The fault dear Brutus is not in our stars, but in ourselves. The Celtics simply have to make their own luck from here on out.

I’ve been “what iffing” myself to death. What if we didn’t trade Roy for Telfair last year? Would the two teams records be reversed, and that was our ping pong ball last night? If bad things happen in threes, then the Telfair trade, Docs’ extension, and last night should be quite enough for the next twenty years. Poor Tommy. He told them Gorman was the lucky one.

Im overseas right now so I didnt get to see the draft, but I’ve been up all day reading all the sites, and I still can’t believe it.

this
really
blows!!!

Aside from the outcome of the lottery being disastorous for the Celtics , it also hurt the NBA as well in that two impact players now go into the Western Conference widening the gap between the Eastern Conference even more.

How can the teams that were 1 , 2, and 3 in highest probability fall to 4, 5, and 6 ?

I lost my job of 16 years on Monday. I can deal with that. So I have to sell my house, move into a trailer alng the river. Big deal. I’ll get another gig consulting. I’ll probably make more money.

But this? This I cannot deal with. The Celtics have pulled me thru for 40 years. I wasn counting on this as my ray of light, my shining star. Seeing someone crash through everbody to steal that rebound or slam home that errant bounce – that was going to keep me going.

And now. It’s all over.

I feel just as bad as yesterday. Probably even worse! Depressing, disappointing…I don`t know if I will ever come over this! Only a title will make me forget…

I was listening to Mike & Mike earlier, and Greenburg was claiming this was “justice”. Some posters have said and have been saying the same thing. Teams have been tanking for years, and yet it’s irrelevant until the Celts do it? Was it “justice” when we didn’t get Duncan? When Bias died? When Lewis died? When we’ve finished with the 5th or 10th or 7th or 8th worst record and don’t win the lottery then either? I think the national media’s idea of justice is when we get snubbed.

There is no rhyme or reason to it, other than the Celts are going to have to pull themselves out of this thing with genius drafting. Big Al was a major score at 15, and Danny is going to have to hit a homerun at #5. He can’t squander this pick. The only way I think we trade the pick is if we can swing a deal for Gasol or KG, both of which seem unlikely. If PP stays healthy, we probably don’t have a chance to be this high agains for a while. We need a very good player out of this one.

Eventually, I’ll recover and tell myself that if Detroit can win it all without an Oden-type franchise player, we can, too. But right now I prefer to wallow in misery.

I am less depressed about this after looking at the history of the number five pick. Tt also helps that these two guys (plus pick 4) will be out west.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Oden would have instantly changed us but we can get much better with the number 5 pick too.

I also think, on a side topic, this shows that the lottery works. The idea is to make sure teams don’t tank games to get better picks.

Any idea that this thing was fixed to punish the “tankers” is rediculous. This is a nightmare for the NBA. The most marketable prospects in a decade both end up playing in the Pacific Northwest where their games will be played at 10:30 est, where they will make exactly one visit a year to New York and Chicago, and where they will play in the already loaded west ensuring that the Eastern Conference is the JV Division for the next decade. The league desparately needed Boston, Philadelphia or Atlanta to get one or both of the top two picks. Meanwhile, as an added bonus to pro basketball being almost dead in the Northeast corridor, it most certainly is dead in Memphis and there is still no gaurentee that Seattle will vote for a new arena. It was a lousy night for the NBA. I am sure the ratings for all of the upcoming Clevland Portland NBA finals will be steller.

I think at this point the Celtics should consider giving up and trading Pierce before he demands a trade and destroys his value. It looks like at 5 the pick is probably Yi. He has the biggest upside. He really could be the next Dirk. But he won’t be a top flight player for at least two years. No way does Pierce take that. Moreover, I really don’t see a good scenerio of how to move the pick for an all-star. At this point, draft Yi, trade Pierce for the best you can get and hope the young guys come around. UGH!!

Jeff, I was with you about the card at #6 being Milwaukee. It didn’t dawn at me at first. But when the Bucks logo came up at #6 we were doomed!! The Bucks at six meant that 3 teams leapfrogged them into the top 3 which meant both us and Memphis were screwed. Jerry West looked like he could have swallowed razor blades last night. Ugghh!! Oh well try to go forward. I still feel we will get better. We will now have to try to win as a team rather than have the “franchise player” type of set up. Gonna be a lot tougher to do but it has been done before. Keep the faith!!!

The straw that caused me to finally register with celticsblog.com.

I was pissed off prior to the draft because my girlfriend wanted to spend time with her sitting in a hot tub. I wanted and needed to see the NBA lottery! Decisions, decisions. I was able to talk her into watching us “win” the number 5 pick in this years’ lottery. I felt like Pac Man after being bitten by Pinky. I immediately said “Ok, we can go now.”, but of course I had to see how far the dagger would go.

30 minutes later I was in the hot tub replaying the funny smirk the lottery host made prior to calling the # 5 pick, over and over again in my mind. That’s when it occured to me that we should take Hibbert, perhaps Oden’s arch nemesis for the next 10 years. I felt that Horford would be great alongside Jefferson; but how about trading the number 5 pick down in exchange for the number 7 pick w/extras to draft Hibbert?

That is if he declares he will enter the draft.
Pierce, Jefferson, and HIbbert would still be amongst the best front courts in the league regardless of where Oden plays hands down. :)

i dunno about pierce bailing just yet…i mean, honestly, with a healthy roster, we aren’t going to be a bad team next year. not elite or anything, but with pierce, big al, tony allen, wally, etc., we’re a playoff team. what we need is toughness and defense, which makes me think brewer might be the pick (if he lasts). i think throwing either him, horford, or wright into the mix will be a pretty big help – yi, maybe, if the reports are right and he’s a better version of bargnani (who made some nice contributions for toronto last year). we definitely got screwed big time last night, but we’re not really screwed – the team should be decent next year, and getting better every year afterwards. though oden or durant would’ve made the jump from decent to contender MUCH quicker.

I really like Hibbert. I don’t buy the Bill Simmons “traditional centers can’t play in the league anymore” line. The kid is huge, plays defense and actually has a back to the basket game. I think him and Perk would solve the issue at center for a decade or more.

It is absolutely depressing. Agreed. Woke up at 2am local time and had a bad gut feeling already. Googled the results on my mobile and I am still in disbelief…

Anyway, looking at it from another perspective… If Lebron and Melo’s draft produced guys like Wade and Bosh with lower picks, and this draft is supposed to be the most talented one in ages, we still might get lucky down the road… I hope…

But yeah it feels … :’(

As someone who was 2 years old the last time the C’s won a championship I started drinking heavily last night after the #5 pick was revealed because I thought it would help. It didn’t.

The C’s are really screwed in this position. The Fans want a championship sooner rather than later, we are sick and tired of seeing mediocre team with the promise of a better future. For the fans, the future is now (or better be).

What is best for the C’s at this time however would be to blow it up. Trade Pierce and Wally to clear payroll and draft someone at #5 and move their window another 3-4 years back. So we then turn to Gerald Green, Rondo, Jefferson, #5 pick, and whoever we get for Pierce (draft picks, young rising talent? [monta ellis?]) for the next few years.

Unless Danny Ainge all of a sudden can pull off a miracle (#5 pick, Theo, GG for Marion et. al.) the C’s are not in a good position to trade. Teams KNOW we are going to be desperate if we are looking for another compimentary player for Pierce.

God sometimes it is really hard to care about the NBA.

Okay,

Time to re-group, think our plans and move ahead with the team we have.

1.) Injuries crippled this team this past season. If everyone was healthy, at best we were looking at being an 8th seed for the playoffs. That’s what everyone was looking at before the season and once the season began

2.) Another year of experience under our belts with the young players currently on our roster. The emergence of Al Jefferson this year was huge, Gerald Green showed flashes and still needs time to grow. Rondo proved to be a very good quality pick who will become a good point guard.

3.)Okay the 5th pick in the draft will land us a better player to help our current teams needs. Okay the 1 and the 2 are gone, so “LETS MOVE ON NOW”. We still will be better off next season than we were this past season. It will just take a little longer because we don’t have an Oden or a Durant.

4.) We still have Ratliffs contract to make a viable trade.

