Official Boston Celtics Thread

[jeremym480]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Ha! We still have Nader that will play in it though.

Nader, Zizic, Brown, maybe Fultz and whatever 2nd rounders we may take.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Operation Sports mobile app

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Nader, Zizic, Brown, maybe Fultz and whatever 2nd rounders we may take.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Operation Sports mobile app

I say all or most of those player will be playing in the D-league come 2017-18 season. All except for possibly Fultz. I think he might be NBA ready of all of the ones mentioned except for Brown which was already NBA ready.

Depending on what we do with the roster that is. Nader has a chance at making the 15-man roster & so does Zicic but that will all depend on if we make any trades or sign one or two star/superstar FA's. Thanks.

[jeremym480]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

I say all or most of those player will be playing in the D-league come 2017-18 season. All except for possibly Fultz. I think he might be NBA ready of all of the ones mentioned except for Brown which was already NBA ready.

Depending on what we do with the roster that is. Nader has a chance at making the 15-man roster & so does Zicic but that will all depend on if we make any trades or sign one or two star/superstar FA's. Thanks.

Everything is contingent on a trade, but as it stands now I think Zizic has a great chance at making the NBA since Amir and Zeller could be gone. Also, don't forget that the new CBA starts next year and with it comes "two-way contracts" which essentially means two extra roster spots. I think Nader and Yabusele would be perfect fits for those roles.

The late 2nd, if we keep them, will certainly be in the D-League or overseas, but either way, it's always fun to watch the new additons compete in Summer league.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

The hits just keep on coming: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/1...ble-hip-injury

[areobee401]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Potential No. 1 overall pick Markelle Fultz told ESPN he has had multiple conversations with Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge since the draft combine earlier this month and is hopeful of being selected first in the June 22 NBA draft.

"I've talked to Danny a few times, and they want to get me to come out there for a visit," Fultz told ESPN on Tuesday. "They just want to get a chance to know me better as a person."

"I want to be the No. 1 pick really bad," Fultz added. "It's been a dream of mine since I was a little kid, and I feel like I would fit well in Boston."

Fultz said he has yet to firm up a day when he will visit the Celtics, and likely work out for management and coaches. He did meet with Boston and a few other teams earlier this month while in Chicago before the draft combine.

The 6-foot-4, 195-pound Washington, D.C., native averaged 23.2 points, 5.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game as a freshman at Washington this season while shooting 41 percent from beyond the arc. Multiple sources told ESPN that Fultz is the frontrunner to be selected first overall.

Fultz said he has never been to Boston, but has watched the Celtics closely through the postseason run which ended last week in the Eastern Conference finals.

"I don't know a ton about the city," Fultz said. "I know the tradition the franchise has, and that the fans are crazy."

Fultz has developed a relationship with Celtics star guard Isaiah Thomas, who also attended the University of Washington. He said the pair met on his recruiting visits and have stayed in touch since. Thomas is coming off a career season and has one year left on his contract.

"We can both play on or off the ball," Fultz said. "We can both score and also pass. I think we'd be great together. When we've talked since the lottery, we haven't really talked about basketball much. He's been through a lot lately."

Fultz is aware that he is somewhat of an unknown heading into the draft because he played for a Washington team that won just nine games this past season.

"I'm a versatile point guard who is unselfish, and can score at all three levels," he said. "I can rebound, block shots, push the ball, basically anything you need from a guard. Off the court, I'm humble.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19497896/markelle-fultz-talked-danny-ainge-hopes-top-pick-boston-celtics

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/1...boston-celtics

Fultz has to be as our #1 pick. If we're going to trade him or another pick(s) away it better be for a top notch player. Fultz has a chance to become a superstar type player so we must make the right decision & I think that's draft him with our #1 pick & if we want to trade then trade away some of our other picks. Thanks.

[areobee401]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Fultz has to be as our #1 pick. If we're going to trade him or another pick(s) away it better be for a top notch player. Fultz has a chance to become a superstar type player so we must make the right decision & I think that's draft him with our #1 pick & if we want to trade then trade away some of our other picks. Thanks.

