Author Topic: Celtics make best free agent pitches?  (Read 3726 times)

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Re: Celtics make best free agent pitches?
« Reply #30 on: February 20, 2018, 04:32:42 PM »

Offline celticsclay

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I never understood the whole weather thing. Is it really that big a deal? First off, nearly half the season you spend in the road in various climates. When you’re home, you drive everywhere, so what does it really matter (not like you’re walking/taking public in extreme conditions)? The offseason can run anywhere from 3-5 months depending on a playoff run, plenty of time to get your sun fix.

As for the city itself, I’m not a Bostonian but I’m tired of the racist narrative. The Celtics were the first team to draft an African-American AND the first to make one a head coach. This isn’t 40+ years ago. It’s a great city for any race or culture. Not every city is NYC, but you can find everything you need in the Boston area.

The reality is all you need to do is have them stand under all those banners. Show them clips like Celtics fans chanting “Let’s Go Celtics” for about 3 minutes straight as we are getting closed out. Show them how we welcome back our beloved stars. Have them sit down with DA, Wyc, and Brad and see they are all amongst the best in the league in their respective roles.

There is no franchise that compares to us. Not the Lakers. Not the Spurs. Not the Bulls or Warriors or any other flavor of a decade. We are the Boston Celtics. Putting on that white and green jersey is a basketball history lesson.
weather absolutely makes a difference.  Even if you just drive everywhere, why would you want to drive in a snow/ice storm when you can drive in perfect conditions.  But not all of these guys drive everywhere.  Lebron pretty famously rode a bicycle to games in Miami as a way to warm up.  If you are staying in a downtown condo, why would you want to drive 2 minutes to the arena when you can walk there (with security of course).  Aside from the players themselves, many of these players have families with kids who may not drive everywhere all the time as well. 

It is nice to think all those great things about the Celtics, but the Boston Celtics have won exactly 1 title in the last 31 seasons (this year will make 32 if no title).  There are becoming increasingly fewer players that were even alive during the great 80's teams and the ones that were probably don't remember Larry Bird.  Heck, the younger generation never even saw Jordan win the titles with the Bulls (and remember it).  History is nice, but you can't just trot out history like it matters to the current players, it doesn't.  Now thankfully Boston has a great young coach, is trending upward, etc., but without max dollars, Boston will be competing for the veteran minimum type players and in that market winning makes the most difference and there Boston likely comes up short at the present moment.

So this is all pretty negative stuff. Why do you the Celtics were able to sign one of the top 2-3 free agents the last 2 summers? Also, why is being alive when it happened relevant to approaching history. Do you think the NBA players don't care about Martin Luther King Jr. cause they weren't alive at the same time?  Many many players (including your favorite, Lebron) regularly speak about being students of the game and studying NBA history. While maybe they weren't alive, they all know who Larry Bird is and appreciate the Celtics history. Here is one of literally thousands examples of this:

"James has a deep appreciation for the Celtics' history and mystique. He says that while playing in Boston he has looked toward the rafters to admire the retired jerseys and 17 championship banners."

http://www.cleveland19.com/story/35442780/lebron-james-wears-leprechaun-t-shirt-before-celtics-game

Why so negative about the Celtics like this? I really don't get it...
That is what you took out of my comments.  Come on. 

The Celtics signed Horford because they offered him a max contract and Hayward because of Stevens and they offered him a max contract.  Having max contract space helps a great deal.  If Hayward had equal money offers from Boston, Golden State, San Antonio, Cleveland, Toronto, and Houston, the only reason he would have chosen Boston would have been his connection to Stevens.  That is Boston's new reality.  No longer does Boston have the dollar advantage on the other top teams.

What part of your comments do you feel like I am not asking a fair question about? You said "History is nice, but you can't just trot out history like it matters to the current players, it doesn't." Then you commented further that they don't care because they weren't alive when Larry was playing. I point out that whether they were alive is fairly irrelevant, as many of them, including one of your favorite players, has talked about how they are aware of NBA history and they admire the Celtics History.

So is your original comment not something you really believe? Or are you standing by it? My take is that it is not true at all because I have heard many current players say in interviews how aware they are of the celtics history and mystique and how it impresses them.

Re: Celtics make best free agent pitches?
« Reply #31 on: February 20, 2018, 06:47:12 PM »

Offline green_bballers13

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I'd think income tax is also a strong factor.

On Bill Simmons' most recent podcast, he asked Daryl Morey what is most important. His answer: The first, second, and third most important factors are the players that a free agent would be playing with. Everything else is secondary.

I will trust that Morey knows more than me on this subject. I also agree with him. The most talented players want to win championships. They can vacation anywhere they want, and the marginal tax difference over a couple years pales in comparison to winning or losing.

I'm not talking about the secondary players, but the top 25 or so. They want to win.

Fortunately, Boston is set up to win with a little bit more roster improvement.

Re: Celtics make best free agent pitches?
« Reply #32 on: February 21, 2018, 08:17:41 AM »

Offline Moranis

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I'd think income tax is also a strong factor.

On Bill Simmons' most recent podcast, he asked Daryl Morey what is most important. His answer: The first, second, and third most important factors are the players that a free agent would be playing with. Everything else is secondary.

I will trust that Morey knows more than me on this subject. I also agree with him. The most talented players want to win championships. They can vacation anywhere they want, and the marginal tax difference over a couple years pales in comparison to winning or losing.

I'm not talking about the secondary players, but the top 25 or so. They want to win.

Fortunately, Boston is set up to win with a little bit more roster improvement.
of course winning matters, but when comparing contending teams, the other factors come into play.  Personal relationships are obviously a factor, as is money, weather, taxes, cost of living, comfort of living, etc. 
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