5.) The end is not near folks, its our fault for assuming that one guy will come in and turn this franchise around when we have some many needs on this team

============= Lets move on and see what our teams needs are in getting us past this =============

That picture above should remind us that they feel as badly as we do about this and that they are C’s fans just like us. The scary part is that now there will be a temptation for Danny to make a trade. We have seen how well that has worked out in the past. Pick the best player that is available at 5 and listen to offers for Pierce. I wouldn’t like to see that happen though. We are a playoff team with health and the “younger” guys will be improved over last year. Once again, I take Brandan Wright.

you guys want to feel worse about this? I live and work in Seattle and stayed up to watch the news and there was not one mention of the draft lottery until the end of the sports cast!! An after thought that they just got Durant! And no mention of what it would mean and who they might get, just a three second comment and smile and hand it back to the news guys.

John CK – Traditional centers can still play in this league, just not slow footed one’s who can’t get off the ground. Plus, it appears that Hibbert isn’t coming out now anyway…

No use crying over spilt milk. Three teams—Portland, Seattle and Atlanta— lucked out. The other 27 did not.

The question is whether or not Grousbeck will wake up and smell the coffee or simply squander the next 5 years riding Pierce to 35-40 wins a year— perpetual mediocrity. They need to trade Pierce and rebuild around Jefferson and they need to do it now. My biggest fear is that Grousbeck just doesn’t get it.

The notion that a Greg Oden Pierce might produce a contending team, or that the pick could be traded for a player good enough to make the team a contender (e.g. Garnett) was shattered last night. Now they have to do it the old fashioned way, like Joe Dumars did.

GRRRRRRR!!!!!!!! So mad, so mad…

So here’s my “fix” theory; they give Portland the #1 because of all the years of the Jailblazers. The give Seattle #2 because they want the Sonics to stay in Seattle. Memphis will relocate to Oklahoma. And everyone still hates the Celtics for all the years they won.

I’m just curious; how many games did the Celtics lose to injuries last year? I’d like to take that stat and throw it in the face of anyone who says justice was served last night. How about justice for Bias and Lewis? How many sports franchises have had to absorb the impact of losing two players that could have carried them for years?

GRRRRR!!!

This must be an cruel joke. 10 years i waited for this day and poof right in front my face. DANNY GET GARNET. Hopefuly we could get an good point guard in the second round

The NBA should adopt the NFL’s approach to the draft. Worst team gets the #1 pick, plain and simple. How can team’s get better when crap like this happens? They can’t. It’s just garbage, the whole thing just stinks

What really scares me is what Desperate Danny and Witless Wyc are going to do now.

My prediction: Theo Ratliff, Wally Szczerbiak, and #5 to Denver for Alan Iverson. Selling tickets is more important than building a contending team.

Scary thought, Brick. But you’ve gotta have Wyc’s mitts in there too to complete the picture.

If Hibbert stay in the draft. Hibbert and big al just might surprise us. The HOYAS system is made for centers Mourning, Mutombo and Ewing now Hibbert and he is 7’2" Then Grab an point guard in the second or trade for an experienced point guard.

I don’t feel so bad today. What disgusts me is seeing how many people have turned their backs on our Celtics just because of how some stupid ping pong balls have bounced! On every radio station you here the same thing repeated over and over again; and I just want to reiterate what Rick Pitino stated back in 97. The negativity in this town surrounding our basketball club stinks!

We have the #5 pick for God’s sake. When I first started reading this blog last year we had high hopes of making the playoffs with THAT team. That team did not stay healthy and we have the possibility of adding a top 5 pick to that same lineup. Our future is still bright no matter how backstabbers want to paint the picture. I refuse to let negative headlines convince me that my team will be a bust for the next decade. We will succeed.

This is not the end of the world.
The sky is not falling.

If you depend on “luck” for anything, you’re screwed before you even start. I would agree with the poster who stated that this lottery (with two potential megastars) was NOT good for the NBA.

I would like to see the C’s trade the pick (as PP requested) to bring in Veteran help. Had Memphis gotten #1 or #2 they might have tried to keep Gasol. Now that they have #4, they might be looking to deal. Gasol is not the savior, but he’s a very good player and he will add some wins.

The Celtics have, at minimum, two tier 1 players: Jefferson and Pierce. Rondo is developing quickly. We are f-a-r from lost. Durant or Oden would have vaulted us enormously, but niether one is coming. Had Oden or Durant landed in Boston and the C’s hit deep into the playoffs or championship game, everyone on this board (not just Brick and pinhead simmons) would have hailed them as the reason Doc and Danny kept their jobs. Now that we’re faced with the “worst case scenario” we can have a true measure of Doc and Danny based on what they do with what they’ve got.

This draft is deeper than two players. If we keep the pick (and Danny has PROVEN he can pick talent) then that only helps us. If we trade the pick for veteran help, maybe a package with an allstar, we get even better.

I wanted Durant as much as anyone. He aint comin (barring major deal). The summer is far from over, and I still expect exciting things to happen with Boston.

How about Pierce, Green and #5 to the Sonics for Rashard Lewis in a sign and trade and their #2? Then we take Durant… Sweeten it with West or Gomes if we need to.

The fact that the NBA has a lottery is very telling. It indirectly tells us that teams in the league lack integrity . If Stern is so concerned about tanking then lower the price of tickets for those teams that are tanking. It was disgraceful for fans in Boston , Memphis and Milwaukee to have paid premium prices for the bush league basketball that they were subjected to .

The losers as always are the fans .

I think you have to trade Pierce. I have been a big don’t trade Pierce person for a long time. But you need to be honest. The pick even if it is a good one is not going to get the Celtics to the top. It is just a matter of time before Pierce goes Vince Carter and wants out. Trade him now while his value is high. Don’t do what Philly and Toronto did and wait until it is too late and get robbed for him. Dallas and Pheonix just got knocked out of the playoffs. I can’t believe they are going to stand pat. Try to get a younger lower paid player in place of Pierce and build around Jefferson.

it’s really not as bad as it seeems. at least we know where we’ll be picking so there is a sense of closure to this whole mess.

as far as the draft goes, last year people kept talking about it being “5 players deep”….it was bargnani, thomas, aldrich, morrison, and brandon roy, and we were all hoping that one of those guys might somehow slip to 7 where the c’s were drafting….well, everything i’ve read tells me that there are at least 4 or 5 players from this draft class who would’ve gone #1 overall last year, and there’s a really good chance we’ll end up with one of them. obviously they don’t have the same initial hype as oden or kd, but then again charles barkley and dwayne wade didn’t have the same initial hype as the top guys coming out of their respective drafts either.

1. Draft Conley.
2. Trade Pierce.

It’s the only logical course of action if they want to build a contending team in 3-4 years. Everything else is a band aid.

the thing I keep coming back to, and have been saying for a long time, is that the NBA lottery is a farce and a joke. jerry west got it exactly right when he said no other professional sport does it this way. after 1997 and after the orlando drafts where they pulled penny and shaq when they had no business getting those guys, the system should have been changed. all of this concern about tanking is bogus. if a team is willing to go in the toilet and piss off their fans, thereby losing revenue well so be it, but you don’t build an entire draft system around something that rarely occurs. what the NBA should do and has had plenty of time to do it is develop better guidelines and standards about when a player should be excused from playing because of injury. Doctors are licensed and every team has a team physician.If a plyer is too injured to play then a medical doctor should sign a report to that effect and file it with the league and there should be penlaties for false reports. trust me, no doctor is going to be willing to pay a fine or jeapordize his medical license just so a team can get a higher draft pick. Stern ticks me off because he knows this is a seriously flawed system and he has done nothing to improve it. At a minimum the worst team should have a much higher percentage than they currently do. Give the worst team a 35% chance, the next team a 25% chance and the third team a 15% chance and then divide the remaining 25% between the other teams. heck I could easily be persuaded to make the first three percentages higher. this is a travesty; for the second time in 10 years the celts have been totally screwed because of the way the ping pong balls go. You play a whole season to determine your standing and then you throw it out the window in a 1/2 hour based on how 14 balls come out of a hopper? Why bother playing the games at all? Why not just do the lottery at the beginning of the season for all teams? that would really eliminate tanking. I am really pissed off about this. People talk about Danny being fired? Stern should be fired. And by the way they don’t even want a basketball team in seattle. the city won’t pay for a new arena and here they get the second best player?? And portland?? Isn’t it bad enough we gave them Brandon Roy now we give them the number 1 pick too. Where is the justice?? this is BULL

one guy who might be somewhat happy is perk who is our starting center even if we pick up a center. take care of yourself perk. get healthy. spend a lot of time with clifford ray and you and big al pick up the pieces.

