Bleacher Reports predicts Celtics to stand pat in trade market

[Smitty77]

Yesterday Bleacher Report also ranked Isaiah Thomas the 11th best PG in the league. 

I saw that list.  They had Conley ahead of him which I didn't really agree with.  But did any of the other guys selected ahead of him offend you?

I only saw that post on instagram and didnīt even bother to check the list out, did they have a point?

Yeah,  IT's defense played a decent role in knocking him down in the rankings.

They had it as:

#1 - Westbrook
#2 - Harden
#3 - CP3
#4 - Curry
#5 - Lowry
#6 - Wall
#7 - Kemba
#8 - Kyrie
#9 - Lillard
#10 - Conley
#11 - Thomas

I can see the logic in most of those. 

I was ready to get mad about Kemba walker, but I see he's shooting 47%/42%/83% after shooting pretty weak percentages his first 4 seasons.  Gives me hope for Smart.

Here are the PER's of the PG listed ABOVE IT:

Conley;  22.10
Lillard:  23.80
Kyrie:  22.60
Kemba:  23.00
Wall:  23.70
Lowry:  23.90
Curry:  23.60

And IT has a 26.80 and is #2 in 4th quarter scoring.

Wow, I really am sick and tired of the utter disrespect given to IT on this board!!  This should be the LAST place that he gets short-changed IMHO!!!!

Smitty77

[Smitty77]

I hear the that Sixers' blog is looking for posters:-).

Smitty77

[jpotter33]

Yesterday Bleacher Report also ranked Isaiah Thomas the 11th best PG in the league. 

I saw that list.  They had Conley ahead of him which I didn't really agree with.  But did any of the other guys selected ahead of him offend you?

I only saw that post on instagram and didnīt even bother to check the list out, did they have a point?

Yeah,  IT's defense played a decent role in knocking him down in the rankings.

They had it as:

#1 - Westbrook
#2 - Harden
#3 - CP3
#4 - Curry
#5 - Lowry
#6 - Wall
#7 - Kemba
#8 - Kyrie
#9 - Lillard
#10 - Conley
#11 - Thomas

I can see the logic in most of those. 

I was ready to get mad about Kemba walker, but I see he's shooting 47%/42%/83% after shooting pretty weak percentages his first 4 seasons.  Gives me hope for Smart.

Here are the PER's of the PG listed ABOVE IT:

Conley;  22.10
Lillard:  23.80
Kyrie:  22.60
Kemba:  23.00
Wall:  23.70
Lowry:  23.90
Curry:  23.60

And IT has a 26.80 and is #2 in 4th quarter scoring.

Wow, I really am sick and tired of the utter disrespect given to IT on this board!!  This should be the LAST place that he gets short-changed IMHO!!!!

Smitty77

He's also ranked dead last in the entire league in several advanced defensive statistics that agree with the eye test, and basketball is a two-way sport, so....

I'd definitely take all those guys over IT, too (maybe Kemba is questionable). Some are pretty bad defensively, too, but they at least have the size to make it a little more difficult for guys to shoot over them.

[Celtics4ever]

They don't call him Trader Danny for nothing.   I bet he makes a deal that puzzles us but helps us, something we do not expect.  Probably, not a blockbuster but I would love to be wrong on that one.

[LilRip]

I don't get the whole "Cleveland will be Cleveland, GSW will be GSW..." logic. So does that mean we should only go for a ring when there are no other contenders? Sounds like we may as well not even try to win a championship unless we luck into an MVP via draft.

[Big333223]

I don't get the whole "Cleveland will be Cleveland, GSW will be GSW..." logic. So does that mean we should only go for a ring when there are no other contenders? Sounds like we may as well not even try to win a championship unless we luck into an MVP via draft.

Agreed. I hate it so much. Everyone was saying the same thing about the Warriors last season and then Cleveland beat them in the Finals.

The other reason I hate this thinking is that it assumes that after Cleveland and GS are no longer as dominant, there won't be another dominant team or teams assembled.

Waiting around to avoid having to beat a certain team is not just defeatist, it's also illogical. If the C's have an opportunity to put together a title contender today, they need to take that opportunity and give it everything they've got.

