Celtics 2023 Offseason Thread

I'm bullish on the trade. Something big was needed

www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/shams-boston-celtics-sign-big-man-wenyan-gabriel-to-training-camp-deal/ar-AA1hxhao

I haven't seen him play since his Kentucky days. Also a great athlete that issues were everything else. Seems to have improved, the fouls per 36 minutes stand out and hurts his defensive value. Nothing wrong with it on a training camp deal.

Still think Queta who was a great depth signing, is a much bigger story in training camp now.

They can fit Jalen Smith into the trade exception they have, that’s a solid guy to target imo

Obviously money going forward is doing to be an issue, which will be felt around the league not just in Boston. One interesting thing is teams above the second apron won’t be able to aggregate salaries, in trades, starting next year, but Boston will theoretically have 4 large salaries to work with so maybe that is part of their thinking… idk

I think you guys are underrating Jrue Holiday. He’s a perfect fit for this roster and his efficiency will tick up once he’s not asked to be the first or second offensive option/creator. Still one of the best defenders in the league with some positional flexibility (can guard Lillard, Maxey, Butler, Harden, etc.). Rob Williams still has a ton of potential but his injury history makes him unreliable and unclear whether he was going to play crunch time minutes on this roster. They probably gave up one pick too many but that’s what it took to keep him away from one of the other Eastern Conference contenders.

I would have been so pissed to pay JGrant likely to appease Lillard and then have Lillard say he was done while the ink was drying. So Grant's contract is bloated but won't stop them from building at the same time.

Yeah that's the point, having Williams and the Unicorn protects you, nevermind gives you two big potential when both healthy. It's like people forgot the D wasn't very good last year till Robert Williams came back. Horford is old and declining. Everyone talks about Williams health, the Unicorn has missed a ton of games, so depth behind him matters.

Grant wasn't going to be here because of the Unicorn trade and having 3 bigs. If you knew you were going to do this, I bet Stevens keeps him.

That's what you traded, it matters because we went from crazy depth to a very top heavy team that lacks depth to overcome injuries. That matters with new CBA and because Stevens literally refuses to even make, nevermind develop first round picks.

If this was Smart for Holiday there wouldn't be a single conversation going on, even given the age difference. Robert Williams is the most impactful defender I've ever seen.

I don't care about trading Brogdon, but you just basically paid 4 first round picks for Holiday and took away our best defender, all for a 33 year old PG who was crap the last two years in playoffs. Created a big hole at center and downgraded your D, while hurting depth right when the new rules make it almost impossible to easily replenish it.

Lillard was skilled enough to solve your offensive issues all by himself. Holiday requires changing everything and the team playing team basketball under a completely different offenses. It's not that it can't work, it's I don't trust our young inexperienced coach to easily pull that off. We got wins more last year based on talent than having a great brilliant coach.

Yes they did, very impressive given the Lillard will only go to Miami crap and the offers they were making.

Sam Hauser becomes a lot more interesting. If he continues his progression there is zero reason why he’s not a legitimate real role player. He’s actually pretty solid defensively. I like good defense as much as they next guy but this team could still be very good defensively. Porzingus is a good drop defender and rim protector. Holiday is a better ball stopper than Smart, add in Tatum and White and Brown and Al, this isn’t a team that will or should get shredded defensively.

Offensively, is where they still needed to improve to not rely too much on Tatum and Brown. They should be better there too.

I think we may be overlooking Hauser and how “good” he can and should be. The shooting and size are important.

Just went back to look at it and, yes, KP did make it impossible to bring back Grant. With that said, I still don't think the team wanted to pay Grant what he got from Dallas either. His performance declined and wasnt in any consistent rotation during the playoffs.

But it's more fair than I remembered to say KP hindered a Grant return and why a sign and trade was required.

Jrue is a corresponding move to Lillard though. They needed premier perimeter defense after that trade and Marcus was already gone.

The Celtics are also going all in because they have Tatum's contract coming up and they'll need to remove pieces in the near future so age isn't a major concern right now.

KP, if healthy (big if),
Points Allowed Per Pick-and-Roll
1. Anthony Davis (0.91)
2. Steven Adams (0.92)
3. Giannis Antetokounmpo (0.92)
4. Kristaps Porzingis (0.93)
5. Walker Kessler (0.93)

One of the best drop P&R defenders in the NBA. And on offense:

Top Post Scorers
1. Kristaps Porzingis (1.29)
2. Nikola Jokic (1.26)
3. Luka Doncic (1.15)
4. Joel Embiid (1.11)
5. Pascal Siakam (1.11)

But, yes, they need depth badly because 96 year old Horford and KP is scary to be relying on. That's why I'm a fan of seeing if Dwight wants to come to Boston (even though he's 37).

Jrue Holiday is overall a much better defender than Rob is though. I think you're overrating Timelord a bit here friend, especially considering he's not a tall guy and that he relies on jumping and his knees could be toast.