Losing stars is never a good thing

[droopdog7]

The talk of silver linings, we were never going to win this year, development of young guys, etc. is cool but at the end of the day, losing star players are sunk cost that can never be recovered.  This year does very little for the long term development of Tatum and brown in my opinion.  They will be what they will be regardless.

And unlike a lot of people, it’s not all or nothing with me.  A punchers with a real shot of getting to the finals would be awesome, win or lose.  Instead, we may not make it out of the first round.

[bellerephon]

It can be a good thing to lose a star to injury. Consider the San Antonio Spurs. If they did not lose David Robinson to injury they never would have been in position to Draft Tim Duncan. I suspect that without Duncan the Spurs would not have won any titles.

I also strongly disagree about Tatum and Brown. This is great for their development. They will be looked on to do much more with Kyrie out and I have no doubt it will help them grow. It is simply not true that players will be what they will be, the environment matters. They will be asked to do a lot more now, and it will give them the chance to really grow.

[Ed Hollison]

I agree that on balance it stinks. But consider this for a silver lining... In addition to Tatum and Brown gaining experience, Rozier will be playing heavy minutes and will get a major platform to showcase his skills. That could be huge, given that you'd probably only be able to keep one of either Rozier and Smart given the luxury tax.

I don't want to lose Rozier, but if we need to trade him this summer, I want it to be for another good chip that can be packaged for that next superstar. And this Irving injury may make the chances of that happening higher.

[fairweatherfan]

My silver lining - in the regular season, I thought we were falling into a bad habit of just clearing out for Kyrie in crunch time of close games. He did well in those spots, but we became fairly predictable and seemed like more complacent as the season went on.

Now, in late crunch-time situations, we're going to have more ball movement and more guys asked to take the big shots. That kind of experience for both individuals and the team is going to give us a leg up when we do put together a full strength roster for a real playoff run.

[SparzWizard]

If Drew Bledsoe wasn't injured, Tom Brady would not have been greatly relevant...at least for the Patriots.

So yes, losing stars is a good thing hence silver linings.

[Chris22]

The silver lining is that Kyrie finally got the screws taken out of his knee.

Will the knee now be sound? Let's hope so.

[PhoSita]

I was looking forward to see what this team could do in the playoffs led by Kyrie, Brown, Tatum, Horford. 

It's a bummer that we won't really get to see a serious playoff run from the team this year.  Yeah, we might see a scrappy first round series.  I'm not ruling that out.  But it won't be the same.

Even so, this isn't the end of the world and there's lots of reasons to think we'll get to see them at something like their full strength next season.


Besides, we still get to watch Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Terry Rozier, and Al Horford fight some good fights in at least one playoff series. 

[Roy H.]

Yeah, there’s really no silver lining for me. It was an entertaining regular season, but ultimately we’re likely to lose in the early rounds of the playoffs, while walking away with the 27th pick in the draft. Instead of working on his game this summer, Kyrie will be sidelined for 5 months.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I think this team is better built for the playoffs than last year's team was.

Our defense is top shelf stuff, especially if Smart comes back. I like our ability to lock teams down in the half-court. I like the individual defensive players and the team defensive players.

A rotation of Rozier-Brown-Tatum-Baynes-Horford with Smart, Morris, and Monroe off the bench is still a pretty good for the playoffs, when rotations get shortened.

I think our offense might have a slightly lower ceiling than last year, but a higher floor, because it depends more on overall talent than one single player (Thomas). Brown and Tatum are better offensively (and defensively?) than Bradley and Crowder. Morris, Monroe, and Baynes are a better big man rotation (both offensively and defensively) than Olynyk, Johnson, and Jerebko. Obviously, we'd need Smart and Rozier to both play high level basketball in order to keep the offensive engine going.

The one concern is whether they will get nervous in the playoffs, being such a young team with so much on their shoulders.

No one in the East really scares me. The Raptors are coming down to earth. The Cavs without Irving are much less dangerous (although I'd still put them ahead of the current Celtics). The Sixers are tough, but they are not quite an elite team yet. The Pacers are beatable, especially if you lock-down Oladipo. The Heat are not more talented than the Celtics. The Wizards are more talented than the Celtics, but don't play together as well. The Bucks will be tough, but beatable.

I'd give CBS and the feisty Celtics a puncher's chance in any of those series.

I'd rather have Irving, Hayward, and Theis, but this is the team we have.

Did anyone think the Eagles stood a real chance going into the playoffs without Carson Wentz?

[BackDoorCut]

I cannot believe the OP is sitting here essentially saying "environment doesn't impede or advance player development." Look at the players who have come to Boston and left to turn back into nobodies AND get paid. We have a culture unlike most teams in the NBA that promotes player growth. I've been a basketball fan as long as I can remember and few people get the most out of their players the way Brad Stevens does. Who else could coach us to 53 wins despite the setbacks we've had this year? Environment matters and this year we have seen huge growth from our young guns Tatum, Brown and Rozier. If we had a healthy Hayward and Irving all year that would not be the case. Hence silver lining. If anything this only boosts my confidence in our team for next year as these young stars get not only meaningful minutes, but they will be the leaders of the cast.

[cman88]

The talk of silver linings, we were never going to win this year, development of young guys, etc. is cool but at the end of the day, losing star players are sunk cost that can never be recovered.  This year does very little for the long term development of Tatum and brown in my opinion.  They will be what they will be regardless.

And unlike a lot of people, it’s not all or nothing with me.  A punchers with a real shot of getting to the finals would be awesome, win or lose.  Instead, we may not make it out of the first round.

I disagree about the player development part. While I would rather see a healthy Kyrie/Hayward....Tatum/Brown wouldnt have as much opportunities with those guys out there. Tatum has had to adjust his game from being the guy who stands in the corner and takes what is given to him to having to be THE guy having to look for ways to score while teams are scheming for him. Same with Jaylen Brown. He had to score 30pts against the bulls because he can't just be a complimentary piece.

That can do alot for development and you can imagine it will only help the team when guys have that ability when you add two 20ppg scorers in Kyrie/Hayward.

[tazzmaniac]

The talk of silver linings, we were never going to win this year, development of young guys, etc. is cool but at the end of the day, losing star players are sunk cost that can never be recovered.  This year does very little for the long term development of Tatum and brown in my opinion.  They will be what they will be regardless.

And unlike a lot of people, it’s not all or nothing with me.  A punchers with a real shot of getting to the finals would be awesome, win or lose.  Instead, we may not make it out of the first round.

I disagree about the player development part. While I would rather see a healthy Kyrie/Hayward....Tatum/Brown wouldnt have as much opportunities with those guys out there. Tatum has had to adjust his game from being the guy who stands in the corner and takes what is given to him to having to be THE guy having to look for ways to score while teams are scheming for him. Same with Jaylen Brown. He had to score 30pts against the bulls because he can't just be a complimentary piece.

That can do alot for development and you can imagine it will only help the team when guys have that ability when you add two 20ppg scorers in Kyrie/Hayward.

Kyrie played most of the season so its really who Hayward's minutes would come from.  I think Tatum and Brown would have still gotten a lot of playing time.  I think most of the minutes would have come from Smart, Rozier and Morris.