2018-19 Celtics Season

Irving has shot 35.3%, 57.7%, 36.8%, 30.8%, 57.1%, 22.2%, 36.4%, and 31.8% in his eight playoff games this year.

Smart comes back and instead of cutting Hayward minutes, he cuts Browns minutes. Doesn't play Semi and hardly plays Baynes. Color me confused with that, playing Baynes more started our late season run and Semi did as good of job as anyone can on Giannis last year.

There are not enough bad things that could be said about Brad's rotations, but I think Baynes is seriously banged up. He had so many injuries this season. This one is on Danny who yet again did nothing to address the big man position and is instead hoarding picks.

I hate Horford's game everytime you mention him myself. Maybe Robert Williams steps up a little, or Danny trades for a big time big man.

I think Rozier could be back. If Irving goes, then your starting point guard is Smart and THAT really isn't good enough. At least Rozier has some sort of ceiling that's better than Smart overall skill wise.

Rozier cost himself a lot of money this past season with his poor play, so there's that at least. He should be cheap.

You’re not alone - Stevens is confused too. He had no idea how to coach this team all year.

If nothing else, the offseason could be much more interesting. Prior to the season, it was pretty straight forward. Re-sign Kyrie. Do whatever you can to get Davis.

Now, everything (other than straight signing of a max FA) is on the table. Isnt it?

I don't know. Does he really leave after wanting to be the man and then failing at that? Like if he did well and everyone else sucked I could for sure see him leaving. Yet the last three games have been him litterally shooting us out of close games and the other starters have been rather good. It's a lesson in how being the man is different when you don't have a LeBron that teams worry about. If he jumps ship now he basically admits he can't be the man. He'd fit better playing off Durant in New York, but that changes his legacy. The reason Durant wants to leave or might leave the Warriors. He won't get his due winning on the Warriors. So I'm not so sure if you want to keep Irving if this is a bad thing.

The question I've had since last year is can Irving grow as a player? Given those comments he still has a long way to go. Yet if he really wants to have the legacy he wants, the Celtics are still the best team for him. Stevens is still the best coach for him, if he'll listen and play team ball. Like this either helps Irving grow as a player or proves 100% he'll never change. We'll see how intelligent Irving really is frankly. I'm interested to see how he looks at things after his emotions calm down and he truly reflects on what happened.

I'd take Sexton frankly.

I wouldn't, Sexton is a lesser version of Kyrie. If we didn't have Kyrie, ideally we'd go for a solid passing PG like Monte Morris or (heck I can't believe I'm saying this) Lonzo Ball. You know what I mean, a more dynamic passing PG. And get a real big who can bang inside and that's way more balanced.

The question was do you take Sexton or trade the pick for another Veteran if had a redo. I'd take Sexton. He has very good upside, matches Tatum and Brown age wise and can grow with them. Not saying he's the starter right now, but I like the Kid and he'd help our bench at the minimum. Nothing wrong with an Irving lite type PG on a rookie deal. I'd just focus on building the young core if I had a redo on the Irving trade and was there a better high upside option available with that pick? He had that monster game against us, I was very impressed with his upside. He was a monster going to the Basket and I love that.

I just have to ask a big like who? Horford has been rather good in my eyes and is the perfect modern day big. You need to look for a long-term replacement, he's getting older. Yet I'm kinda pissed they are waisting a playoff run when Horford is playing at such a high level. Like you can't blame him for Giannis, the guys just a beast and likely the most unstoppable player in the NBA right now. I don't think a Prime Aged Tim Duncan could defend him, even a prime KG would struggle. He's too quick for Duncan and his strength and speed would give KG fits. I don't see how you stop him, with his size, length, speed and athletic ability. He's like a taller longer LeBron that gets all the calls. Like can Davis guard him? Or are you just going to get him in foul trouble?

I will say one of the reasons I love PJ Washington is because his size, length, and athletic ability could help. Yet you can't stop him, more like slow him down for a few games like Semi did last year.

The funny thing is if you want the perfect guy to try and slow down Giannis you already have him, he's just raw and not ready. Robert Williams has the right combo of Size, length, strength, and athletic ability to at least give Giannis some problems. I mean the guy blocked Davis a couple times in a game. He'll struggle with his speed, yet that's the issue with any big. He blew by Brown like nothing last game and then was quick enough to avoid Tatum coming over for the weak side block. Sometimes you just need to enjoy greatness. Like it blows he's killing us, but it's one of the most dominate performances I've seen in 20 years.

Now maybe I'm wrong as I haven't watched 100% of the games, tons of town meetings about us building our own town owned fiber optics network. 1 GB per second internet coming to small old Windsor haha. We had only dial up when I first moved here 11 years ago and currently have very slow DSL.

Yet I didn't see Irving pass once in the second half when driving last game. I've seen very little pick and roll with Horford all playoffs. Thomas was great at that and even Rozier and Horford started to click last year. So yea the Bucks send everyone at Irving, just like the Pacers did. Yet Tatum and Brown have been able to drive just fine, they just get zero calls and it's sickening after watching Giannis get so many calls. Irving needs to adjust, not talk about taking more shots.

I think a Randle type guy or yes a Harrell type guy would help, but not to replace Horford. To help supplement him and give you more bench options. Randle and Harrell could attack Lopez in a way we can't now. Yet they still fit our style. Favors, Bryant, and Powell aren't great low post scorers and wouldn't do much in my opinion. Valanciunas is interesting, he can certainly score down low, but would also change the whole team. I'd have to think that over and it's effect on things like D and playing team ball. Yet one thing none of these guys can do is stretch the floor like Horford and Horford is the best defender of the group in my opinion in today's NBA small ball game. The Bucks have also gone small for large stretches during this series.

So yeah a true low post scorers that can play small ball center would certainly help. That's if they actually post him up, they almost never post up Horford and he's not terrible. Yet if Irving plays like he has, you need pure shooters more like the Cavs had. I'd send four people at Irving also if he wasn't passing and even if he was Stevens was playing Smart and Rozier with him. Like that's a horrible combo given the way the Bucks are playing.