Clips definitely look terrible without Paul
And maybe the Celtics are just that good.
Well yeah and Chris Paul is the greatest point guard in the league and a serious offensive weapon who could score 30 a night if he wanted to... makes sense they'd play poorly without him. Rondo's a passer playing with a bunch of guards who can create their own shots. It makes sense that we wouldn't be that much worse without him.
Maybe Ainge should have thought of that before he constructed the team the way he did.
Maybe Ainge didn't have a choice. Rondo needs shooters. The best shooter in the league hated Rondo and bailed on the team. Ainge scrambled and took the best available guards, Terry, Lee and Barbosa. Neither of which are pure shooters. It was a good decision... it's not like we had a better choice. All three of those guys are capable guards. I wouldn't call any of them starters, but they are capable.
I think in most seasons, losing Rondo would be more impactful, but we just so happen to have talent on this roster that can step up in his absence. Rondo's absence defines roles, gets more minutes for our guards, moves undersized Bradley into the PG slot, puts our best defensive guards in the starting back court, gives Jeff Green an opportunity to play like Jeff Green... etc. So far it seems like a net gain. It fixed some of our roster issues.