Celtics Draft Pick Watch Thread

[oldtype]

If we make the playoffs, we make the playoffs.

If we don't make the playoffs, three lotto picks.

It's nothing but sunshine and rainbows really. 

[jpotter33]

Meh, the notion of outrage is a significant amount of hyperbole. No one is violating board terms wrt calling names or flaming.  Just eye rolling behavior generating an eye roll. If I came across as being more upset than that, it definitely wasn't intended.

I do still think an ignore feature would greatly improve the quality of these boards.  . There are certain threads I choose not to read based upon the thread title. You can't really do that with any hypothetical posters who you might view as being a feminine hygiene device.

TP, though. That gave me a good laugh. lol

[Rondo9]

You wait till the one day they fall a half a game out of playoff race to make this lame thread? We obviously have a much better spot with the nets pick and this is pretty lame and stupid. Good troll effort though.

I don't get the outrage.  I expect this is how the season is going to go.  We win a few, we rise to a playoff spot and a group of posters will come out with their posts.  We lose a few, we fall back out and we will hear from that group.  The Nets' pick has nothing to do with this.  It is going to be what it is going to be. 

I predict we are going to jockey positions with Charlotte, Orlando, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Washington all season.  I don't think we are necessarily better than any of these teams.  A couple will make the playoffs.  The rest will not.  The difference between finishing ahead of all these teams and at the bottom of these teams will likely be just a few wins.  An injury here and there, a young player emerging, and other small factors will ultimately make the difference.

Look at the person posting this and you'll understand why people are "outraged".

Sorry, I just don't understand why anyone gets outraged with "the person posting" or why I would need to look at the person.  I don't always agree with that poster and I tend to have some pretty isolated positions myself at times but many of that person's posts offer an interesting (albeit often contrarian) and well thought out position.

I know that he thought/thinks the Nets will make the playoffs and I guess that the Celtics wouldn't.  I thought Ron Mercer was going to be good.  I thought/think Milwaukee will make the playoffs and finish ahead of the Celtics.  I think Rondo is a bad shooter and overrated (maybe not so overrated these days) .  I thought Amir was going to be much better than he has so far.  I guess it just doesn't bother me.  You are certainly free to be outraged if that is how you feel.  You being outraged doesn't bother me but you are not going to convince me that I should be outraged or that it is "correct" that you are outraged.

The guy was clearly baiting it doesn't matter whether or not he's "right" If the Celtics won the game against the Spurs would this thread exist?

I feel like people who consistently only post one sentence replies shouldn't be ridiculing others, who drive the board by writing decent content.

Like him or not, he starts good discussion.

Good discussion? This thread has been arguing about the poster. Which I am contributing too and I'll stop, but I feel this is more baiting rather having a good discussion.

[KeepRondo]

You wait till the one day they fall a half a game out of playoff race to make this lame thread? We obviously have a much better spot with the nets pick and this is pretty lame and stupid. Good troll effort though.

I don't get the outrage.  I expect this is how the season is going to go.  We win a few, we rise to a playoff spot and a group of posters will come out with their posts.  We lose a few, we fall back out and we will hear from that group.  The Nets' pick has nothing to do with this.  It is going to be what it is going to be. 

I predict we are going to jockey positions with Charlotte, Orlando, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Washington all season.  I don't think we are necessarily better than any of these teams.  A couple will make the playoffs.  The rest will not.  The difference between finishing ahead of all these teams and at the bottom of these teams will likely be just a few wins.  An injury here and there, a young player emerging, and other small factors will ultimately make the difference.

Look at the person posting this and you'll understand why people are "outraged".

Sorry, I just don't understand why anyone gets outraged with "the person posting" or why I would need to look at the person.  I don't always agree with that poster and I tend to have some pretty isolated positions myself at times but many of that person's posts offer an interesting (albeit often contrarian) and well thought out position.

I know that he thought/thinks the Nets will make the playoffs and I guess that the Celtics wouldn't.  I thought Ron Mercer was going to be good.  I thought/think Milwaukee will make the playoffs and finish ahead of the Celtics.  I think Rondo is a bad shooter and overrated (maybe not so overrated these days) .  I thought Amir was going to be much better than he has so far.  I guess it just doesn't bother me.  You are certainly free to be outraged if that is how you feel.  You being outraged doesn't bother me but you are not going to convince me that I should be outraged or that it is "correct" that you are outraged.

