Losing out on Kevin Love last summer a blessing?

[JBcat]

Looking back I'm curious what people think now.  I was just reading one of the old rumors, and it was either KO or Sully, the 6th pick, and 1 or 2 other first picks.

Let's say this actually happened.  My guess is we would then most likely overpay for Rondo long term, probably even Jeff Green too, and my guess is we would then use other assets for a defensive minded center.

Now I would much rather have Love than Sully or KO.  However we now know how Rondo is playing this year, and have seen Smart.  I wouldn't be surprised if in the next year or 2 if Smart is the better player as Rondo turns 30.  We also keep 1 or 2 picks one of which we might have been the one we used for James Young.  Then we also got for Green and Rondo; Crowder, the future Memphis 1st pick, the future Dallas 1st pick, potential first pick from Minnesota(or 2 2nd rounders), future Clippers 2nd round pick (trading Rivers to them), 12.9 TE, 7.7 TE (Prince trade), and loads of cap space this summer.  Not to mention maybe we don't end up with Thomas too.

Looking back I was really bummed out the Love trade didn't happen, but we might have been locked into pretty good team, but not good enough.  Now for this season we might not have been as good, but I think we have the flexibilty to better than that going forward by not making the Love trade.  I wonder how people now feel about it if they still would have preferred that Love deal?

[gpap]

I still would've preferred the Love deal.

If we have Love, Rondo is still here, we just would've needed that 3rd piece and been well on our way.

Plus, though Sully played relatively well this year, his conditioning has continuously proven to be an issue and in my eyes, Olynyk this year has been a borderline bust (save for a few games.)

[e4e5sesame]

I think you're selling Danny a bit short.  The only way he would lock up our cap space long term as you're suggesting is if he thought we were championship material.  I doubt that this team would look anything like championship material if we added Love while Rondo and Green continued to play at their current level.

Trading for Love last summer would have given Danny more options and that could only be a good thing unless you have little faith in his ability to choose the right one.

[Cman]

Too early to tell.

If the Cs had traded for Kevin Love, and extended Rondo and Green. Bradley would still be here. That's four to build around going forward. Add to that mix whoever else the Cs would have signed over the summer (FA players would have been more likely to come to Boston given that Love was in Boston), and Danny likely would have traded for someone decent.

The Cs might come up empty this summer. So, if we are comparing IT, Smart, Bradley, Zeller, and the various "assets" we have to the above... I'm not sure.  Again, too early to tell. Let's see what happens this summer.

[D.o.s.]

I think you're selling Danny a bit short.  The only way he would lock up our cap space long term as you're suggesting is if he thought we were championship material.  I doubt that this team would look anything like championship material if we added Love while Rondo and Green continued to play at their current level.

Trading for Love last summer would have given Danny more options and that could only be a good thing unless you have little faith in his ability to choose the right one.

I think the ideal, if you were into trading for Love, was something like Rondo Bradley Green Love Asik, which is probably good for a second round showing or, if everything broke right, maybe an ECF appearance.

[obnoxiousmime]

I tend to think it was a fortunate non-get. Rondo had to leave to be exposed. If he had stayed his reputation would have been protected and we would either lose him as a FA to some crazy team or be forced to overpay him. It's just too hard in this day and age to build a winner around a PG who can't shoot, especially if you're going to pay him 20 million/year, elevated cap or not. Not to mention, Love seems kind of flaky and there's no guarantee he would have re-signed. That's too much uncertainty and exorbitant contracts going to overrated, counterfeit "stars" in my book.

[LatterDayCelticsfan]

I reckon we would probably look a bit like Cleveland do now if that trade had gone through. Maybe with Love as our 1st rather than 3rd option on offense. Given how things worked out, I was quite sad to see Rondo, then Green go, but given how the team has been coached, and the business Ainge did with the assets he got out of them, I am really hopeful for our future.   

[moiso]

I liked the deal and still do.  But it turns out that I'm happy that Rondo and Green are gone.  I would like Love with some different pieces than were probably planned.

[heyvik]

even if we did roll with Rondo, Love, Bradley, Green, we, in all likelihood would NOT have gotten Zeller. We'd still be lost at the Center position. We would have a TON of PFs (Yes KO is a 4 and so is Sully).
We wouldn't have been considered 'dangerous' without a 7ft or Ben Wallace type Center on our roster
 

[hwangjini_1]

and then again, maybe the celtics can get love as a free agent and have to give up ZERO assets. only time will tell. 

[Tr1boy]

Yes it is a blessing.

[JohnBoy65]

The only asset I am REALLY impressed with is IT, and I think that DA could have gotten him at the trade deadline anyway. He would have been a great backup to rondo. In my eyes, Crowder and Jerebko are replaceable. It would have been nice to add Love to the mix. I would still have done it. Would definitely miss Marcus Smart, but I think Kevin Love would have had a longer lasting effect on Boston than Marcus Smart will.

[Fred Roberts]

Huge blessing. Rondo and Love are both watching their values diminish this season. Jeff Green too. Jeff started out averaging 20 ppg, and he's down to something much lower with Memphis.

I'd certainly welcome all 3 players to the C's roster, but not at the $15-20M range each one was probably eyeing for Summer 2015 and beyond.

Rondo and Love have flaws that are too big. Green has the engine / focus problem, even though he has all the skills on paper.

Giving up major assets to over pay Love, over pay Rondo and possibly over pay Green would have been harsh for the franchise. All three of these guys are 3rd bananas or low grade 2nd bananas on a good night.

[Celtics4ever]

We definitely lucked out folks.

[GetLucky]

I'm just happy that the organization has a clearer direction. The "wait for Rondo to be healthy and pretend Jeff Green is a top dog" game got really boring.