CelticsBlog Offseason Mailbag Uncut - Part IV

I've got a fever. And the only prescription, is more mailbag.

Army_of_One_Nation Okay, so it's 1996 and you're the decision maker for the Celtics. Draft day, you still take employee number 8 or you go Kobe, Peja, Nash or Potapenko (just kidding) knowing what you know now?

So is death not an option? I suppose I'd have to hold my nose and take Kobe. After all, if he's never a Laker then I never develop an irrational dislike for him. Also, the Lakers never win all those championships. While we're at it, I'd also make sure that Pitino was never hired, but that's a whole other butterfly effect discussion.

CelticPrideRR9 How do you think Ray Allen will feel when he see Paul Pierce, K.G, and Rondo winning banner 18?

He'll feel happy for them and jealous at the same time.

paulpierce34g Give an HONEST NBA Finals prediction, even if it does not include Boston....teams and series count.

Oh man, are you really going to make me do this after that Kobe question? I bleed Celtics through and through and if I were a betting man, I could honestly feel pretty good about picking Boston. But if my life depended on it... aw forget it. I'd rather die a Celtics homer than pick the Lakers or Heat. Celtics over the Thunder in 6 games.

#gangnamstyle Do you see the Celtics potentially getting either LaMarcus Aldridge, Josh Smith, Al Jefferson, or any other big man via trade this season? We're quite full in the backcourt, and they are nice trade pieces.
schnell Could you see Josh Smith in green by the end of the season ?

I could maybe see Al Jefferson happening. I really don't see Aldridge happening and Josh Smith is probably a long shot as well. Maybe it is lack of creativity or an inability to see how things will shape up 6 months from now, but I don't envision a major trade this year.

emmanem Why are the Celtics offseason moves not getting any buzz from national media?? Do you believe the C's had a much weaker offseason than the 76ers/ Lakers/ Heat of the world or are people only looking at the "bigness" of the names acquired and not specific fit to system like what I think the Celtics were able to do??

Just about every review I've seen of the Celtics offseason has been glowing, so I'm not sure what you are reading. Also, I think most publications see Boston as one of the top 5 contenders and in the top 2 in the East. Not sure what else you can ask for.

AusCeltic "What does Boston do when KG and PP retires? What free agents can we expect in 2-3 years that will be there and are available/affordable? Do you think we will enter a ""rebuilding"" phase, or will the pieces we have now, Rondo, Jeff and Sully be enough and continue to develop - Cheers"

Danny and company will try for the next two years to rebuild on the fly by developing Green, Sullinger, Bradley, and Lee around Rondo. If those guys don't turn into great players themselves, they'll be pieces to dangle in a trade for great players.

Celticfan53 How do you believe we match up with the new look Chicago Bulls?

Minus Derrick Rose they are quite beatable despite being very stout on defense. Once Rose gets back, nobody will want to face them in the early rounds of the playoffs. Night and day.

Marjun "Since Rondo just went here in the Philippines, is there any way KG can go here and spread fear, errr, happiness to his die-hard basketball fans here? Now, to my main question: will you ever try playing basketball on flip-flops? 'Cause I did growing up, sometimes even playing barefooted. If I happen to visit Boston in the coming years (which I am planning to in the next 2-3 years), would you agree to a one-on-one basketball game wearing just flip-flops? I'm just 5'7"", don't fret."

At this point in my basketball playing career, it wouldn't matter if I played in flip flops. I've got Big Baby's rise and Mark Blount's nose for the ball. Actually, I had a blast on a cruise one time playing against some drunk guys from the Dominican and one of them played in flip flops. Those guys were hilarious. I guess you had to be there though. Wait, was that you?

1-5-9-3 the celtics have history for developing guys psysically and MENTALLY! so how about taking Andray Blatche with the bia annual we own and improve him mentally because he have already shown his talent and use jeff green at sf position?

If I keep saying no, will it matter at all? Will the questions keep coming? Let me put this out there. I dislike Blatche and I have zero confidence in him. No. No. Please no. (Of course now Danny will sign him tomorrow)

--------- What do you expect from Rondo this season?

Not much. Just the MVP.

schnell who's the best SG in the league ?

I don't know. Kobe I guess.

CaliforniaGreen What do you think the odds, if any, that Kevin Love gets moved to the C's later on down the road? I think we need a quota of at least one Kevin on the team at any given time. Especially as power forward. Wait a tick, McHale, Garnett... Is there some sort of pattern here?

The odds are somewhere between slim and none, especially since McHale is in Houston these days. That's not to say that Kahn will do the right thing. He'll probably trade Love to the Nets for 3 point guards or something.

Luke Middleton Imagine that you can have a beer with one current Celtics player. Who would you want to sit and talk with and why?

Gotta be Rajon Rondo. I love KG and the Truth but if there's one guy I'd like to peel back the layers with, it would be Rajon. What a fascinating guy he would be if you could get past that wall he's got up.

Fluminense How are we going to "fix" our rebound problem? Our best rebounder is a rookie and we all know they get "no calls".

I don't know, maybe try harder? You can't teach rebounding instincts but you can emphasize it as a coaching staff and work at it as a team and make improvements to it. Also, staying healthy would help a lot. Practice time also helps a whole lot too. I have fun with this debate just to stir things up, but I think the team will get better at rebounding this year. They might not be the best, but all that really matters is wins and losses, so however they get there is fine with me.

Mkg wil the celtics ever try to pair Josh smith with rondo

I'm sure they've already tried.

incoherent Which celtics player best represents your own ability on the bball court?

Um, I'm not sure I want to insult anyone that way. I guess Jeff Green in the sense that I'm ok at a lot of things and have never excelled at any one thing. Thankfully my heart is fine, as far as I know.

fairweatherfan "I think the most important player for the coming season is Sully - how he adjusts to the NBA game will determine if we have a strong frontcourt rotation or a shallow one, and how much rest KG is able to get in the regular season and playoffs. We're a much more dangerous team if Sully can contribute this season than if he can't. Who do you think is the most important (not necessarily best) player this season? You can split this into star and non-star categories if it's easier."

I think Rondo is the most important star, Kevin Garnett is the most important Legend, and Jeff Green is the most important support player. Oh, and Jason Terry is the most important super-sub. Sully is the most important rookie. Melo is the most important Red Claw. Brian Doo is the most important guy-that-stretches-out-the-players. Everyone is important. If we want an NBA title out of this group, everything has to fall into place. We need contributions from top to bottom and we need guys to step up and out-perform expectations. I think it can happen but it takes a full team effort. (I feel like I just gave a speech in the huddle. Ubuntu on 3, ...1,2,3 UBUNTU!)

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