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[Yoki_IsTheName]

So I listened to Boston Celtics Basketball Podcast a while ago, and they have Ian Thomsen from SI as a guest.

(I downloaded the Boston Celtics Podcast, it's there if you guys want to listen)

He explained that there might not be a deal that would bring a worthwhile value for Paul Pierce and he thinks the C's are better off having the guys that we have right now to play more and learn whatever they can from KG and Paul and give it another go next year.

With this I revisit my brother's tanking idea which I posted a day ago. I understand that it's a very disgusting way to end the season, but the more I think about it, and with Thomsen's take on as to what we can get for Pierce, it's starting to make sense to me.

We have players that are under contract for 2-3 years. We also have some young guys in Bradley, Sully and Fab Melo to some extent. I pose the scenario, what if we somehow do what the Warriors did?

DA talks to Doc, KG, Pierce. Tells them "we will give it one FINAL run next year when Rajon is healthy, but for this season I think we should let the others play more minutes for reasons being:

a.) save up KG and Paul for next year.
b.) get the young guys to get more of a burn, see what they really have when they play significant chunk of minutes.
c.) a risk/reward of increasing or decreasing trade value of the other guys who can be assets for the next year.
d.) more importantly, get a lottery pick."

Again, I understand some of you guys might think tanking is unacceptable, I do so as well. But with what Thomsen said about the value of Paul in the market, and what he means to the franchise, why bother trading Pierce if we're not going to get anything significant that would either help us now, or the next year, seems like this idea makes sense for us.

It goes against every basketball fiber of mine that a team should tank, I think tanking is dirty tactic. But now, I'm not sure. The Warriors seemed to have things worked out when Steph went out for almost a year in getting Barnes and not and keeping the core together, it could probably work for us. But it's tanking, it feels dirty...

Please help me?

[Birdman]

This year draft class is not that good..usually theres a clear #1 pick but not this year. If I was a lottery team, i would trade my pick for a proven player

[erisred]

Frankly, I doubt "tanking" this year would help much for a number of reasons. However, I do agree with the rest of what you wrote. Let's play out the year, give the younger/newer players lots of experience so Danny can evaluate them, build them as players and/or assets, bring back KG and Paul with a healthy Rondo, add a center for the MLE (if possible), and make a run for it all next year.

It is possible that we might do better this year than a lot of people think. Yes, I know the odds of winning it all are very, very, slim, but a few lucky breaks and you never know!

[Donoghus]

This team has already won too much to start tanking now. 

Their odds in the lottery would be pretty bad.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

This team has already won too much to start tanking now. 

Their odds in the lottery would be pretty bad.

Thats actually true, but we can still use that mid round pick as a trade asset. Its still better than a late first.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

This team has already won too much to start tanking now. 

Their odds in the lottery would be pretty bad.

agreed. at this point in time i have given up on us getting a nice winning record and a top 4 spot in the playoffs. Now, let's examine what is achievable realistically.

Let's have some pride. IMO no team should be allowed to make the playoffs with a losing record. So if we finish just 1 game above .500 that gives us a winning record. At this point in time if all we can get is the 8th seed, I will take it. not happy but i will take it as long as we are over .500. see what happens in the playoffs then see where to go. I still think we need a trade/or sign for a big this year though and maybe a back up PG.

[Lucky17]

This team has already won too much to start tanking now. 

Their odds in the lottery would be pretty bad.

Thats actually true, but we can still use that mid round pick as a trade asset. Its still better than a late first.

I asked this question before, and no one responded:

What is the difference between the #11 pick in this year's draft (late lottery finish) and the #16 pick (making the playoffs as an 8 seed)?

[JHTruth]

Yeah we're in the worst spot to be as a pro sports franchise. Not good enough to seriously contend, not bad enough to get good draft picks. We're mediocre. Since we still have two HOFers with pride just look forward to first round exit and hopefully some experience for the young guys. I'd like to see Melo brought up for the playoffs..

[Fafnir]

This team has already won too much to start tanking now. 

Their odds in the lottery would be pretty bad.

Thats actually true, but we can still use that mid round pick as a trade asset. Its still better than a late first.

I asked this question before, and no one responded:

What is the difference between the #11 pick in this year's draft (late lottery finish) and the #16 pick (making the playoffs as an 8 seed)?

Its not a question that lends itself to a quick response.

The biggest difference is the chance that you can vault into the top 3 picks, as has happened and changed the course of franchises before. (See the Bulls, etc..)

Beyond that the value of the pick goes down the lower it gets, but it varies from year to year and its not a huge drop off.

http://www.82games.com/nbadraftpicks.htm

[Yoki_IsTheName]

This team has already won too much to start tanking now. 

Their odds in the lottery would be pretty bad.

Thats actually true, but we can still use that mid round pick as a trade asset. Its still better than a late first.

I asked this question before, and no one responded:

What is the difference between the #11 pick in this year's draft (late lottery finish) and the #16 pick (making the playoffs as an 8 seed)?

There are still a significant difference. The talent and potential from the #11 pick is still better than the #16th. It's a much more tradeable asset. I think.

We're looking at Archie Goodwin, Isaiah Austin, Mason Plumlee, Alex Poythress (depends on what mock draft you go anyways) and maybe some top 10 talent that may drop off. Those are being considered at worse, NBA contributors to any NBA team. Goodwin's and Austin's potential is well documented by draft experts around the nation, they can be big time assets.

[Galeto]

I don't get the point of tanking post-Rondo.  Were the Celtics legitimate championship contenders before his injury?  As much as I thought they could turn it around, I wouldn't have put any real money on it.  So what's changed?  They've lost the maestro of the 28th offense in the league; at the same time, their defense should improve.  As far as I'm concerned, their chances of winning games have not gone down.  If KG went down, that would be something completely different.

[gpap]

BAD idea.

I hate the idea of a team "tanking"

And why should the Celtics tank? This Rondo stuff is getting out of control

Nothing against the OP, just all this talk about how the team is neutered without Rondo is irritating.

[pearljammer10]

This team has already won too much to start tanking now. 

Their odds in the lottery would be pretty bad.

Thats actually true, but we can still use that mid round pick as a trade asset. Its still better than a late first.

Eh Im going with Dono on this one. Why tank at this point? Id rather have a playoff run and a late round pick than a mid round pick in a weak draft. Especially with KG and Pierce on the team. They are still built for the playoffs. Lets not screw that up by tanking to get into the lottery.

[gpap]

This team has already won too much to start tanking now. 

Their odds in the lottery would be pretty bad.

Thats actually true, but we can still use that mid round pick as a trade asset. Its still better than a late first.

Eh Im going with Dono on this one. Why tank at this point? Id rather have a playoff run and a late round pick than a mid round pick in a weak draft. Especially with KG and Pierce on the team. They are still built for the playoffs. Lets not screw that up by tanking to get into the lottery.

Count me in! A playoff run is alot more fun than tanking for what I hear is a horrible draft class next year

[Chief]

This team has already won too much to start tanking now. 

Their odds in the lottery would be pretty bad.

Especailly ours. We can't get the #1 or #2 when we have the best odds.