[celticsclay]

Yesterday Bleacher Report also ranked Isaiah Thomas the 11th best PG in the league. 

I saw that list.  They had Conley ahead of him which I didn't really agree with.  But did any of the other guys selected ahead of him offend you?

I only saw that post on instagram and didnīt even bother to check the list out, did they have a point?

Yeah,  IT's defense played a decent role in knocking him down in the rankings.

They had it as:

#1 - Westbrook
#2 - Harden
#3 - CP3
#4 - Curry
#5 - Lowry
#6 - Wall
#7 - Kemba
#8 - Kyrie
#9 - Lillard
#10 - Conley
#11 - Thomas

I can see the logic in most of those. 

I was ready to get mad about Kemba walker, but I see he's shooting 47%/42%/83% after shooting pretty weak percentages his first 4 seasons.  Gives me hope for Smart.

IT is outplaying Conley and Lillard this year, I would also put IT above Walker. This season you can probably make an argument for IT over kyirie. The top 5 isn't really touchable though. It is a crazy stacked position.

[steve]

Sure, you're not gonna trade the BKN pick for Noel... but getting Butler or Cousins is something you do now.

[sawick48]

We k ew 3-4 years ago .   The East belongs to LeBron .   When he finally show true significant demise to his  game .  Then other teams can step in . 

It will take putting a team with the Top three or five players in the east  to challenge LeBron.

George , Davis , and Butler and a solid bench would be a good team .

Unless somebody puts together a Warriors / Spurs like team in the east ...LeBron is king

We got a great FO and Coach , but not the talent to beat LeBron in a series .

Cousins is the only single player that could turn the tide on LeBron.

It's weird ....Cousins could supplant LeBron in a few years as the best player in the east.

Totally agree. It hurts but it's true.  My .02, I think the immediate future of this team is going to come solely to what happens this summer.  If we can land a superstar (Boogie though incredibly unlikely now, Butler, PG13, even signing Hayward which would prolong our no man's land but at least create excitement) to pair with Horford, IT2, and Bradley, I think Danny pulls the trigger even if it involves a massive overpay.  If we don't, I think it's time to blow it up.  Which is a TOUGH pill to swallow after all the wheeling and dealing we've done just to get to this point.  But look at the options available to us:

a - use the assets to acquire some above average talent that does little to ultimately move the needle against LeBron and then pay out huge money deals that eats all our cap to our back court in order to keep them around as we fight for the 2 spot in the East.  Probably overpaying to get said middling talent in terms of sending away our draft picks with the idea that the core of this team will all be in or approaching their early 30s within 2-3 years.

or

b - use the picks we're fortunate enough to have and build a team through the draft from the ground up.  Choosing between one of our guards to keep and sending the other away in a deal to acquire possibly more picks.  Eventually even trading away Horford years down the line.

I know how disgusting the taste of option b is.  But I just don't see how it isn't the right move for this franchise.  I'd rather have the hope of getting it right once Bron is in his late 30s with Love than having our payroll be stuck with a team we know isn't more talented than Cleveland's.  It's a rough situation.  And like I said, I think we get a clear sense of which way we're going this summer.

[colincb]

- I expect if there's any Cs deal in 2017, it would be a big one and that's unlikely at the trade deadline.

- Also Noel will be dealt, most likely to POR and not for much. Tough to get much for a guy going into FA even if a restricted one.

[jpotter33]

- I expect if there's any Cs deal in 2017, it would be a big one and that's unlikely at the trade deadline.

- Also Noel will be dealt, most likely to POR and not for much. Tough to get much for a guy going into FA even if a restricted one.

It's been reported that Portland has no interest in Noel but rather Tyson Chandler. They've already got a ton of money on their books for next season, and they're not wanting to pay Noel, too.

And that's a shame, too, because if we don't get Noel I'd like to see him go there, where I think he'd really flourish and help Portland's God-awful D.

[RockinRyA]

I think the story is spot on. Especially this bit:

The Golden State Warriors are the Golden State Warriors. LeBron is LeBron. Why needlessly accelerate towards a brick wall, then watch as teams with bright futures and a plethora of assets zoom on by?

If I'm the Cs, I sit back, maybe kick tires here and there, but I don't feel a need to trade for the sake of trading.