Any idea that this thing was fixed to punish the “tankers” is rediculous. This is a nightmare for the NBA. The most marketable prospects in a decade both end up playing in the Pacific Northwest where their games will be played at 10:30 est, where they will make exactly one visit a year to New York and Chicago, and where they will play in the already loaded west ensuring that the Eastern Conference is the JV Division for the next decade. The league desparately needed Boston, Philadelphia or Atlanta to get one or both of the top two picks. Meanwhile, as an added bonus to pro basketball being almost dead in the Northeast corridor, it most certainly is dead in Memphis and there is still no gaurentee that Seattle will vote for a new arena. It was a lousy night for the NBA. I am sure the ratings for all of the upcoming Clevland Portland NBA finals will be steller.

I think at this point the Celtics should consider giving up and trading Pierce before he demands a trade and destroys his value. It looks like at 5 the pick is probably Yi. He has the biggest upside. He really could be the next Dirk. But he won’t be a top flight player for at least two years. No way does Pierce take that. Moreover, I really don’t see a good scenerio of how to move the pick for an all-star. At this point, draft Yi, trade Pierce for the best you can get and hope the young guys come around. UGH!!

These were my exact thoughts as I was tossing and turning all night. The NBA is in BIG trouble. They talk of expanding to Europe at the same time they are writing off the Eastern Conference. The best team (record wise) in the lottery last night, the Clippers, positioned in the Eastern Conference, would compete for the COnference title for the next five season. Two years from now, when Seattle and Portland are playoff teams, the clippers will be lucky to be the 11th best team out west. The NBA does have a serious problem.

It’s the same perception problem that exists in baseball. The fans of certain teams (Royals, Devil Rays, Pirates, etc.) don’t even bother watching their team in Spring Training as they know they can’t compete with big market teams. Baseball is the “haves” versus the “have nots”. That’s a real problem for their sport. Ask most people in the country about hockey and they’ll simply shrug. That’s a cold weather sport that works in 6 or seven cities. It’s a minor league sport. Basketball is now in the same boat. All the fans east of the Mississippi now know that their team is simply fodder for the Western Conference. Much of the economic and media strength of this country resides in the Northeast. Last night, the league erased the Northeast from the map of the NBA. As much as Stern must be pleased that “tanking” teams were not rewarded, he had to have heard the collective sounds of millions of fans arcoss the east coast turning off their TVs last night without even bothering to watch the SA v. Utah game.

I, for one, forgot it was on. All the good teams will now begin their games at 10:30 eastern time. The NBA is going to have a real problem trying to market that format to the entire country.

It’s a new day! First of all, let’s stop this conspiracy crapola. Yeah it hurts not getting #1 or #2, but I believe those ping pong balls just came out the way they did, that’s why they call it a lottery. Second of all, the NBA needs this (lottery). No other sport, with just 5 players on the field/court has a greater impact with one individual player playing on a team sport. If it was worst gets first pick automatically, we probably only win 12 games this year and still have the 2nd worst record in the league.

What our are two biggest needs and how do we get there without making other things worse? Seems we need another big guy most, someone who compliments Al DOWN LOW on offense and upgrades the defense a lot. Lets call this player “X”. Perk just can’t be that guy apparently, right?(talking to myself again so you know how much I liked the draft outcome). But what would be second? We have a scorer at three, Paul. He rebounds too quite well. His d isn’t the best ever but good enough. We have depth at big guard/small forward too. Al is a keeper. Al, X, PP, and depth. If we keep TA and he is healthy, he adds a good d and another slasher. I don’t want to sacrifice him, but I am open to suggestions. Perk will at least be a big body. Not saying he can’t be moved. So Al, PP, Depth we have covered. The big evaluation problem is we don’t know how good Rajon can become. If we knew he was going to be very good or even better than that, I say we only have to fill “X”.

Maybe I’m just in denial mode right now but I think we’re in good shape for next year.

I don’t think it’s wise to trade Pierce right now. You have to give this team at least one year to see what they can do when/if they’re healthy. This is a competitive team with Pierce and Jefferson as studs, Rondo is a terror, Gomes and Delonte are solid rotation guys, Perk is a solid defensive center off the bench and add to that the #5 pick who I’m praying will be Brewer and you have a really good, playoff caliber foundation. The wild card is Gerald because no one really knows how he’s going to come in next year.

As for trading the pick, due to the deepness of the draft the only conceivable team that may want it that I can think of is Phoenix, who needs to move salary to get under the cap. Would Phoenix take the #5 pick and Green for Marion?

The fifth pick is the worst we could have gotten, but historically very good players are there at 5, and this is a deep draft. Look at the first team all NBA this year:

Steve Nash – 15th pick
Kobe Bryant – 13th pick
Tim Duncan – 1st pick
Amare Stoudamire – 9th pick
Dirk Nowitzki – 9th pick

And wasn’t some guy named Dwayne Wade draft with the fifth pick not too long ago.

Don’t jump off the Tobin quite yet.

For me going forward, I don’t want to be a 500 also ran team. So I think decision #1 has to be, what is the philosophy of this team for the future. My goal is to do what it takes to get us into seroius championship contention. That probably means another two or three years of darkness before the dawn but I’ll put up with it, if the team is going in the right direction.

So when Danny says we are a playoff team, considering the weak East, that means little. Injuries to non-durable Celtic players will continue to be an issue not because we are cursed but because of the players we have: Theo, Wally, West, Perk, Allen, etc. Even if the youth excuse is vanished, Danny will always have that when we don’t make the playoffs. I still think even healthy we may not get 40W despite the pick and even 39-40 wins probably still gets you the 8th seed.

Any hope that we can package Pierce and pry Oden or Durant in a trade has two chances, slim and none; so to me it is a waste of time to go there. We had our crack at it last night and it flopped.

We can and will debate what is to be done with the #5. To me though there is just one goal- rebuild this team through youth. The Pierce/championship run train has left the depot.

Here’s my plan:
- Build around Big Al
- Get a quality pick with the #5
- Get pick(s) or young fringe All Star talent right now for Pierce
- Ride out the Theo/Wally contracts for the next few years, free up cash.
- Do or die time for guys like Gerald Green, if he doesn’t step up his total game by the trading deadline, he’s gone.
- Guys like Allen, Perk, West, etc- if they persist with injury issues again throughout the year, I stop the injury (or youth) excuse and realize I can’t depend on their durability.

It is time to take the kid’s gloves off.

Phoenix would probably do that deal. Or we could add to it something that makes it work for them and doesn’t hurt us much. But do we get a lot better with Marion? We seem to play half court with PP and Al. I think we need a big who can play in the half court and play d and rebound. Even JO might not make as much sense. A guy like Boozer would have been great even though he is smaller than we’d like.

if we keep the pick the question is: can any of the college guys be a great power forward? That is who we need

Sorry, but I just don’t buy the curse stuff. Didn’t buy it with the Sox. Don’t buy it with the Celts.

It wasn’t a curse that made the Celtics trade Chauncey Billups, or sign Travis Knight. Wasn’t a curse that made them draft Jerome Moiso, Kedrick Brown or Joe Forte. Wasn’t a curse that made them blow up the first playoff team in years, trade Antoine Walker for Raef LaFrentz and Jeri Welsch, trade for Ricky Davis, sign Mark Blount, then trade him for Wally, or trade a lottery pick that became rookie of the year for the third string point guard on the worst team in the NBA.

This draft is the least of the Celtics’ problems. Iâ€â"¢m pretty sure Ainge can find an impact player from the ranks of Yi, Noah, Hibbert, Horford, etc… The team is so bad right now that any of these guys could help. And this may be heresy, but I think a case can be made for trading down in the top ten, if it can get you either a veteran role player and/or some cap relief.

