Official Boston Celtics Thread

[areobee401]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

So where do you all stand on Al Horford’s upcoming decision. Want him to opt-in or chase a ring elsewhere?

I’m torn and my opinion changes by the hour.

[jeremym480]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

So where do you all stand on Al Horford’s upcoming decision. Want him to opt-in or chase a ring elsewhere?

I’m torn and my opinion changes by the hour.

The optimist in me wants Al to come back and hope that we get that 17/18 magic back. I'm more torn on whether I want him back for just the next season or an extended deal.

I would hope that if Al wants to chase a ring that Danny can flip him instead of losing him for nothing. Either way, I don't see how Boston can compete next season so maybe it would just be better to let him walk so we can tank.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

We won't have to worry about getting close to a championship anytime in the near future either.... but at least watching Lebron win another one will be fun *vomits

I said myself that I wasn't in on a 1 year rental for AD to get rid of both Tatum & Brown. The Pelicans were not going to trade with us unless we included Tatum. So, I'm personally glad we didn't get involved in trading for AD. That's just how I feel about it.

We get AD for 1 year & even keep Kyrie there are no guarantees that we're even the top team in the East because of what we'd be giving up in a trade so in my opinion whether we tank next season or not now this was the right move to stay away from it.

So where do you all stand on Al Horford’s upcoming decision. Want him to opt-in or chase a ring elsewhere?

I’m torn and my opinion changes by the hour.

I want Horford back if he can stay/be healthy. Horford was too much of an outside shooting player this season. He can still score in the paint on defenders so instead of placing him in situations where he gets more touches in the paint or on the block we used him almost entirely in pick & pop plays. He can shoot the 3 ball well enough but he's got to have the ball inside with more chances to score from there. Stevens didn't coach him that way or should I say didn't call plays for him to post up.

Horford should be a post player that averages 16-18 points/game, 8-10 rebounds/game, & 3-5 assists/game. We know how solid of a passer he is as a PF. I think with Kyrie most likely being gone Horford will stay & I also think Stevens makes him more of a focus on offense because we need inside scoring. Nothing wrong with him shooting 2-4 3's per game but we've got to allow him to just straight up get the ball in the post with more chances to score.

Then again, he might opt out & decide to leave like Kyrie but there's no way he gets what he's owed from Boston next season from another team if he does opt out. He would be getting significantly less money for at least 1 year & probably beyond.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

The optimist in me wants Al to come back and hope that we get that 17/18 magic back. I'm more torn on whether I want him back for just the next season or an extended deal.

I would hope that if Al wants to chase a ring that Danny can flip him instead of losing him for nothing. Either way, I don't see how Boston can compete next season so maybe it would just be better to let him walk so we can tank.

I really don't think we're going to tank next season. We didn't get involved for AD so we get to keep players like Tatum & Brown. Our talented youth remains. Now, we have got to get a replacement for Kyrie in my opinion but I just think for some reason we're going to roll with Rozier as our starting PG. I think we should go after Rubio. If not Rubio then Darren Collison.

We keep Horford & sign Rubio or Collison then I think we can put a pretty decent team on the court. Probably not a top 4 team in the East but definitely a playoff team. A starting 5 of Rubio/Collison, Brown, Tatum, Hayward, & Horford isn't too bad with Smart being our 6th man. If we don't sign a starting FA PG then it would be Rozier, Brown, Tatum, Hayward, & Horford.

Smart, Dozier, Ojeleye, Baynes/Theis, & Williams as our bench players isn't bad either & also add in Yabusele. Plus, whoever we pick with our #9 Draft Pick could figure into the equation as well but probably not until later in the season. If we do go out & get a FA PG like Rubio or Collison then Rozier isn't going to be happy & will be requesting a trade I'm sure of that but we would be better off with Rubio or Collison as our starting PG.

[BleacherBum2310]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

So where do you all stand on Al Horford’s upcoming decision. Want him to opt-in or chase a ring elsewhere?

I’m torn and my opinion changes by the hour.

I don't think there's any avenue to be really bad and tank so I want him back. title contention is out the window but still a solid and fun team should be viable.

[R1zzo23]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Jalen Lecque - prep player at Brewster - reportedly has been told by Ainge that the Celtics plan to draft him. Must be a second round draft project.


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[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Jalen Lecque - prep player at Brewster - reportedly has been told by Ainge that the Celtics plan to draft him. Must be a second round draft project.


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Straight out of high school players can't be drafted into the NBA. I've personally never heard of this kid. I will have to look him up. It won't be long (maybe by 2021) when this rule is changed back to being able to draft players right from high school. It's already caused 2 players that could have been drafted this coming draft to skip college & play overseas.

I don't have a problem with it at all even though I think there's nothing like the college experience. It's only 1 year in college for the Lottery Picks anyhow so why not change the rule back the way it was a few years ago? Now, if college players start getting paid to avoid the high school players leaving for overseas then that might change things too.

But, something has to be done one way or the other because too many players are going to follow suit after what's happened this offseason. I don't know if paying college athletes would be enough unless it's a considerable amount because these players are getting decent money right out of high school to play overseas. So, the best option would probably be the NBA just changing the rule back to what it was & allow high school players to join the draft.

