Finding the right 5 is the key

[cometboy]

I’ve been wracking my brain for days, trying to figure out how to procure a top-tier  (or near top) center without having to sacrifice Rondo in the process. I’m not convinced we can get Cousins or Drummond even if we include Rondo plus parts and picks, so this is a real challenge. Nevertheless, I always felt I would rather have a very good PG paired with a great, young center, rather than a great PG paired with a good center.

Translation: I would rather have Cousins or Drummond paired with Exum or Smart, than Asik paired with Rondo. Considering the added benefit of getting younger at the point, I’ve come to the conclusion trading Rondo might be necessary.

Option 1:

BOS trades Rondo, Green and 2 first round draft picks  (not 2014) for Drummond or Cousins plus whatever dead weight is necessary to make the numbers work. This leaves us with a quality center and Bayless/Pressey running the point for the rest of the season, which means we will still suck and probably grab Exum in the draft (Smart would be the consolation). In the case of Detroit, they would have Monroe, Smith, Green up front and Rondo running the point, which is much better than what they have now.

Option 2:

BOS trades Green plus 1 first round draft pick (not 2014) for Monroe plus whatever dead weight is necessary to make the numbers work. Monroe is not my preference for center, but he’s good, has a lot of upside with good coaching, and we get to keep Rondo. Detroit can have a front court of Drummond, Smith and Green, all playing where they are best suited and they complement each other better than now.

Option 3:

This might be a long shot, but I think it’s possible Bosh opts out this Summer, especially if Miami wins a third consecutive title or LeBron decides to opt out as well. In this scenario, Bosh wants to prove he is more than a 3rd wheel and is excited by the possibility of playing with Rondo and bringing a championship to a 2nd team. In this case, we just need to clear cap space so we can sign Bosh this Summer. Now we have, Rondo, Bosh, hopefully a decent draft pick, and whoever is left standing. It would immediately be a competitive team that would only improve in 2015 when we clear more space and have more picks.

I haven’t flushed out all the details since I don’t get to make these trades so what’s the point? It’s just fodder for discussion. All I really care about is adding the right pieces, one at a time, until the puzzle is finished. Settling for what's available won't get it done.

I’m not convinced Detroit pulls the trigger, but they must realize they have to do SOMETHING! Anyone think any of these options is possible?

CB

[2short]

I feel you obtain a top notch player or two and put the piece together that work the best.  Ainge paired kg and pp , two top notch players.  To this mix he added Ray Allen a very good shooter who worked at defense, rondo a kid who could do a lot but at that time couldn't hit the outside shot and perk a hard nosed low post defender who could block some shots and rebound ok.  So that team had a good unproven pg and a solid but not that good player
Say we get asik and still have rondo, sully green (I'm thinking bass and ab gets it done) insert free agent good (cap space) sg and that is a very good defensive team.
Or we move a lot of assets and have love and rondo, we can start fav at center with those two!
I believe it's the group as a whole playing off each other's strengths

[cometboy]

yeah, of course. I just think what made the 2007 team was KG. We need our KG to set the the tone. I think a solid center will do that and accelerate the rebuild. Can it be done in another way? Yes, but a big, well-rounded center would be a solid 1st or 2nd necessary to jumpstart the rebuild.

CB

[BballTim]

yeah, of course. I just think what made the 2007 team was KG. We need our KG to set the the tone. I think a solid center will do that and accelerate the rebuild. Can it be done in another way? Yes, but a big, well-rounded center would be a solid 1st or 2nd necessary to jumpstart the rebuild.

CB

  KG wasn't our center, Perk was.

[Sully7]

People soon forget or fail to notice that getting KG and Ray weren't the only moves that led to banner 17.  Getting Rondo from the suns on draft day and developing him had a lot to do with it. 

A 5 would be nice but Drummond or Cousins isn't happening…not this year at least.  We'd be better off trading everyone away and pushing in all our chips for Embid.

[cometboy]

First of all, I know KG wasn't our center. However, he set the defensive tone for the team. He changed the entire culture of the team. His number will be retired because of this even though he was only here for 6 years. BTW, he also played center very well when he had to. Unfortunately, it wore him down.

Second, I guarantee Danny isn't expecting to select Embiid. Even with a 1st pick, the odds are 3 - 1 against us. Embiid would be a gift. We need to make our plans as if he won't be there when we pick because it ain't happening. It would be a high mistake to put all our egg sin the Embiid basket.

