Say the c's struggle through January, Could Danny tank it?

[cb8883]

If Smart is out for a month, it could really put this team in a hole . IT is to small to be a starter , and I don't see our defense holding up well while Smart is out .

This looks like a very mediocre team to me .

I would be willing to tank it if we are just fighting for a playoff spot with no hope of winning a series .

IT , Turner, KO , Amir, Lee are the guys most likely to be moved IMO .

Get a top 5 brk pick, and by trading some of those guys the c's would likely fall into a top 10 pick themselves .

This would be an awesome scenario. Trade anyone over 25 and tank hard for Simmons since next year there is no incentive to do so. Amir was the biggest mistake of the off season. Celtics shouldn't have signed any free agents and should have given those minutes to Mickey. The sooner Turner IT and Banks 2.0 are gone the better. Lakers Philly and Minnesota have leaps and bounds better futures than the Cs. All three did a hard tank and look at the youth.

[tankcity!]

I would actually prefer the Celtics to have a high lottery pick this year, increasing our chances of obtaining the #1 overall pick, but with the way the roster is constructed, can't see us being bad as they would need to be.

[Evantime34]

The schedule is much easier after the new year, so I don't see them selling off assets if they aren't playing well by January. If they are still struggling by the deadline, I could see them trading any of upcoming free agents.

As to tanking, the closest this team will come to tanking is moving the veterans so they can move a couple of Rozier, Young, Mickey into the rotation. I don't think we will trade young players just to be bad.

[Tr1boy]

Danny and CBS won't tank it. They will rely on other teams (draft picks) to tank it if anything

[Hemingway]

It'd be nice to be a fly on the wall in Danny's office from day-to-day throughout this year. I wonder how many teams he is talking to, how aggressively he's looking to make moves, who his primary (and realistic targets) are, and which of are players are being discussed more than others.

We are limited to speculating a lot around here, which is fine and even fun sometimes ... but I'd be really interested to know what all is going on behind the scenes.

I too would love to be a fly on the wall. Or work for Ainge, that would be a dream come true. We can't really know what goes on, but I can bet a few bad losses in a row doesn't phase Ainge much at all. He has been in this game for so long. He can see the long term picture.

[hpantazo]

We traded our good players away last season to tank and it backfired, so who knows what Ainge will try this season.

[PhoSita]

What would tanking even look like for this team?  Sell off players just to net a few more mediocre picks?

[rondohondo]

What would tanking even look like for this team?  Sell off players just to net a few more mediocre picks?

a top 10 pick
Looking at the standings the only teams the C's are clearly better than is
Philly
Brooklyn 
Lakers
Sacramento
and maybe New Orleans ,Portland and Den

Other teams in that have equal or better talent than Boston

Orl
NYK
Det
Mil
Char
Utah

The roster as currently constructed is not winning a playoff series , so why not try to pick up a few more 1sts and dip into the top 10 in the lottery . We could potentially have 4 lottery picks (Brk,C's,Dal,Minny)

and a few guaranteed top 10 picks , likely a top 5 and top 10 .

We get 4 teams lottery balls to try and land Simmons . Just look at cleveland lucking out with wiggins when they had like a 1% chance of winning the lottery .

It would just create greater odds of winning the lottery ,

Say Brk finished 3rd worst record (15.6% chance of #1 pick)
Bos finished with 6th worst record(6.3% chance of # 1 pick)
Plus hopefully minny and dal will give us another1-2% chance coming close to having the same odds as the worst team in the league .

If they struggle and are in the 5-10 worst teams in the league by the deadline , it makes no sense not to trade off some of the vets(IT,Lee,Amir,Turner)

[Csfan1984]

What would tanking even look like for this team?  Sell off players just to net a few more mediocre picks?

a top 10 pick
Looking at the standings the only teams the C's are clearly better than is
Philly
Brooklyn 
Lakers
Sacramento
and maybe New Orleans ,Portland and Den

Other teams in that have equal or better talent than Boston

Orl
NYK
Det
Mil
Char
Utah

The roster as currently constructed is not winning a playoff series , so why not try to pick up a few more 1sts and dip into the top 10 in the lottery . We could potentially have 4 lottery picks (Brk,C's,Dal,Minny)

and a few guaranteed top 10 picks , likely a top 5 and top 10 .