But the draft wonâ€â"¢t change the fact that $40 million of the teamâ€â"¢s $62 million payroll in 2007-2008 is scheduled to go to Pierce, Wally, and Ratliff, all of whom are past their freshness date to varying degrees, and two of whom have missed big chunks of the last two seasons with injuries. It wonâ€â"¢t change the fact that Rivers has never won a playoff series, that the team still isnâ€â"¢t settled at point guard (unless they draft Conley), that they donâ€â"¢t play defense, that Gerald Green canâ€â"¢t play period, and that Kendrick Perkins is a back up center at best.

Oden and Durant would have been great, but the curse the Celtics need to dispel is the curse of arrogance and mismanagement. And—despite Wyc and Danny’s propaganda—that’s a curse that can only be addressed by changing the people in charge, not the kids on the court.

By all rights Conley ought to go number 3 to Atlanta. I can’t beleive they would be dumb enough to take another big guy when they are horrible at PG and passed Chris Paul. But, Atlanta has the dumbest GM in the league not named Isiah. For all we know, he has promised the Chinese kid he is taking him if there. If Conley goes at 3 and Hortford goes at 4, that would leave the Celtics with a choice of Brenden Wright, Brewer Yi and Thorton. I kind of like Thorton. The guy is a tremendously skilled offensive player. Last year Al played really well at center. You could start him and Al down low. The guy is 24 years old. He would contribute immediately. No waiting for three years for him to grow up. A four man rotation down low of Thornton, Al, Perk, and Gomes would be pretty good.

it’s hard to believe how many folks didn’t prepare for this. did you really EXPECT at top 2 pick? did you realize that we were more likely to get 3-5?

did you want oden or durant so badly that you focused solely on them even though it was unlikely that you would get either one?

and now that the balls have bounced, do you realize that the difference in this draft between 3 and 5 (hell, 3 and 8) is almost negligible? i mean, is anyone here really that attached to anyone besides oden or durant? i don’t see many folks bemoaning the fact that our chances of getting, oh, brandan wright are now slightly reduced.

also, remember that during the preseason – before the wave of injuries – most people here seemed pretty optimistic about the direction this team was heading. nobody expected the celtics to add a #5 pick to their roster this summer. and now they will. that’s a better pick than all but four other teams will get. not bad, huh?

 8 ) 8)

 Of course, as a fan,I’d rather not have this situation, and would like to sit back and wait for June 28, and pick one of the top2 guys, but its going to be a lot more interesting the next month and beyond. As mentioned above, Danny and the Dreamers need to make their own luck, and shape this team into a contender.
  Lots of teams in the playoffs this year are being led by guys who were traded, drafted low, picked up as free agents, or who were discarded from other teams. It can be done.

As of right now, I’m over feeling sorry for myself from the draft order. It is what it was, and I’m moving on.

I think we are in Rebuilding Mode: 101

At this point, I would take what is left in this order with the #5: Brandan Wright, Conley, Yi. I think for sure Conley is gone by the time it gets to us, good chance both he and B Wright are off the board too.

If Danny and Co. decide to “stay the course” with Pierce, etc than we are doomed for mediocrity at best for the next half dozen or more years.

Danny has to come out and say we are “rebuilding” not we are a 500 playoff team.

Big Al is our dominant Big Man! Screw Oden… Let that big fellow enjoy his time in Oregon!

We NEED to be excited about Big Al!!! The kid will be an All-Star next year and possibly an All-NBA player…

I do believe what Danny said… WE WON’T BE HANGING OUT IN THE LOTTERY ANYTIME SOON!!!!!

BCCelt fan,

If Conley and Wright go three and four that would mean Al Hortford would be there at 5. The Celtics would have to take him. Hortford and Al would solve their post problems, make Perk a backup Center he should be, improve their defense and rebounding and bring a winning attitdue of a guy who just won two NCAA titles. If Hortford were still there at 5, I would almost be able to get over not getting the first pick.

I can’t imagine Portland or Seattle trading the #1 or #2 picks. Not gonna happen.

mcpu40 said:

“The ship is sinking and took on a TON of additional water last night.”

No, the problem weith this ship isn’t the water in the hold, it’s the broken rudder.

I expect Ainge to make the right choices if he keeps the draft picks. I expect nothing but disaster if he attempts to trade the picks for some short-term solution to help Pierce.

To continue with the nautical metaphors, the good ship SS “We will contend for a title with Pierce” sailed last night and we missed the boat. It’s time now to head for the drydock and a major overhaul.

I wonder if Atlanta might want to trade down from number 3. They don’t need anothe big guy and Conley would probably be there at five. The Celtics could trade the five pick and say Gomes for the three pick and whatever ash and trash make the numbers work. The Celtics then get the athletic defensive big man they so desparatly need in Hortford and Atlanta gets the PG they need without having to reach for him at number 3. Assuming Memphis doesn’t take Conley, I like that deal.

look we will probably end up with Wright or Horford or Brewer. immiediately Horford helps the most. Later, imho, Wright ends up the best. Getting Yi is pretty crazy when these other guys will be there.

http://nbadraft.net/admincp/profiles/brandanwright.html

That is a lot of blocks and steals. I doubt he is soft.

http://www.nbadraft.net/admincp/profiles/alhorford.html

we know he is a great fit. GREAT fit.

fla team stats:

 ## SUMMARY GP-GS Min FG% 3PT% FT% R/G A/G STL BLK PTS/G
 ——————————————————————————————————————-
 11 Green, Taurean…… 40-40 33.2 .444 .404 .849 2.4 3.7 42 1 13.3
 02 Brewer, Corey……. 37-37 28.7 .475 .336 .723 4.7 2.9 69 15 13.2
 42 Horford, Al……… 38-36 27.8 .608 .000 .644 9.5 2.2 28 70 13.2
 13 Noah, Joakim…….. 40-40 25.9 .605 1.000 .663 8.4 2.3 45 72 12.0
 12 Humphrey, Lee……. 40-40 30.4 .475 .459 .692 1.3 1.3 19 0 10.3
 32 Richard, Chris…… 40-4 18.4 .690 .000 .627 3.7 0.4 13 12 6.2
 15 Hodge, Walter……. 40-3 17.7 .545 .500 .636 1.2 1.5 17 1 5.7
 34 Speights, Marreese.. 33-0 5.7 .671 .000 .667 2.6 0.1 8 15 4.1
 21 Werner, Dan……… 39-0 8.9 .306 .224 .455 1.3 0.8 9 3 1.8
 03 Powell, Brandon….. 23-0 4.0 .611 .643 .500 0.4 0.5 2 3 1.6
 23 Mitchell, Jonathan.. 30-0 6.2 .415 .400 .417 1.2 0.4 12 2 1.4
 22 Berry, Jack……… 7-0 1.4 .400 .500 .000 0.3 0.0 0 0 0.7
 01 Swanson, Brett…… 17-0 2.7 .385 .286 .000 0.2 0.3 0 0 0.7
 25 Tyler, Garrett…… 9-0 1.4 .750 .000 .000 0.3 0.0 2 0 0.7
 TM TEAM……………. 39-0 0.0 .000 .000 .000 2.6 0.0 0 0 0.0
    Total…………… 40 .526 .409 .690 37.6 15.4 266 194 79.8
    Opponents……….. 40 .407 .285 .660 29.1 10.8 287 99 62.6

If Hoford was a few inches taller, I take him hands down. He’s only 6’9" and the problem I see with him is that there are times we are small against the bigger teams. There are times we are given up height as it is when Gomes is out there and I think we will struggle again when teams go “big” on us. Hoford has a good wingspan so maybe that makes up for it somewhat. He’s on my radar for sure though, good rebounder, quick, good defender. He wouldn’t be a bad pick at all with the #5.

If the Celtics drafted Hortford, he immediately takes all of Scal’s minutes and probably allows the Celtics to package Gomes for someone. That has to make the team better.

i made us a new logo booo waaaah :’(

not that i really follow basketball anymore

You have to ask yourself what the odds that the bottom 3 teams end up with worst case scenarios. It didn’t take serious deep thinking to conclude that Danny knew about this a long time ago.

