Cockeyed optimists

[oldutican]

It seems many folks who post here, including the blog staff, believe some of the following: NBA stars like Jordan, Gasol or Love want to leave top-flight teams and play for the Celts, other NBA GMs are stupid or Danny Ainge is a wizard. It goes beyond thinking Gasol or Jordan will sign with Celts, and includes believing all the Celts need do is offer a wad of money to restricted FAs, bringing"second-tier" guys like Harris or Middleton to Boston.

Why would Magic or Bucks let such key guys go? They have lots of cap space and are in much the same position as Celtics, and also know cap will grow in coming seasons. The only plausible scenario might be if Magic draft Winslow, who plays Harris' position. But even so, Magic can still match offers and be in position to demand comparable value in a sign and trade.

The best case I see is signing Monroe, who is a UFA and may find Celts more attractive than Pistons, but even here competition for a guy some here don't like makes signing him unlikely. Beyond him, I'm not sure signing an Asik or R.Lopez does much.

Making the playoffs was fun, and I really enjoy this team. But the most likely way for the team to get better is the draft, and it's looking like Celts will need to find gems outside the lottery.

[Rakulp]

We got better this year...both through the draft and through trades.  So there is more than one way to build a team.

Frankly, calling the Magic or Bucks "top-flight teams" and speak of the Celtics as if they are less than that seems silly.  There are a lot of reasons why players want to leave their current team, and not all of them may be in the public eye.

I don't know how likely it is that we will sign any first tier players during the offseason, but I know that Danny is always trying to make this team better, so it's in good hands. 

There's a buzz going on in the NBA about Boston now that we've sniffed the playoffs again.  Coach is getting a lot of positive attention because he motivated the players to become a team that was much greater than the sum of their parts.

Revisit this again next off season and let's see how things turned out



Rak

[oldutican]

I wasn't referring to Magic and Bucks as top-flight teams. Should have made clear that was about guys like Gasol, Jordan and Love.

[Who]

Agreed -- Greg Monroe is most gettable FA on the market. He should be #1 priority.

Then make a run at some of those restricted FAs, cross your fingers and hope you get one of those SFs (T.Harris, K.Middleton).

[Rosco917]

Agreed -- Greg Monroe is most gettable FA on the market. He should be #1 priority.

Then make a run at some of those restricted FAs, cross your fingers and hope you get one of those SFs (T.Harris, K.Middleton).

Very realistic view...my only problem with Monroe is he's not a center, and has shown no sign at being a rim protector. I like him as an up grade at PF with some added length, but we'll still need a center.

I'm fine with Harris, and Middleton as up grades at the SF position. But yes, we do have quite a few cockeyed optimists dreaming about building a team that can't be built, at least not in a single year.

[slamtheking]

It seems many folks who post here, including the blog staff, believe some of the following: NBA stars like Jordan, Gasol or Love want to leave top-flight teams and play for the Celts, other NBA GMs are stupid or Danny Ainge is a wizard. It goes beyond thinking Gasol or Jordan will sign with Celts, and includes believing all the Celts need do is offer a wad of money to restricted FAs, bringing"second-tier" guys like Harris or Middleton to Boston.

Why would Magic or Bucks let such key guys go? They have lots of cap space and are in much the same position as Celtics, and also know cap will grow in coming seasons. The only plausible scenario might be if Magic draft Winslow, who plays Harris' position. But even so, Magic can still match offers and be in position to demand comparable value in a sign and trade.

The best case I see is signing Monroe, who is a UFA and may find Celts more attractive than Pistons, but even here competition for a guy some here don't like makes signing him unlikely. Beyond him, I'm not sure signing an Asik or R.Lopez does much.

Making the playoffs was fun, and I really enjoy this team. But the most likely way for the team to get better is the draft, and it's looking like Celts will need to find gems outside the lottery.

what's missing here is commentary about the pessimists who'll use the fact the C's (or any other team) couldn't lure a top FA from their current team as proof the C's can't/aren't a viable FA destination.

