Simons: Played 40⁄40 games and Sixth man of the year candidate. Below second apron team. Second in the east. Ooops! Brad did it again!
Coincidentally, we need someone like Luke more than we need anything else.
Queta’s doing alright
I agree, I love Queta.
We need one more quality rotational big.
Garza’s doing alright
Both are exceeding expectations, but we still went from 4 bigs to 2, so double big is effectively off the table and we have limited flexibility to roll out different lineups to exploit weaknesses of the other team
I also agree with this.
I’ll be shocked if he can maintain this level of play in the playoffs, but right now he’s crushing it.
He’s absolutely filling the role, but how many minutes do you want him playing in the playoffs?
I agree because Queta and Garza play so hard that you probably need a third guy just for insurance and, maybe if Brad can swing it, give the team a bit of a different look every now and then.
Someone like Gafford
Agreed
Yeah, just really need one more solid big. We are screwed if he goes down.
In reality, we don’t need another Luke. We need another queta from last year. End of the bench guy we can develop who can help in limited minutes.
Did somebody say Amari Williams?
no
We aren’t talking on the court.
He’s always just alright though imo not that I know shit tho.
And if he goes down we’re cooked
Blazers fan. Would you be interested in Robert Williams back? He’s like the sum of all four of those pictures at the same time!
Fans will say yes, but no, not realistically.
Love the guy, though.
I absolutely adore timelord but his injury history and risk makes him not a good pick for us right now. As much as that pains me to say we cannot have the timelord back.
I want him back with bionic legs more than anything
Queta has better stats with the same minutes (24.5). Similar fg percentage and blks (identical 1.2 per game). Queta is a much more impactful rebounder though 8.2 vs 6.6 with an absurd 3.1 orb. We effectively replaced Luke Kornet which is kinda wild.
RW is never going to be healthy enough to lean on and might not still be the same player, but his peak in that stretch of 21-22 was higher than Queta has hit so far.
agreed! RW had that unreal stretch I loved him so much for the C’s. Thing is Queta is just starting to build his confidence. He actually has a really smooth post game with both hands. I just want to see him start taking threes. He’s gotta not terrible stroke.
Less a coincidence and more of a consequence imo.
The above image paints a good picture of Brads approach- win 3 out of 4 moves (for the roster) and the team has its best shot long term
I’m glad Luke got paid because he deserves it. But it was a contact only the Spurs could give him. The overpaid him but because Wemby is providing MVP production on a rookie contract. That’s an elite center rotation for “only” $25 mill. Wicked smart move by San Antonio
Call me crazy but 4yr/40m for Kornet isn’t even close to overpay
Definitely not given the way he’s playing right now. It may have been a bit of a risk in the off-season, though
I’d give him low teens a year if I’m hurting for a big.
Nah he’s super good.
I loved both KP and Jrue but this is why I was ok with them going elsewhere. Both are all stars when fully healthy but that’s becoming less and less likely as they get older.
Still don’t quite understand why Al went to Golden State but I’ll always love him too.
Really, really wish we kept Luke but I’m glad he got paid and is on a good team.
I was wanting Al to go to Denver if he was going to leave. I thought that made sense if the money worked
Al got his ring now, he’s just bag chasing like he’s always done. Atlanta, Atlanta, ,Boston (the first time),okc, 76ers, boston, dubs. 4yr-17m,5yr-60m, 4yr-113m, 4yr-109m,2yr-19.5m,2yr-11.6m. 330 million over his career is pretty good id say.
I don’t think he came to us from Atlanta because he wanted more money. I’m pretty sure Atlanta could’ve offered him more, although my memory is fuzzy at this point about whether they did.
He mainly came because he wanted to go to a winning team and quality franchise after wasting his time playing for a crappy franchise with fairweather fans. He’s always said the crowd at the Garden stood out to him. Then IT helped recruit him. He went to the Sixers because they were offering him a stupid amount of money, though.
4 year 113m from Boston, the first time, was the highest contract he’s ever had.
Other teams were offering him that. He was the #2 free agent that year after KD. I did a search and reports said he turned down a 5-year $136M offer from the Hawks to sign with us. So he left money on the table.
