Not looking half as bad as I was expecting this season.. avery bradley has really raised my eyebrows in the first few games.
About to be 4-3 on the season, not bad at all. I really thought this team would be a quick in and out of the playoffs, but they might have more depth than I expected. But I'll also say I paid very little attention to this team this past offseason for obvious reasons.
yeah i wasnt expecting much at all from them this year mainly after the whole perk trade i just saw everything going downhill but they are proving themselves for sure right now
I was under the impression that Basketball teams play pre-season games from Christmas until right before the Stanley Cup playoffs start. Wake me up for the Heat series in May.
Proving themselves how exactly? We've lost to the only decent teams we've played in New York and Miami, and also took a loss against a bad Hornets team. We've beaten New Jersey, Detroit, and Washington (2x). None of the teams we beat will be in the playoffs this year. Color me unimpressed.
While I do agree with you (and admit I only watched the first game of the year), we did lose those games without Pierce playing and all on the road.
Oh don't get me wrong we are by no means the caliber team we were but they're playing above my expectations. I think we made a huge upgrade with Bass over Big Baby and Stiemsma looks like he's got the chance of forming into a strong defensive presence off the bench. Starting off the season lossing by 3 possessions to the Heat and a 1 possession game to the Knicks without Pierce doesn't really bother me. Yeah it would have been nice to take them but we had new pieces trying to figure their place on the floor and an injured star.
Totally agree. It sounds like they're willing to consider taking less than fair market value for him (Monta Ellis or Pau Gasol), and now that the story is out that they want to trade him due to attitude and "high-maintenance," his value will only drop.
Well, the Cs have a good chance to make it to the Eastern Finals, just have to go through Filthy on the way...
Despite the bitter end to the season, I want to say how pleased I was with how far the Celtics went this year. It's probably the end of the Big 3 era in Boston, but they competed until the end.
Free Agency, whatareyougonnado? I wouldn't be upset if he left for the Grizzlies, I'm not going to pretend to be upset because he's going to the Heat
If it wasn't the Heat, I wouldn't care. But at the end of the day, it's his life and if this is what he wants, good for him. Can't say he went for more money at least. And I have to say I love how this Cs team is coming together for next year. It's going to be deep.
I'm not sure I really believe in the depth of this team. Bradley is essentially the starting 2-guard, but will likely miss the start of the season, so Terry is going to start. Green is likely the backup 4, and coming off heart surgery, so who knows what to expect. The rest of the bench are 1st and second year players like Fab Melo, E'twan Moore, Sullinger and Jujuan Johnson. Melo is insanely raw. Sullinger has back problems at 20 years old, and Johnson and Moore are totally unknown. Potentially, this could be a good second unit, but until Bradley comes back, Greene proves he is healthy and AT LEAST two of the younger players emerge (which is a lot to ask in today's NBA), they are very shaky after the starting 5. They still don't have a true backup point guard. EDIT: Their opening day second unit is likely going to be pretty bad 1-Moore 2-???? 3-Pietrus 4-Greene 5-????
Great points. The biggest worry I have is that the starters will probably be playing fewer minutes, so the bench is even more important. *If* Sullinger can stay healthy, he's at least a good as Bass and could be starting by the end of the year. Backup bigs are a real worry, since there's no way you can count on Melo producing this year. I think Terry will be the backup point guard (he's been adequate in the role in the past, and this won't be an issue if Rondo stays healthy, as there are only 5 or so minutes for the backup).
Not sure if anyone will know, but will the Terry for Allen swap free up enough cap space to fill in some of the depth holes we might have? I can't imagine Terry will make as much as Allen was.
Unfortunately the NBA doesn't quite work like that. If you think the MLS cap is convoluted, you should see that farce. It's my understanding, and I could be totally wrong, with Terry and the resigning of everyone else, they will be at the 70 million hard cap. That means that they don't have the ability to use the upper midlevel exemption. I'm not even sure if they can use the lower one. Of course they could work some sign-and-trades, but who knows about that. There is also the luxury tax, which use to be a dollar-for-dollar tax, but I think it is well above that now. I doubt the Celtics owners will go much above the "hard" cap, and they wouldn't be able to unless they worked some sign-and-trades. Basically, they are a bit hamstrung with what they have now. Ughhh the NBA is mindnumbing
I'm not sure Sullinger is as good as Bass. He is definitely slower and less athletic. He is a below the rim bigman without a real post-up game. He doesn't run the floor well at all either, which takes away from Rondo's strength on offense and the way they try to play. Also, assuming his health is a bit risky too given his age and already having back issues. I don't, however, think the bigs are a huge problem. The league is trending small anyways. You need much more athleticism in the current NBA...which is why the Melo and Sullinger picks are that much more puzzling.
Under the old CBA, at least (and I believe unchanged) the "lower" MLE can be used by all teams, regardless of cap room