CB

[slamtheking]

I’ve been wracking my brain for days, trying to figure out how to procure a top-tier  (or near top) center without having to sacrifice Rondo in the process. I’m not convinced we can get Cousins or Drummond even if we include Rondo plus parts and picks, so this is a real challenge. Nevertheless, I always felt I would rather have a very good PG paired with a great, young center, rather than a great PG paired with a good center.

Translation: I would rather have Cousins or Drummond paired with Exum or Smart, than Asik paired with Rondo. Considering the added benefit of getting younger at the point, I’ve come to the conclusion trading Rondo might be necessary.

Option 1:

BOS trades Rondo, Green and 2 first round draft picks  (not 2014) for Drummond or Cousins plus whatever dead weight is necessary to make the numbers work. This leaves us with a quality center and Bayless/Pressey running the point for the rest of the season, which means we will still suck and probably grab Exum in the draft (Smart would be the consolation). In the case of Detroit, they would have Monroe, Smith, Green up front and Rondo running the point, which is much better than what they have now.

Option 2:

BOS trades Green plus 1 first round draft pick (not 2014) for Monroe plus whatever dead weight is necessary to make the numbers work. Monroe is not my preference for center, but he’s good, has a lot of upside with good coaching, and we get to keep Rondo. Detroit can have a front court of Drummond, Smith and Green, all playing where they are best suited and they complement each other better than now.

Option 3:

This might be a long shot, but I think it’s possible Bosh opts out this Summer, especially if Miami wins a third consecutive title or LeBron decides to opt out as well. In this scenario, Bosh wants to prove he is more than a 3rd wheel and is excited by the possibility of playing with Rondo and bringing a championship to a 2nd team. In this case, we just need to clear cap space so we can sign Bosh this Summer. Now we have, Rondo, Bosh, hopefully a decent draft pick, and whoever is left standing. It would immediately be a competitive team that would only improve in 2015 when we clear more space and have more picks.

I haven’t flushed out all the details since I don’t get to make these trades so what’s the point? It’s just fodder for discussion. All I really care about is adding the right pieces, one at a time, until the puzzle is finished. Settling for what's available won't get it done.

I’m not convinced Detroit pulls the trigger, but they must realize they have to do SOMETHING! Anyone think any of these options is possible?

CB

kudos to you for putting together the first "trade Rondo" thread that had some reasoning behind it.  most threads trading Rondo is for the sole purpose of getting the team to suck more for a better pick and/or getting more picks.

I see your preference but I don't think Asik is the only center option that could be paired with Rondo.  trading Rondo has the flaw of hoping the C's pick will be bad enough to land Exum or Smart (becoming less supportive of him as a 'smart' pick)  without having to get lucky in the draft.  the thing is, even without Rondo, I'm not so sure we'd be worse than most of the teams already below us in the standings so we'd probably still end up with the 7th-8th pick in the draft.

[cometboy]

I’ve been wracking my brain for days, trying to figure out how to procure a top-tier  (or near top) center without having to sacrifice Rondo in the process. I’m not convinced we can get Cousins or Drummond even if we include Rondo plus parts and picks, so this is a real challenge. Nevertheless, I always felt I would rather have a very good PG paired with a great, young center, rather than a great PG paired with a good center.

Translation: I would rather have Cousins or Drummond paired with Exum or Smart, than Asik paired with Rondo. Considering the added benefit of getting younger at the point, I’ve come to the conclusion trading Rondo might be necessary.

Option 1:

BOS trades Rondo, Green and 2 first round draft picks  (not 2014) for Drummond or Cousins plus whatever dead weight is necessary to make the numbers work. This leaves us with a quality center and Bayless/Pressey running the point for the rest of the season, which means we will still suck and probably grab Exum in the draft (Smart would be the consolation). In the case of Detroit, they would have Monroe, Smith, Green up front and Rondo running the point, which is much better than what they have now.

Option 2:

BOS trades Green plus 1 first round draft pick (not 2014) for Monroe plus whatever dead weight is necessary to make the numbers work. Monroe is not my preference for center, but he’s good, has a lot of upside with good coaching, and we get to keep Rondo. Detroit can have a front court of Drummond, Smith and Green, all playing where they are best suited and they complement each other better than now.