Thats pretty crazy, he wanted tf out of atl lmao 🤣 He knew they were going no where and are they still allowed to do 5 year contracts? Im assuming with bird rights they can and rookies
I love Al but he’s firmly a journeyman. Don’t hold it against him but it’s not too surprising he left the Cs twice
Eh Al is seemingly a very good teammate but bad Celtic. Scorned us twice and both times blew up in his face. Doesn’t really seem like he has some special place in his heart for us. And now he’s washed.
I don’t think he’s a bad Celtic. He left us both times because another team offered him a lot more money. We didn’t want to pay him this time around because we wanted to get below the 2nd apron. He’s always bled green ever since he joined.
He’s allowed to do that, but I’m not going to venerate him when he left us for supposedly greener pastures twice and was only a 1x all star and spot starter on our title run. If he truly realized how great of an organization this is, he would have been on the Celtics since 2016.
He was absolutely a sleeper agent against the Sixers when he was on that team, didn’t do anything for them lol
In hindsight probably should’ve pushed to keep Luke more with that pay.
Horford bailed on us.
But the KP and holiday trades seemed to have worked out. Imagine being over the second apron with both those guys missing most of the season
Imagine being over the apron, having healthy KP and Holiday, and still being second in the East, needing JT back for the playoff run anyway
There’s no such thing as a healthy Porzingis though. I love the guy, and he was just enough to put us over the top on a championship run…BUT especially with the new salary rules, you just can’t pay that much for a guy who can’t stay on the floor
I’m surprised they were able to dump KP at all given his history, how he looked in the playoffs and the fact that he is going to the wrong side of 30 with that history. And it’s not even just regular injuries. Like if he just rolled his ankle every month, okay bad luck but the string of rare bad but not quite bad enough to not play situations like in the finals and his pots syndrome.
Loved him here of course but the return they got out of him outside of that first regular season was next to nothing.
TBH I think Brad was trying to soft tank by not signing bigs.
Oh we were for sure tanking and it turns out our infrastructure is just too good.
Turns out Jaylen is just too good.
Nah, Derrick is 17th in EPM, Queta is 41st, Jaylen is 48th. Payton is 52nd, Jordan is 75th. Josh Minott is 98th (I’m guessing they were trying to trade him is mostly why he wasn’t playing when healthy). Anfernee is 104th. Garza is 116th.
That’s two guys who were on the team that didn’t do shit for us last season analytically and now are big positives and 3 guys he acquired who are positive players for us. That’s mostly infrastructure. Derrick and Payton were awesome last year too so that’s nothing new.
he definitely was. and then guys like Jordan walsh, garza, queta, gonzalez etc. all came out of nowhere to perform.
its actually a good problem to have, because now you know you have a structure/role players for when Tatum comes back. and Brad can tool around them.
If all these guys were horrible and we tanked I think there would be alot more questions for this year/next year of how to build the next contender. I think we are seeing the pieces are right here.
I wished we kept Luke at the offseason mainly because he would’ve been easy to trade at the deadline. I definitely didn’t expect now where the reason we should’ve kept him would be he’s great to help us win games as a 2 seed, I just wanted to keep him because at the deadline when I thought we would’ve been half-tanking, he could’ve gotten us a couple 2nds.
I do wonder if Al knew how the season would play out he would’ve take less money to stay here.
But what purpose does he serve on our roster this season? Wouldn’t you rather give those minutes to other guys? He wasn’t ready to take the Udonis Haslem DNP role
He’d be splitting minutes with Garza as the backup five but would also be able to play next to Queta and allow us to use double big lineups when the situation calls for it.
Garza has really impressed me after a rough start, but he’s still a pretty matchup defendant player and that’s only going to get more pronounced in the playoffs.
