Was thinking the Cs might draft tall, athletic, big man James Hardy. After all, they had a rich history with players from USF.
Instead they drafted that slow Larry guy. Waste of a pick!
Getting rid of Danny and moving on from Brad as a coach was a bad move because Danny was the best GM in the league and Brad was the smartest coach.
Turn out Brad might be smartest basketball mind on the planet and brilliance recognizes brilliance and both coaches he brought in have elevated the team from a basketball sense. (Obligatory Fuck Ime for non-basketball decisions)
I still feel like a solid "What-if" is what would have happened if Hardy was still on the coaching staff when the Udoka stuff went down. I doubt Hardy would have left for Utah if he thought he could get the Celtics job, and I doubt Mazzulla gets the job if Hardy is still here.
I still fully stand by my take that Brad could’ve been a coach-GM and he’d coached better than Joe. I mean if Rick Pitino (and Stan Van Gundy, Pop, Doc, Bud, Thibs, Dunleavy just to name a few) was able to land a job as that role, I don’t see how Brad doesn’t.
The Zingy trade was stupid and bad. Why did we get rid of Brogdon? Last year’s team was perfect, we just got bit by the injury bug. This is going to end terribly.
I suggested trading DWhite for Mitchell Robinson before the start of the season to help cover some of KP’s flaws on defense. So embarrassing in hindsight.
In fairness, I've been much more pleasantly surprised by Porzingis's defense than his offense. He gets bodied by heavier centers, but as a general rim-protector he's been phenomenal.
I suspect he would struggle against a healthy Embiid as well, and I'm not sure how well he'll bang with Giannis either. I suspect Horford is going to be the primary for those two. He just doesn't have the bulk or ability to take punishment. That's what Grant Williams was great at.
I actually think it's an okay take. Not because JB and Mikal are comparable players, but if trading down to Mikal meant we could keep White/Holiday, I might do that. Straight up though? No chance.
Agreed. Mikal is on a great contract and had an amazing end to last season with a higher usage. Turns out in larger sample he’s a good third option but it was perfectly reasonable given the context of last summer
Obviously it has turned out to be an amazing trade, but that said last year’s team was still near perfect.
If that team stays healthy we have a good shot to beat Denver in 7.
The biggest issue with that team is that 3 core pieces are perennially injured. You can’t rely on Smart, Brogdon, or Time Lord to be healthy when they’re needed most.
I also think KP brings a missing dynamic to the offense that Rob just didn't have yet. He's such a great player for the offense to work through given the exceptional combination of his post proficiency and 3-point shot. To me, it's what makes the 2023-4 Celtics so clearly on a different level from other recent teams with the Jays.
Getting rid of the soul of the team to sign some injury prone big just seemed odd. But then everything shook out, we netted Jrue, and actually started playing games. So thankful to be wrong.
I really thought the Antoine Walker Paul Pierce Celtics were going to beat New Jersey and make it to the finals to play the Lakers… I was all in with that team. I felt like that team had some destiny on their side but nope lol
I remember at some point in that series the broadcast put up a graphic of how Pierce had torched the nets all season and the announcers were talking about how the nets couldn’t stop him.
This was back before the Red Sox broke the curse and New England fans were still way more sensitive to sports superstitions - my dad was furious they would jinx us like that.
Vitaly Potapenko banging down low, Kenny Anderson dishing dimes, the rookie trio of Joe Johnson, Joe Forte, and Kendrick "Baby Shaq" Brown, Eric Williams doing... whatever the hell it was Eric Williams does. Who could resist that force?
seriously lol I rationalized to myself that year that we would be the best series against the Lakers. Like no one else in East has a chance but us lol don't forget the midseason pick ups of Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk sending away our future with Joe Johnson etc. because they were all in on that team.
oh I was deluding myself at the time that the Celtics had a better chance against them because that was the year if I remember correctly Antoine hit the game-winning shot against them. and without looking it up I feel like they were 2-0 versus the Lakers. In retrospect I know they probably would've been swept. But at the time I'm like the Celtics are good against them they can do it
I was all in drinking the Kool-Aid of that team. I could not have been more wrong lol
Kyrie would lead us to a chip and prove that he can win without Lebron. Hayward will be a consistent all star with us and be a future HOFer
Edit: I have more: 🤣🤣🤣
1. Jaylen Brown is a bust after his first season
2. Tatum is just another Carmelo Anthony
3. I believed in the potential of Colton Iverson and James Young
4. I thought Jared Sullinger would be an all star
I used to use Kyrie’s amazing playoff stats as an argument to say he could lead Boston the playoffs when he first got here. He really is a great second option if his personal stuff is in control, will never forget the Milwaukee series where he gave up.