Would take a Anthony Davis or Karl-Anthony Towns type for the C's to trade away the #1 pick. And we all know the likelihood of one of those guys becoming available on draft night are slim at best.

I can only trust what has been said and written about Markelle Fultz. He seems to be the consensus #1 overall pick be a large margin. Won't pretend to know anything about the kid from personal experience. I don't want college hoops outside the NCAA Tournament and PC Friars games.

All that I can is hope he turns out not to be a massive bust.

[areobee401]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Mark Murphy wrote a good Al Horford piece for the Boston Herald. I know there are some vocal anti Horford fans out there, but I thought he exceeded any and all expectations I had going into year one.

UPS AND DOWNS: Al Horford’s even-keel demeanor helped him get past some down times early in the season.

Al Horford didn’t begin his Celtics career in a vacuum. From his friendship with David Ortiz, to conversations Pedro Martinez had with his parents, to a frank warning from his new boss, Danny Ainge, Horford knew all about the Boston market and what happens when big money and impatience drive expectations.

“Danny told me things like, ‘Hey, fans here are definitely tough,’ ” Horford said recently of the warnings that came with signing a four-year, $113 million contract with the Celtics last summer.

Though Horford is proud of his ability to screen out game-night noises and distractions — masking his thoughts with an impassive game face — he started to hear things the night of a Jan. 6 game against Philadelphia at Garden.

These Sixers, despite a roster of young talent that included an exciting center in Joel Embiid, were now considered walkover material by the Celtics public. And when Embiid started hot, hitting five of his first seven shots, including two 3-pointers, the contrast was noted down the other end, where Horford began by missing his first five shots and six of his first seven.

Horford was especially on edge at the rim during this stretch, missing a pair of layup attempts, one blocked by Nerlens Noel, and two other shots within 9 feet.

“There weren’t boos, but you could feel the bickering in the crowd, like ‘Errr, Errrrrrrrr,’ ” he said, quietly laughing as he tried to recreate the sound of disgruntled mumbling.

“After a shot, I’m like, ‘Really? I know I’m 1-for-6 or whatever,’” he said. “They weren’t happy with me, I could sense it. They weren’t saying anything to me, but you could feel the energy. I felt like, ‘Hey, things are going bad, but you have to hang in there with me.’ Then, later in that game, coach threw me in in the fourth and I got hot; hit a bunch of shots. I hit a corner 3 to seal the win, and it was a little redemption for me.”

Horford’s game-winner from 24 feet came at the end of a 5-for-6 fourth-quarter run that included 4-for-5 from beyond the 3-point arc.

“When I started hitting shots, all that bickering went away,” he said. “Kind of cheering, and as I kept hearing them, the cheers grew louder.”

This 48-minute mood swing followed Ainge’s road map right down to the shift from groans to approval.

“Of course people were trying to get to know me,” said Horford. “With the contract, people get caught up in it, and I understand it. They expect greatness, and I expect it, too. I want to be that as well.”

Horford’s deal has been season-long fodder for talk radio and discourse among fans, where the debate continues over his sub-par rebounding numbers, limited inclination to score, and how the sum of his highly refined playmaking skills and efficiency transformed the Celts offense this year.

That argument probably will cover the length of that contract, or until the Celtics win another NBA championship.

And Horford’s placid, game-ready demeanor won’t change.

Legendary guidance

Pedro Martinez first met Horford’s mother, Arelis Reynoso, as a young Montreal Expos pitcher. She would visit the future Red Sox legend during road trips to Philadelphia, and when she married Tito Horford, the most famous basketball player in the Dominican Republic, Martinez became a non-blood uncle.

Al Horford grew up as a member of Dominican sports royalty due to his father’s status as the first Dominican-born to reach the NBA, and soon entered the sphere of celebrities like Martinez, a national hero.

And as Martinez remembers it, little Al never veered from that securely moored personality.

