2020 NBA Playoffs

[Mabdul Doobakus]

Miami is going to have to try and force small ball, utilize that zone and gang rebound. They have to force a half court style. I think Bam can guard AD or Lebron but when they are both on the court, they will have issues.

Supposedly Jimmy has some history of success guarding Lebron. Wouldn't have been my first thought, but if that's the case I could see them putting Jimmy on him at times, particularly when Jimmy isn't needed to push the offense and select possessions at crunch time.

[Billy Dat]

Supposedly Jimmy has some history of success guarding Lebron. Wouldn't have been my first thought, but if that's the case I could see them putting Jimmy on him at times, particularly when Jimmy isn't needed to push the offense and select possessions at crunch time.

I am sure they will all get their turn at LBJ...Jimmy, Crowder, Iggy and Bam.

Watching Lebron try and dissect the Miami zone will be fun. The Lakers defense has been so solid, watching them try and defend Miami's actions and shooting will be fun. Dare I say, this series should be fun.

Plus, we get the great Lebron vs Miami storyline, Riley vs the Lakers...the two Kings battling their former empires.

[Steven43]

So the Lakers won in five? Who’d of thought that? Oh yea, me.

Hoping the Celtics can follow up their last win with another. But I think the odds are high the Heat close them out tonight.

You’re not counting Mason Plumlee’s gift to Anthony Davis at the end of Game 2 are you? Without Mason’s incredible generosity (maybe he owed Anthony a very large favor? We joke, of course.) that series would have gone 6 or 7 and your prediction would have been wrong, my friend.

[Steven43]

Not hosed, completely outplayed in the 4th.

Can’t both be possible at the same time?

[Steven43]

I’m convinced Boston can’t win a championship with the team they have right now. Some tough choices need to be made by Ainge this offseason.

Okay, you’re the Boston GM for a day. What do you do? I have some ideas, but I’d rather hear yours first. 😉

[Steven43]

He is really rested. Miami is a tough out because they have shooters. The Lakers do not. It would not be surprising if the Heat takes this.

Thank you, sir, for putting out positive vibes for the Heat. Or were they anti-Lakers vibes (my preference)? Either way, Go Heat!

[Steven43]

Celtics played hard. But they are flawed. Here are the biggest issues:

1. Big men. Theis is one of those Boston players who the city of Boston loves. He's a no-name player who does the dirty work and never gets upset because he didn't get 5+ shots up. But in reality, Theis just isn't elite nor will be ever be. If Theis is your cheap option in the starting line-up, he needs to be very good at defense. Think of Battier on the Heat or Damian Jones/Bogut on the Warriors (and I get Bogut is a former All-Star but he wasn't paid much in his final years); really good defenders who won't get murdered by opposing players. And Theis got murdered by Bam (who, by the way, is just a wonderful player).

2. Coaching. I love Brad Stevens. I want him to stay and be a Celtic lifer. But in truth, I believe the best coach in the NBA is Spoeltra. This isn't recency bias; Speoltra has been elite for a while. His in-game adjustments are easily the best in the NBA. His ability to counter-punch in the fourth quarter is becoming legendary. He completely out-coached Brad Stevens this series. Also, what the hell was Stevens thinking in the 4th quarter? Just jack up crap 3s? If there is one team you don't want to trade 3 point shots with, it's the Heat. If the Celtics want to advance, Stevens needs better in-game adjustments. His game plans, especially for the first 3 quarters, are excellent. 4th quarters? Not so much.

3. Depth. If Grant Williams is your best bench player in an elimination game, you're done. Yes, the Celtics had Hayward. But he's coming off an injury and had a horrible game. The Celtics need depth, but building through the draft is just too long a process.

4. Kemba. Great leader. Great teammate. Great regular season player. But he was poor in these playoffs. He shot 44% from the floor and 31% from 3. That's unacceptable, especially when you have Tatum and Brown (and sometimes Smart) who can spread the floor for you. I like Kemba, but he had a bad playoffs.

So what do the Celtics do? Well, keep the core of Kemba/Tatum/Brown/Smart/Theis. Trade Hayward asap (and if they don't, I'll lose a lot of respect for Stevens because he's doing what's best for the player and not the team). Trade draft picks. Trade / release low-value rotation players like Kanter, Ojeleye, Edwards, and maybe Wannamaker (but he's an okay two-way player). And get in young, good players through those trades, including an upgrade at the starting 5 and 2-3 high impact bench players. With the Celtics Hayward-chip and draft picks, this should be very doable.

In all honesty, I'd like to see the Celtics pick up Harry Giles, who I think can be a good bench player. He has a horrible attitude, but if anyone can fix that, it's Stevens.