Option 3:

This might be a long shot, but I think it’s possible Bosh opts out this Summer, especially if Miami wins a third consecutive title or LeBron decides to opt out as well. In this scenario, Bosh wants to prove he is more than a 3rd wheel and is excited by the possibility of playing with Rondo and bringing a championship to a 2nd team. In this case, we just need to clear cap space so we can sign Bosh this Summer. Now we have, Rondo, Bosh, hopefully a decent draft pick, and whoever is left standing. It would immediately be a competitive team that would only improve in 2015 when we clear more space and have more picks.

I haven’t flushed out all the details since I don’t get to make these trades so what’s the point? It’s just fodder for discussion. All I really care about is adding the right pieces, one at a time, until the puzzle is finished. Settling for what's available won't get it done.

I’m not convinced Detroit pulls the trigger, but they must realize they have to do SOMETHING! Anyone think any of these options is possible?

CB

kudos to you for putting together the first "trade Rondo" thread that had some reasoning behind it.  most threads trading Rondo is for the sole purpose of getting the team to suck more for a better pick and/or getting more picks.

I see your preference but I don't think Asik is the only center option that could be paired with Rondo.  trading Rondo has the flaw of hoping the C's pick will be bad enough to land Exum or Smart (becoming less supportive of him as a 'smart' pick)  without having to get lucky in the draft.  the thing is, even without Rondo, I'm not so sure we'd be worse than most of the teams already below us in the standings so we'd probably still end up with the 7th-8th pick in the draft.

Thanks. I appreciate your perspective. However, with Bayless and Pressey running the point, I think we will still suck enough for a top 5 - 7 which should at least get us Smart. I know everyone is now down on Smart, but I'm glad he messed up. It just means we may be able to pull another Sully this year. It's all part of Danny's plan to buy low, high risk but high reward.

VB

[Sully7]

I wasn't suggesting to throw our season and hope for the ping pong gods to land us the #1 overall.  I remember Oden.  However, chasing two players (Cousins, Drummond) who are not going anywhere falls into the dreamer category and that even something as foolish as chasing Embid would be a superior option.  (not a plan i would agree with)

[cometboy]

I wasn't suggesting to throw our season and hope for the ping pong gods to land us the #1 overall.  I remember Oden.  However, chasing two players (Cousins, Drummond) who are not going anywhere falls into the dreamer category and that even something as foolish as chasing Embid would be a superior option.  (not a plan i would agree with)

I hear ya. Just trying to find a formula for a major step towards the next title. I realize it's a long shot. No only that, but Detroit is really unpredictable, which is partly why Dumar's may pull the trigger for something dumb considering the pressure he's undoubtedly under.

CB

[Surferdad]

I’ve been wracking my brain for days, trying to figure out how to procure a top-tier  (or near top) center without having to sacrifice Rondo in the process. I’m not convinced we can get Cousins or Drummond even if we include Rondo plus parts and picks, so this is a real challenge. Nevertheless, I always felt I would rather have a very good PG paired with a great, young center, rather than a great PG paired with a good center.

Translation: I would rather have Cousins or Drummond paired with Exum or Smart, than Asik paired with Rondo. Considering the added benefit of getting younger at the point, I’ve come to the conclusion trading Rondo might be necessary.

Option 1:

BOS trades Rondo, Green and 2 first round draft picks  (not 2014) for Drummond or Cousins plus whatever dead weight is necessary to make the numbers work. This leaves us with a quality center and Bayless/Pressey running the point for the rest of the season, which means we will still suck and probably grab Exum in the draft (Smart would be the consolation). In the case of Detroit, they would have Monroe, Smith, Green up front and Rondo running the point, which is much better than what they have now.

Option 2:

BOS trades Green plus 1 first round draft pick (not 2014) for Monroe plus whatever dead weight is necessary to make the numbers work. Monroe is not my preference for center, but he’s good, has a lot of upside with good coaching, and we get to keep Rondo. Detroit can have a front court of Drummond, Smith and Green, all playing where they are best suited and they complement each other better than now.

Option 3:

This might be a long shot, but I think it’s possible Bosh opts out this Summer, especially if Miami wins a third consecutive title or LeBron decides to opt out as well. In this scenario, Bosh wants to prove he is more than a 3rd wheel and is excited by the possibility of playing with Rondo and bringing a championship to a 2nd team. In this case, we just need to clear cap space so we can sign Bosh this Summer. Now we have, Rondo, Bosh, hopefully a decent draft pick, and whoever is left standing. It would immediately be a competitive team that would only improve in 2015 when we clear more space and have more picks.

