Author Topic: Ainge: "Significant change could occur"  (Read 10381 times)

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Re: Ainge: "Significant change could occur"
« Reply #60 on: May 27, 2017, 06:52:18 PM »

Offline Tr1boy

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“Time will tell on that, but, yeah, there is a potential for there to be some significant change,” said Ainge. “But maybe less change. Maybe more change; maybe not. A lot will be dependent on what we’re able to pull off in the draft and in deals leading up to free agency and then what happens in free agency. There’s just so much unknown right now. Right now it’s all talk and pipe dreams and planning. But there’s no certainty. It’s an exciting time for us, and it’s a very busy time for us.”

ainge dancing around once again

sounds like from above...he is going to try to trade the pick ... and if he doesn't get what he wants...will go ahead and make the pick

Re: Ainge: "Significant change could occur"
« Reply #61 on: May 27, 2017, 06:53:59 PM »

Offline Tr1boy

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“Just because you’re one piece away doesn’t mean you can get it. And if you force yourself to get it, and if you force a deal or force yourself to get the second best available or the third or fourth best available player at that position that you need, then it might not make you that much better or make you still not good enough, and you’re stuck. So, yeah, we’re not that far away, but we’re still a ways away. We still know we need to get better. Everybody in our organization knows we need to get better. We need to add

Then again...

So unless he can get Anthony Davis or Towns ...   doesn't sound like he will trade for a player like Butler (outside of top 3-4 sf in the league )

Re: Ainge: "Significant change could occur"
« Reply #62 on: May 27, 2017, 06:55:38 PM »

Offline liam

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This article eases me a little. I was getting kind of worried thinking about Ainge reaching for something and trading away the chance at having Fultz on this team for years to come. I'd seriously consider trading the Brooklyn 2018 pick in a package with Crowder and Rozier for a shot at Paul George but its hard to know if Brooklyn is going to be just as bad next year or rise from the bottom of the pack a little.

The only person I think is worth trading this #1 pick for (who you can conceive of being traded) is Anthony Davis.

^^^

yup. been sayin'

Davis is one of the very few that if you add him to this Celtics roster using draft picks and Zeller, Crowder and AB, you are at a truly contender level.

Nice starting 5:

IT
Smart
Brown
AD
AH
« Last Edit: May 27, 2017, 07:00:52 PM by liam »

Re: Ainge: "Significant change could occur"
« Reply #63 on: May 27, 2017, 07:12:39 PM »

Offline hodgy03038

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You could add LeBron and be a contender too but it will never happen just like Davis will never happen.

Re: Ainge: "Significant change could occur"
« Reply #64 on: May 27, 2017, 07:24:59 PM »

Offline mctyson

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You could add LeBron and be a contender too but it will never happen just like Davis will never happen.

I never said it would happen but it is at least conceivable.  If you were the GM of the Pelicans and Ainge called and offered the #1 2017 pick, Brooklyn 2018 pick, and Memphis 2019 as centerpieces of proposal for Anthony Davis, you would think about it, right?

For what it is worth I would not trade AD for anyone in the league. 

Re: Ainge: "Significant change could occur"
« Reply #65 on: May 27, 2017, 07:27:12 PM »

Offline tarheelsxxiii

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You could add LeBron and be a contender too but it will never happen just like Davis will never happen.

It'd be even better if we could bring Lebron and Davis off the bench!  They'd punish 2nd units.   
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Re: Ainge: "Significant change could occur"
« Reply #66 on: May 27, 2017, 08:07:00 PM »

Offline liam

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You could add LeBron and be a contender too but it will never happen just like Davis will never happen.

It'd be even better if we could bring Lebron and Davis off the bench!  They'd punish 2nd units.

That's a pretty good bench. Seven man rotation in the playoffs...

Re: Ainge: "Significant change could occur"
« Reply #67 on: May 27, 2017, 08:21:08 PM »

Offline tazzmaniac

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You could add LeBron and be a contender too but it will never happen just like Davis will never happen.

I never said it would happen but it is at least conceivable.  If you were the GM of the Pelicans and Ainge called and offered the #1 2017 pick, Brooklyn 2018 pick, and Memphis 2019 as centerpieces of proposal for Anthony Davis, you would think about it, right?

For what it is worth I would not trade AD for anyone in the league.
If I were the NOP GM that offer might get me thinking about how much I could actually get for AD.   What would the Sixers offer?  Or the Suns, TWolves ...?  The Lakers would offer their whole team to be able to pair AD with PG but it wouldn't be enough.  If AD goes on the market, I don't think your offer would get it done.   

Re: Ainge: "Significant change could occur"
« Reply #68 on: May 28, 2017, 08:31:03 AM »

Offline crimson_stallion

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There is no way in hell they can trade the Brooklyn picks now

****, I dunno if an all star team could beat either GSW or Cleveland at  this point

Gotta build for the post LeBron era... no way to beat him for the next 3-4 years IMO

I think that's unreasonable. 

Lebron and the Cavs aren't as great as people make them out to be.  They are great, yes.  But they aren't unbeatable.

Hell we won a game against them, on their home court, without our best player.  Then we ALMOST did it again the next day - except we blew it mentally in the 3rd and blew a double digit lead that we had held the entire game.

Boston has three major limitations that holds us back right now. 

