2019 Celtics Offseason Thread

For the record, I never said Yabu was or would be anything. I just said, he was a project that was predicted would take several years and when he got some PT last year he wasn’t terrible so we don’t know. If he’s going to be someone who’s fat and out of shape he’s not going to be anything.

What me and others like those in the Celtics who like him see is a big guy with good feet for his size, who can rebound and has the potential for a three point stroke. Is he good right now? Nope and I wouldn’t bet on him based on what he’s shown, but you (Pedro) make snap judgements and write a guys story in black and white.

Unless Yabu loses 30 by training camp, China might be the only one to take him. We'll pay the fare. The fact that he showed up as a 'fat bear' out of step indicates his level of commitment. With apologies to the Hawk...."He gone." Bank it.

Wow, a guy in the NBA squanders his opportunity. It's not a new story but....a mystery to those who will never have his chance.

Robert Williams was identified as an extreme athlete altho limited offensively. Grant Williams is seasoned, smart and mature beyond his years in the Tatum mold. He will be a solid addition.

Robert Williams is Time Lord and should be referred to as such.

Anthony Davis played the best ball of his career with Cousins. They were rolling when Cousins went down. Cousins is a great passer and so is LeBron so they are perfect guys for AD. One dirty little secret about AD is he’s not very good at creating his own shot. The vast majority of his baskets are assisted. Now he’s a big so this is going to be more true for him than a wing or guard but a play maker he is not. Cousins is. He fits pretty well on the Lakers, especially if he regains his 3 point shot this year.

The biggest question I have is it will be interesting to see what they do on D tho because they may be asking a lot of LeBron defensively on guards and wings which is the exact opposite of what his teams have been trying to do for him later in his career. If he’s sharing the court with 2 of AD, Cousins and Kuzma... LeBron is the only one who can really play win there. KCP and Green are going to be vital for that team to try and take defensive pressure off of LeBron.

Shooting could be an issue. Green is a very good 3 point shooter but then they have a bunch of capable but not spectacular shooters in LeBron, KCP, Cousins, Davis and Kuzma.

The Terry Rozier sign and trade is complete.

It's an issue because PF is the weakest position on the team right now. Like either Yabu is an NBA player or they need to move on. Team is filled with true centers and undersized PFs. Like Yabu could help, in theory he was supposed to be the small ball center type player we need. He's just shown nothing besides some good games in the G league. Given the opportunity he has I thought he'd show up in shape, motivated, and have a good summer league. He's one of, if not the most experienced players in Summer league. Instead Robert Williams is showing improvements and Grant Williams took one game to pass Yabu.

So if I'm Danny I try to use Yabu to get us a PF we really need. It's a massive hole and while I love Grant Williams you can't expect a rookie to play the role he'll have to right now. Tatum just can't guard a lot of PFs in this league.

Well which one? The Knicks pick could be a good one, Nets likely middle of the road. Like good size difference in value.

I've seen a few of you bring up the Warriors as still a Championship contender. You really believe that next year? Thompson will likely miss most if not all of the regular season. The bench is losing Iggy and Livingston. That great Chemistry and team play they had will be gone. Russell is a good talent, but he's a ball dominant guard. They brought in what Glenn Robinson to start at SF? Their bench was an issue this year when only Cook was doing anything and they lost his shooting. It's one thing to play guys like Looney and WCS at center when you have great firepower. It's another thing when you don't. Like those early teams had Bogut, Barnes, Iggy, Livingston, and most importantly a healthy Thompson. Unless some recent draft picks step up it could be a long season for that team in a stacked West.

If the Klay injury didn't happen they were absolutely beating the Raptors. Iggy and Livingston were good defenders but I think they were on decline so losing them shouldn't hurt much. Yeah I think they're legit contenders.

Unless Klay has any serious setback, the Warriors are still going to score A LOT. That's a dangerous team. Klay and Draymond are still some seriously great defenders who can guard Kawhi and George, the Lakers don't really have anyone that can slow the Splash Brothers on defense and there are obviously top end talent questions about the Jazz and Nuggets. Golden State isn't dead, not by a long shot.

I’m irrationally loving this rookie class. I know I will be disappointed but I’m just going to run with it for now. Last year was a disaster and it was partly due to Brads roster construction and partly due to Stevens inability to define players roles (whether that’s because they didn’t buy in or he couldn’t get them to that’s a discussion for another day, just keeping it general that players didn’t play with defined roles). Losing Al hurts in this regard because he was a guy who didn’t need the ball, did the little things and could knock down his shots without taking a lot of them and capitalize.


Grant Williams seems like the perfect guy to play like Al in that general way. His game and size is different but he should fill a position on the court and not require the ball to do it. He won’t be able to cover a 5 as effectively but he may cover 1-4 better so it’s a trade off. From what I’ve seen, I think he’s going to develop into a good to maybe even very good/great 3 point shooter (think 40%). This year my guess is he’s sub 35% but his stroke looks real good. He’s going to be a quick learner, good team defender and distributor right away. He won’t lack confidence which is key for a young player. The Celtics may have found a great glue guy.

Carsen Edwards, is a microwave scorer, but most impressive is that he’s a bulldog defender. He’s small but strong. He’s like a mini Marcus body wise, but obviously no where near the defender. For some reason, I didn’t think he was as strong as he is. The guy works on D and will run his defender ragged on the other end. Every team needs a go to bench scorer that can create offense from nothing and this guy will be able to do that. However, he will also bring a tenacity and set a dirt dog tone while doing this. That’s rare. Guys like Lou Williams or Crawford before him, are/were all offense no grit.

Romeo Langford, is the highest ceiling and biggest question mark. That being said, he seems to be intelligent, self aware and a very hard worker. Most importantly, he seems to put playing and his team high up on his priority list. He easily could have shut it down after the thumb injury and probably been a top 10 pick, but chose to play thru it because he could. He was ball dominant at Indiana but he also had to be so I’m interested to see how he plays in the NBA. I’ve been surprise about the talk on his defense and how good a defensive player he is on the wing with his great size and length.

Robert Williams, not a rookie, but still is a young guy who can block shots, rebound and finish at the rim. He seems to be working hard on his screen game and his passing is a pleasant surprise. He’s another role player who can fit around the shooters. All our Centers were like this last year but Williams is different because he can clean things up off the glass and finish inside. No one last year could really do this.

Obviously, Smart is the ultimate team guy, but it appears Danny is trying to add to him. Hopefully, this will give Tatum and Brown the environment they need to take over on the offensive end. I hope Kemba helps to foster this.