It’s with open affection that Martinez now says of the Celtics center, “He’s always been quiet, with a beautiful smile. There’s an angel in that big man. Kind of shy, to be honest.”

The family moved to Michigan, where Horford, now with his father’s towering size, rose through high school and two national championships at the University of Florida to NBA prominence. Like Karl Anthony-Towns after him, Horford was the toast of an island nation with a baseball for a heart.

But if anyone can steal attention away from the national Dominican pastime, it’s an international beauty queen, Amelia Vega, Miss Dominican Republic in 2003. She went to the Miss Universe Pageant that year, and returned from Panama City wearing a crown. Vega was also a singer and actress whose uncle-in-law, Juan Luis Guerra, is a singer and composer who has won two Grammy awards and 18 Latin Grammys.

When Horford married Vega in 2011 after a two-year courtship, another power couple was born. That rarified existence explains why Martinez is so proud of Horford and Vega, now with two young children and living in a western Boston suburb during the season.

“They’re just true Dominican people, very humble people who prefer to stay under everyone’s radar,” said Martinez. “Neither of them bothers to be in the eye of the public. They truly love their country, though.”

Knowledge of Horford’s easy, secure relationship with fame and status is one reason Martinez knew he wouldn’t be soured by a sports market as discerning as Boston’s.

“I knew he would adjust to Boston,” said Martinez. “I knew the atmosphere here would make him feel welcome. I know the kind of kid that (Tito and Arelis) raised. They were really good parents and were able to educate him the right way.”

Martinez says this while also being aware of Horford’s critics, a more forceful lot prior to his impressive postseason performance this year.

“I wouldn’t panic with this kid,” he said. “It’s all about his heart and IQ. He’s very dedicated to his work. When he got hurt (with a concussion) this year, you saw it. He came back with a vengeance. If he’s fine, he’s going to perform. His mind is never wandering out there. He’ll be fine here.

“This is good for him. There’s no better place to do something special than to do it in Boston.”

In perspective

One year into his max deal, Horford hopes fans have a better grasp of his unusual combination of size, skill and unselfishness.

“I feel it,” he said of the criticism. “Some of the stuff got through to me. Just the points and rebounds, I need more of that, I heard a lot of that. Trust me, I’m the first one who wants to do better. No question. But winning is more important.

“Playoffs are a time of year when you have to do whatever it takes to win, and at times that means getting more rebounds, or scoring more points, and defenses play you differently,” said Horford. “Some things you think are there, they take away from you, and you have to find another way. Sometimes it’s not about you scoring all the points, it’s about you sacrificing for a teammate.

“I feel Isaiah (Thomas) did a great job of that in the Washington series, with them trying to double him. Setting screens for me, getting me shots. People don’t always understand that there’s more than just scoring the ball.”

Horford also understands that big contracts will forever be tied to big scoring, and that outside noise is there to be muffled.

“My biggest thing, and I learned this at an early stage in my career, was to not read any of that information or see anything, good or bad,” he said, adding that talk radio is not part of his diet. “I definitely don’t do that, but in general I just stay away from it. One day people love you, the next they hate you, it’s really up and down, and my focus was making sure the team kept getting better as a group, and not worry about anything outside. One thing that helped me was not paying attention to a lot of things.”

That’s because Horford feels secure.

“I never did feel weight from my contract,” he said. “The reason was because Danny Ainge at the very beginning told me, ‘We signed you for who you are. Help us win, help us grow as a team. You don’t have to worry about numbers or anything.’ I don’t think people necessarily understand with contracts and everything that I had an opportunity to go to a couple of other really good teams — Houston, Washington, Atlanta. I had the options.

“For me, it wasn’t an easy decision, but when I looked at what we (the Celtics) had, I liked their fight, their will, how they played, and I just felt we had a chance to do some special things.”

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2017/06/after_first_year_al_horford_embraces_high_expectations_and_pressure_in_boston?amp

Markelle Fultz is in town for a two day visit. Meeting with the front office and coaching staff, going through private workouts. Reports are out saying the C's will be the only team he works out for. If you follow the kid on social media, you'd know he doesn't hide from the fact he wants to be picked first, lol.

