Breaking: Zeller and Thornton Put Celts Over the Top

[dreamgreen]

LOL good stuff here.

[D.o.s.]

How many wins will it take for them to make the 6th to 8th seed?

Probably 33-38 wins. The east is a mess.

You realize that there are perhaps 3 or 4 teams that have made the playoffs with less than 35 wins in an NBA season in the history of the NBA, right? Or are you just throwing numbers?

My money's on the latter.

With LeBron moving to CLE, there's definitely 8 teams that are better than Boston this year:

Miami
Indiana
Washington
Atlanta
Cleveland
Charlotte
New York
Brooklyn

I think all of those teams can comfortably beat the Celtics with the roster we have right now. And that's in the Eastern conference, so its not like we can just cruise over to the West to pick up the 40 or so wins that it'll take to make it into the 8th seed in the East next season.

[Chris22]

Brooklyn just lost Pierce.

I am not sure how good they will be.

[Future Celtics Owner]

(Associated Pressey)

Lost in the LeBron circus this week is the fact that the Boston Celtics are now in prime position to secure a 6-8 seed in the 2015 NBA Playoffs, after nabbing a starting center and scoring sparkplug in a one-sided trade.

Celtics insiders and intelligent fans are still celebrating after acquiring Tyler Zeller and Marcus Thornton for virtually nothing this week, and Celtics tickets are expected to go fast in the aftermath.

The 7'1" Zeller possesses the same knock down jumpshot that the Celtics have missed since Kevin Garnett was traded to the Nets last year. Zeller has never played with a true point guard like Rajon Rondo since entering the NBA two years ago.

'I've been lifting weights every day since the season ended,' Zeller may have said. 'I feel like I'm ready to make a big leap in my play, and playing for Boston gives me a perfect opportunity to break out.'

Boston is expected to trot out a Rondo/Bradley/Green/Sullinger/Zeller starting 5, and a bench that will compete for tops in the league.

'Kelly and I are going to be pretty lethal in the pick-and-roll off the bench', rookie Marcus Smart may have said. 'I have no problem coming off the bench behind Rondo and Bradley, and this second unit is going to be a wrecking crew. I can't wait for the season to start.'

Boston's second unit will be filled out by a Thornton/Young combo at shooting guard, Gerald Wallace at small forward, and the ever-steady Brandon Bass at PF.

We asked Celtics head coach Brad Stevens if this roster is really enough to compete in an improving Eastern Conference. 'Pfff', Stevens may have responded, 'not every young team is created equal. You reporters are starting to sound like the Negative Nancys on the fan blogs. Get ready to have your mind blown, that's all I have to say.'

It's hard to argue with that logic. This team was in need of a young, athletic starting center, and Zeller certainly appears to fit the bill. But only time will tell.

Thanks for the nice distraction..tp

[NorthernLightning]

And the Knicks lost Chandler and Felton. I guess Bargnani puts them over the top, lol.

[pearljammer10]

This makes me sad an upset.

[Emmette Bryant]

TP for being an optimist.

[Greenbean]

 

I do think this will be an exciting overachieving team. Not sure about the playoffs though.

[NorthernLightning]

This makes me sad an upset.

Upset. That's going to be the story of the Celtics' breakout season.

[NorthernLightning]

I do think this will be an exciting overachieving team. Not sure about the playoffs though.

Yeah. Last season started out so well, after Stevens finally stopped starting Bradley at PG after 4 games. We even led the division at one point. With a healthy, super-motivated Rondo and four good newcomers in Smart, Young, Zeller, and Thornton, we are going to make some noise.

[Future Celtics Owner]

I do think this will be an exciting overachieving team. Not sure about the playoffs though.

Yeah. Last season started out so well, after Stevens finally stopped starting Bradley at PG after 4 games. We even led the division at one point. With a healthy, super-motivated Rondo and four good newcomers in Smart, Young, Zeller, and Thornton, we are going to make some noise.

I want to make noise but not the playoffs. Its just my feeling is that we will trade Rondo and go full youth movement.

[hpantazo]

How many wins will it take for them to make the 6th to 8th seed?

Probably 33-38 wins. The east is a mess.

You realize that there are perhaps 3 or 4 teams that have made the playoffs with less than 35 wins in an NBA season in the history of the NBA, right? Or are you just throwing numbers?

My money's on the latter.

With LeBron moving to CLE, there's definitely 8 teams that are better than Boston this year:

Miami
Indiana
Washington
Atlanta
Cleveland
Charlotte
New York
Brooklyn

I think all of those teams can comfortably beat the Celtics with the roster we have right now. And that's in the Eastern conference, so its not like we can just cruise over to the West to pick up the 40 or so wins that it'll take to make it into the 8th seed in the East next season.

It will be an interesting season in the Eastern Conference. How do you see the standings ending up? With Miami losing Lebron but keeping Wade, Bosh and adding possibly Deng, Granger, and McRoberts, they will still be very good. The Cavs will be a top team just by having Lebron, but they have a ton of talent and a tough center in Varejao. The Hawks get Horford back and have added some talent recently. The Wizards have a good team and are adding Pierce. The Pacers, assuming they keep Stephenson, are still a team with the talent to be the top in the ECF. Toronto was good last year and kept their main core. Lowry and Vasquez love to play there. Also, the Pistons under Van Gundy imo are going to be a good team, they have the players on their to be much better than they were last year. I'm going with:

Cavs
Indiana
Wizards
Miami
Atlanta
Toronto
New York
Detroit

[aporel#18]

(Associated Pressey)

We asked Celtics head coach Brad Stevens if this roster is really enough to compete in an improving Eastern Conference. 'Pfff', Stevens may have responded, 'not every young team is created equal. You reporters are starting to sound like the Negative Nancys on the fan blogs. Get ready to have your mind blown, that's all I have to say.'

It's hard to argue with that logic. This team was in need of a young, athletic starting center, and Zeller certainly appears to fit the bill. But only time will tell.

TP, that Stevens quote is great...

I don't know about the playoffs, but I think this team will be much better than last year's, and I'm hoping for a trade deadline blockbuster with Marc Gasol (please...) coming to Boston and the Celtics becoming instant contenders in the creepy East.

[crownontherocks]

Wirh AB deal still not offical any chance of sign and trade

[celticmania]

We're not going to make any noise lol, we're going to be a few wins better than last year. The Celtics aren't going to be good next year if no more moves are made. Just face it