I honestly believed that this would be fixed after they sat Paul after the Orlando game…Coupled with the “injuries” to Gomes, Al, and Delonte. At that point management had already made such a mockery of the process already. Doc had manipulated so many close losses by then, that it was obvious that the players were the only facet in the organization trying to win. I believed it more after what Gomes publicly said. But it was cemented for me when Danny suggested they were tanking after Doc’s bizarre extention. I think Danny knew our fate before those comments..He’s simply too bright to publicly say what he said…His downplaying of the importance of the draft told me that. I was surprised by Memphis getting thrown in but not Atlanta. All I can conclude is that Stern must’ve believed Johnson’s injury was legit. I thought Milwaukee would pick 6th us 5, and Atlanta anywhere they’d lose the pick. But it looked to me like Memphis was competing and was outgunned and outcoached….so I didn’t think they’d get thrown in. Major statement by Stern. But not surprising. Everything in his history suggests he values the integrity of the game above all else. We’re lucky to get a draft pick at all, IMHO. What will be most revealing about how all of this went down is that not an inkling of anything will be heard by management of the C’s, Grizz, or Bucks.

We’re going to get a very good player at 5 so I hope Danny doesn’t panic and trade the pick. Wish he could trade Doc.

i agree that most likely PP needs to be traded. But not to a mediocre team, he needs to go to a legit contender like the suns. For barbosa and diaw and their picks? something like that. We need to get youth and/or picks from a team that needs an experienced top vet..

That would put us in a great situation for building a great team over the next 3-4 years… so we can be legit contenders and not stuck in perpetual mediocrity.

Iowaployboy,

If the lottery were fixed, why didn’t Philadelphia, a team that was never accused of tanking and is in the east in a big market with a fan base dying for a new star, win the lottery? If Stern fixed the lottery, no way would both Oden and Durrant go Portland and Seattle. Last night was a nightmare for the league. Stop this “it was fixed” nonsense.

Someone else said this and I’ll say it too….this year’s lottery was also the straw that caused me to finally register with celticsblog.com.

I have been a long time Celtics fan and I was disgusted with how the team handled itself all season long. In my opinion, die-hard Celtics fans like myself and many of you that post on here do not accept losing and certainly do not accept tanking. The Celtics organization tried this ten years ago with M.L. Carr leading the way to embarrassment and where did it get us? That draft and Rick Pitino set the franchise back ten years…..literally……and I don’t see it being any different this time around. The NBA Lottery implies getting an impact player and Ainge’s M.O. of tanking our way to Oden and Durant was not the way to go. I’m reading some of the posts now and look who we’re talking about….Horford, Conley…..The Celtics needed a difference maker and these guys are not it. When you consider the history of the Boston Celtics tanking to a lottery pick is not the Celtics Way.

Also, I would like to add that I completely agree with some of you that are saying to trade Pierce. There is no reason to keep him around anymore unless the Celtics are looking to land a big time free agent over the summer.

If Danny Ainge fails to improve the Celtics with a quality free agent then he needs to be fired. It’s completely laughable that there are probably some of you here that used to post on usenet or other Celtics message boards saying when Ainge was hired that he would bring us to the promised land in 3-4 years. All the Ainge honks can stick that #5 pick in your pipes and smoke it. Did you Ainge honks really believe that LaFrenz, Jiri Welsch, Marcus Banks, and Brian Scalabrine were going to be pieces to a championship puzzle???

Sorry to be all over the place but the more I read and think about it, the real disaster with this is at 3, we wouldv’e been sure to get Horford, a near perfect fit for us. I have not heard DA say one word about him.

You put him at pf next to Al and now we are looking at Al, Horford, PP up front. They are maybe slightly undersized but great hands quickness good rebounders,physical and quick. If Rondo pans out to a top 5 point guard this is a serious looking bunch. Does TA come back and so we have those 4 plus him? Good man to man d. We lose very little in this fiasco if Horford is there. Wright might be better than him later, but Horford now and it won’t be much fun to enter the lane against our guys(if we had a coach). West, Perk, Green, Wally, Gomes off the bench

this is sading. talk about setting this franchise back 4-5 years. Pierce has to go before Christmas. There is no point in having him here anymore. We arn’t going to be heading to the Eastern Conference Finals while he is still in the league sadly. I didn’t want to say this because im tired of losing but… We need to blow up this team and start over. I mean without a top two pick, we arent going to make the playoffs next year, and if you we do….its 4 and done, and thats not even fun watching your team get sweeped in the playoffs.

I had this little scenario played out in my head, where we got Durrant….then traded for Gasol(with future picks and green and others) without giving Jefferson or pierce.

What do you do now? Trade Jefferson for a vet? Then Trade Green For a Vet? And hope Pierce and the new players can get somewhere? Or Draft at 5 and keep what we have…even though if we do that pierce will want to go.

so many questions, so little time.

we are screwed for the next 5 years…maybe longer. I just hope i see a Celtics championship in my lifetime.

what about PP to minny for foye, pick #7, their first round pick next year and a BIG IOU from kevin? ;)

Georgetown was very, very good this year and it was mainly Green and Hibbert. Green also fits us.
I worry about us picking Yi, when we have several guys who can play next to Al who we can get at 5 who are more certain bets

I think Boston needs to be talking to Pheonix about Shawn Marion. He is a year younger than Pierce and I really can’t think of a better player they could realisticly get for Pierce. It is clear Pheonix is not going to win a title with its current roster and Nash is 33. A lineup of Nash, Staudamire and Pierce would be devistating. Look how well Pierce plays with Boston’s lousy PGs, could you imagine him with Nash feeding him the ball? Marion wants to be the man, put him with Al and give him a chance to be the man.

I’m older than most of you and I certainly do not expect to see a Celtics champuionship in my lifetime unless they rebuild from square one right now, starting with a championship caliber point guard, and trading pierce for prospects and draft picks.

If they try to do anything else they will be like the man in quicksand, who just sinks in deeper the more he struggles.

“my team was doomed to another 10 years of failure.”

Hear the pain, guys, but (deep breath) 4 thoughts

1)last years team, healthy, and Rondo playing, not SeaBass)was far better than it showed.

2). An F/C with good help D, passing & adequate scoring can bolster the frontline.

3. Several other teams may hit the panic button first: Indy/JON, Memphis/Gasol. Amare/Suns. Utah needs wings, Celts have wings to spare etc

4. Oden.Durant are consensus favs but not locks to be the best. Two words: Bosh. Wade.

Its too early to que up at the Tobin.

Brick,

Trade Pierce to whom? For what prospects and what draft picks? What team has enough prospects and draft picks to even give 10 cents on the dollar for Pierce? I can’t think of any. I understand the need to move Pierce before he goes Vince Carter, but I can’t see how giving Pierce away helps anything. The Celtics have to get an allstar or near all star in return for Pierce.

trade gerald green ASAP for a bag of magic beans. you know, the same guy no one here wanted to trade for Iverson, Boozer, (insert talented, established veteran here)

Does anyone know the odds of all three teams that finished with the worst records NOT getting in the top three. What was the statistical probability of this occurring?

JohnCk,

I won a bet with a work buddy regarding IF Seattle finished in the bottom 5 that they WOULD get a top 2 pick (Oden or Durant) due to Stern trying to save the Seattle franchise. It happened and it was SO EASY to predict early in the year. Also, Stern knew that Atlanta is a huge TV market and he did NOT want that pick going to the already loaded Suns. He clearly must hate the Suns, as he stole the Spurs’ series from them with the ridiculous Amare and Boris suspensions.

Peace,

Smitty

I think you’ve hit it, Roy. The Doc resigning was a bitter pill to swallow, and our high pick was supposed to be the sugar to help it go down. Now we only have water as the chaser—and it tastes like vinegar!

Jeff, I was crushed last night and felt the same way when I got up this morning but I found something that helps a little (just a little) I think of: Ralph Sampson, Joe Barry Carrol, even the Kandi man. They were all #1 picks with great hype and none turned out to be franchise players. Actually they were great disappointments. Maybe we were lucky and we just don’t know it yet.

