Boston Celtics 2016-17 Season Discussion

The only difference between eFG% and TS% is that TS% folds in free throws. It doesn't really change the analysis that much. Like I said, it's bad but not terrible. DeRozan is at .531 career, Randle is .502, and there are plenty of guards in the .500 range who are useful players because they add value in other ways. Bruce Bowen, for instance, is at .508 for his career. Some more contemporary examples are Iman Shumpert (.494 career), Brandon Jennings (.498 career), or Raymond Felton (.497 career). Hell, Rondo is at .500 over his career.

It is simple math that three pointers are more efficient than two pointers. A 31% three-point percentage is bad, but it equates to a 46.5% two-point percentage, which is perfectly acceptable from a good defender and passer. Smart is still inconsistent shooting the ball, but he's shown flashes of being an average-or-better shooter from distance. He's not some irredeemable Josh Smith-esque chucker. He should continue to shoot it (though he admittedly could take a few fewer shots per game).

 No there is not an International player in this years draft that is predicted in the top 10 or so. The odds on favorite for #1 is Markelle Fultz PG, most of the mocks have PG dominating the top 5. So when it comes to the future core I would expect one of the top current C's guards to be traded.

PG Frank Ntilikina is 12 by Ford, 11 by DraftExpress, 10 by The Sporting News, 9 by Bleacher Report and 9 by CBS.

With a lot of PGs (and some even think Monk might need to be a scoring 1) he may have to distinguish himself to get into the top 10 once the draft rolls around

Marcus Smart is not a good shooter but he's improved. He's actually pretty solid as a catch and shoot guy from the corner. He's terrible as a pull up off the dribble shooter from the top. From recent quotes he seems to be learning shot selection is important. My thing with Marcus is he's on an upward trend overall in his development. I'm not overly concerned with the numbers as he's inconsistent still but you can see it in his game and the flashes get louder. This is good for two reasons:

1. It gives us hope he can develop and help he team.

2. It gives another team the same thought so he may get better trade return.

Yes of course, but the idea is these players are either better or they are just as good and allow you to flip the other players for upgrades.

If they add Fulz now they have a dynamic scoring tandem with him and Thomas. Fultz will be able to guard 2s and probably some wings with his size and length. That allows the team to deal Bradley, Smart, Crowder or Brown in a package to upgrade elsewhere.

Fultz because of his size and shooting ability is probably the best guy the Celtics could get. A healthy Giles or Ingram are nice options as well but I want nothing to do with a Jackson who is a great prospect but can't shoot. Ball is shooting well but its kind of a surprise.

Then hopefully they can get ride of the Jerebko, KO and Johnson tandem and get someone who can rebound and play defense down low.

Intriguing prospect but the C's will be picking in the top 3 and he would be a reach as he is projected as a later lottery pick, 7-10.

Brooklyn might have the worst record in the NBA next season as well and it is still unlikely that the Celtics will have a single #1 pick out of those!

It also annoys the crap out of me that the Celtics seem like they have beaten both Toronto and Cleveland a total of maybe once in the past 2 years. Like they can't even run into a lucky win against either one of these teams.

Saw an interesting comparison of the first 3 years of Lowry vs 3 of Smart. Lowry a much better overall shooter but Smart better from 3. Smart close or better in other primary stats.

Not that I'm saying Smart is going to be Lowry but I had forgotten how slow a start to his career KL had.

They can't rebound and it kills them against those teams.  They were out rebounded by 17 tonight, with Toronto having a plus 11 in offensive rebounds.

They can't beat those teams until they get a rebounding big.

The thing that stinks is this year has players that we could really use, but they are lower in draft. If we only had another 1st round pick or two this year. We could go after players like Edrice Adebayo, Robert Williams, Ivan Rabb and Marques Bolden.

Cousins would really have to hate it there. Under the new CBS, Cousins next deal could be 5 yrs/219Mn. He can't get close to that elsewhere.

No idea why NO would trade Davis. He's a good guy. A superstar. They'll be able to add a potential star in this draft. They still have Hield. That has the potential of a pretty good top 3 (though I have some reservations about Hield). We'll see if they try to keep Holiday as well.