The guy was clearly baiting it doesn't matter whether or not he's "right" If the Celtics won the game against the Spurs would this thread exist?

I feel like people who consistently only post one sentence replies shouldn't be ridiculing others, who drive the board by writing decent content.

Like him or not, he starts good discussion.

Good discussion? This thread has been arguing about the poster. Which I am contributing too and I'll stop, but I feel this is more baiting rather having a good discussion.

That was your choice and others. But if we are going to be a close to 500 team again, I'd prefer to miss the playoffs. So I don't mind knowing what spot we are for our lottery pick.

[Future Celtics Owner]

Ya I can't wait to tank....I've been waiting years.

[Celtics18]

Ya I can't wait to tank....I've been waiting years.

It's only been about a year and a half since the completion of our last tank. 

[PhoSita]

Meh, the notion of outrage is a significant amount of hyperbole. No one is violating board terms wrt calling names or flaming.  Just eye rolling behavior generating an eye roll. If I came across as being more upset than that, it definitely wasn't intended.

I do still think an ignore feature would greatly improve the quality of these boards.  . There are certain threads I choose not to read based upon the thread title. You can't really do that with any hypothetical posters who you might view as being a feminine hygiene device.

TP, though. That gave me a good laugh. lol

I understand the desire for an ignore function, but I don't think it would make the forums better.  You'd just end up with even more threads where discussion gets derailed because people don't actually respond to one another.

This is a discussion forum.  Discussion is boring if everybody agrees and nobody ever interacts with people of different viewpoints.  An ignore function might seem necessary with certain posters who really bug you, but if somebody is THAT bad, their behavior probably prompts getting talked to by a moderator anyway. 

I think having an ignore function would be too easy to abuse, and it would be really frustrating to use the forums and not be sure you're seeing all parts of a conversation because somebody has ignored you for whatever reason, or you've ignored somebody who's driving the thread.

[LarBrd33]

I see a 'lock' in thus thread's future..

One can hope

Look... am I early with this thread?  Perhaps.  Are ya'll overreacting by claiming you're "outraged" by it?  Most def. 

Since we have a draft pick watch for the Brooklyn pick, why not our own?  We've teetered back and forth between lotto and playoff so far and our own pick could be a key part of our season... probably deserves keeping an eye on as it could impact our future in a significant way. 

Case in point, with 2 weeks and 9 games left in the 2014-15 season, 32-41 Boston defeated the 31-41 Hornets.  They were essentially tied. 

Boston goes one way: Rolls through the final two weeks, makes the playoffs with a losing record, gets swept and ends up with pick #16

Hornets go the other way: Fall apart down the stretch, end up with the 9th best lotto odds.

Flash forward a couple months:  Boston reportedly offers 6 draft picks, including four 1st rounders (at least one from Brooklyn) to trade up from #16 to #9 with hopes of taking Justice Winslow.   Hornets turn down Boston, because it isn't enough.    Had roles been reversed, perhaps we'd be the ones getting offers of 6 draft picks for 1.    We also know that had Boston moved up to #9, the Knicks were willing to trade down from #4...  Imagine if we had just finished 9th in the first place?...

Holy Kristaps, that's a lot of potential assets the alt-universe Celts could have had.



So while this thread might seem cheeky or a work of parody, it's relevant.   The East is deep this year.   Ben Simmons is averaging 20 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists, 1.6 blocks and 2.4 steals and being called the greatest prospect since Durant.   I'm not jumping on the tank bandwagon just yet, but it's something to keep an eye on. 

On the flip side, we're 2 games out of 1st place.  Let's get weird, people. 

The standings landscape is shaping up to be a reverse of the last couple years.  Eastern Conference has 10 teams over .500 not including Knicks, Wizards and Bucks who all seem like above .500 teams to me.   Western conference has 6 teams above .500.   This means we're potentially in store for the reverse of last year... where a team like the Rockets (below .500) makes the playoffs and gets stuck picking 15th... while a team like the Bucks/Celtics/Knicks/Pistons/Magic/Wizards could finish .500, miss the playoffs and have the top 10 lotto odds.  As someone pointed out earlier, had we won last night we'd be the 6th seed right now with a 12-8... so we're talking 1 game making the difference between 13th best lotto odds and being tied for picking #23.  I find it interesting. 