What are the odds of Milwaukee, Boston and Memphis dropping three notches? Well I know the Celtics odds of dropping three spots were about 11%, so if the others had the same chances then to find out what the chances of all three events happening at the same time you would multiply .11 x .11 x .11, which equals .001331. About a 1000 to 1.

I keep reading that if Danny had kept the 7th pick he could have drafted Roy. However, I thought he went to Minny in the 6th pick, which if true means Danny didn’t have that option. Anyone know for sure?

Hey, Danny traded the 7th pick plus Lafrenz last year for Telfair and Ratliff. Maybe he can trade them this year to somebody else for there number 7 pick. I’d go for that.

Smitty,

Atlanta gets to keep the pick since it is in the top 3. Atlanta could have gotten the number 1 pick and kept it. No way did Stern want both these guys to go to the West. Even if you buy, the save basketball in Seattle line, that still leaves one pick. Why not Phily? They aren’t being accused of tanking and are in a huge market with a traditional franchise. If Stern controlled the lottery, either Oden or Durrant would be going to Phily right now.

I used to live in Philly and I remember when the Eagles took Donovan McNabb in with the first pick in the draft. The Philly fans that had traveled to NYC for the draft booed mercilessly on the Eagle Execs, because everyone thought that Eagles should have taken the “consensus” #1 player, Ricky Williams. Well, McNabb has taken Philly to 4 NFC title games and a Super Bowl. Whatâ€â"¢s Ricky done for New Orleans and Miami? Oooh, thatâ€â"¢s right, nothing. Eagles Management 1, Fans 0.

Who do the Celts take? I donâ€â"¢t know, I think the team is a closer to contending for Eastern Conference then most people give them credit for.

Now that Seattle is getting Durrant, Rashard Lewis is a goner. The Celtics could package Theo’s expiring contract with say Gomes and Green for Lewis in a sign and trade. It would give Seattle a huge amount of cap space to build around Durrant and two decent rotation guys. The Celtics could then pair Lewis and Pierce on the wings with Al Jefferson down low. Then either get Conley Jr. to play PG in the draft or take a big guy like Noah or Hortford depending on who is there at five.

Of course it could have been FIXED…didn’t anyone else watch the pre-lottery show on ESPN??…they showed the ping pong balls in the machine popping around AND THEN they showed another LOCKED box where the “actual” ping pong balls are located…Horrible.

Someone wrote that they felt better after looking at previous #5 picks. I don’t. Sure, you could get a D-Wade, KG, Ray Allen, or Vince Carter, or you could get a Tony Battie, Nikolas Tshiwhateverthehellhisnameis, or Sheldon Williams.

Brick,

Trade Pierce to whom? For what prospects and what draft picks? What team has enough prospects and draft picks to even give 10 cents on the dollar for Pierce? I can’t think of any.

Who knows? It takes two to tango. I might trade Pierce for Kirilenko (3 yrs younger than Pierce) and Utah’s pick (#25) or for Antawn Jamison and pick #16, with the idea of turning Jamison around for younger players when his deal expires next year.

I would have two main objectives: 1. obtaining a pick that might get me Rudy Fernandez this year, because I think he is one of the potential all stars who is undervalued in this draft, and/or 2. obtaining an unprotected 2009 lottery pick, because IMHO Ricky Rubio is another “once in a decade” player and that, generally speaking, the 2009 draft will be much stronger than the 2008 draft.

Building on Brick’s theme..

Given the way the Balls fell last night, #17 is at least 5-10 years away. Even if it’s 5 years, Pierce will not be part of the mix.

Therefore, the two options are: 1.ride Pierce into continued mediocrity while now wasting Al Jefferson’s 4th through 8th Prime Years. 2.Package Pierce for maximum value now and build a team around Jeff and a point guard that we get in trade or maybe Conley, and hope Green becomes athe scoring option.

Brick,

Kirilenko is a near all-star. That is not getting 10 cents on the dollar for Pierce. The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of getting Lewis. The guy 22 ppg scorer and really doesn’t have a home. Only the Bobcats have the cap space to sign him outright. Further, both he and the Sonics have an incentive to do a sign and trade. The Sonics just got their franchise in Durrant. They want cap space and young players to build around Durrant. Theo’s expiring contract and some combination of the Celtics young players besides Jefferson, might be the best offer they get.

Well, Rashard Lewis (resigned to a reasonable deal) and Collison might not be a bad return for Pierce, but I still want that 2009 draft pick.

As for Kirilenko, I think that Utah would look long and hard at the offer I proposed. Would they do it? Who knows.

I think Siggy has pretty much summarized my views. I have less confidence in Green, though, and would rather get a player like Rudy Fernandez to help compensate for the lost scoring. A healthy Tony Allen would help too.

you guys: sheesh. You know Brick doesn’t like Rondo. If Rondo becomes a top five point guard in two years, and West is a reasonable back up to him plus plays sg, we already have Al, PP young depth, and an abundance of wings. We have to have a big to play with Al and we are competing for the ec title. We have the 5th pick and there are studs at pf that will be available. Its on Rondo to develop fast, Al to keep coming on, and DA to make a great choice and we are there. Gerald is a wild card too. Id love to get some vet help but I think it makes sense to start the season and act quickly once we see what we need

We need to win now. Even if it’s just a 1st round exit. But this franchise needs credibility now. Forget about the surefire Megastar. Give me Gasol (Green, Minny-Pick, Ratliff), extend West, Allen and Gomes reasonably and go for 45 wins. I’m ok with that right now.

Rule #1: Draft for talent, trade for need. If Conley is the BPA at #5 you take him, whether or not you have Rondo and West.

Package Theo’s expiring contract Gomes and Green for Rashad Lewis in a sign and trade and take a big guy like Noah or Hortford depending on who is there at five.

Promising scenario—minus connelly

Brick,

I don’t think the Celtics would have to give up Pierce to get Lewis. First, the Sonics wouldn’t want Pierce. They already have Ray Allen. They don’t need another max contract guy on the back side of 30. They need cap space and young players. Further, Lewis is an unrestricted free agent. So, he would have to be inticed into a sign and trade. Since Seattle is looking at the prospect of loosing him for nothing anyway, they are not going to expect 100 percent return. The Celtics could offer Theo’s contract and the accompanying $11 million in cap space. A coupld of good young players like Greem and either West or Gomes. Maybe Minni’s draft pick that they own in two thousand whenever, and perhaps the Celtics second round pick, which will be an NBA ready guy in this draft at bargain price, and then maybe Scal and his 9 million and three years just to make the salaries work. Pawning Scal on them is probably too much to hope for, but otherwise it would be a good deal for Seattle and Boston.

Why does everyone think we need a PG? Rondo is a starting PG and West is a perfect 3rd gaurd becasue he can back up at the 1 and the 2. Why can’t we keep the pick and still make a trade? Drafting Brewer at 5 would give us a defensive minded guy who is tough and can fit into the team philosophy. He has proven he doesn’t need to be the guy. You can then turn around and trade Theo, Green, Gomes or Perk and a future 1 (ours or the one from minny) for a guy like Gasol. Gasol is the perfect compliment to Jefferson because he lieks the high block. Imagine a team of Rondo, Brewer, Pierce, Jefferson and Gasol. That is a quality squad. The bench would be Allen, Wally, West and Perk or Gomes.

and by the way if you want conspiracy theories here is one. The Seahawaks got screwed beyond comprehension in the super bowl two years ago. A set up to get Pitt the win. The owner of the Hawks, Paul Allen, was informed before hand and understood this was what had to happen for the good of the league but the other half of the deal was that they had arranged with the NBA commish to help the Blazers, the NBA team he owns, with his bad situation with the Arena. He decided to hang onto the Arena and the deal was struck and went down, the final touch being yesterday’s lottery

Lewis would fit right in to Doc’s “defense”….he plays even less D than Pierce. I really don’t see how Pierce would fit at Utah. They’re way too structured offensively for Pierce’s game. I doubt that Utah would have any interest in Pierce unless there was a 3-way trade. I just hope Danny doesn’t opt out of the draft and trade the pick.

The problem is, if we do trade Pierce and “rebuild,” doesn’t that mean we have to look forward to more lottery loses for the next 5-10 years?
I’m not so sure I can handle that.
For now, embrace our mediocrity! … I’m going insane.