On a side note: Here is what I could see as our roster come the 2019-20 season:

PG- FA pick up (either Rubio or Collison), Terry Rozier (RFA?), P.J. Dozier (RFA?)
SG- Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart (will be backup PG if Rozier leaves)
SF- Jayson Tatum, Semi Ojeleye
PF- Gordon Hayward, Guerschon Yabusele, Daniel Theis (RFA?)
C- Al Horford (Player Option picked up), Aron Baynes, Robert Williams

That's 13 total roster spots if we keep all of the above. That leaves 2 open spots. One will be our #9 Draft Pick which should make the 15-man roster. The other fill in player for that 15th spot will probably be another FA pick up @ the SG position. There's a chance that the #9 Draft Pick we take could end up in the G-League for his rookie season depending on who we draft.

Players like Caldwell-Pope, Jeremy Lamb, Nick Stauskas, Wayne Ellington, Austin Rivers, Wesley Matthews, Reggie Bullock, Ian Clark, Rodney Hood, Seth Curry, & Tomas Satoransky are all possibilities @ SG. I just think SG will be the 2nd FA position we go after (PG being 1st with Kyrie leaving) because we are going to need somebody behind Jaylen Brown. Smart can play SG but he's more suited being our backup PG & our 6th man with that energy off the bench he brings with the 2nd unit.

If Horford opts out then we do have players that can play C & PF in which both positions he can play but nobody that can provide what he can so PF or C would be another position we take a look at in FA. I'm mixed on whether Horford is going to opt out or not. I think he will stay though because he's not going to get paid nowhere near the money we will owe to him if he stays.

[R1zzo23]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Lecque is draft eligible because he played 4 years of high school and then one year at Brewster so he’s now one year out of his graduating class and has turned 19-years old. He is firmly in the 2019 Draft.


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[jeremym480]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Happy Al Horford Decision Day!

I want Al to stay because I'm not sure if we can get anyone who fits as well as him as a replacement. I think he'd be huge for "the Jay's" development going forward.

With that said, I wouldn't be upset if he got dealt somewhere that he has a chance to win a championship. Hopefully, he doesn't just opt out and leave for nothing in return but I don't think that that's very likely... I've been wrong before though.

[jeremym480]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Lecque is draft eligible because he played 4 years of high school and then one year at Brewster so he’s now one year out of his graduating class and has turned 19-years old. He is firmly in the 2019 Draft.


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I haven't been following the draft as closely this year... I don't think we're going to use all of the picks. I think they're either going to be traded or draft and stashed... Who are some draft and stash candidates to watch out for?

[jeremym480]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Al opts out... could be good news, could be bad news. There are a lot of teams with cap space so if Ainge's intentions are to re-sign Al, I'm afraid that another team could drive up the market.



I'm 99% sure that Kyrie is gone, if Al is too, then that would leave us with about $28M in cap space.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Al opts out... could be good news, could be bad news. There are a lot of teams with cap space so if Ainge's intentions are to re-sign Al, I'm afraid that another team could drive up the market.



I'm 99% sure that Kyrie is gone, if Al is too, then that would leave us with about $28M in cap space.

Yep: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...ted-free-agent

Looks like we're going to work on a new deal with less money. This will give us more wiggle room. I also agree with you that all draft picks probably won't be used. We will probably use 1-2 of them for tradebait. I do think we keep the #9 pick unless the player we really want isn't there to draft. Otherwise, we keep that pick & possibly use the others for future considerations.

To me, I think it might be more important to who we can get in the FA market for a true starting PG plus resigning Horford now. I would love to see the Rozier of the 2017-18 playoffs. If he could play that type of game for a complete season then I would be able to roll with him as our starting PG.

The problem is that he's not even shown a hint of that type of player since those playoffs. He's only really deserving of a backup role in Boston in my opinion but if we sign a FA PG then you can bet he's going to be calling out to be traded. He could be a starting PG for a few select NBA teams but not many.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Lecque is draft eligible because he played 4 years of high school and then one year at Brewster so he’s now one year out of his graduating class and has turned 19-years old. He is firmly in the 2019 Draft.


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Gotcha. I thought maybe he had transferred to the prep school for his senior year & didn't already have 4 years of high school status. I still haven't read anything up on him yet but I will before the draft. Maybe we do draft him & use him in the G-League for future considerations.

Since he's only 19 then probably a couple years of grooming will be needed. I wonder if there's any other teams interested in possibly drafting him though?

Found a scouting report on Lecque: https://www.nbadraft.net/players/jalen-lecque

Twitter highlight link: https://twitter.com/jalenlecque10/st...63736120336386

And, there is certainly interest from the Celtics in this guy: https://celticswire.usatoday.com/201...econd-workout/

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

The Celtics are strongly considering to trade their 14th, 20th, & 22nd Picks in the Draft to move up to the #4 spot (Pelicans slot) to draft Darius Garland from Vanderbilt. Other teams are also interested in trading up as well including a failed effort already by the Hawks to move up to #3 in a trade with the Knicks. The T'Wolves & Bulls are also strong candidates in trying to move up to draft Garland.

[R1zzo23]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Wow that’s a lot to give up for a kid that has only played 4 collegiate games. I don’t think that’s enough to eat a deal done though.

———

Horford not expected to re-sign with Celtics. I’m almost positive if they renounce Rozier they can sign Brogdon to a max offer sheet. Same with D’Angelo Russell.


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