We get 4 teams lottery balls to try and land Simmons . Just look at cleveland lucking out with wiggins when they had like a 1% chance of winning the lottery .

It would just create greater odds of winning the lottery ,

Say Brk finished 3rd worst record (15.6% chance of #1 pick)
Bos finished with 6th worst record(6.3% chance of # 1 pick)
Plus hopefully minny and dal will give us another1-2% chance coming close to having the same odds as the worst team in the league .

If they struggle and are in the 5-10 worst teams in the league by the deadline , it makes no sense not to trade off some of the vets(IT,Lee,Amir,Turner)

Depressingly true. I'd say bottom 12 and they have to be sellers.

[PhoSita]

The roster as currently constructed is not winning a playoff series , so why not try to pick up a few more 1sts and dip into the top 10 in the lottery .

I agree that the team as currently constructed is very unlikely to win a playoff series.  At the same time, I'm not sure how much the war chest of assets is likely to be improved by selling off half the team.  None of the guys Danny would be likely to trade in that scenario is going to fetch much on the open market.

It seems more likely to me that Danny would use Lee's contract to make a move for a guy who can help the team, rather than blowing it up.

[Jon]

The roster as currently constructed is not winning a playoff series , so why not try to pick up a few more 1sts and dip into the top 10 in the lottery .

I agree that the team as currently constructed is very unlikely to win a playoff series.  At the same time, I'm not sure how much the war chest of assets is likely to be improved by selling off half the team.  None of the guys Danny would be likely to trade in that scenario is going to fetch much on the open market.

It seems more likely to me that Danny would use Lee's contract to make a move for a guy who can help the team, rather than blowing it up.

Yes.  So we'd basically be selling off guys who were mid-to-late first round picks for more mid-to-late first round picks.  It just seems to be treading water.  And we still wouldn't be bad enough to get a really high pick.

I think the better move is to try to win, keep generating some hype around this team, hope for the best with the Nets pick, and then try to sell someone good on coming here (either through free agency or trade). 

[Big333223]

I'm really excited that this season, so far (it's still so early), the Eastern Conference has looked a lot better. For the Celtics, that means that team will have to be better to make the playoffs. So they'll either prove themselves to be a legit team or they'll get another lottery pick. It's the type of win-win that Western Conference teams have been enjoying for a long time now.

I also think, regardless of the team's record, Ainge is going to make a deal in late-December/January for a more an impact player to loosen up the roster. We're going to have to sit tight for at least another month, though, until players who signed as free agents over the summer can be traded.

[mr. dee]

Danny will make a move, regardless of our record.

[Neurotic Guy]

I'm really excited that this season, so far (it's still so early), the Eastern Conference has looked a lot better. For the Celtics, that means that team will have to be better to make the playoffs. So they'll either prove themselves to be a legit team or they'll get another lottery pick. It's the type of win-win that Western Conference teams have been enjoying for a long time now.

I also think, regardless of the team's record, Ainge is going to make a deal in late-December/January for a more an impact player to loosen up the roster. We're going to have to sit tight for at least another month, though, until players who signed as free agents over the summer can be traded.

Also means that Minny may finished 9th/10th in the West and not render their pick. 

[guava_wrench]

Danny needs to move some draft picks because they are wasted if we are lacking roster spots. Who we move with the picks will depend upon our record and what other teams are interested in.

We will not make trades to lose. We will make trades for assets. I don't see us moving Rozier for a late first round pick. Pointless move. But Lee for a late first round pick? Maybe, if we are losing. But we would have to be really bad.

We are far from losing enough for Danny to head that direction. We are 7-7. That is good enough for Danny to only do moves that clearly benefit us.