Chad Ford on Celtics Pride

I don’t know about the whole “trade Pierce” part of the equation, but I have to admit — and I don’t quite know why — that Durant is looking more and more appealing should the Magic Option We Dare Not Speak fall into our lap. He’s just so freakin’ versatile.

“First he mentioned that Danny doesn’t get enough credit and is one of the better GMs in the league.”
     Conclusion #1: Chad Ford has very little credibility. He’s probably actually saying “Danny is one of the few GMs who will take my calls.”

“Second, he posed the hypothetical idea that if the Celtics get Durant in the draft, that they should think about trading Pierce and "resetting” the roster."
      Conclusion #2: Scratch that – Chad Ford has no credibility.

Trade Pierce? For who? The only thing I trade Paul Pierce for is Paul Pierce and a future first. That or people that no ones going to trade him for…Lebron or Howard.

I like chad Ford I agree with his assessment of Danny Angie. I disagree with his sugestion of trading Paul Pierce. I would like to see us get Jermaine O’Neal from the pacers, I qould tale Tinsely aa well but would give up wally and Ratliff Telfair and next years(08) # 1 draft pick. Nothing More!!!!

Chad Ford has credibility and trading Pierce for the right package would not be difficult. Durant plays 0, none, no defense. If we take him we should trade Paul for a defensive player. I am hoping, no praying that Tony Allen recovers well from knee surgery. He was by far going to be a star and or 5 time all-star. If next year he is back and we get Durant Pierce will be expendable by Feb.

Pierce could play the 2 if we drafted Durant. He isn’t that slow he would have average speed for a 2. And Tony Allen a five time all star? Are you kidding me. Tony Allen is a solid starter nothing more, that is one of the most blatant homer comment ever.

Question is, “Who comes to us in a Pierce trade?” I’ve pondered the Pierce question, but you have to get a center, don’t you? Rondo/West, Green/Allen, Durant/Gomes, Jefferson/Powe, Center/Perkins. If you’re putting together a team, center is the glaring weakness, right? Who has a superfluous starting center available? Point is, I don’t think it’s an easy trade.

Chad Ford has no idea what he is talking about(never really been a fan), granted I do like Ainge, but trading Pierce is just not an option at this point. I am done rebuilding, and seriously believe that if we get Oden we are immediate contenders for the East. Oden,Jefferson,Pierce,Allen,West with Green/Rondo/Gomes/Wally off the bench plus if we can get a legitimate vet for bassy and/or wally/ratdaddy/youngin this lineup will get us 45-50 wins, mark my words. 8)

danny is ok and this summer will define his tenure. so far, his biggest problem is doc. picks #1&2 are no brainers. after that, he has to sweat out the right choice for this team. i am and hope he is open about paul with a decided bias towards keeping him. he is a warrior.

Keep Pierce and stack the deck
rondo pp durant big al perk westgomesgreen thats 8
pp doesnt have to play all his minutes at the 2
he can play 12 at the 3
teams will have to adjust to us pp will more than
offset any negatives with his rebounding passing and scoring
at the 2 and dont forget he will have to be doubled
think about it 6’10" Bird made teams adjust to us as a 3
and to trade pp for a 1st next yr and a 1st 4yrs from now
and exp contracts and bench scrubs just to lower expenses
doesnt help us win, sometimes i think we need a R Kraft running the show , he would stay away from all these ratliff type contracts
to save him money and would instead put the team first

DA doesn’t get enough credit. This team is in a better position than he was when he took over. They are more athletic, have better complimentary players and better potential. For instance, Big Al or Walker……..guts like West, Rondo and Green are better contributors than anything else we had then. We are going to add a top pick in this yearâ€â"¢s draft. I think people have to start realizing that building is a long process and DA has done a good job. I hope people change their mind when we win 50 games next year.

Hopefully we’ll get Oden, not Durant. I agree that Durant plus Pierce would be difficult. Durant is used to taking his 25 shots a game. Pierce would have to subordinate his game just as Walker did for Pierce. And Durant is not a good defender, which means that Pierce would have to defend the other team’s scorer. And where would that leave Wally, GG, Tony Allen and Ryan Gomes? Selecting Durant would require a major (Of course, a major roster overhaul might not be a bad idea for this team.)

I left out the words “roster overhaul” just before the parentheses.

If we get Durant, I think he could play PF, ala Tayshawn Prince, with Al at center. I don’t want PP at SG, because we would be a bad defensive team. I want Tony at SG. BigAl/Durant/PP/Allen/Rondo. If we get Oden…. Oden/BigAl/PP/Allen/Rondo (or vet pg).

I agree with Stillaceltsfan…. DA gets too much credit. He did bring in some nice talent in the form of BigAl, Rondo, Allen (PP already here), but it seems that he has brought in more scrubs/bad contracts/useless players than good players.. Raef, Scal, Wally, Kandi, Dickau, Blount.

Anyone who says to trade PP and “reset” the roster if we get an unproven, 1 year college player, needs to do his homework. Also, we have two centers, Al and Perk. For those anti-perk people who are down on him this year, as some were with Al last year, should rewatch last nite’s game, probably the last few. He completely shut down Bosh last nite. He consistently shuts down Curry and O’Neil. His problem this year was injuries, the shoulder not allowing him to work off-season and the foot during the season. It would nice to have another center, and I think we need someone to spread the floor, a consistent outside shooter. I also would like to see us get another true pg (short-term or long). I wouldn’t sell the farm for any of these. We probably already have the outside shooter.

