The Celtics lost Brandon Bass and Gerald Wallace and acquired Amir Johnson and David Lee. If Amir and David both stay healthy, then this is a huge upgrade. If not healthy, then it clears more cap space for the following year. On the other hand, I’d much prefer Bass over Mickey. Hopefully, I’ll change my mind by the end of the season.
Phil Pressey, Luigi Datome, Chris Babb, vs. Terry Rozier, Mickey Jordan and R.J. Hunter
Phil Pressey vs. Terry Rozier
Pressey is more aggressive offensively and defensively. Knows how to drive the lane. Rozier has more potential, less of a defensive liability in certain match ups. Shoots better, but not a lot better. He has a good release on his shot which could turn deadly at times. Neither a big upgrade or loss either way.
Luigi Datome vs. R.J. Hunter Luigi is a more reliable shooter and slightly better on defense. Although, R.J. will poke the ball away from time to time. R.J. is better in the open court and has greater team awareness on offense. Slight favor to Datome. Again, not a major improvement or downgrade. Some may feel R.J. has more talent. And, he may have. It's just that his body is not NBA ready.
Chris Babb vs. Jordan Mickey I liked Chris for a few games a while back. He just never developed. Mickey got it here. Will Jordan get any minutes with all the forwards on the team? Thus, the question is; is he a contributor or bench warmer?
It seems the biggest improvement the Celtics made over the summer is in acquiring Johnson and Lee. Should they stay healthy and the rookies contribute, then the Celtics could have a better record next season.
I purposely avoided the PJIII vs. Young comparison because we don't know where that it headed.
For the final 36 games of the season, the Celtics were 24-12. Good for 2nd best in the EC over that span, and that's a pretty good sample size that started around the time our current group came together. The Celtics are also the 5th youngest team in the league and improved their major deficiencies in the off-season.
I may be forever an optimist, but I just don't find it likely that we win less than 40 games. Possible? Sure. Anything is in the NBA. I don't think we'll sustain that 55 win pace we finished last year on, but just by virtue of continuity we should be over .500.
I think it's foolish to compare veterans to rookies since you have no idea what the rookies are gonna do. But to go out on a limb, I really thinks it's a stretch to say Pressey and Rozier is a wash, and Datome is better than Hunter (even right now).
Defensive ability translates pretty well, and Rozier is MUCH better at that end than Pressey, and it's not just cause Pressey is so small. Rozier is a tenacious, AB like defender who has Smart-like hustle and absolutely no fear of anyone. Offensively he has a first step Pressey couldn't ever dream about, better handles and a better jump shot. Pressey is a better passer, he can make dimes a lot of other dudes can't make (Rozier included from what I've seen so far) but that's about it. Pressey is a borderline-NBA player trying to work his way up to bench warmer. If Rozier is nothing but a bench warmer in 3 years, his career will be a failure.
Same goes for Datome-Hunter. Datome could only find 6-12 minutes a game on a Celtic team that had almost no shooters, shot the ball a lot anyways and Datome is an excellent shooter. Datome was a very poor defender who hustles, which gave him a few sweet blocks in his time here. Other than that, he's below average; almost terrible. He was slightly less terrible than Young (who was just utterly lost defensively) last year, which is the only reason he got minutes at all. Hunter (again, from what I've seen so far which is limited and has no NBA games involved) is a considerably better defender. Hunter has a very high BBIQ, he knows where he needs to be and when he needs to be there. He knows how to mirror an opponent. He knows how to read a passing lane and how to use his length and quickness to generate TO's and he's generally aware of the game being played in front of him. Datome can't do any of that very well.
And poor Chris Babb. The guys just trying to avoid the Turkish league and he's gotta compete against a guy who just signed the biggest deal for a 2nd rounder ever? I hope he gets to stay in the d-league, because he'll probably get to play against Mickey there since we have so many bigs.
I think in both the short and long term, this team got better over the summer and I expect is to do pretty well.
Topic: Where did the Celtics upgrade over the summer? (Read 3828 times)