Garza is basically unplayable in the playoffs
Why do you say that? His three point shooting has been so goods he’s a great stretch 5 opening up the driving lanes for Brown, Simons, White, Pritchard. Combined with his offensive rebounding he looks very solid off the bench
His lack of defensive impact will be exploited alot more in the playoffs
I agree, he’s a traffic cone on the perimeter, just watch his feet, it’ll be very hard to keep him on if they choose to attack him. To his credit he greatly greases the wheels of our offense (good shooting, screens, and has good touch), so the goal with his minutes would be to outscore the other unit. Could work but i think it’s too easy to hunt him
I’m definitely fine with not signing Boucher and him taking those (few) minutes along with X who’ll just be a sunk cost at this point. I’m gonna give Brad the benefit and say Horford would’ve kept Boucher away not Garza.
Boucher and Tillman have played a total of 8 minutes in the last 7 weeks. Horford would have been of zero use filling those minutes.
Wouldn’t you rather give those minutes to other guys?
No.
I’d rather have Al, and give those minutes to him. If there’s a move you can make to bring in Zubac in addition, then do that. A team with Jaylen, Horford, Zubac, and a returning Tatum, is a deep playoff team. Maybe a title winner.
Al not trusting in our system after a decade and leaving us once is disappointing. Even if we only offered the minimum (and it’s never been officially reported that we did), it was still only $2M less than what he got from GSW.
Big move across the country with 6 kids for a worse opportunity in a new system with the team that beat us in the Finals.
Will always appreciate Al, but it’ll always be a mystery why he was so desperate to leave his home and a fanbase that loved him
Money is more important, he already won I don’t blame him
I get it, but Horford has made almost \(300M in his career. Stability for his family and for the end of his playing career seemingly would made more sense. And we don't know for sure that the Celtics didn't offer that extra \)2M. Tatum has also said that Al was his favorite teammate ever.
I’m pretty sure when he left, he was choosing the opportunity to win, not money. Which is kind-of hilarious in hindsight. He’ll always be remembered fondly, but dude could have gone down in history as an all-time Celtic.
$300M doesn’t buy you what it used to, though.
Could also be that he wanted to move to cali. If I had hundreds of millions I wouldn’t be living here where it’s freezing and dark 8 months of the year.
I don’t know…maybe. I’m not a fan of the cold either and he did grow up in the Dominican Republic and go to college in Florida. Maybe would have made more sense to go to Orlando or Miami.
His wife had their 6th child in December, though. Kind-of a big up and move situation when your family is settled and established in the Boston area.
I would rather Al have left over thinking GS had a better shot than over money. A 2nd title would do a lot for his career, that extra few million doesn’t when he’s made an insane amount over his career.
Would a 2nd title do a lot for his career as a bench piece?
In terms of the HOF and among casual fans I’d say absolutely yes
I’m pretty sure he’s gonna make it regardless
2M is a lot
He has made 300 million in his NBA career so it’s not even a single percent of what he’s made. It be like someone making 100k only making 99.4k. Pennies to him.
Yeah, it wasn’t about the actual money. I just said it in another post, but his wife just had their 6th child in December. They had roots in Boston and it must have been a pain in the ass to move his whole family across the country, including a very pregnant wife.
It could be about respect in regards to money. Which would be kind-of ridiculous considering how much money the Celtics have paid him in his career. We also don’t know if they did actually offer him more than the minimum. That is just what everybody assumes
You could argue Brad didn’t believe in the system for this year. Instead of running it back they tried to save some money and reset the books because Tatum was out. Absolutely the correct call, but if you’re Al and Tatum is out and now Porziņģis is gone and Jrue is gone and Luke is gone, it’s looking more likely to be a Golden State without Steph tank year than it is being a real contender. How many people really thought the Celtics would lose more than half of their rotation and still get to 50 wins and make it look easy?
He’s a competitive guy, all these guys want to be a in a contending situation. That’s the juice.
It was his choice and he was free to do what was best for him. Glad he was spectacularly wrong. Joining a mid team that beat us in the Finals isn’t going to make him any new fans in Boston, though
Maybe, I think it was combination of money offered and the chance to win. Maybe he just wanted to play with Steph, I dunno.
I don’t understand people feeling betrayed (might be a bit strong of a word) that Al didn’t stay here. Honestly I think the situation worked out best for both parties that he left.