[oldutican]

That's not my point. Instead, it is that the top free agents this season are not coming here: Jordan, Gasol, Leonard, Aldridge & Love. They will stay with their winning teams or find another ready contender.Monroe is the only one coming from a losing team who might make the move to Boston.

And I see no reason Bucks or Magic would let Middleton or Harris go when they can match.

[slightly biased bias fan]

That's not my point. Instead, it is that the top free agents this season are not coming here: Jordan, Gasol, Leonard, Aldridge & Love. They will stay with their winning teams or find another ready contender.Monroe is the only one coming from a losing team who might make the move to Boston.

And I see no reason Bucks or Magic would let Middleton or Harris go when they can match.

There are lots of reasons; Most teams look long term and know that they will have star players coming off rookie contracts so they will eventually lose someone, thus either lose their restricted free agent for nothing or sign and trade.

Also its not like before the soft cap tax threshold is a Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline. and only a few rich owners are willing to pay it.

Players can make things difficult even if they are restricted, even if they are locked in to a contract if they aren't happy they will be traded because...they are humans not commodities.

[littleteapot]

Danny Ainge is a wizard.

[PhoSita]

Danny Ainge may or may not be a wizard, but rebuilding this team into a contender is going to take some moves that look almost like a magic trick.

Like you say, the Celtics are most likely going to need to hit on some buy low candidates in free agency (e.g. unproven young guys or veterans coming from a bad situation) and also find some real gems outside of the top 10. 

That's a tough spot, but it's been done before.  Let's hope Danny's got the right stuff.



"You're a wizard, Danny."

[jeezem]

San Antonio always seems to develop players and win a title every few years.  Let's do what they do.

[PhoSita]

San Antonio always seems to develop players and win a title every few years.  Let's do what they do.

Yeah, except there's one guy that they drafted and developed about 18 years ago who's been keeping them relevant ever since.

[walker834]

How do you know Monroe is the most gettable free agent?  Do you talk to the pistons often?  The point is iAinge and Stevens are smart enough to not rule anything out and are going to imrprove the team in the best way they can.  Unfortunately a lot of fans don't think that way and rule stuff out before its even crossed.  Draft, free agency, trades etc.  There's a difference between being open minded and close minded i guess is the point.  Ainge is going to be prepared regardless.  I think the cockeyed people are the ones who aren't.

I think a lot of the internet in general is people playing camps against each other when they forget this is the internet and they dont even talk to gm's or the players themselves.
 
That's been  lost on a lot of fans and common sense.   I have it in my head what Ainge might be targetting in theory but that entails a lot of things and there really is no way to know until it gets down to it.

I've said this before though.  Too many fans are closeminded.  It's where the crazy train starts.  You forget you don't know.  Putting all your eggs in one basket isn't necessarily good.  Ainge is going to explore and probably already has been a lot of different avenues.

Some avenues will improve us. Some won't. That takes intelligence too knowing what is good and what isn't.

[GetLucky]

You know what I consider a synonym for "cockeyed optimists"? Fanatics. Hey! "Fan" is short for fanatic. We speculate because we're Celtics cockeyed optimists, it's fun, and it helps keep us sane in the dark days. In my opinion, if you can't enjoy that, why bother posting on a forum about a basketball team?

[Greyman]

Surprised nobody has mentioned how only crazy people believed wizard Danny could get KG and initiate the biggest turnaround in NBA history.

Maybe that inspired work by DA has made Celtics fans expectant that similar (eventually) will follow. Even 'realists' are hoping we can become contenders (we made the playoffs after all, better than the 2007 result).

While I think most fans are aware another season of 'building' could be ahead, there are plenty of reasons to expect the project could be significantly advanced or even close to completion by the start of next season. For that optimism, you can always find those who will pick holes in your dreams.