I haven’t flushed out all the details since I don’t get to make these trades so what’s the point? It’s just fodder for discussion. All I really care about is adding the right pieces, one at a time, until the puzzle is finished. Settling for what's available won't get it done.

I’m not convinced Detroit pulls the trigger, but they must realize they have to do SOMETHING! Anyone think any of these options is possib

Lots of interesting ideas here, nice job. Among these choices, I would entertain option 2 because Rondo stays and I feel he is still key to a championship. Also Detroit may be more likely to trade Monroe than Drummond.  A Rondo, Bradley, SF x, Sully, Monroe

[cometboy]

I’ve been wracking my brain for days, trying to figure out how to procure a top-tier  (or near top) center without having to sacrifice Rondo in the process. I’m not convinced we can get Cousins or Drummond even if we include Rondo plus parts and picks, so this is a real challenge. Nevertheless, I always felt I would rather have a very good PG paired with a great, young center, rather than a great PG paired with a good center.

Translation: I would rather have Cousins or Drummond paired with Exum or Smart, than Asik paired with Rondo. Considering the added benefit of getting younger at the point, I’ve come to the conclusion trading Rondo might be necessary.

Option 1:

BOS trades Rondo, Green and 2 first round draft picks  (not 2014) for Drummond or Cousins plus whatever dead weight is necessary to make the numbers work. This leaves us with a quality center and Bayless/Pressey running the point for the rest of the season, which means we will still suck and probably grab Exum in the draft (Smart would be the consolation). In the case of Detroit, they would have Monroe, Smith, Green up front and Rondo running the point, which is much better than what they have now.

Option 2:

BOS trades Green plus 1 first round draft pick (not 2014) for Monroe plus whatever dead weight is necessary to make the numbers work. Monroe is not my preference for center, but he’s good, has a lot of upside with good coaching, and we get to keep Rondo. Detroit can have a front court of Drummond, Smith and Green, all playing where they are best suited and they complement each other better than now.

Option 3:

This might be a long shot, but I think it’s possible Bosh opts out this Summer, especially if Miami wins a third consecutive title or LeBron decides to opt out as well. In this scenario, Bosh wants to prove he is more than a 3rd wheel and is excited by the possibility of playing with Rondo and bringing a championship to a 2nd team. In this case, we just need to clear cap space so we can sign Bosh this Summer. Now we have, Rondo, Bosh, hopefully a decent draft pick, and whoever is left standing. It would immediately be a competitive team that would only improve in 2015 when we clear more space and have more picks.

I haven’t flushed out all the details since I don’t get to make these trades so what’s the point? It’s just fodder for discussion. All I really care about is adding the right pieces, one at a time, until the puzzle is finished. Settling for what's available won't get it done.

I’m not convinced Detroit pulls the trigger, but they must realize they have to do SOMETHING! Anyone think any of these options is possib

Lots of interesting ideas here, nice job. Among these choices, I would entertain option 2 because Rondo stays and I feel he is still key to a championship. Also Detroit may be more likely to trade Monroe than Drummond.  A Rondo, Bradley, SF x, Sully, Monroe

Totally agree - I still want Drummond, even though it's a pipe dream.

LOL

CB

[BballTim]

I wasn't suggesting to throw our season and hope for the ping pong gods to land us the #1 overall.  I remember Oden.  However, chasing two players (Cousins, Drummond) who are not going anywhere falls into the dreamer category and that even something as foolish as chasing Embid would be a superior option.  (not a plan i would agree with)

I hear ya. Just trying to find a formula for a major step towards the next title. I realize it's a long shot. No only that, but Detroit is really unpredictable, which is partly why Dumar's may pull the trigger for something dumb considering the pressure he's undoubtedly under.

CB

  I'm not sure that Drummond or Cousins are the key to winning the title. I don't see Detroit or Sacramento as big contenders in the near or long term.

[Celtics18]

I wouldn't be averse to the idea of including our first round pick in a deal to bring back a top quality center to play alongside Rondo.

[cometboy]

I think Detroit and Sacramento would be contenders with Rondo at the point (and maybe some good coaching).

I would really not want to trade our 2014 1st, but if it's the only way to get us Drummond or Cousins, I would probably chalk it up as the cost of taking us a major step forward.

CB