[Celtics18]

The top ten teams in the East are currently within 2 games of each other in the standings.  To me, that's made for a very exciting start to the season.  There's parity in the East and almost everyone seems to be competing for the playoffs (Washington, New York, and Washington are outside that top ten, but teams that could join the mix--I see only Brooklyn and Philly clearly on the outside looking in).

Based on the competitiveness and depth of the East this year, there's every possibility that our Celtics could end up missing the playoffs.  The competition is stiff. 

For me, this all makes for one of the most fun seasons we've had in a while.  Everyone's competing, and the Celtics are in the mix. 

I understand that some fans may take the angle that as we are certainly not guaranteed a playoff spot and other good teams are vying for those spots, we may as well give up early and go for lottery picks. 

To me that goes against the spirit of the whole sports thing, but, to each his own, I guess. 

[PhoSita]

For me, this all makes for one of the most fun seasons we've had in a while.  Everyone's competing, and the Celtics are in the mix. 

I understand that some fans may take the angle that as we are certainly not guaranteed a playoff spot and other good teams are vying for those spots, we may as well give up early and go for lottery picks. 

To me that goes against the spirit of the whole sports thing, but, to each his own, I guess.

I agree that it's fun seeing so many competitive teams.  We probably won't have a clear playoff picture until much later in the season, and almost every Eastern Conference opponent can have a competitive game against almost any other.

For me, if the Celts are clearly one of the better teams in the conference and have a shot at actually competing in a playoff series, then it's worth going for it.  If it's going to be another situation where just a handful of games separate the 5th or 6th seed from the 9th and 10th seed, and the Celts end up losing in 4 or 5 games in the 1st round at the cost of dropping back 5 or 6 spots in the draft ... that's not worth it.

I don't know what intangible value making the playoffs and getting swept had last season, but you'll have a hard time convincing me it was worth enough to make up for falling back 5-6 spots in the draft.  That hurt the rebuild.

[Celtics18]

For me, this all makes for one of the most fun seasons we've had in a while.  Everyone's competing, and the Celtics are in the mix. 

I understand that some fans may take the angle that as we are certainly not guaranteed a playoff spot and other good teams are vying for those spots, we may as well give up early and go for lottery picks. 

To me that goes against the spirit of the whole sports thing, but, to each his own, I guess.

I agree that it's fun seeing so many competitive teams.  We probably won't have a clear playoff picture until much later in the season, and almost every Eastern Conference opponent can have a competitive game against almost any other.

For me, if the Celts are clearly one of the better teams in the conference and have a shot at actually competing in a playoff series, then it's worth going for it.  If it's going to be another situation where just a handful of games separate the 5th or 6th seed from the 9th and 10th seed, and the Celts end up losing in 4 or 5 games in the 1st round at the cost of dropping back 5 or 6 spots in the draft ... that's not worth it.

I don't know what intangible value making the playoffs and getting swept had last season, but you'll have a hard time convincing me it was worth enough to make up for falling back 5-6 spots in the draft.  That hurt the rebuild.

How or when will we know the answers to these questions, though?  We are already a quarter of the season in and above .500, fighting for a playoff spot. 

How would we go about going for a "tank" at this stage?

Clearly, it seems like everyone currently involved in the Celtics organization is looking at this season as one where competing and trying to build a team that is good right now is the main goal.

I don't see them backing off that at this point.  Sure, they could miss the playoffs, or make the playoffs and get swept in the first round, but if either of those scenarios occurs, it won't be because anyone in the organization was aiming for that. 

If the stress of watching your team compete is too much, though, by all means convince yourself that losing is preferable.  I understand if that's easier to handle as a fan. 

[PhoSita]

How or when will we know the answers to these questions, though?  We are already a quarter of the season in and above .500, fighting for a playoff spot. 

How would we go about going for a "tank" at this stage?

Clearly, it seems like everyone currently involved in the Celtics organization is looking at this season as one where competing and trying to build a team that is good right now is the main goal.

