2017-18 Celtics Season Thread

Wait, anyone see that its 28-10 Pacers in Cleveland right now? I knew Cleveland wasn't that strong, but wow. What a start for Indiana.

 Well if he does we can take solace in the fact it will be to get someone like Davis or Leonard. Either way the future is looking very good!

They’ve talked the big game so they better step up as well. You can’t expect them to keep both Smart and Rozier though.

I’ve always liked his upside; just hasn’t put it all together. It’s hard to peg where his game will go to. Lots to like about it.

Smart is a completely different guy. Numbers will never measure how good he is or how much he impacts a game. They just don’t make stats for the outlier guys like him. He could be a better fit than Terry in certain situations but Rozier has scoring ability that’s on another level. It’d be much better if he ever learns to finish at the rim, but as long as his 3pt % is 38+ he’s going to be fine. Not sure you want either starting at point guard for you.

But yea, if I had to choose one to keep right now, it would be Rozier. I prefer his scoring and his defense is pretty good even though it’s no where near as good as Marcus.

Don’t overlook that a huge post season from Terry skyrockets his trade value this offseason.

Danny has, but he's also never traded a guy that just broke out at 23 that has Roziers upside. A guy that has only started 16 games and just keeps getting better and better each year. Trading Rozier right now is like trading Zizic and the Nets picks. An asset that could make you look stupid down the road. Kinda reminds me of the Thunder trading Harden. Not that I'm saying Rozier is Harden, but they traded him after 3 years. He never really started for them and they traded him because they didn't want to pay him. Literally destroying any chance the Thunder had of being a Warrior like team for a decade. You need to be very careful trading young players that keep getting better that have huge upsides.

The second issue Rozier will make 3 million next year. You don't have many players with contracts that are big to match salaries. So even if you wanted to trade him, for who? If you want to use Smart as salary filler you'd have to wait like 3 months after signing him. At the same time I can't imagine they want to move both players.  You could look at moving him for a draft pick, if you can get a high enough pick and you love a certain player. This draft is loaded with bigs, but that is risky. I guess it would depend how high of a pick you can get.

I’d agree on the Al Jefferson comment. The problem wasn’t so much trading Harden is they traded him for guys who weren’t star players. If Rozier is traded it’s part of a package for a stud.

How was Jefferson twice the player? If you compare Rozier numbers as a starter no way was Jefferson twice the player. Looking at advanced stats like win share and WS/48 they were about equal and Jefferson was a full-time starter, Rozier wasn't. The way you look at Rozier was my main point, you are criminally under valuing him.

Jefferson was the main peice to get one of the better bigs basketball has ever seen in KG. So yea if Rozier is the main piece to get Davis or someone like him ok, that makes sense. I never said Danny won't trade him. Just a trade is going to be hard and you need to be very careful.

I don’t know that I see realistic All-Star level upside for Rozier. Becoming a plus three point shooter and improving his handle made him a good rotation player. But he still struggles with decision-making, court vision and finishing at the rim, and those are skills that can be tough to improve. The vast majority of athletic but raw players never get there.

I think he tops out as a good tertiary option on a team with another ball-dominant star or two (think Jrue Holiday or George Hill or old friend Avery Bradley). That’s still a really good player, just not a guy I’d tout as a high-ceiling type, and a type of player that often gets overpaid in free agency.

Also, he’s the same age as Marcus Smart, and to characterize him as having high upside while dismissing Smart as a known quantity seems disingenuous. It’s effectively giving Rozier credit for not being good enough to get more minutes early in his career. Going from a total zero his rookie year to hitting game-winning step back threes as the lead scorer on a playoff team two years later is impressive, but you can’t reasonably expect him to continue to improve at that rate.

Terry Rozier is an elite athlete, something Holiday, Hill and Bradley aren't. He has only started 17 games in his career. He was playing behind Thomas, Irving and Smart. Still made his first impact in the playoffs as a rookie when given a chance and hasn't stopped getting better. He didn't start playing PG till halfway through his second college year when a player was dismissed. He's far from a finished product, but you can't just overlook the level with which he just keeps improving. That's what you want from young players.

He has massive upside because of what he can do. He makes winning plays, he wants the ball with the game on the line and he's been a rather clutch player since he started starting games. It's one thing to put up stats, it's another to make winning plays at the end of games. He can do things not a lot of players can. He's a complete player that can score and defend. He has only started 17 games, you are just scratching the surface of what he can do. Given the strides he's made already running a team, why can't he keep improving? He'll never be close to an elite passer, but he doesn't have to be. I certainly think he can improve finishing at the rim. He gets great looks and misses some really easy layups. That can be fixed easily with more playing time.

Anyone that thinks Smart has Rozier type upside is being a homer. Smart is not close to an elite athlete like Rozier. Could Smart improve? Sure. Is it likely we see some massive improvement? Nope. While Rozier has improved drastically over the last 3 years, Smart hasn't. So I really don't get the argument they are the same age. You want to bet on upside give me the guy that just keeps getting better, not the guy thats basically been the same player for 4 years.

I have to say bringing Smart into this is basically my point. A bunch of you just think Smarts better and can't seem to overlook that. You seem to have this predetermined notion that Rozier is something lesser than he is. Look at what he's done in his first 17 NBA starts. You don't call out every mistake, just like you haven't called out Tatum making dumb TO's at the end of the game. Don't look at the few bad plays, look at the whole package. There are many more clutch plays like our PG getting a huge rebound that fouled out their star player. Man if Smart did that there would be 5 or more posts on how Smart just makes winning plays. Rozier does the same thing, yet lets focus on his mistakes.

Smart and Rozier both play for the same team. You can’t be a homer for liking one more than the other.