Brad Stevens Elevated to Head of Basketball Ops for the Celtics

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I assume he meant Michael and not Joey. Especially since Joey might be leaving after this coming year anyway.

I assumed as such too. Bad joke.

I've never seen a thread on this board be so hot so fast, then nosedive into obscurity so quickly.

[ElliottHoo]

That has definitely been a take over the past year especially, that picks exist only to leverage them into proven superstars with a goal toward repeatedly going "all in" when the window presents itself. While the Celtics haven't draft well since Tatum, I think they most got unlucky with Hayward's injury and Kyrie's flakiness.

In 1989 the Sacramento Kings had the #1 overall pick. They followed that up with *4* first round picks in 1990, and had 2 more first round picks in 1991 (including the #3 overall pick). We all remember what a juggernaut the Kings ended up being in the 90s after that, right?

Narrator: The Kings were over .500 for a single season that decade, the strike-shortened 98-99, when they went 27-23.

[dudog84]

In 1989 the Sacramento Kings had the #1 overall pick. They followed that up with *4* first round picks in 1990, and had 2 more first round picks in 1991 (including the #3 overall pick). We all remember what a juggernaut the Kings ended up being in the 90s after that, right?

Narrator: The Kings were over .500 for a single season that decade, the strike-shortened 98-99, when they went 27-23.

The curses of Pervis'. Never forget, never forgive.

[Acymetric]

In 1989 the Sacramento Kings had the #1 overall pick. They followed that up with *4* first round picks in 1990, and had 2 more first round picks in 1991 (including the #3 overall pick). We all remember what a juggernaut the Kings ended up being in the 90s after that, right?

Narrator: The Kings were over .500 for a single season that decade, the strike-shortened 98-99, when they went 27-23.

Different era. In the modern "let's make a superteam" era, draft capital is to be prized (but, seemingly contradicting, sparingly used). I agree with others who feel that the main problems were some bad signing decisions (Heyward, obvious at the time, and Kyrie, which was mostly only obvious in hindsight).

[ElliottHoo]

The curses of Pervis'. Never forget, never forgive.

Ainge himself initially dubbed him “Never Nervous Pervis” but later amended it to “Out of Service Pervis”.

[ice-9]

We all knew Tatum was special and is going to be great, but even with my Duke-colored glasses Tatum has become a revelation these playoffs. He has become a legitimate #1 option on a championship worthy team. He was nigh unstoppable even as the only real scoring threat on the Celtics.

Given that, there's no question the Celtics have underperformed the last few seasons as an organization. They could have assembled a contender from the talent that has come through those green doors:

Rozier: 20.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists
Kyrie: 26.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6.0 assists
Hayward: 19.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists
Horford: 14.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists

What's even more damning is when you consider how much better Rozier, Kyrie and Hayward have looked after leaving the Celtics. Even Horford gets an asterisk considering he was traded to a team that prioritized developing younger talent.

Can you imagine superstar Tatum, all-star Brown, future all-star Robert Williams and any two of those players? Plus all those picks?

Now the Celtics are in a weird position where they don't have enough to contend for a championship and need to make changes. They went from having too much depth to no depth at all. And NBA analysts are openly asking whether Brown and Tatum are even long-term the best pairing. Ainge leaving and Stevens moving to the front office is the clearest signal of internal troubles.

[Kedsy]

Tatum has become a revelation these playoffs. He has become a legitimate #1 option on a championship worthy team.

Out of curiosity, which championship worthy team is that?

[ice-9]

Out of curiosity, which championship worthy team is that?

I meant that in a figurative sense. As in, he's a good enough scorer to be a first option on a team that can win a championship assuming Tatum has the right pieces around him.

In contrast, Julius Randle is not a good enough scorer to be a first option; because in the playoffs, defenses can too easily be designed to stop him.

[Natty_B]

Sigh - I hate to break this to the front page but I kinda doubt Steven’s is going to hire Kara Lawson. Was there a sale on LSD in the triangle yesterday?

[Bluedog]

Sigh - I hate to break this to the front page but I kinda doubt Steven’s is going to hire Kara Lawson. Was there a sale on LSD in the triangle yesterday?

Scalabrine thinks so, but I doubt he's that plugged in.

[53n206]

I'm not sure that I will continue to like college basketball if Duke isn't always at or near the top.

[rsvman]

Scalabrine thinks so, but I doubt he's that plugged in.

Scalabrine thinks there was a sale on LSD in the triangle? Interesting.

[cato]

Sigh - I hate to break this to the front page but I kinda doubt Steven’s is going to hire Kara Lawson. Was there a sale on LSD in the triangle yesterday?

You know, I always assumed the demand for LSD was inelastic. Putting it on sale probably won’t increase demand all that much.

[superdave]

Welll...about that...

Kyrie hated Boston and wanted to go be cool in NYC.
Hayward didnt want to be a 4th option...he wanted more and left.
Horford...I have no idea why he left but he did for just a little more money.
Rozier's rookie deal was up and Boston didnt want to pay him market because of low ceiling, bad fit issues.

At the end of the day, Boston kept going for home runs (Kyrie, Anthony Davis) when singles and doubles made more sense.