I am in the camp that thinks Danny has done a pretty good job with what he has had. He has made some mistakes but every GM does, even the most successful ones. Dumars drafted Darko. Red drafted Michael Smith. It’s really an impossible job.

And to those who say Durant is a poor defender, there are some people who disagree since he was on the Big 12 all-defensive team this year.
http://www.big12sports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/030407aac.html

I watched his two tournament games and was underwhelmed by his defense. Too many mental lapses, poor individual technique. He has the lateral quickness to be a very good defender, but he has a tremendous amount to learn.

As for trading Pierce, or not trading him, the upcoming draft does not change the “Pierce conundrum” that this franchise has faced for the last 2 years. If they were to select Durant in the draft, that just highlights the same old issue in fluorescent yellow.

Ford made another point and that is that someone needs to help him make trades. There are three scenarios that I think would instantly make them an almost 50 win team. In order, get Oden (he fits better with this team), get Durant, trade the pick outside of the top 2 for a guy like Gasol. This is where Fords point about needing help making a trade comes in. Either way the front court would be Pierce, Al and Oden/Durant/Gasol. That is a team that can win. When Danny does that will people see that he has built a team for the long haul.

I’d be willing to guess that Pierce and Durant could and would co-exist together very well. The person who might suffer from fewer shots is Al. That’s why I see Ford saying what he said about re-setting the deck. If you could get a top flight point to go with Al and Durant going forward the C’s would be set for the next decade. I’m concerned with their team defense and how that will ever be improved as they won’t win anything until that happens. So I guess I’m hoping Danny picks Oden if he has the chance to do so. If we are looking at #3 pick or lower to me a Noah would fit perfectly as defensive oriented big who would never stop hustling. We have enough shots with Paul, Al and Wally. We need a coach who will give Kendrick more time as I think he will still help this team next year. You add a healthy Perkins along with Noah to your frontline and the defense in the paint will be much improved. Trading the pick scares me because as Ford mentioned Danny seems to need help in that area.

Sure they could coexist. Pierce is a great player. But should they coexist? That’s the question.

Pierce is a 30 year-old star on a 25 win team. Maybe next year they are a 35 win team. (If Rivers is still here, that’s probably a fair number.) Is it worth keeping Pierce around for that? Will he elect to stay around for that?

Maybe its just little ’ol me but if we draft Durant, IMHO the one that becomes expendable is Gerald

No, my guess is that he wouldn’t. If they would be on pace to win 35 games again I’d figure that Pierce would be traded by the deadline. Not sure that will be the case though. If Oden is here they win more than 35 games. If we pick 3rd, it depends on what we do via either trade or draft selection. As I said before, I think Noah can help this team next year. Trades are another matter as danny’s record in that area is spotty at best. If you could get good defensive help for this team they will improve. Danny’s problem is he doesn’t view defensive role players as valuable.

If they pick third I would rather move the pick for Gasol. He seems to fit better with AL on the low block and Pierce on the wing. That opens the high block for Gasol.

Gotta think defense. Gasol can put up 18 & 9 but why has Memphis been so bad even with him? Can he play any D at all?? From an offensive standpoint Pierce, Al & Gasol would work well. Thinking we might come up a little short somewhere in the playoffs though.

“Are you kidding me?!? NO WAY is Krispy Kreme better than Dunkin.”

you can not evaluate Gasol’s defense this year after they started playing the up tempo game. Gasol’s defense is good enough. One player can not win you games unless your name is…. no one. Memphis has 2 quality players (gasol and miller) and a bunch of at best average veterans with some rookies mixed in.

Does anyone really think that Durant could come in and replace PP in his 1st year? No you keep Paul, he’s becoming a teacher and enjoying the role. You then bring along Durant slowly, 1st like they did with Perk, build him a NBA body in the gym, and off the bench. Like some others I tend favor making PP a lifer, whether that’s possible or not I’m not sure. But PP should help mold Durant at least one year.

On if the pick is not a 1, or 2 then I am with Stuck in Phily (and I think that’s what will happen) package it and trade for Gasol. But keep Al, Rondo, and Green out of the package.

And last; Jeff great poll, it’s nice to see that the few haters who post 2 million post plus on thier hate for Ainge find themselves alone. One day they might understand how many times you post the same thing, it doesn’t make it right.

For me, nothing makes sense till the 22nd of May…It’s nice to see guys stepping up on the team right now, but if Doc coaches us out of the second most ping pong balls and we don’t land either Oden or Durant, then it’ll be time for Phenalthyazines and not prozac…
It was nice to see Delonte go to the right hand for a misse (fouled?)layup…A first for me…I want to see Telfair till I puke or he shows me something, and I want to see Powe…All the other guys are set in my mind for the present…it’s the 22nd of May that catches the conscience of the King…Then we’ll pretty much know what’s happening…
As for Chad Ford and the Pierce thing, yesterday’s papers; and his view on Danny, old news also…Come June, people in Celtics nation and perhaps the entire NBA just might be saying “Genius!”…and wouldn’t that be something stillacelticsfan…Hah!