Darn it, I should have read your post prior to asking SD what he would do as GM of the Celtics. Looks like you pretty much covered it. I agree with trading Hayward if (and this is a big “if”) the C’s get real value in return. I’m not sure what would constitute real value; I guess I’ll just know it when I see it.

I know you’re down on Kemba Walker, but I am not convinced he is fully healthy. Let’s give him another shot at the playoffs before pronouncing final judgment.

As far as Brad Stevens goes, I agree that Spoelstra outcoached him. But he’s still young and somewhat inexperienced. Let’s see if he learns from his experiences in the Bubble and becomes a better coach for having gone through it. I just hope K stays at Duke for at least 3 or 4 more years so Brad has time to put the Celtics over the top before he comes to Duke 😉.

I know you’re wavering on Wanamaker and he has some talent, but the dude just makes too many boneheaded decisions. I’m not sure he can correct that major weakness in his game,

Finally, Harry Giles has a horrible attitude? What’s up with that? I was not aware of this.

Anyway, good post; keep it up. Go Heat!

[1991 duke law]

In all honesty, I'd like to see the Celtics pick up Harry Giles, who I think can be a good bench player. He has a horrible attitude, but if anyone can fix that, it's Stevens.

I had not previously heard that Harry Giles had a horrible attitude. Maybe I missed it, but I do not recall any negative comments about his attitude – although I seem to recall someone noting that he was out of shape when the season recommenced.

Is this correct – does Harry have a horrible attitude?

[kshepinthehouse]

Can’t both be possible at the same time?

Yes, but in this case, no

[flyingdutchdevil]

Darn it, I should have read your post prior to asking SD what he would do as GM of the Celtics. Looks like you pretty much covered it. I agree with trading Hayward if (and this is a big “if”) the C’s get real value in return. I’m not sure what would constitute real value; I guess I’ll just know it when I see it.

I know you’re down on Kemba Walker, but I am not convinced he is fully healthy. Let’s give him another shot at the playoffs before pronouncing final judgment.

As far as Brad Stevens goes, I agree that Spoelstra outcoached him. But he’s still young and somewhat inexperienced. Let’s see if he learns from his experiences in the Bubble and becomes a better coach for having gone through it. I just hope K stays at Duke for at least 3 or 4 more years so Brad has time to put the Celtics over the top before he comes to Duke 😉.

I know you’re wavering on Wanamaker and he has some talent, but the dude just makes too many boneheaded decisions. I’m not sure he can correct that major weakness in his game,

Finally, Harry Giles has a horrible attitude? What’s up with that? I was not aware of this.

Anyway, good post; keep it up. Go Heat!

I'm not down on Walker, but he had a bad playoffs. That's really not up for debate. Don't know if it's injury, age, or just a bad performance, but he didn't play well.

Wanamaker is...meh. He's a good bench player, but he's also 31 years old. If his decision making is poor, next year won't help that. I like him, but not if he's your second guy off the bench.

As for Giles, here: https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/ki...clining-option

[rsvman]

You’re not counting Mason Plumlee’s gift to Anthony Davis at the end of Game 2 are you? Without Mason’s incredible generosity (maybe he owed Anthony a very large favor? We joke, of course.) that series would have gone 6 or 7 and your prediction would have been wrong, my friend.

In that case, I guess my prediction of the Lakers in six was correct.;-)

[Steven43]

In that case, I guess my prediction of the Lakers in six was correct.;-)

You are correct, sir!

[Billy Dat]

As for Giles, here: https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/ki...clining-option

Harry and Jayson are extremely close friends. I am not sure if his joining the Celtics would be a good or bad thing. Chemistry is fragile and cliques can form.

Hopefully Sacramento can build a better culture with Vlade gone. He is now known as a great GM, and the owner seems too involved in player personnel (1, 2, 3, "Nik ROCKS!) They certainly didn't have much patience with Mike Malone who has done quite well in Denver.

[JasonEvans]

Can someone explain to me why the Boston folks here seem to feel that Hayward is a trade chip and not trade baggage? What team is going to give you anything of value for a guy who has suffered numerous very serious injuries in recent years and is owed $34+ million for the final year of his contract**? I mean, if he was on a more team-friendly deal or a deal that would last for a few seasons then maybe, but the only team that would want him under these conditions is someone looking to dump long-term salary in exchange for short-term salary that goes away after a season.

No one is giving up anything of value for Hayward right now. No chance.

-Jason "Boston will offer Tatum a max extension this off season... thanks to his 3rd team All-NBA selection, I believe it will be the biggest rookie extension in history" Evans

**- I am assuming Hayward picks up his final year option and does not become a free agent right now, waiting until next summer instead. There's no way he would get $34 mil on the open market right now.

