until they go into their usual late season slide.
Ravi.
"Boston acquires Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff and a second-round pick in 2008 from Portland for Dan Dickau, Raef LaFrentz and the Draft rights to Randy Foye."
Foye was then traded for Roy. So Boston could have had either Foye or Roy.
What do the Celtics do now? I feel like the Celtics have no direction, no plan. You can't try to rebuild and win simultaneously. So if they want to rebuild, they might as well ship Pierce away for a quality young player or two. One of them might turn into a stud down the line. But no point in keeping Pierce if your team won't be good for at least 3-4 years.
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Mini Me... you keep saying to just trade Pierce.. trade him for what? Name some players. You also have to remember the business side of the NBA.. you can't just trade a top 15 player for garbage and keep your fans. Without Pierce the development of the whole team gets stunted. He is the only guy on that squad that kows how to win down the stretch and he has a lot of playoff experience, including the Eastern Conf. finals just 4 or 5 years ago.
What team is going to take on his salary? Find taht and then go on your trade Pierce tirade. It's not going to happen. It makes no sense to do it. Absolutely none.
"Foye was then traded for Roy. So Boston could have had either Foye or Roy."
One flaw in this is that Portland took LaFrentz, who was over paid and had 3 years left. Removing him gave the Celtics flexibility down the road. You don't know if the Celts could have gotten that 6th pick with LaFrentz in the deal.
"You also have to remember the business side of the NBA.. you can't just trade a top 15 player for garbage and keep your fans."
You tanked the last half of last season. Of the fans that still remain, they won't leave if you say you are going to try to rebuild.
Fans are already fed up with Ainge and his trades, all heck would break loose if Pierce was traded without quality coming back. I think the Celtics should explore trading him, but I don't think they point-of-view should be "Ok we're trading Pierce no matter what." If they can get quality players and maybe a draft pick, it may not be a bad a idea. But I think their first option is to try and bring players in and try to contend in 2 years, rather tahn aim for 4 years down the road.
Also, fans kept going this year because Oden and Durant were waiting at the end of the tunnel and the Celtics had nearly 85% of their seats filled all year. That won't happen if there is nothing to look forward to on the team this year.
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