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[PhoSita]

I appreciate the optimism, but I can't agree with the first sentence.

Yeah, I agree.

Rondo - Bradley is a solid backcourt.

Green is fine as a starter, and pretty good as a backup.

Sullinger is a solid starter, and an above average backup.


If that's the supporting cast for a superstar wing or center, however, you'd be in pretty great shape.

[vinnie]

I love coming here for comic relief   

[More Banners]

Looking at that list, talent-wise, the OP has a good point.  Unfortunately, the pieces don't fit. 

Need more than spot-up corner 3's from Green and Bradley at an average clip to be a real threat and spread the floor.  Right now, JET and Pierce are shooting well.  The guys we have now lack that skill, so at least two of them probably won't be starters.

Rondo and Green have the most talent, and Bradley's defense is more impact than Sully's rebounding.

Rondo/Bradley/Green would require another shooter on the floor, a Ryan Anderson type, unless Green is your PF.

In any case, the likely move is a trade involving someone.  Rondo and Green have the most talent and both have reasonable talent-to-contract ratios, though Green needs to continue to make a consistent impact.

Bradley and Sully are on rookie deals.

One in each group is injured, the other is a critical piece of the current (healthy, playing) lineup.

Tough call, but KG and Pierce are playing like it's worth trying to go for it this year.

All-in.

[clover]

Had Danny managed to sweeten that deal last year and got the #6 pick for Pierce, then the team could have their franchise guy in Drummond.

But he didn't and they don't.

[LooseCannon]

Capwise, the Celtics may be able to have the cap space in the summer of 2014 to add to a Rondo/Bradley/Green/Sullinger core a max-contract center, either through free agency or trade, if KG retires after next season.  It may require doing a salary dump of a player such as Bass or Terry (who would be expiring contracts if still on the roster), but I can see the possibility.  It also depends on Bradley not figuring it out on offense to the point that he becomes a $10m/year player.

It's close enough to being a championship contender while having a reasonable chance of finding that missing piece that it would seem silly to blow up the roster until you figure out how well those players recover from injury and reach their potential.

[ejk3489]

Who?  Besides the Thunder, I don't really see anyone close in terms of young franchise talent to build around.  The Sixers?  Pacers?  Kings?  The Sixers want to blow it up.  The Pacers still can't score and the Kings are a joke.

There are a lot of franchise's with young talented players to build around. Indiana, Portland, Houston, LAC, Denver, Minnesota, Chicago, Cleveland...

Doesn't really matter either way. I don't see any team beating Miami or OKC in the near future.

[ScottHow]

Had Danny managed to sweeten that deal last year and got the #6 pick for Pierce, then the team could have their franchise guy in Drummond.

But he didn't and they don't.

That would of been amazing.

[cman88]

well, the team has a pretty talented young core...Sullinger is a lottery pick talent. can he develop into a David West type player?

I view Green as having the potential to be that #3 guy.

I guess you then have to find someone to be the teams #1 or #2 scorer(if you consider Rondo #1) Rondo certainly has the capabilities to be a 17ppg scorer

if anything, the team has enough "young talent" where if you need to pull another KG trade ainge is building the assets to do so.

[Celtics18]

TP for the optimism, Tony.  I agree that we have good young core.  Danny needs to find a way to procure a talented, young big, and we'll be in good shape.

[CelticsFan9]

You put a dominant center on that team, get elite shooters for backups and that team is great.

There elm is, dominant centers (especially dominant offensively) are incredibly rare.

Those four would be pretty effective defensively, though.  I'll give you that.

[CelticConcourse]

You put a dominant center on that team, get elite shooters for backups and that team is great.

There elm is, dominant centers (especially dominant offensively) are incredibly rare.

Those four would be pretty effective defensively, though.  I'll give you that.

We can only hope that dominant center is Fab Melo

[vinnie]

Amazing -- Fab Melo is going to be a dominant center, Jeff Green has all of a sudden become a great player, and Jared Sullinger is going to be a better player and his back will never bother him again because some doctor said something like that about his back. Of the four players listed, the only one I think will ever be an all star is Rondo.

[LooseCannon]

If Luol Deng can be an All-Star, I suspect Jeff Green can be an All-Star.  Bradley has a shot if he can be the 15-18ppg plus All-NBA defense guy that he has the potential to be.  Not close to guaranteed, but not impossible.

[kozlodoev]

Bradley has a shot if he can be the 15-18ppg plus All-NBA defense guy that he has the potential to be.  Not close to guaranteed, but not impossible.

Not impossible. Just highly improbable. So far, Bradley is projecting as a PG/SG version of Bruce Bowen.

[CelticsFan9]

Amazing -- Fab Melo is going to be a dominant center, Jeff Green has all of a sudden become a great player, and Jared Sullinger is going to be a better player and his back will never bother him again because some doctor said something like that about his back. Of the four players listed, the only one I think will ever be an all star is Rondo.

Yeah, pretty much this.

Just not enough offense out of that core.  Defensively, they'd be pretty good, but when games get tight, none of those players are capable of getting a bucket at will.

That core would win 40-45 games at best.