1: Horford is our only starting calibre big - we need a PF or C (that opposing teams won't laugh at) who can start effectively alongside him. 

2: We are one of the worst rebounding teams in the league, and had major struggles in the playoffs because opposing teams were consistently killing us on the boards.  Chicago, Washington, Cleveland - they all dominated us on the rebounds.

3: Our offence is way too predictable because Isaiah Thomas is the only shot creator on our roster.  Cleveland's players/staff said it straight out - when we have Thomas on the court we are easy to gameplan against, because you always know exactly how we are going to play.  Everything goes through Thomas.  We need a second shot creator that we can run the offence through so that we can throw different looks at teams, so that our offence isn't so easy to predict and defend.

If we fix those three problems, then there's no reason to believe that we cannot compete with (and potentially beat) Cleveland in a 7 game series - and fixing those three issues isn't as hard as it may seem. 

Lets say we pull off a trade of Crowder/Brown/Brooklyn 2018 1st to the Pacers for Paul George.  That gives us a second shot creator and solves problem #3 while also giving us a guy who can defend Lebron James one-on-one about as well as anybody in the league can.   

Now we can use the $30M or so in cap space that we have available to sign a starting caliber big like Nerlens Noel.  Doesn't have to be a star like Griffin, just needs to be a starting calibre big who can defend the paint and rebound the ball, so Noel probably would do fine playing a similar role to what Tyson Chandler played in Dallas (when they beat Lebron's Heat).  Now you have solved problem #1 and problem #2, because with Horford/Noel up front it's unlikely that Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson could kill us inside the way he did this year...and it likely still leaves us with plenty of cap space to re-sign our existing players (like Olynyk, etc).

Suddenly with just two moves you have plugged in all of your weaknesses, while still managing to keep four promising young prospects (in Fultz, Rozier, Smart and Noel) who can potentially carry the torch for this team once our vets fade out.   

That scenario may not be to everybody's taste, I'm just throwing it out there to demonstrate the fact that it wouldn't really take THAT much for us to be a legitimate threat to Cleveland, while still maintaining a lot of future talent too.

Re: Ainge: "Significant change could occur"
« Reply #69 on: May 28, 2017, 08:43:05 AM »

Offline crimson_stallion

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You could add LeBron and be a contender too but it will never happen just like Davis will never happen.

I never said it would happen but it is at least conceivable.  If you were the GM of the Pelicans and Ainge called and offered the #1 2017 pick, Brooklyn 2018 pick, and Memphis 2019 as centerpieces of proposal for Anthony Davis, you would think about it, right?

For what it is worth I would not trade AD for anyone in the league.
If I were the NOP GM that offer might get me thinking about how much I could actually get for AD.   What would the Sixers offer?  Or the Suns, TWolves ...?  The Lakers would offer their whole team to be able to pair AD with PG but it wouldn't be enough.  If AD goes on the market, I don't think your offer would get it done.   

To be honest, if I were the Pelicans I'd very seriously consider it.

You have Demarcus Cousins now, so even if you give up Davis you still have the best centre in the NBA (and one of the most talented in history) on your roster.

Davis is an amazing talent but he's been there for 4 or 5 years now and hasn't really taken the team anywhere - I think they only made the playoffs once? 

Then in addition to that, how many times has Davis had season ending injuries so far in his young career?  At least two already from what I recall.  Hard to put "all of your eggs" into a basket that you may or may not be able to depend on to play a full season.

Then you ask - why has the team struggled so far despite Davis' presence?  Well, they just haven't had enough talent around him. 

So I'd probably start thinking.  Lets say Boston does offer me the 2017 #1 pick.  That pick will turn into Fultz, who is an almost surefire star.  Pair an offensive star PG with Cousins and you are already have an amazing foundation to build upon. 

Then on top of that you throw in the 2018 Brooklyn pick which could well be ANOTHER top 5 pick?  Now you add a potential future star at SG / SF / PF with that pick and suddenly you have a young three man core to build around. 

Now lets say you want to get a bit more out of Boston - because it's AD, and you know they'll cave.  So you ask for maybe Jay Crowder and Terry Rozier as well. 

Now the Pelicans are moving forward with Fultz, Cousins, Crowder, Rozier and the 2018 Brooklen 1st.  Fultz could easily be a ROY candidate and could give you lillard like numbers in his first year.  Rozier looks ready to take the next step if he's given a starting role.  Crowder is a proven worker who will win you games with his effort.  Cousins is a stud.  2018 brooklyn pick gives you another potential stud. 

Now 2 - 3 years from now you could have an ELITE young team.

Or the alternative.  We keep Davis and Cousins.  Things don't work out that well.  We win a few games, but miss the playoffs. End up with a pick in the 10-14 range, get a guy who is a role player at best.  Have no real trade bait that we can use to improve our team, so we just end up riding the Cousins / AD wave hoping it eventually works.  When it doesn't we need to accept it's a failed experiment and move one of them - probably we try to move Cousins before his deal expires.  But every GM knows Cousins is expiring and that he's unpredictable, so we likely get back far less then what he's worth - otherwise we let him walk for nothing.  Three years from now, maybe all we have is AD - and we still cant win a game.

If I'm a Pelicans GM, that's how I would see it.  I'd listen very carefully to that offer and give it a long hard think.