[HitsterParticipant]

Has anyone else been very impressed with the Boston Celtics this season so far after losing their Head Coach, trading two future HOF guys and with their best player out injured, they looked to be in full tank mode to get into the 2014 draft lottery as high as possible.

But under bright new Head Coach Brad Stevens they are 12-14 and currently heading their division and in 4th seeding position. Of course this may not last and it buts Boston into a tricky position if they fall back, do they look to maintain a play off position or try their best to get as good a draft pick as possible.

The good thing is that they own many future picks from the Nets going forward and have a good front office lead by Danny Ainge which assembled a championship team around PP, KG and Ray Allen.

This season Jeff Green looks to be back to near his best after his health scare and is starting to look like the player who he promised to be when he was drafted 5th back in 2007. Jared Sullinger has also quietly become a very solid NBA player and looks to be showing what we hoped he’d be before he fell down the draft, a very durable player with very limited downside.

Brad Stevens was of course an excellent NCAA Head Coach but is no doubt still finding his feet in the NBA and if his college coaching pedigree is anything to go by then the Celtics look to have made a good choice to replace Doc Rivers. Luckily Brad has the good front office back up and experience of Danny Ainge plus an assistant like Jamie Young who has been at the Celtics over a decade so knows the franchise inside out and Ron Adams who has vast experience across the NBA to back him up.

The Celtics may be punching above their weight but when you add in upside of a young team, a possibly elite coach, future draft picks and Rondo’s future return to assist the team or as a very good trade piece then life at the Garden looks fairly good going forward.

[UnbiasedObserverParticipant]

 I agree with everything you just said. However I disagree that Rondo will be dangled as trade bait. He is a player you BUILD AROUND. Not get rid of for expirings and picks

[UnbiasedObserverParticipant]

 I agree with everything you just said. However I disagree that Rondo will be dangled as trade bait. He is a player you BUILD AROUND. Not get rid of for expirings and picks

[AmiableBaller34Participant]

 I’m not going to lie, I kind of consider myself the biggest/biased Boston homer on this site, so I might as well throw my two cents in…

I never thought the Celtics were as bad as many people thought, and had them as a middle of the pack team since day one. Sure I flirted with the idea of seeing Wiggins or Parker in Celtic’s green, but I learned my lesson from 2007.

 I’m impressed with the level of play I’ve seen from the team, but I’m even more impressed with management thus far. Ainge kind of had his hands tied when the Big Three brought MIA to 7 (How do you rebuild after doing that?), and I never imagined he would be able to turn the ship around so effectively. He turned Doc into a Clippers first round pick, and KG and Pierce into multiple picks that at this time are looking pretty good. That’s amazing, and I tip my hat to Ainge for turning a terrible situation into a possitive one. The team now has more flexibility than it can use, and I don’t have to go through a 2006-like rebuild where I have to watch a team thats bottomed out. 

I’m also impressed with the hiring of Stevens, and the level of comitment the team has shown him so far. I’ve watched every Celtics game this year, and it’s rare to see them taking even a quarter off. He gets his players to play hard every night, and in return the system he runs allows them to look really good. Guys like Bass, Crawford, Bradley, and Olynyk all look better than they probably are because they are given the chance to make plays, and are put in a possition to succeed. Not only have they been playing well, but it also makes them look good to other teams looking to trade, and a lot of player on the Celtics roster have raised their value considerably. 

Overall I like what the Celtic’s are doing, and hope they can keep it going. They’ve been a fun team to watch, and if you haven’t caught a game yet then you should check them out. 

 

[AmiableBaller34Participant]

 I’m not going to lie, I kind of consider myself the biggest/biased Boston homer on this site, so I might as well throw my two cents in…

I never thought the Celtics were as bad as many people thought, and had them as a middle of the pack team since day one. Sure I flirted with the idea of seeing Wiggins or Parker in Celtic’s green, but I learned my lesson from 2007.

 I’m impressed with the level of play I’ve seen from the team, but I’m even more impressed with management thus far. Ainge kind of had his hands tied when the Big Three brought MIA to 7 (How do you rebuild after doing that?), and I never imagined he would be able to turn the ship around so effectively. He turned Doc into a Clippers first round pick, and KG and Pierce into multiple picks that at this time are looking pretty good. That’s amazing, and I tip my hat to Ainge for turning a terrible situation into a possitive one. The team now has more flexibility than it can use, and I don’t have to go through a 2006-like rebuild where I have to watch a team thats bottomed out. 

