2016 Boston Celtics Offseason Thread

I think that's right on.  Only thing that makes sense.  

Sorry. At breakfast with fam.

Kevin O'Connor and other confirmations at this point.

Well we have little need for a guy who's going to clog driving lanes in the paint if the only above-average skill he brings is scoring on the interior (and for the record, if we had interest in that I think we'd just have kept Sully). It's not that individually Rozier is necessarily a better player, but I'd say he's a better fit on our roster, and we didn't have to give him the pacman jones treatment a month into his rookie season, which in my mind is a plus. I think there's very little chance Danny does that.

Also, Horford is equally capable of playing in the post, and name me a good NBA team that actually has 2 guys posting up with any regularity right now. There aren't any. Okafor doesn't provide defense, he doesn't have range on his jumper, and he doesn't even rebound particularly well for a 7 footer. I'd say he's made redundant by Horford and the abundance of other bigs on our roster who have skills that fit better on our team and in the league as it exists today in general. There's no sense trading even the 2018 pick for him in my mind, especially if you might have to trade 2 guys who are better roster fits and have some upside for him. I'd rather have more shooting and ballhandling than an offense-only center with no jumper. 

The thing I really like about Horford is that there are a lot of guys that can be successful playing with him. He can play the 4 or 5 which helps. I could see Okafor working because Horford provides enough spacing and defense to cover Okafors weaknesses. The minor concern is rebounding, but I really think both players are better than they are often portrayed in that area.

Then again I could see Noel working really well with Horford. The spacing thing plays into it. Plus, having two strong defenders in the post could allow Noel's help defense really thrive.

I watched Okafor a lot his season at Duke and I think he's both a better rebounder and defender than given credit for. At the right cost, he's a great addition; Stevens can effectively use him and he can learn to be a good team defender.

Blazers matched Nets offer sheet. That's good for the Celtics.

Nets could end up going after Sully.

Yeah the Nets struck out big time on both, which is great. Without those two guys there isn't much talent left. They'll likely be worse than I thought.

Regarding Okafor, I'm not sure why people like him. He scored .85 points per possession on post-ups last year. Which was in the 55th percentile. That's really bad.

Okafor grabbed 12.8% of all available rebounds while on the floor. Which was 53rd among 63 qualified centers. The last rookie center to play as many minutes as Okafor with a worse rebound rate was old friend Nenad Krstic, over a decade ago.

Philly gave up 108.7 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor and 105.4 with him out—but but what's even more fascinating to me is their offense was significantly worse with him on the floor. With Okafor on the floor, Philly scored 92.0 points per 100 possessions, but when he sat, they improved to 99.6.

Yet he's still worth more than Terry Rozier to me. I would gladly swap the two.

I'm not sure what system or style of play Okafor fits into and I can't think of a team he fits well with.

His lack of shooting, athleticism and defensive limitation cause his ceiling to be significantly lower than you're projecting.

If I was Nets I would go after Sullingers, Harkless, and Stephenson at this point.

Right, as mentioned, there are reasons to think that he can improve upon his present weaknesses. Maybe he never does, but I think it's unfair to suggest that he's got a low ceiling:

Defense: Not a leaper, but he's got a 7'5" wingspan and a 9'3" standing reach (superb length), along with quick feet and good hands. He's never going to be a true rim protector, but he's certainly capable of becoming an average defensive center who adds value with positioning, steals and taking charges-- think David West or LaMarcus Aldridge.

Rebounding: was an elite offensive rebounder in college, and guys who are great on one end but bad on the other usually mean his rebounding issues are more related to effort and technique than lack of tools.

Shooting: soft touch on 14-16 foot shots out of the post, which suggests there's potential to stretch that out to 18-20.

In terms of potential role, he's a guy you can build a motion-based offense around in the low or high post. Dump the ball in the post, run secondary cutting/screening actions around him, and he can either go to work or pass out to open cutters/shooters. At the very least, have him come off the bench and you have a quick and easy shot-creator for second units.

Yeah, but there's a difference between sucking on defense because you didn't put in the effort (which I think is the case with Okafor) and sucking in defense because you don't have the tools to succeed there (what tjb is suggesting). Okafor will probably continue to be mediocre on d, but he has the tools to be averagish if he works on his skills and puts in the effort.