Quote:
Originally Posted by BishopMVP
Nah, I was *hoping* the C's understood the IT/Horford "core" was probably not going to dethrone LeBron & certainly not dethrone him & the Warriors, and thus were aiming for a window 2020 on. Once KD declined our offer & signed with the Dubs last July I don't believe there was any pushing in of future assets we could've done to have a real chance at the title this June. And I'm very glad we didn't go the Raptors route of pushing in multiple assets for marginal upgrades only to still get murdered when it really counted. Unlike the past trade deadline I do think there is a path to immediate championship contention here (even with the Dubs), I would just prefer a potential 10 year run in the uncertain future landscape than one with a very short shelf life going up against a dynasty in its prime.
Butler, Heyward, (& Blake if you aren't terrified of his health), are young enough they could be win now pieces and part of a potential future championship team built around Fultz/Jaylen/current 19-20 year olds. They made sense to go after regardless of what timeline you think the Celtics should pursue. (Though I suspect GarPax never had the desire/ability to go full rebuild & thus never a reasonable price point they were willing to trade Butler for.) But pushing in all those Celtics assets for pending UFA's at the trade deadline or last year's draft instead of just waiting until this summer didn't make sense. You're a Clippers fan - even if GM Doc wasn't in charge what could we have offered for Blake Griffin that front office might've actually traded him for? Would the massive overpay necessary for them to officially break up the CP3/Blake/DJ trio have made any sense for us to give up when Griffin might just sign with us this summer at a cost of zero draft picks?
And while I strongly disagree with this move and think hoarder might be a fair term right now, I don't believe chickenshit is a word you can use to describe Ainge - he's staking a huge part of his reputation against Fultz turning into a star.
|
Well, chickenshit might be too strong a charge, I admit, although I do believe Ainge is a good way down the line on the chickenshit scale. Let's say he is unduly cautious. I feel like he keeps trading the future a year or two down the line, putting off pushing his chips on. IMO, he does a disservice to the fans by continuing to do this and not making a play. I believe with a key addition or two and a healthy IT, the C's could have beaten this year's Cavs team. And I believe this year's Cavs is only getting worse as LeBron gets older. I also suspect LBJ will not be in Cleveland on Opening Night 2018. Just a hunch. The EC is there for the taking.
As for Blake, I'm actually not certain that trio gets out of this summer still on the same team. It might not be as hard to get Blake as you think (i.e. market value, not well above it).
It's clear to the Clips they need to do something drastic, as their window is closing with CP3's age. It would not shock me to see them make a big move somehow. Also, Ballmer paying up to lure West back to LA tells me Doc won't have entirely total control this summer.