BGleas

Is that a real quote or The Onion?

It does, was just a typo.

Absolutely! I can't find the tweet, but I saw a tweet after Maui/Ashville, that if you remove the freshmen attempts the team is actually shooting close to 40% from 3 through 4 games.

I try to stay on the cusp of the latest breaking news 😅

Took UVA overtime to beat Kent St.

Post of the year!

Agree. There was a pretty heated thread when Smith announced his transfer. I think it's pretty clear IU is at worst just as good, and more likely actually better off. The defense has not taken a single step backwards (at least not yet) and in fact is potentially better (I always maintained Smith a good on the ball defensively but pretty bad off the ball). The team chemistry is better, the ball movement is better. It's only 4 games but the consistent effort seems better. We still struggle to shoot obviously, but I'll take Race and Franklin developing and getting those minutes over having Smith on the roster.

He did the same thing last year, was killing it vs the cupcakes, and then came crashing back down offensively once the level of competition rose.

Agree, and now the wing is actually the position with the least depth.

Yeah, unfortunately I think Kemba is about to hit that 'wrong side of 30 with bad knees' portion of his career. It's too bad because he's a really good player and a great teammate, but the Celtics are probably going to have to find a way to get out of that contract.

On your edit, I completely agree. I'm not saying Ainge is right, but if he and the Celtics don't value Turner, and his contract is a factor as well, then they shouldn't have done the deal. Maybe Ainge is wrong on Turner, but clearly he didn't really want him, that's why he swung for more, not out of some egotistical need to destroy the other team in a trade. Danny gets a bad rap because of how the Celtics got so much in that Brooklyn deal, but that wasn't even him, he had agreed to a lesser deal and Wyc Grousbeck the owner made him call back and demand a 3rd first round pick. Danny has done plenty of fair trades and has done plenty of trades where the Celtics acted as the 3rd team to help two other teams get deals done.

At the end of the day, Pacers fans can rip Ainge's success or lack thereof all they want, but you all would take what Ainge has done the last 13 years in a heartbeat. While Boston certainly has higher expectations, this isn't the NBA of the 1950's and 60's. Free agents used to never come to Boston until Ainge landed Horford, Hayward and Kemba, and Boston isn't LA where everyone just flocks to you even if you suck. Before Ainge the Celtics had made 3 playoff appearances in 10 years. In the last 13 years the Celtics have been to 6 ECF, 2 Finals, and won a championship. If not for KG's knee injury in 2009 and Perkins knee injury in Game 6 in 2010, he could easily have 1-2 more titles.

If he was healthy, maybe. But I think this knee is going to be a chronic problem going forward now that he's just about 30. He got exposed defensively in the bubble during the playoffs. At some point they'll need to move him. Tatum is the alpha and they need him to take one more leap, and then Brown to continue to develop his offensive game and turn into a second legit all-star. He's already really close to that.

Too early to tell. They have an entire year to use it before it expires, and could even break it up into two different players. I'd think free agency next year is the best bet, but you never know. I don't think he fits, but Tatum and Bradley Beal are really good friends (both from St. Louis) and I could see him demanding out of Washington. Maybe a guy like Buddy Hield, or a Gobert if the relationship between he and Donovan Mitchell is still sour? I'm just making names up here though. Edit: Was reading more, Beal does not fit into the trade exception, also it's more likely that it gets broken into two smaller deals, say someone like George Hill and then another vet player next off-season. Stuff like that.

To close the loop...The Celtics did a S&T with Charlotte and got the biggest trade exception ($28.5M) in history. There are a ton more details and stipulations that go into a trade exception, but high level they can basically trade for a player or two that equal that salary or sign a free agent that equals that salary over the next year.

Agree Thompson doesn't space the floor. As far as the PnR, I saw a stat the other day called screen assists and Thompson has been in the top 10 in the NBA in screen assists in 3 of the last 4 years. So I don't know how he effective he is specifically as a roller in the PnR, but he is one of the best screeners in the NBA, which could be a huge thing as the Celtics are high in the league in ball screens. They're constantly screening for Tatum, Brown, Kemba and Smart. I think at the end of the day, Ainge didn't love Turner overall (lack of rebounding, not a great post defender, etc.) and definitely didn't love adding someone with 3 years and $54M left on his contract, when Boston already has big money and years tied into Tatum, Brown, Kemba and Smart. That would have been a lot of money for 5 guys. Thompson brings a lot of positives and does it on a very team-friendly two year deal at a lot less money. We can argue if Ainge screwed up or not, but I think with Thompson/Teague and if Ainge gets a S&T with Charlotte, then I think it's hard to argue the Celtics didn't do the right thing.

Zach Lowe said on his podcast that the Celtics and Ainge were never that high on Myles Turner and also weren't high on adding the remainder of his $80M contract to the books. Lowe said that in the event the Celtics did work something out with Indiana, they already were scoping the market to flip him. If Ainge was super high on Turner he would have taken that deal and this would be done. But I said this earlier in the thread, the way everything went down it tells me Ainge never really wanted Turner that much and they felt they had no need for McDermott, so to get a deal done was going to take more. It is true, there are a lot of Celtics fans and some media that think Ainge failed miserably here. I think that is mostly people that are just looking at this from the surface and not digging into the details. There is a ton of detail in this. I'm not saying Turner is bad or anything, but it does seems the market on him isn't great, and I'd say with a much cheaper and shorter deal, the Celtics actually made out better with Thompson/Teague over Turner/McDermott. https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/gordon-hayward-myles-turner-and-the-celtics-failed-sign-and-trade-that-could-end-up-being-a-big-mistake/ I think at the end of the day, the Celtics didn't love Turner and really didn't love his contract, considering they have Tatum, Brown, Smart and Kemba all locked up for big money long term. Thompson brings some things on the court that Turner doesn't, and he brings a much, much more flexible contract.

Would love to see Lander gain confidence and become really comfortable by Big Ten season. Imagine Lander and TJD putting Cockburn in the PnR all game long.

Absolutely! We went to ECF Game 6 with him as the starter.

It depends on what happens next. If the Celtics end up working out a S&T with Charlotte then I would consider this a win for Boston. If they don't, then it's basically a discussion of Turner/McDermott vs. Thompson/Teague, while knowing the Celtics needed a backup point guard much more than they needed McDermott. Thompson and Turner both bring pluses and minuses. Turner is a really strong weak side shot blocker and rim protector, but from what I've read earlier in this thread from Pacer fans he struggles to defend true centers in the post, and I know he's not that great of a rebounder. Thompson on the other hand is not a shot blocker or rim protector, but he is a high level rebounder (the Celtics have been a terrible rebounding team the last few years) and is a good post defender against other bigs. Offensively, Turner has more upside and brings more floor spacing. I'd also say Thompson brings more leadership and toughness. Unless the thought is Turner could flourish with Brad Stevens and in Boston's system, which given his age is entirely possible, then I don't think there's that much difference and the Teague signing was much more necessary for Boston than any need for McDermott.

Yeah, the only concern is clogging the lane for Tatum, Brown and Kemba, but that's when you take him out and go with Theis. We'll have better versatility in that spot now. Edit: Thompson did shoot more 3's last year than the rest of his career combined and shot 39%. Still just 23 attempts though.

Theis is still with the Celtics, and the Raptors suck 😅!

Yeah, and while Thompson doesn't stretch the floor like Baynes, he's better.