Sober thought - kinda sucks for some fans. You want to see the C's put up a good fight but you know that the talent is below CLE and TOR. You want to shake it up to go further in the playoffs but you know that it will only harm us in the LONG long run. Looking forward to June already!!!

We're right there with Toronto.

No we are not....that's a false perception. We are at the top of Tier 3 in the EC. You can say that we lost without AB in the lineup but if you watched the game we gave 110% effort and still lost.
Our record vs +.600 teams is really bad AND we are either 0-2 or 0-3 vs Toronto this year.

You can ignore the fact that we played without IT and Bradley, our 2 starting guards, against a team also lead by 2 guards all you want. But the truth is, those games, no matter how you think losing reboundinding battle is an automatic loss, are right up there for grab. Why is it no big deal when we win without our opponent's stars while its such a non issue when we lose without ours?

Our guys are pretty banged up, the players who missed tonights game already had these injuries when we were playing toronto.

[Somebody]

Yesterday Bleacher Report also ranked Isaiah Thomas the 11th best PG in the league. 

I saw that list.  They had Conley ahead of him which I didn't really agree with.  But did any of the other guys selected ahead of him offend you?

I only saw that post on instagram and didnīt even bother to check the list out, did they have a point?

Yeah,  IT's defense played a decent role in knocking him down in the rankings.

They had it as:

#1 - Westbrook
#2 - Harden
#3 - CP3
#4 - Curry
#5 - Lowry
#6 - Wall
#7 - Kemba
#8 - Kyrie
#9 - Lillard
#10 - Conley
#11 - Thomas

I can see the logic in most of those. 

I was ready to get mad about Kemba walker, but I see he's shooting 47%/42%/83% after shooting pretty weak percentages his first 4 seasons.  Gives me hope for Smart.

Here are the PER's of the PG listed ABOVE IT:

Conley;  22.10
Lillard:  23.80
Kyrie:  22.60
Kemba:  23.00
Wall:  23.70
Lowry:  23.90
Curry:  23.60

And IT has a 26.80 and is #2 in 4th quarter scoring.

Wow, I really am sick and tired of the utter disrespect given to IT on this board!!  This should be the LAST place that he gets short-changed IMHO!!!!

Smitty77

Couldn't agree more with you, it's crazy how we are selling IT short here. But well, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence

[Stig]

People try to find reasons to believe IT is not a great player. Just like they did to AI in the past, and to Curry and Harden recently. Big guards with two way game are always favoured over small scorers, but then people ignore the fact that bad defensive players like Curry, Irving, Harden have achieved far more than elite two way guards like CP3, Lowry, Wall.

One day IT will prove he is a top 5 guard (not just point guard) by being selected in the all nba team, and when he finally fades away people will marvel at the legacy he left for small guys.

[Moranis]

Yesterday Bleacher Report also ranked Isaiah Thomas the 11th best PG in the league. 

I saw that list.  They had Conley ahead of him which I didn't really agree with.  But did any of the other guys selected ahead of him offend you?

I only saw that post on instagram and didnīt even bother to check the list out, did they have a point?

Yeah,  IT's defense played a decent role in knocking him down in the rankings.

They had it as:

#1 - Westbrook
#2 - Harden
#3 - CP3
#4 - Curry
#5 - Lowry
#6 - Wall
#7 - Kemba
#8 - Kyrie
#9 - Lillard
#10 - Conley
#11 - Thomas

I can see the logic in most of those. 

I was ready to get mad about Kemba walker, but I see he's shooting 47%/42%/83% after shooting pretty weak percentages his first 4 seasons.  Gives me hope for Smart.

IT is outplaying Conley and Lillard this year, I would also put IT above Walker. This season you can probably make an argument for IT over kyirie. The top 5 isn't really touchable though. It is a crazy stacked position.

IT should definitely be ahead of Conley and Lillard based on the season so far, even with IT's lesser defense he is just so much better offensively then those two.  Walker is an interesting one because of Walker's excellent shooter.  Given we are Celtics' fans we of course need to put IT ahead of him, but I could see the argument otherwise.  I don't think IT is better than Irving this year or in general.  I'm surprised they put Walker ahead of Irving actually, but Walker is having a great year.