I’m also impressed with the hiring of Stevens, and the level of comitment the team has shown him so far. I’ve watched every Celtics game this year, and it’s rare to see them taking even a quarter off. He gets his players to play hard every night, and in return the system he runs allows them to look really good. Guys like Bass, Crawford, Bradley, and Olynyk all look better than they probably are because they are given the chance to make plays, and are put in a possition to succeed. Not only have they been playing well, but it also makes them look good to other teams looking to trade, and a lot of player on the Celtics roster have raised their value considerably. 

Overall I like what the Celtic’s are doing, and hope they can keep it going. They’ve been a fun team to watch, and if you haven’t caught a game yet then you should check them out. 

 

[Meditated StatesParticipant]

 Stevens was a great hire. Rondo is no trading chip unless a team is giving up a perennial all star PG or player I see no reason to deal him. Whoever you draft will play and look better with a play making genius passing him the ball.

[Meditated StatesParticipant]

 Stevens was a great hire. Rondo is no trading chip unless a team is giving up a perennial all star PG or player I see no reason to deal him. Whoever you draft will play and look better with a play making genius passing him the ball.

[ItsRainingNegsParticipant]

I never would have guessed that Brad Stevens would have been a Celtic but I honestly have never seen a better fit for a team than Harbaugh in San Francisco. I am probably the biggest Rajon Rondo fan there is as I believe he is a truly elite player and future hall of famer. Someone on the Kings thread said McLemore and 2 firsts was too much for Rondo and I just had to cringe and move on. 

I digress. Jeff Green looks amazing this season, Bradley is shut down, Faverini looks solid, and 9 firsts in five years? It is a great time to be Celtic fan, because it’s only up from here. 

[ItsRainingNegsParticipant]

I never would have guessed that Brad Stevens would have been a Celtic but I honestly have never seen a better fit for a team than Harbaugh in San Francisco. I am probably the biggest Rajon Rondo fan there is as I believe he is a truly elite player and future hall of famer. Someone on the Kings thread said McLemore and 2 firsts was too much for Rondo and I just had to cringe and move on. 

I digress. Jeff Green looks amazing this season, Bradley is shut down, Faverini looks solid, and 9 firsts in five years? It is a great time to be Celtic fan, because it’s only up from here. 

[HitsterParticipant]

 I said Rondo could return to assist the team or they could get a good trade out of him, I did not say they should trade him. If he returns to his old form then they should rebuild around him and maybe have more pieces in place than we thought. The key is to get him back playing and then we can see what sort of form he can get back to and that will tell us a lot.

The only flipside is that he is out of contract in 2015 so if Boston did want to cash in on him then they may have to do it sooner rather than later and no-one knows how Rondo reacted when PP and KG were traded and Doc Rivers moved on. 

 

[ericw2013Participant]

I like Rondo very much, but I belive that he can be a little mad with management (trey tried to trade him several times, just like they did with Ray Allen), and he just saw that Danny Angie would trade his own mother if it would help the team. Perhaps he goes away in 2015 for nothing, so I wouldnt be surprised if the trade rumors start again in a few month.

However, if Im the Celtics I would rebuild around him, he’s one of the few ofensive geniouses that dont need to shoot to be one of the best. One of the few PURE PG left in the game.

If he can improve his FT % and his mid range shot (at least when he is set with both feet on the floor and with no D in his face) he would be -even more- scary. Just like Parker did. Do you remeber when he couldnt shoot at all?

 

 

 

 

[ericw2013Participant]

I like Rondo very much, but I belive that he can be a little mad with management (trey tried to trade him several times, just like they did with Ray Allen), and he just saw that Danny Angie would trade his own mother if it would help the team. Perhaps he goes away in 2015 for nothing, so I wouldnt be surprised if the trade rumors start again in a few month.

However, if Im the Celtics I would rebuild around him, he’s one of the few ofensive geniouses that dont need to shoot to be one of the best. One of the few PURE PG left in the game.

If he can improve his FT % and his mid range shot (at least when he is set with both feet on the floor and with no D in his face) he would be -even more- scary. Just like Parker did. Do you remeber when he couldnt shoot at all?

 

 

 

 

[HitsterParticipant]

 I said Rondo could return to assist the team or they could get a good trade out of him, I did not say they should trade him. If he returns to his old form then they should rebuild around him and maybe have more pieces in place than we thought. The key is to get him back playing and then we can see what sort of form he can get back to and that will tell us a lot.

The only flipside is that he is out of contract in 2015 so if Boston did want to cash in on him then they may have to do it sooner rather than later and no-one knows how Rondo reacted when PP and KG were traded and Doc Rivers moved on. 

 

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