I think, in a way, Stern’s idea of having the lottery so that teams won’t tank is completely counterintuitive. We’ve seen, in fact, that teams WILL tank, no matter what. You’d have to guarantee that they WOULDN’T get a top pick (though it usually turns out that way somehow…wink-wink), to prevent teams from doing so.

My point? A large part of Stern’s argument is that tanking hurts the fanbase (and can presumably lead to lost revenue), and perhaps hurts the “integrity” of the game, blah-blah. Well, clearly we proved this year that it’s not that hard to accept tanking with the hope of something good to come. And that good hasn’t come, it’s been thrown in our faces. So NOW we’re disgruntled, and feel as though time and money would be wasted on tickets (though some of that will presumably pass). Not because of tanking. But because of the lottery.

So, in trying to prevent the issue of tanking, the lottery has actually made itself into the real problem. Tanking doesn’t hurt teams in the long run. The lottery does. And let’s be blunt here—it’s not as though, with “tanking,” perennial playoff teams decide to hold players out and lose game after game. We’re talking about teams that are pretty much down the crapper anyway perhaps not “trying as hard” toward the end of the year. (Like the Spurs in ‘97.) What’s so tragic about that? It all evens out in the end. The lottery needs to go. (And just watch—as an extra dagger to the gut, Stern’s going to change the lottery rules after this year. Just you see.)

(And yeah, I’m mad at what happened, but no, this is nothing new…I’ve been anti-lottery for a while.)

Lewis is not perfect, but he would be a big upgrade. Him and Pierce would be unstoppable on the perimeter. The Celtics could then take either Noah or Hortford at the number 5 and upgrade their interior defense. That team would be pretty formidable in the East. Further, it would give Pierce a running mate and keep him from going Vince Carter.

Rashard Lewis and Pierce together on the wings would be a disaster. Other teams would score 125 ppg.

“Rashard Lewis and Pierce together on the wings would be a disaster. Other teams would score 125 ppg.”

Yeah but the Celtics would score 130. Further, are you going to tell me that Lewis and Pierce isn’t a whole lot better than Pierce and West or Pierce and Green? Unless Allen comes back at full strength none of the Celtics perimeter players besides Rondo can play defense anyway. Why not get one that can at least score. With Lewis, the Celtics would be K-Mart Suns of the east. They really could run and score. Yeah, they wouldn’t be perfect, but they would be a lot better than they are now and at least fun to watch.

“I see him creating a sweetheart deal to Portland for Oden.
How can they make that happen?
What would they require?”

Different world man. The days of owners trading young players literally for gaurenteed dates for the Ice Capades are long gone. Portland wouldn’t trade Oden for Pierce, Jefferson and the next five Celtics first rounders. That ship sailed.

“What about Paul Pierce, #5-pick, Gerald Green, Delonte West, Tony Allen, and Wally?”

For who Oden? Portland doesn’t want our garbage. They have the reigning ROY and have a chance to grab one of the two top prospects in years!

No way Seatlle touches that with a 10 ft pole either. They have Ray Allen.

Stern would rather punish teams for tanking, than see us get help. He’s a prick that way. Everyone saying he would rather have balance in the East is crazy. He could give a crap about the Celtics re-emerging.

We should have started rebuilding around youth two years ago, instead Pierce is two years older, we’ve had worse draft picks, and we’re still mediocre.

I can see some sense in trying to build around Pierce when Danny first arrived here, but now Pierce will be turning 30 and he’s surrounded by mediocre talent (except for Big Al). Pierce is also terribly overpaid leaving us with no cap flexibility.

Unless Danny pulls off a miraculous trade, the Pierce window has just about closed. We should deal Pierce for short-term contracts, prospects and draft picks. Several others around here (fortunately) have that same feeling.

It’s time to commit to the youth. This is no time to be impatient, just the opposite. Our team has screwed itself in the past by dealing young players too soon, and I fear we are about to do the same thing in order for a few more wins.

We need to embrace rebuilding, if we had done that a few years ago, we’d be in a much better place right now. Hopefully, this kick in the ass will let Wyc and Danny see the light and realize the way to go is to build around Al Jefferson.

Hibbert.

Not happening James. At least not this year.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=287991

Hibbert’s going back to school

This talk about trading Pierce is kind of mystifying. I mean, what exactly do folks think we’re going to get? Pierce is a 30 year old player (in October)with a gargantuan $80 million deal, coming off a season plagued by injuries. He might have had some trade value last year, but Danny the genius signed him to a four-year extension.

There’s good value 1-10 in this draft. Best thing might be to trade down a few picks and see if can also pick up either a veteran role player or some cap relief in the deal. Then, if Pierce plays his ass off this year, maybe you can make a good deal at the deadline in February.

The biggest changes the team needed to make were at GM and coach. Unfortunately, like their front office staff, the owners of the team aren’t capable of recognizing their mistakes, much less learning from them.

The Blazers drafted Sam Bowie instead of Michael Jordan because they already had Clyde Drexler. That’s why you don’t pass on Mike Conley because you have Rondo.

I don’t think Conley will be there at 5 Brick. If he is, I think the Celtics will have made out all right on this draft. Truthfully, Conley or Hortford either one make the Celtics a significantly better team next year, provided they don’t just give away Pierce. The problem is that I bet Conley goes to Atlanta at 3 and Hortford goes to Memphis at 4 and then Danny swings for the fences as he always does and takes a flyer on Yi. Pierce then goes Vince Carter and tanks demanding a trade. The Celtics then trade him for nothing and end up winning 20 games next year, winning the lottery and getting the rights to O.J. Mayo. Joy Rapture. I can hardly wait.

I have a feeling the first game portland plays will be seattle.
As much as i wanted Oden or KD its not going to happen. We Are a playoff team when healthy and we are adding a top 5 player to our team

1.Draft Conley and trade Pierce along with Dwest
2.Trade the 5th pick and players for KG,Amare,Marion or J’Oneal
3.Draft Brewer or Wright Trade Pierce for a C and the 2nd round pick along with players for a early first and draft Law as our pg/

p_dawg said:

“This talk about trading Pierce is kind of mystifying. I mean, what exactly do folks think we’re going to get?”

So what are you going to get if you keep him? You are going to get 50 cents on the dollar if you trade him. If you keep him you get 0 cents on the dollar.

JohnCK said:

“I don’t think Conley will be there at 5 Brick. If he is, I think the Celtics will have made out all right on this draft.”

I agree, although most of the mocks have him going lower. That will change after his workouts. I would be happy with Brewer too, and I think that he will be there at #5. I have no interest in Horford, and who knows about the Chinese guy?

What the Celtics cannot do is trade the pick for some crappy veteran that some other team is secretly delighted to unload.

They’ve been trying since 2001 to put more veterans around Pierce, and every move has been an abysmal failure. They traded for Vin Baker, but he was an alcoholic. Then there was gimpy LaFrentz, who was acquired in part because he had played with Pierce at Kansas. There was Ricky Davis, who turned out to be disruptive (no surprise there), and then Szczerbiak (another gimp).

Rashard Lewis plays worse defense than Szczerbiak, and so does that little undersized ballhog Iverson. Guys like that are not the answer.

Enough already!! The Pierce ship has sailed, and its time to move on. Pick the best player you can, and move Pierce for the best package you can— and do it before he destroys his value by asking to be traded.
Maybe you even live with one or two years more in the lottery, to get better young players.

Then in 3-4 years you might have a pretty good team. But you won’t have a good team if you keep repeating the mistakes of the past.

Well all hell has broken loose on us. we need to get our balance and move on and defeat thing thing of the past 20 years. Just as we looked at may 22 as a save the Celtic day we need to turn to june 28th as the day. only this time we need for everyone to be positive. there was way too much negative thinking on the lottery and we got what most had said we would get. 5th so now letr see if danny and Company can get for us the players we need on draft day. either via trade or draft. too we should keep and eye on the free agent market for other possibilities and prodspect to pluck from other teams in sign and trades or outright out bid them for the rights to certain players.
In the draft we need to go after the best player available over 7ft. we need height to compete and we don’t have enough of it right now.