[Vni]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Are the Celtics showing interest in Ball at all ?

[areobee401]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Are the Celtics showing interest in Ball at all ?

Only mention of Ball was months ago. Ainge said he would never hold a player's family against him.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Only mention of Ball was months ago. Ainge said he would never hold a player's family against him.

Personally, I wouldn't want him & the baggage that comes with his father Lavar. It would be a mess dealing with his crap. I don't care how good Ball is going to be as a player. He & his father wants his son to play for the Lakers so let him go there.

Fultz is going to be the better player overall in my opinion anyhow. We're talking about different positions but nevertheless I wouldn't want to deal with Lavar & his mouth. He don't know when to keep his mouth shut about anything to do with his sons. Thanks.

[stakzz00]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Are the Celtics showing interest in Ball at all ?

The only out of the ordinary attention any team has shown towards a player in this draft was Magic and Ball. Other than that, everyone is on Boston's draft board. When you have a number 1 pick, a top scoring pg at the start of his prime, a conference title and a fstacked team, your best asset is the draft. You can get a young player with all the potential in the world for no money and no restrictions even if you're over the cap. Every player is draftable but even the sixers would select Markelle at pick 3 if he's available. He is the number 1 player. Ball has skills that very few freshmen in college have, but Markelle plays like what we saw from John Wall in Kentucky or Kyrie at duke, only difference is, is that he made the decision to avoid those big name schools that are normally stacked with 5+ All American Freshmen every year. Ball is on their draft board. If the sixers gave up a big and their pick, the C's probably would shoot for ball, but not with a Josh Jackson on the board. We'll see Fultz in green and Ball in gold.

It's only right to have the greatest NBA Rivalry begin a new rivalry with the two best players in the draft. The Jabari Parker - Wiggins rivalry would have been a great one if Wiggins stayed on the east and Jabari stayed healthy, but now we have two guards that seem to be destined for greatness. I hope the draft plays out the way we all know it will. for the past few years, the top 3 players all knew their destinations when the teams got their ball in the lottery. No difference this year. Fultz to Boston, Ball to LA

[areobee401]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Isaiah Thomas started following Gordon Hayward on Instagram. Celtics offseason is officially underway.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

With Ainge now officially trading the #1 pick for the #3 pick what do you all think he's trying to get out of doing this? I mean this a divisional team & not a team he swapped picks with from the Western Conference. It tells me that he didn't want Fultz to draft for future concerns.

It tells me that he is looking for possibly a couple of big FA signings as well. I mean we could have added Fultz to Brown to have 2 really good young players to go along with Rozier coming along although I'd say Rozier will be gone as part of a trade that Danny pulls off.

I think Ainge is going after Hayward really hard & either Butler or George right behind them. However, to pull this type of deals off we're going to have to trade away at least 3-5 players on the current roster & maybe even our #3 pick that he swapped for. I'd say players like Rozier, Bradley, Crowder, Smart, Young, Zeller, & Johnson are not safe from any trades that Ainge might be trying to pull off.

I would love for us to keep Bradley though as he's a two-way player & so is Crowder but we need more from the Crowder position. Amir Johnson needs to go as he's just a rebounder basically & pick setter for IT. Zeller doesn't even get enough playing time for what he's getting paid anyhow. Young has never worked out for us so he can go. I'd like to keep Smart for his two-way play but he sometimes hurts the team more than helping us. Thanks.

[jeremym480]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

I have no idea what is going to happen. However, I'm preparing myself for drafting Jackson and both Hayward and Griffin re-upping with their current teams.

Also, I'm waiting on a three-way deal with Cleveland, Indiana and a third team (unknown at this time) where PG13 goes to Cleveland, Love goes to the third team and Indiana gets multiple prospects/draft picks in return.

In the past, I've been let down by Danny's offseason actively (or lack thereof), so this year I'm going the "expect the worst, but hope for the best" route.