I don't see them backing off that at this point.  Sure, they could miss the playoffs, or make the playoffs and get swept in the first round, but if either of those scenarios occurs, it won't be because anyone in the organization was aiming for that. 

If the stress of watching your team compete is too much, though, by all means convince yourself that losing is preferable.  I understand if that's easier to handle as a fan.

Setting aside the worthless, inflammatory comment at the end of your post ...

I'm not sure there is really much to be done at this point as far as "tanking" is concerned.  I imagine the Celts could sell off some of the lesser assets if they wanted to, but they would get only a marginal return, and they already have too many lesser picks in the stash as it is.

I also don't know when we'll have a clearer picture.  I imagine it'll come down to the last month of the season.  And hey, maybe that Nets pick will end up top 5, the Mavs will fall back a bit and give us another pick in the 10-14 range, and making the playoffs only to get swept won't be so much of a Pyrrhic Victory.  We can hope.

Watching the team compete isn't "stressful."  I just don't think it serves much purpose to compete for a bottom seed and a shellacking in the playoffs.  I enjoy watching this team most of the time, and I'm thankful for that.  Watchable is not the same thing is relevant, and I want the team to be relevant (i.e. they actually pose a threat to a potential playoff opponent) first and foremost.  But this is where we are at given the moves (or lack thereof) that were made in the off-season.

[Celtics18]

How or when will we know the answers to these questions, though?  We are already a quarter of the season in and above .500, fighting for a playoff spot. 

How would we go about going for a "tank" at this stage?

Clearly, it seems like everyone currently involved in the Celtics organization is looking at this season as one where competing and trying to build a team that is good right now is the main goal.

I don't see them backing off that at this point.  Sure, they could miss the playoffs, or make the playoffs and get swept in the first round, but if either of those scenarios occurs, it won't be because anyone in the organization was aiming for that. 

If the stress of watching your team compete is too much, though, by all means convince yourself that losing is preferable.  I understand if that's easier to handle as a fan.

Setting aside the worthless, inflammatory comment at the end of your post ...

I'm not sure there is really much to be done at this point as far as "tanking" is concerned.  I imagine the Celts could sell off some of the lesser assets if they wanted to, but they would get only a marginal return, and they already have too many lesser picks in the stash as it is.

I also don't know when we'll have a clearer picture.  I imagine it'll come down to the last month of the season.  And hey, maybe that Nets pick will end up top 5, the Mavs will fall back a bit and give us another pick in the 10-14 range, and making the playoffs only to get swept won't be so much of a Pyrrhic Victory.  We can hope.

Watching the team compete isn't "stressful."  I just don't think it serves much purpose to compete for a bottom seed and a shellacking in the playoffs.  I enjoy watching this team most of the time, and I'm thankful for that.  Watchable is not the same thing is relevant, and I want the team to be relevant (i.e. they actually pose a threat to a potential playoff opponent) first and foremost.  But this is where we are at given the moves (or lack thereof) that were made in the off-season.

Well, obviously that would be well past the trade deadline, so the only options for "tanking" at that point would have to be carried out by the coaching staff and/or the players. 

I thought we all more or less established during the last two rebuilding seasons that "players and coaches don't tank; only front offices tank."

Personally, I'm hoping that the standings look similar to how they look right now going into the final month of the season.  It's not really likely, but it sure would be fun. 

[MBunge]

I don't know what intangible value making the playoffs and getting swept had last season, but you'll have a hard time convincing me it was worth enough to make up for falling back 5-6 spots in the draft.  That hurt the rebuild.

In this, and only this area, I have to agree with Hinkie from the Sixers.  The idea that ANY of the players the Celts may have gotten if they had tanked would have made much of a difference in the rebuild doesn't hold up.

I mean, I like Winslow, Stanley Johnson, Mudiay, Myles Turner and WCS but none of them look anywhere near superstar or franchise-level talent.  And with our incoming picks, we could get three players on that same level without tanking at all.

Mike

[MBunge]

But this is where we are at given the moves (or lack thereof) that were made in the off-season.

What even vaguely realistic move could Ainge have made in the off-season to make Boston relevant as you define the term?

Mike