“Then in 3-4 years you might have a pretty good team. But you won’t have a good team if you keep repeating the mistakes of the past.”

Why wait 3-4 years, when you can keep Pierce, draft Conley fixig the PG position, use Theo’s contract and Green to get someone who can rebound and play defense down low and have a good team next year? The team is not that far from being good.

I wasn’t to write again until after the draft. I was listening to Donny Marshall on the score this morning and he killed Jumaine Oneil as a trade possibility. I mean he went as far as comparing him to Moss when taking plays off.

He also said that we need more pieces especially defensivley. There is no silver lining here. We have two choices in my opinion. Draft a Brewer or thornton who can play that 3 spot or the 2. This depends on where you put Pierce. Who by the way is no longer a hot comodity becasue of how desperate our organization has become. Or blow the team up and start over. I have looked at the free agaent market. Its great but not for us so to speak. KG will not come here, he has no desire and he is one player that can control his fate.

What I want. Get rid of Doc and Ainge. I would love to see Wyc take a back seat to Steve and blow the team completely up. Let me take a step back. I like Jefferson and thats it. I know this is negative I do. I would love to eat my words and be in the second round next year but I have to be realistic. There is only one player on the Celtics roster whom is probably glad that Oden is not going to be on the team and that is Jefferson. I basing that on his quotes from a couple of months ago. Who knows. I am very, very ticked.

The Nba should switch to the way the NFL draft works. I mean come on.

No, the sky isn’t falling. It has already descended with a thunderclap. Instead of being serious contenders for the next 12-15 years, we will likely wander somewhere between 6 at best and 22 at worst.

Two more years of Veal and Doc is more than I can digest.

Pulling off a trade will be difficult. The reality of the situation is that the current Celtic roster has players with very little value around the league. As great as Pierce is I have serious doubts about what his is true value around the league is.

The fact is that Gomes, West and Green are nothing more than rotation players at best ( 6-9) on most teams. Don’t expect miracles from Ainge, he just doesn’t have the necessary chips to do what needs to be done.

“NO, the team is not ‘that far’ from being ‘good’.
But they are seemingly light years from being ‘great’.”

That is very true and I don’t have a good solluton for it. Unless Yi is the next Dirk or Conley the next Nash, I don’t know how you make the team great.

Hey it’s only basketball and only a game

anyway trade green and or pierce for the number 1 pick and another player-do anything

No one really knows what Green is. He might be a lot better than just a rotation guy. You won’t know for sure until at least the end of next year. Right now the league thinks he is just a rotation guy and no one really knows. The best you could get for Green would be to intice a team to take a flyer on him at a discount price hoping he is more than just a rotation guy. Given that, the Celtics should keep Green. They have nothing to loose. If he turns out to be just a rotation guy, he will still have the same trade value he has today. If he turns out to be more than that, then you haven’t given away a legit starter for rotation guy prices.

From Danny Ainge, as quoted in Andy Katzâ€â"¢s piece on ESPN.com:

â€Å"I think we’re a playoff team right now.’’ (Um no Danny. The playoff teams are in Utah, San Antonio, Cleveland and Detroit. Stunning.)

"We don’t plan on ever being back in the lottery.’’ (Speaking of plans… four years and still waiting…)

Famous last words?

After listening to Ainge on the radio, I give up. I just give up.

What would Red do?

That was a question asked, well he wouldn’t be a knucklehead like everyone in hearing acting like the roof caved in.

He’d probably wink, smoke his cigar, and pull a rabbit out of his hat come draft night; and that’s what suspect Danny will do.

The more time I’ve had to think about all the better I feel that going into next season we’ll be fine.

I’m not giving up, and I will continue to support this team and watch the young kids develop.

We have to…..

Ainge and Rivers have learned NOTHING from their mistakes. Nothing. And now they have yet another excuse to go along with injuries and youth: bad luck. So I guess that gives them a free ride for another year?

It’s hopeless— and the hopelessness has nothing to do with the results of the draft lottery.

Look at the bright side. If we had gotten Oden, think of how frustrated it would have been watching Doc give his minutes to Veal.

frustrating

No Hibbert. Doubly screwed now. I guess if Yi’s available to take him.

i don’t care who this pisses off. i wipe my ass with plucky, happy go lucky gosh gee golly optimism in the face of what can only be seen as a half decade long bitch slap by celtic ownership.

let’s go red sox! let’s go patriots!

I hate it when people say we lost games just to get a better draft pick. How can people be so f-ing stupid! We´ve got a young squad which got a lot more playing time this year due to injuries and that´s basically what happened. However, these youngsters will have much more experience next season and ready for action and in Jefferson and Delonte West we´ve got a future stars in my opinion. Rondo is also someone that i like really much along with Gomes……we´re in a very delicate situation and need guidance for those guys and Pierce is not much of a guidance to be honest. We need someone who is a true leader who can carry the team on pivotal moments. I sincerely hope we get something worthy from the draft and go for a really good free agent or just trade for some quality. Kirilenko at Utah….I wouldn´t mind getting that player at all!

Message to Danny! This was terrible news but is no one’s fault. You must re-double your efforts in the next month and make sure we get at #5 a major long term contributor. We should not trade off any budding stars for aging vets. G. Green with the combo dunking and 3 point skills is too intriguing to give up on. Save Ratliff money to re-sign Al. We should not trade the pick. If we have to live and enjoy “potential” for another year we will, as long as we take no more self-inflicted backward steps. Best player available in my opinion but it is for you to figure out. All is not lost but we must have a pick that renews fans hopes.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

I feel fine this morning and the Celtics will be fine as well.

This is a solid team. Paul, Big Al, a healthy Perk, a healthy Tony, an improved Gerald, a developing Rajon, a two handed Delonte, a year smarter Ryan, a vaguely healthy Wally, a more rounded Leon and a decent draft pick, coupled with a half decent vet for Theo and loose change.

I am fine with that and one man never makes a team.

Can’t wait for the season to start.

Go the Green

Cheers

Aussie

 ;)

We lost on purpose to get a better draft choice. In my book, that’s cheating. In essence, we got what we deserved. I was not the least bit surprised by the 5th pick. LOL guys….. ;D

We need two great players. As good as Pierce was and maybe still is, he was never great. Listen to analysts from around the country, and they almost never placed Pierce in their top ten. I think Al could be great in the sense that he shows potential to bring things to the game that other players cant; which is to say, he is unique. Pierce is essentially the Celtics’ version of Vince Carter. I think the key is to land another great player in this draft, regardless of position. It it is Connelly, then we pick him. I dont think Rondo is going to be a great player. Great players make it look easy. They are smooth, under control, and deceptively quick. They have a way of slowing down time. A spastic highlight reel like Rondo is not that player. If he were, I would think Kentucky would have done alot better when he ran the point. Just a thought. So, I hope we draft Connelly, and make him and Al our Nucleus, regardless of the outcome. Then, in three years, when Oden is free to sign with another team, we have his best friend to lure him away from Portland. Oden, Jefferson, and Connelly – there you have it. It can happen. It will take about three years to come together.

I like your thought process jurrasic, very interesting, although I think Rajon may be better than you believe.

Another good reason to get Connelly.

Cheers

Aussie

The sad realisation to alot of us old timers is that the glory days are well and truely behind us and last night was the final reminder we needed.

Larry , Mchale , Hondo , Parish etc etc guys like that just dont exist anymore and wont fall in our laps via trade or draft like we expect them to under Auerbach and co.The Garden is a speck of rubble on the google map..

The look on the faces of the two incompetents in that picture says it all . They have to earn their wins now or theyre done and they know it .

i just dont think they have it in them to be honest.

For me the lottery and the chance at these two guys meant abit more than that. I am disillusioned with the state of the NBA , i just dont like what it has become . i could go on for hours stating whats wrong it but dont have the energy for it. Having someone of Oden’s and Durants ilk to watch would at least put me in a protective bubble for the next 10 years and lets me put up with alot.I see no happy ending in sight.

Hibbert has withdrawn his name from the 2007 nba draft. So don’t count on him being our savior at #5. The Celtics will have to be lucky and win next year’s lottery to get a chance at Hibbert. And you already know their luck with ping pong balls by now.