If I recall correctly, this is the same conversation when Horford dipped to Philly for the 2019-20 season
Are Nesmith and Kornet the only players we’ve moved/not kept who have had success post-Cs under Brad?
Schröder has been decent.
Technically we gave up the Sengun pick along with Kemba for Horford
Brad as President of Ops, yes.
Brad as coach, that fuckstick David Lee sandbagged us
This forced half rebuild really has worked out well. Plus I no longer have to be aggravated by KP and his injuries or whatnot.
I hate seeing my guys in those colors. 😭
They’ll always be green teamers to me. T_T
AL and Luke for sure, Jrue & KP not so much for me. I remember KP in too many other jerseys.
Brad has done far better than Danny ever did in his short time as President of Basketball Operations. I know they both have one championship respectfully, but I feel like Brad’s moves are a bit more strategic and they seem to really fill needs. Really the one move that hasn’t worked by Brad was getting Tillman who (in my opinion) seemed to be Al’s longterm replacement based on the fact that he has a similar skillset
Sorry but that is pure recency bias.
The Nets trade might be a Top 3 all-time NBA trade. No Nets picks = no Jays and on top of that, Danny picked Smart and Rob, who got us KP and Jrue. It was also he who brought along Sam and drafted Payton — and recruited Joe Mazz.
Let’s also not forget the Philly trade that landed us the pick that was used to draft Romeo Langford, who was one of the pieces that went out for Derrick White.
Danny had a crucial hand in both the 2008 and 2024 titles. Brad is incredible and got the Jays over the hump and we are lucky to have him — but Danny Ainge is minted in Boston and probably deserves to have his name up in the banners like Loscy.
This also ignores the fact that for most of his tenure Danny was an asset assembler, obsessed with value to the point he needed to pants you on every deal he made. He didn’t make the adjustments and sacrifices to get the players he needed to actually make us win
The Brooklyn trade is in its own stratosphere of a trade, so much so that history recognizes the Nets were idiots to go to that level
If you still had Danny he never deals smart, you don’t get drew or KP. Brads first deal in the seat to get off Danny’s bad Kemba deal was also massive.
Fine to acknowledge Danny had a role in building that team but it took both of their approaches at the relative times they were in power to make that happen.
I’d also much rather have Brad moving forward
Huh? You are arguing against a point that I never made. Read what I wrote carefully: I never said that the Celtics should’ve kept Danny around.
I was responding to someone who wrote that Brad has done far better than Danny ever did.
That ignores the fact that Danny won a title and broke the Celtics 22-year title drought, full-stop. In doing that, he actually expended a lot of the Celtics chest of talent and draft assets. Then, when that group had its run, he put together many of the assets that either directly or indirectly led to Banner 18.
These are not a controversial points. Those are just facts: Brad would not have had the pieces to make the deals he did to get the Jays over the hump without the moves Danny made and the FO organization he left behind.
For that and Banner 17 before that, Danny is minted in Boston. Plain and simple.
Like wrote: Brad got the Jays over the hump but to say that Brad has done far better than Danny ever did is recency bias.
I was not making any point other than that; I never said that Danny should still be running the Celtics nor can you infer that from anything I said.
Acknowledging someone’s vital contributions to something does not equal wishing or wanting them to still be around.
Tillman’s corner 3 in game 3 of the finals will always be remembered
And his game winner vs the Kings
I’m not knocking Tillman. I think he still has potential and I was honestly excited when we traded for him, but he just has been played out of the rotation by other guys.
There is still time, he could still become a player similar to Al and be used that way. It’s up to him though
Danny passed the torch onto Brad right at the perfect time considering what the hell he’s doing with the Jazz right now
Danny’s only strategy is betting on high pedigree HS guys and hoping one of them becomes a superstar. But Ace Bailey sucked at Rutgers.
Brad has Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to work with because Danny Ainge pulled of the biggest fleece job this century.
This is very myopic take. Ainge did all the heavy lifting building and developing the roster Stevens inherited. Ainge drafted Smart/JB/JT etc. he fist signed Big Al. Stevens has done a a great job but shouldn’t forget Ainge’s contributions. He had as much to do with the most recent trophy as Stevens did (if not more honestly).