[Steven43]

Can someone explain to me why the Boston folks here seem to feel that Hayward is a trade chip and not trade baggage? What team is going to give you anything of value for a guy who has suffered numerous very serious injuries in recent years and is owed $34+ million for the final year of his contract**? I mean, if he was on a more team-friendly deal or a deal that would last for a few seasons then maybe, but the only team that would want him under these conditions is someone looking to dump long-term salary in exchange for short-term salary that goes away after a season.

No one is giving up anything of value for Hayward right now. No chance.

-Jason "Boston will offer Tatum a max extension this off season... thanks to his 3rd team All-NBA selection, I believe it will be the biggest rookie extension in history" Evans

**- I am assuming Hayward picks up his final year option and does not become a free agent right now, waiting until next summer instead. There's no way he would get $34 mil on the open market right now.

Here are some thoughts I have found on the matter. These are not my ideas, but I like this guy’s suggestions. Let me know what you think:

We all agree that the Boston Celtics are legitimate contenders at this point. Jayson Tatum’s ascension to a superstar capable of filling up the stat-sheet, combined with a huge year-four jump for Jaylen Brown, give the C’s the firepower they need at the top of the rotation.

Here is a trade that I think would help the Celtics: Gordon Hayward to Pacers for Myles Turner, Jeremy Lamb and Aaron Holiday. With this trade Boston addresses its need for size without sacrificing spacing (the 6’11”, 250-pound Turner has a 36.3 three-point percentage since last season), adds a reliable wing reserve (once Lamb is recovered from his torn ACL) and perks up the second unit with a 23-year-old playmaker (Holiday). The Celtics immediately become less top-heavy and should expand their margin for error as a result.

The rise of Tatum and Brown doesn’t make him redundant, but their rising cap figures make it foolish to spend so much on a wing who will likely be taking even fewer shots when he returns because of how well the offense has flowed without him.

The return in this deal is solid, with Myles Turner being the golden grab, Jeremy Lamb being a potential sixth man of the year candidate, and Aaron Holiday competing for backup minutes in the backcourt.

That said, I believe Hayward (and a pick or two) could conceivably return both Turner and a player like T.J. Warren, who proved he wasn’t a #1 option in the postseason but proved he was an elite scorer in the bubble.

[pfrduke]

Here are some thoughts I have found on the matter. These are not my ideas, but I like this guy’s suggestions. Let me know what you think:

We all agree that the Boston Celtics are legitimate contenders at this point. Jayson Tatum’s ascension to a superstar capable of filling up the stat-sheet, combined with a huge year-four jump for Jaylen Brown, give the C’s the firepower they need at the top of the rotation.

Here is a trade that I think would help the Celtics: Gordon Hayward to Pacers for Myles Turner, Jeremy Lamb and Aaron Holiday. With this trade Boston addresses its need for size without sacrificing spacing (the 6’11”, 250-pound Turner has a 36.3 three-point percentage since last season), adds a reliable wing reserve (once Lamb is recovered from his torn ACL) and perks up the second unit with a 23-year-old playmaker (Holiday). The Celtics immediately become less top-heavy and should expand their margin for error as a result.

The rise of Tatum and Brown doesn’t make him redundant, but their rising cap figures make it foolish to spend so much on a wing who will likely be taking even fewer shots when he returns because of how well the offense has flowed without him.

The return in this deal is solid, with Myles Turner being the golden grab, Jeremy Lamb being a potential sixth man of the year candidate, and Aaron Holiday competing for backup minutes in the backcourt.

That said, I believe Hayward (and a pick or two) could conceivably return both Turner and a player like T.J. Warren, who proved he wasn’t a #1 option in the postseason but proved he was an elite scorer in the bubble.

I think the Pacers would be insane to make that trade.

[Steven43]

I think the Pacers would be insane to make that trade.

Why? Hayward is an Indiana hero and could still be a good player for at least 4-5 years, and the trade would include a draft pick or two for Indiana. Where is Indiana going right now as is?

[pfrduke]

Why? Hayward is an Indiana hero and could still be a good player for at least 4-5 years, and the trade would include a draft pick or two for Indiana. Where is Indiana going right now as is?

They wouldn't get him for 4-5 years, they would get him for 1 year at $34 million. He is not a $34 million quality player at this point. Getting two low first-round draft picks as an enticement is probably necessary to get another team to acquire Hayward; but I'm not sure that it's worth giving up a talented young big who is locked up at a relatively reasonable price for the next 3 seasons ($18mm/year through the 2023 season).

[Pghdukie]

Being widely reported that Doc Rivers is out as Clippers coach

[dukelifer]

Being widely reported that Doc Rivers is out as Clippers coach

Will be snapped up quickly I suspect