2016 Boston Celtics Offseason Thread

It's not an u fair advantage the US players could go play in Europe if they wanted to just the same - make money and have their draft rights kept

Most international guys aren't playing in leagues in the country they grew up in. Look at Yabu. He signed in China. Many players sign in Israeli, Turkish, or French leagues who aren't from even remotely similar cultures.

I don't think "Fair" is the word you are looking for. This has nothing to do with fairness.

Maybe we're into a semantical argument, but again... That isn't unfair to the college players. It may be true that the International players have already made the adjustment to a new culture and the college players would still have to make that adjustment, but that doesn't make the draft rules unfair to them.

Sporting News said the Celtics are signing Gerald Green... That's an interesting move... Obviously an effort to add shooting. Wonder if that's all it is or we are going to see a trade so they wanted to fill that depth. If it is s trade my hope is the Sixers caved on their demands for Okafor and maybe are taking Rozier as the main piece

Signing Horford and adding the number 3 pick in the draft has every giddy, myself included, but there are always multiple ways a season could go so I started thinking about some of the things that could go wrong and cause a much less effective year than we expected.

PLEASE NOTE THESE ARE NOT PREDICTIONS OR EXPECTATIONS JUST DIGGING HERE IN THE OFFSEASON SO THOUGHT IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO FIND SOME LESS OBVIOUS POSSIBLE PROBLEMS.

Here are some questions or concerns I came up with:

1. They miss Evan Turner way more than anyone expected. One of the teams massive advantages over most clubs last year was their second unit dominating them. Evan Turner was arguably the number 1 reason why that unit was so good. He was a catalyst. In addition, he stepped into the first unit when injuries popped up and was one of the only guys who could really distribute and run it. Can anyone in house really fill that void?

2. Front court depth is weak and their top 4 guys (Horford, Johnson, KO and Mickey) have had some injury concerns in the past. So as I type that, you remember NBA rosters only go 15 players so weak may be the wrong word as how much depth can one team have? But it highlights to me that it would be good to bring Zeller back.

3. Did we just witness career years from Crowder and/or IT? If we did, how far could their regression to the norm be and how big of an effect will it have? Yes, we could have witnessed their breakouts or their continues ascension and theirs probably more reason to expect that we did than the negative but that's not the look we are taking and their CARMELO projections expect bigish steps back.

4. What if Marcus Smart doesn't develop any more offensive game and Jalen Brown struggles there his rookie year? Does the second unit have anyone who can score or facilitate? Right now the second unit looks like a group (Smart, Rozier, Brown plus 2 of Jerebko/KO/Mickey) that could REALLY struggle to create any offense.

1. Addressed this in my post above, but I think they're hoping Rozier (playmaker) and Green (scorer) can fill some of the void. Plus whatever production/improvements they see from other guys (Smart, Hunter, Jaylen Brown, etc.).

2. For all his faults - and I'm far from a fan - this is what makes Jerebko a valuable bench piece at his salary ... particularly during the regular season. Wouldn't mind seeing them add another big too, though.

3. It's highly unlikely we see much regression as players, even if their numbers dip slightly after the addition of Horford. Thomas is 27 and just entering his prime, while Crowder is 26 with only ~2 years of being a full-time player. I don't expect them to continue getting much better, but regression seems unlikely.

4. Both fair questions. Smart is still a useful piece off the bench even without much improvement, but obviously you hope for a little more than that from the #6 pick. Time will tell.

And just like that, the roster looks set.

Obviously we were all hoping for a little more - either a top 2 pick or a blockbuster deal - but when you step back and think about everything, the Celts are still in very good shape.

1. Just added Horford to a young roster that won 48 games a year ago. And they have a number of young players who could take steps forward this year (Smart, Rozier, Hunter, Mickey) to add a boost as well.
2. They still have a potential lottery ticket in Brooklyn's pick in next year's draft. The Nets could be absolutely horrible again this year, too.
3. They have zero bad contracts and were able to hold onto all their assets ... all while adding more talent (Jaylen Brown) and stashing potential future talent in Europe.

Again, not the fireworks we were hoping for, but Ainge was able to provide his coach with more talent without sacrificing the future at all. And they have tons of cap space and assets for next summer, when caps go up again...

Guess the Zeller deal is 2 years with team option for second year. Good signing in my mind. I think he's a valuable player but the structure of it is zero risk and you get the upside of a bargain contract next year without losing flexibility.

Jackson and Bentil also signed.

If it's completely fair why are 99% of players stashed overseas international guys that already have long term contracts?

Did you think the old drug laws of cocaine and crack were fair?  You know the ones that punished crack users a lot harsher than cocaine users.  Would you just tell crack users they should do cocaine?  Just because the rules/laws are the same for two groups of people doesn't make them fair.

Ummmm the crack cocaine comp is just whack.

The reasons most draft and stash are European are many. Most culturally related. The same opportunity exists for both groups tho hence its fair. Just because one will miss mommy doesn't make it unfair.

What's unfair is how these kids are raised in an AAU and NCAA system that makes them woefully unprepared to make decisions. They think they are better than they are and have a poor work ethic and expect to make millions upon millions.

I mean, would you rather them "strongly" criticize these policies like the NFL or NCAA but not back it up?

I don't disagree with the hypocrisy regarding Mexico and China, but the NBA may feel it has more of a chance to impact things in the U.S. At the very least, they've been consistent about being on the forefront of social change.