2015-2016 Boston Celtics Season Thread

Its nice to see the team rebound from that loss to Orlando. I was worried that it would be a repeat of when they had their 4-game win streak snapped by LA in December. They have been playing really well and it will be fun to watch Smart, Thomas, and (fingers-crossed) Olynyk in Toronto.

I think that the most important aspect (right now) of assessing potential trade targets is age. If you are building around some combination of Thomas (almost 27), Bradley (25), Crowder (25), Smart (almost 22), maybe Olynyk (24) and whomever you select (or acquire) from the draft picks, I don't really see the sense in trading for a 30-year-old Howard or a soon to be 30-year-old Horford on expiring deals. The idea is to get players that will peak at the same time. I think that Ainge was really just doing his due diligence and seeing if he could add some talent to the team to help them showcase in the playoffs, which is what they are paying him to do.

If I were the Celtics, I would be calling the Bucks about Monroe (25); he has been very good for them. As far as his contract, he's at 16.4 for 2015-16, 17.1 for 2016-17, and he has a player option for 17.9 in 2017-18. I listened to a Bucks podcast on brewhoop.com and their consensus is that he's a good player, but his USG% is too high for a team that is trying to develop their future, championship talent in Parker and Antetokounmpo and he does not play defense well enough to share a future frontcourt with Parker. There is also pressure because the Bucks are not going to make playoffs and next year could be a contract year, so this is where his value will be at its highest now, when he has 2+ playoff runs. They suggested something like Amir Johnson and the C's 1st round pick.

I would prefer a package of Lee and Sullinger, plus the C's 1st in 2016. I think that Monroe could step in and give us his 16.5/10 playing in Sullinger's/Zeller's minutes. Monroe would give us some measure of consistency among the bigs and he could really grow with our players. This way we can get some value for Sullinger (I am not keen on the idea of extending him at market rates when he has not improved offensively since his rookie year) and use the Lee contract without losing the veteran savvy and contract/positional flexibility of Johnson. Sullinger could go there, play good defense at the 5, hustle out some rebounds, space the floor to midrange, get some putback points and the Bucks will get to decide his fate from there.

The front office showed little interest in signing Monroe this past offseason, and I can't see them giving up a first-round pick (plus their major expiring contract) to acquire him now.

I need some help here bc I'm conflicted on something but I recognize that I may not have watched enough games to make a proper judgment. So please advise . . .

On the one hand, I LOVE Isaiah Thomas. He's exciting. He goes to the hoop. He gets 20 pts and almost 7 assists each game.

On the other, I have NO interest in him being our long term point guard. The more I watch him (and, again, it's still a limited viewing given my schedule getting in the way of "couch time"), the more I agree with those who feel he's best as instant offense off the bench. Those assists? I'd say, at least, half of them come from situations where he's going to the hoop (a good thing, of course) but with little intention of dishing. Then he gets swallowed up and is forced to pass it up and somebody hits a shot.

Having played basketball before, I get it. That's what a PG is supposed to do. Take it to the hoop and leave all options open (Shoot, dish inside, dish outside). But I just can't watch him without getting the feeling that he's not trying to get his teammates involved.

Now I'm not saying that a different PG is going to turn another player currently on the roster into that 20 PPG player we need (I'm not under any such illusion). But if we DO bring in a scorer, are we going to get his full value if he's, mostly, waiting around for IT to decide that he doesn't have a shot?

It also doesn't help that we just don't have another PG option on the roster (Doubting whether Smart ever gets there).

Can someone who has watched the C's more help confirm or contradict me?

I think you're being harsh on Thomas. He's not (and will never be) a Rondo-esque pass-first guy, but I also wouldn't call him a ball-hog (which is what I read your comments to suggest). Remember, he's pretty much the only guy on the roster who can consistently beat his man off the dribble or in a pick-and-roll situation and create shots for himself and others. Stevens certainly knows that, and with the roster they have now, it's a conscious strategy by the coaching staff to put the ball in his hands so often. If and when they get another player who can help carry the offensive load, I have no doubt that Thomas would start to play a lesser role. Remember, they kept IT as a bench player for big chunks of his time in Boston, but it got to the point where he needed to start and have the ball a lot for the offense to stay afloat.

I don't know if there will be huge fireworks (think Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin, Boogie), but there are a bunch of interesting players a tier down who might be available. Think Gordon Heyward, Jeff Teague, Gallinari, etc. Add a guy like that to this roster, and they're one of the two or three best teams in the East. That's maybe still a step down from legitimate contention, but if they can do that while hanging onto at least next year's Nets pick, they'd be in pretty prime position.

Teague would probably bump IT to the bench (though they would still likely play together a lot in small-ball lineups). Teague is a good pick-and-roll player who can shoot well enough and is a great defensive player to boot. Not a great passer but an adequate one. While the Hawks might move him to open up more playing time for Schroder, I don't think they're looking to move Horford (they want to re-sign Horford). I don't see a great fit, though-- they're competing the for same playoff spots, and Atlanta presumably wants win-now pieces (think Crowder or Bradley), which the Celtics probably don't want to give up.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are now 32-1 when scoring 100+ points at home.

Go team. 

AB knew it too.

I think there were actually 4.1 seconds on the clock but the graphic was messed up or something.
There was a replay to see who would get the ball after Turner missed a free throw and the rebound went out of bounds off Lebron's hip and I think they changed the clock then.

I guess, but I'm just not sure Monroe is actually very good in today's NBA. The traditional stats look good, but I'm pretty convinced bigs that aren't good defensively and clog the middle are bad for team basketball and often make teams worse despite the gaudy point and rebound numbers.

I'm not assuming anything about you. The "I guess" had more to do with the fact that there was so little going out in your proposal that "I guess" I would do it.

I just wouldn't be excited about acquiring Monroe. I don't think he really makes the team much, if at all better. And I think there is relatively significant risk that his style of play overall makes the team worse.

An insane OT win over the Clippers brings us into the all star break! 

Isaiah 36/11
Sully 21/11r/7a
Smart 17/4/4 with a steal and a block. Marcus had a great game and looked very confident in his 3 - I'm looking forward to more games like this in the future.