MacMullan: Back On The Map

She’s phenomenal. I can’t remember the last time I’ve ever disagreed with anything she’s said/written.

And I’d still like to know if Gomes is in the deal…

Right on Jackie!

So where does this put the Celtics with respect to the cap? Seriously, with 5 players leaving, ans only one coming in, how do they fill the roster? They can’t sign anyone for more than the veteran minimum.

When I first heard the news I didn’t like it. But the more I think about it, I think it’s great. We basically traded away our lousy team two years ago for K.G. Banks, Davis, Blount, Reed, Jefferson, Gomes and Green for Garnet. If I was Minnesota, I would really think hard about what they did. I started to think in terms of what we got instead of what we gave away. We are “on Paper” a basketball elite team.

I love Al but I can see him struggling next year around the cast of characters he has on the T-Wolves and the superior play of the West.

I see Gerald having one good game followed by 3 or 4 less than mediocre games.

I see Gomes contributing to a losing ball club much like he did the past two years.

For Telfair, I see red lights in his rear view mirror.

Danny is going to be living Large and deservingly so. We are the team to beat in the East. This trade will look like a steal for the Celts next year, and the year after (and it will be).

The only thing we lost for sure is the repeat championship in the NBA dunk contest which means squat to me.

Big Al won’t struggle. He’ll rip through the WC like a hot knife through butter. Who’s going to stop him?

Mr Miserable Bastard..aka Brick…tell us why this is a disaster..why winning 50 games/ECF/3rd rd etc is horsesh*t and only multiple banners will do…psssst,don’t mention the coach because L Brown is getting loose in the pen

Brickowski – on the other side of that coin, who is Al going to stop? Duncan? Nowitski? Boozer? Durant? Please…..

We’ll watch and see how it unfolds. #1) I worry more about Big Al getting hurt than I do KG, so if he gets injured again, you’ll hear the same excuses you have heard around Boston for so long with health issues. I would not be shocked if Big Al misses 10 games like he has the last 2 seasons.

1. If Ricky and Blount are selfish, plus a lot of guys trying to prove they deserve the minutes, I can see Big Al not getting all the touches he deserves.

1. I think you got better big men in the West than the East (look at All Star game). I expect teams like the Clippers, Spurs, Utah, Portland, Mavs to play him tough. He will be getting the T-wolf KG treatment.

1. A lot more run and gun offense in the West as opposed to the walk it up East. Big Al is a walk it up guy.

• Don’t get me wrong, Big Al is going to have a splendid career, but it is nothing compared to KGs and I can easily see him taking a step back.

 Remember too, Big Al was our go-to guy with Pierce out. On the T-Wolves, Ricky D and Foye may think they are the “man”. T-Wolves have what we did, a cluster***k of players all wanting to prove they deserve more minutes. Big Al is not going to get the ball dumped into him like he did last year.

I wish the best for Al, but 16/10 next year would be no surprise, and the T-Wolves having another losing season.

AL will be huge for 15 yrs…but for the next 3-5 yrs with this roster???gotta go with KG and worry about adding in next 3 yrs…and it doesn’t mean all the stars retire here….we can trade again but it’ll be a while if we do

well we will win and that will make us all happy. we will miss al more than we currently think because we can see a better team in the headlights.we still need a center and a point guard more than ever. and we still have doc who really is on the hot seat now.

Bill Simmons liking it, Jackie Mac liking it, I’m liking it. For those that don’t, why not just watch all the T-Wolves games this upcoming year. Or, watch all those Tivo games where we got 24W last season. And make sure you tune in for a replay of the 2007 NBA lottery draft. And make sure you watch the NBA dunk contest coming up this year.

For me, it can’t get any better than having: KG, Allen, Pierce, Perk, and Rondo starting and playing in the JV East. I’ll worry about adding pieces later if need be. Everybody in the East fears the Celts. We went from the laughing stock, tanking, lottery praying fool of a team to one of the elite teams.

With the lottery shaking down the way it did – this is the best you could reall hope for for this team (if you are going short-term). They will be exciting and should win – which will take pressure off Danny, Doc & Wyc and make most fans happy.

The major issues I see are:
1. Coaching – Doc has to show something now – no more excuses.
2. Bench – They don’t have one anymore. Please, don’t come back with the Pruitt, Wallace, Big Baby, Powe fantasies. Scal is the only person on the bench who has shown he belongs in the league to any extent now.
3. Style of play and identity – 3 studs is great, but how will integrate and how long will it take to develop an identity? It usually takes > a year with this much turnover.

It’s BS. There will be writers lining up on each side, but I think most will favor the trade. In a way it could be a shell game, the team is so thin now who knows what’s going to happen. There’s not likely to be much money to acquire other quality players. One injury to one of the three key guys and the parties over for that year. And we get about three tries with this roster.

Yes the media will be all hyped up about the trade now and jump on the bandwagon. But the media will be the first one’s to go crazy negative, if things go a little slow at the start and the negativity will continue to grow if the Celts come up short of the high expectations of at least the conference finals. But the Celtics are giving up too much to give them a real good chance at a championship, though a conference final or two may be a good possibility.

Tony Allen is your 6th man. That’s not bad for some scoring punch and defense. I’m wondering if Candiman gets a call for another 1 year run with the C’s. He’d be fair insurance down low for the vet minimum. Still though, a beefy body with some ability, and a veteran Pg are a must.

tallpaul — get ready for Leon Powe to become our Anderson Varejao.

Last year, in limited minutes (63 games, 11.5 mpg), Leon put up numbers. He averaged 17.5 ppg and 14.2 rpg per 48 minutes. Scal, by contrast, averaged 10 ppg and 5 rpg per 48 mins.

One reason Ainge is willing to include Gomes is Leon. He doesn’t have Gomes’ jump-shooting range, but he is a fundamentally sound player.

That said, we do need bench help. If we could trade Scal and a couple future 2nd rounders to Charlotte to clear cap space, that’d be great. There are better free agents out there who’d take $2-$3 million.

If KG signs, I think it makes us front-runners for any veteran free agent (e.g., C-Webb). Who wouldn’t want to play on a team with this talent?

All this talk of a thin bench is foolishness. Of course we’re screwed if injuries hit us. But, who isn’t? What’s San Antonio without Tim Duncan? The Mavs without Dirk or the Suns without Nash?

This isn’t the NFL. Teams don’t go that deep. Look at the 7th and 8th men for Dallas (Devean George, Greg Buckner), Phoenix (Kurt Thomas, James Jones), Utah (Gordon Giricek, Paul Millsap), Houston (Chuck Hayes, Dikembe Mutombo). Do any of these guys impress you?

I’m not saying depth is not improtant. But, once you have a starting lineup that can compete, the rest is not about great talent, it’s about fit. San Antonio has been the best at it. Their bench is filled with late-career guys who have been reduced to one-dimensional players (Finley, Horry, Barry, Vaughn) and International role players (Obierto, Udrih, Elson).

Maybe the Celtics won’t be able to land as many of these types as the Spurs this late in the game. But, I think we can still grab two or three guys that match up with Dallas, Phoenix, Utah, and Houston. Payton is unsigned; Magloire is still out there; Dale Davis, Mutombo, or Jalen Rose may even have something left in the tank. Between the MLE and the veteran’s exemption, we’ve got enough to get it done for this year. And certainly, if we don’t win it this year, I trust Danny to fill out the roster with next year’s draft and veteran free agents.