I've been thinking about this for the past year as Ainge has drafted poorly since nabbing Tatum. It's fascinating to me because we are about to see OKC, Houston and Orlando go through similar scenarios with draft capital.

Look at their last three drafts -

2018 - #27 Robert Williams. He fell and looks to be a long-term rotation player if not starter. That's a solid B. The other option was to package some of their 2019 picks to move up to take a gamble on Michael Porter Jr.

2019 - #14 Romeo Langford, #20 Matissse Thybulle, #22 Grant Williams. Langford has played in 50 games and averaged 2.7 points. Grant averaged 18 minutes this season and is maybe a 9th man. Thybulle was traded for Carsen Edwards and Ty Jerome. Jerome (42% from 3 this season) was used as bait to dump Aron Baynes contract. Thybulle is now a rotation player for Philly. Ainge was 0 for 3 this draft. He kept all the fodder and traded all the good pieces away. Ouch.

2020 - #14 Aaron Nesmith, #26 Payton Pritchard, #30 Desmond Bane. Bane was traded away to get out of the Kanter contract. He went on to shoot 43% from 3 for Memphis this season in 22 minutes per. Again, Ainge keeps the wrong guys.

While it's easy to point out who Ainge could have drafted, a better strategy would be to package all those picks in 2016-2018 to move up and nab guys that would constitute building a roster for fit. Wendell Carter went #7 in 2018. Maybe the #14 picks in 2019 and 2020 plus another assets lands them a 10-year starter at center. Maybe they package a few things to move up in 2019 to get Rui Hachimura or Tyrese Haliburton in 2020. As Kedsy pointed out, Ainge bragged about fleecing the Sixers in the Fultz-Tatum trade and no one wanted to deal with him again.

At the end of the day, Ainge nailed the Garnett Pierce exit, nailed the Tatum and Brown picks, but got caught dreaming of Kyrie and AD. Better moves would have to build a roster with singles and doubles. Imagine turning draft capital into Wendell Carter (7th pick) at center, Hachmura (9th) at the 4 and Haliburton (12th) at the one to compliment Brown and Tatum. Instead they have Nesmith, Pritchard, Langford, Grant Williams and some future 2nd round picks. That's a bad three-year run.

Ainge got caught dreaming. I would love to see Sam Presti nail this draft in OKC then start packaging picks to have his roster rounded out by end of next year. Atlanta did it moving up for D'Andre Hunter who is the perfect fit.

We all knew Tatum was special and is going to be great, but even with my Duke-colored glasses Tatum has become a revelation these playoffs. He has become a legitimate #1 option on a championship worthy team. He was nigh unstoppable even as the only real scoring threat on the Celtics.

Given that, there's no question the Celtics have underperformed the last few seasons as an organization. They could have assembled a contender from the talent that has come through those green doors:

Rozier: 20.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists
Kyrie: 26.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6.0 assists
Hayward: 19.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists
Horford: 14.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists

What's even more damning is when you consider how much better Rozier, Kyrie and Hayward have looked after leaving the Celtics. Even Horford gets an asterisk considering he was traded to a team that prioritized developing younger talent.

Can you imagine superstar Tatum, all-star Brown, future all-star Robert Williams and any two of those players? Plus all those picks?

Now the Celtics are in a weird position where they don't have enough to contend for a championship and need to make changes. They went from having too much depth to no depth at all. And NBA analysts are openly asking whether Brown and Tatum are even long-term the best pairing. Ainge leaving and Stevens moving to the front office is the clearest signal of internal troubles.

[AtlDuke72]

Sigh - I hate to break this to the front page but I kinda doubt Steven’s is going to hire Kara Lawson. Was there a sale on LSD in the triangle yesterday?

Why would you say that? After all she was an assistant coach for a whole year in the NBA and has a 3-1 record with the Duke women’s team.

[Wander]

I meant that in a figurative sense. As in, he's a good enough scorer to be a first option on a team that can win a championship assuming Tatum has the right pieces around him.

In contrast, Julius Randle is not a good enough scorer to be a first option; because in the playoffs, defenses can too easily be designed to stop him.

I agree. For example, swap Tatum for Donovan Mitchell, and I think the Jazz are still a title contender with Tatum as the #1 scorer.

[dudog84]

Sigh - I hate to break this to the front page but I kinda doubt Steven’s is going to hire Kara Lawson. Was there a sale on LSD in the triangle yesterday?

Why would you say that? After all she was an assistant coach for a whole year in the NBA and has a 3-1 record with the Duke women’s team.

The Boston Celtics are 1 of the 2 or 3 premier franchises in the NBA, actually probably 1A or 1B. They are NOT going to hire a woman whose entire head coaching resume consists of 4 games in college, 3 of those against markedly inferior competition. I feel a little trippy even responding to this subject.

Are you trying to get Brad Stevens fired from the GM job?

I want Kara Lawson to be at Duke for a long time. I believe she will be.

[AtlDuke72]

Duh. You need to check your sarcasm gauge.

[budwom]

As several commentators have noted, the Celts have taken a problem (Ainge leaving) and created two problems...not sure what the big plan is, but now they have a very talented coach as GM (with no GM experience) and they need a coach.

[Natty_B]

Isn’t Brad Stevens just Porter Moser with more hype? I think the time has come for the internet to stop our obsessing over him.