Most crucial piece: Another legit big man

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

In reading through other threads, particularly those that have popped up since the Bulls game, many of you have brought up good points about what's wrong with this team, what needs to change, and what could help: Avery's return, ceasing to treat Terry like Ray and letting him create for himself and others, playing Green consistent minutes at the right position, etc.

However, even if Bradley provides a spark, and Terry is unleashed, and Green gets comfortable and confident, I'm unsure those things will be enough, because Boston will still face what I see as its biggest problem: A decent big to spell KG.

We've all seen it: The Cs do pretty well with KG in there, but once he's pulled, the defense falls apart. Even Doc recognizes this, particularly after the Bulls game:

We had a chance in the second half, I think it was seven minutes left, I think we cut it to three, and, it's funny, I told my coaches, 'This game's about to go one way or the other.' We took Kevin (Garnett) out again and, bam.

The next thing out of Doc's mouth was this:

So we're going to keep searching. I think we've got the group. We've got to find the right group and the right combination at the right time. But we're going to keep searching.

Keep searching the current roster all you want, Doc, but you're not going to find the "right combination" there, because it doesn't exist. Whether it's an inexpensive, lesser-proven player such as Timofey Mozgov, or a proven commodity such as Marcin Gortat, the Celtics need to somehow acquire someone to at least spell KG when he's out, preferably to also spend time on the court with him. I just don't see any way around this problem, even if all other issues are resolved.

My preference is Gortat. Varejao is a great rebounder and scrappy defender, but I think Gortat is the better all-around player: more skilled offensively, a better shot blocker, and still a good rebounder who plays with toughness (though I wouldn't complain if we got Varejao).

Like many of you, in a way I'd dislike having to give up some of the young guys who have potential to be at least solid players, such as Sully, but the goal, I think, shouldn't be to be a decent team each year, but to shoot for a title as often as possible. We went twenty years without that opportunity before getting another shot with KG, Paul, and Ray, and we don't know when we'll get another group like that. We still have KG and Paul, plus Rondo and another champion in Terry; the plan for this season's team, ever since last season ended, was to shoot for another title, to make one more go at it with this core, so if we're going to continue in that vein, we need to be willing to trade potential for a surer thing that will address crucial needs. If we start Gortat next to KG, we'll still have the Hammer's solid defensive presence when KG makes his first exit, then Gortat can get a rest when KG comes back in, and so on.

Whatever it takes—Bradley, Sully, Lee, Bass, Green, Melo, draft picks, filler—to get a player such as Gortat, we need to do.