Hope

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I like our team. I would have loved to get George or Butler, but I like Brown and Smart a lot. I've got a feeling they will both be good players for a long time - like not Al Jefferson and Delonte West kind of players, but playoff competitors and winners.

We are one of the only teams who could afford to make a big play or stand pat. The Raptors couldn't. I'd argue that the Wizards couldn't. The Hawks couldn't. The Pacers and Bulls couldn't. While all of those teams are hoping that their rotations additions can win them another game against the Cavs (I'm not convinced), we still set at the 2 seed with a bunch of guys who are improving. Every other playoff Eastern team is plateaued. We haven't. This is the best year yet for our core. They continue to improve and there is no reason to think that some of them have stopped.

I still think we can compete with the best teams in the NBA, and I don't think it's a forgone conclusion that the Cavs would beat us in a series, especially if we can get homecourt.

The Hawks, Wizards, and Raptors are on the "not-really-contender-contender" treadmill, but we keep improving. Every year. There's no reason to think that, even if we don't get the 2 seed (or 1 seed) this year, we can't get it next year. That's hope. That's progress. And there is no ceiling in sight.

[timpiker]

I think highly of this team too.  But, I'd feel a lot better about our playoff chances if we rebounded better, didn't rely on IT so much, our D was better and we won a few more games against the better teams in the league.

[JaylenBrown7]

Cant wait to be Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline.ed up by the raptors tomorrow, but lets stay the course maybe making the finals will be worth it!!

[Smartacus]

Well said DWC.

An outsourced tank of this magnitude is fairly unprecedented and I agree that standing pat was a bold move that only we could've done. Everyone kept saying Danny cant keep all these picks and he'll have to make a move  to the point where other GM's felt entitled to our assets.

We just need to stay the course and hit on some more of these players. Golden State had their roster set long before everyone realized how good they were. They just kept succeeding over and over again until their expectations in themselves became reality.

Smart and Brown are special players in the making and Crowder, Horford, and Isaiah are in the top top ten players at their positions. A blockbuster would have been great for the dopamine release that reading the notification would have given but the prospect of standing by this team is a serene feeling and I bet our locker room appreciated it. Cheers Danny.

[GratefulCs]

The Audacity!