Yeah except Luke isn’t a backup
It’s kind of the perfect situation for him. 4 year contract to start ~40 games a year when Wemby is put in bubble wrap until the playoffs.
Wish he was still ours, but happy for him
I wish we kept Luke
Losing the unikornet hurt though…
It did but Queta is holding it down
Not planning for Lukes future was his only mistake, no reason he had to extend all the starters for that long knowing he was reaching aprons
Couldn’t Brad handle the Sox as well? I’m sure he’d do well.
None of this is surprising. If I had to guess what would happen this season to these four, I would have probably guessed exactly what has happened.
The only one that I MIGHT have been wrong about is Jrue. I’m not sure I would have seen that injuries would completely derail his season. I thought that he would average 10-15ppg and act as a mentor to the younger players in Portland.
Luke is playing EXACTLY like I thought he would. Al is playing (or not playing) exactly like i thought he would. Btw, I think his second departure for supposedly greener pastures will cost him jersey retirement with Boston. He will still be loved by the city, but I don’t think he has any real shot at going up in the rafters. He might have if he stayed and would have if they won another championship while he was here.
And KP, well… it’s not a popular opinion on here, but I was very relieved that the Celtics moved on. Not a dependable player at all. His constant injuries this year were totally predictable. I don’t want a player like that on my team. I 100% believe that he cost the Celtics the Knicks series. Those first two games that were won by NY by the thinnest of margins would have flipped the other way with a productive KP. He also did nothing in the championship run other than one half in the finals. They would have won regardless, just as they had done throughout his time in Boston. He’s a nice guy, but you can’t rely on him if you have championship aspirations.
It’s really hard to find good players and get them on your team
Health is not a given for any player
JB misses 15-20 games a year like clockwork
I’d rather have the talent, to be honest
And if they are here, they may not get hurt, that’s a crazy false equivalency and projection
KP seems to have some sort of respiratory illness, so maybe it’s there no matter what.
But Al and Jrue? Who knows.
If they are here, the team isn’t looking for a 3rd big man, and the bench either has Jrue running the show as a vet, or it’s more of the rotation for the guards from the last two years which was great.
Sure, to be beat an absolute power house like the top 2-3 seeds in the west in the finals, yeah we need a play making stretch 5… those don’t grow on trees. We’re a 2 seed and fucking killing it. Let the team grow and see where it goes. We still have Tatum coming back. We can play like IND with Hali from last year. Give it a rest
Ya it sucked to lose Luke. But I can understand letting him go. The team is just way over performing
Miss Kornet so much
Imagine if we get another 6th man.
Jrue is balling out in Portland, just suffered an unfortunate 2 month injury but he’s back now. Should have a solid 2nd half of the season.
Yeah, Luke’s ours now, no take-backs. (Enjoy Derrick). 🦬❤️
It’s literally insane how we developed Luke. Wish we still had him
Naz is the best back up big in the league
And I still miss all four of them. Loved that teams (not to take away from the current team).
Amazing!
I can live without all of these but I miss Luke lol
Not having Luke HURTS. But garza has been really solid
Props to Jrue for the way he played at the start of the year. He looked so much better than he did last season. Unfortunately he had a somewhat significant injury.
Porzingis joins Anthony Davis as a walking “Street Clothes” contract.
Horford has really slowed down, but I feel as if he came back to Boston he’d be better. He didn’t look so good 4-5 years ago with the Sixers either.
Kornet is playing great and probably doing exactly what the Spurs expected from him. I’d love to see him back in Boston, but he’s in a great spot with the Spurs.
I dont care about games missed….I miss all those guys on this team
Said all off-season that for the same money I would’ve rather kept Kornet over Hauser, happy for Luke though
The timing at which the Celtics get rid of players that had great production for them and then immediately fall off a cliff as soon as they move to a new team is actually insane. Such a well run organization.
Then that means Brad allows Mazzulla to play favoritism to Pritchard since Payton is all in on Joe’s belief that 3 point attempt rate is the most important stat in the game