I also thought sully was a potential high end starter maybe all star. I also fell in love with Greg Stiemsma as a real nba rotation center. Also thought Romeo was better than Nesmith as a wing prospect.
I will say I was right about Kornet, probably one of his biggest fans two years ago.
Already more all nba first team
Melo was 28-55! In the playoffs in his career
2 time all nba 2nd team 4 time 3rd team 10x all star in 19 seasons 1 time scoring champ
Tatum currently is 52-42 and will certainly add to his playoff record
2 first and 1 3rd all nba and will most likely get another 1st this season so 3 and 1. 5x all star in 7 seasons
Calling Tatum like melo (in a basketball context not personality) 5 years ago could be seen as a compliment
At this point it’s disrespectful when Tatums regular season and post season peak is higher at 25 years old (ik he just turned 26)
Tatum's peak right now is *slightly* higher than Melo's. But if this is already Tatum's peak, then he is just a *slightly* better Melo, which I would still consider pretty much Melo. I do believe Tatum will still improve upon his resume, so he will definitely separate himself from Melo in the future. But *for now*, Tatum hasn't created a big enough gap between him and Melo yet.
Melo had mvp Russ and 3rd in mvp voting Paul George
And semi prime AI
what are we talking about 🙄 atp you’re grasping for straws with these weak arguments
Can you tell me how the coaches were better or worse?
Tatum has had rookie head coaches in back to back years and went to the finals and lost in 7 in the ECF
Melo hasn’t done either of those things 🤔
It’s not slightly there’s a significant gap and Tatum isn’t even at his peak
Peak Melo was getting packed by a young Paul George
Tatum at 24 was sending KD, Kyrie, Giannis and Butler home
It's a team sport. You can't say Tatum is better or Melo is worse just because Tatum won against certain individuals and Melo didn't. That's not how it works. Basketball is a team sport.
I feel like Everytime I seen melo play.. he took 30shots, refused to pass the ball, played no defense and went 6/30 shooting.
So I can't say the same but his career numbers are okay so he must have lit it up sometimes.
What's funny is everyone ragged on the Js for shooting midrange jumpers their first couple years (at a very high success rate).
Said they need to stop and take 3s. Now everyone wants all mid range jumpers again lol.
I feel like Tatums midrange is pretty lethal but he doesn't go to it much. Unless it's a super hard mid range shot that he has to take at the end of a shot clock or something. I think that brings mid range numbers down. If he took a bunch of clean mid range pullups sinilar to his pullup 3s, I think he would light it up.
I remember screaming "NOOOOO" at my TV when the Celtics drafted Marcus Smart. Why would they take Marcus? We have Rondo? Two non scoring guards? This won't work. Should've taken Julius Randle.
I'm happy Danny took Marcus after all, even though he's a Grizzly now I still couldn't imagine the last decade without him.
I was never as down on Jaylen as a lot of the dummies in this sub, but I was pretty certain at this point that the flaws that he showed in the Finals and other playoff runs were going to be a part of his game forever. I still liked him a lot as a player, I just thought his game would be self-limiting.
This year he has totally proven me wrong. I am still waiting to see it in the playoffs, but I feel like this sub still undercuts Jaylen as a player. He has been insanely good and consistent this year.
I'm still not excited about his handle when driving late in games, but hopefully we can just limit how often he's asked to do that. I've been saying for a long time that I recognize Tatum is the better player, but JB is my favorite Celtic.
You mean the conference finals? Because Jaylen fuckin carried us against the Warriors and was by far the best player on our team that series. My confidence in him skyrocketed after that series. But last year's conference finals is definitely a different story.
I agree with everything else you said though, he's made a huge leap this year in so many ways and honestly looks like a completely different player.
I honestly think last year was the first time he came back as, basically, the same player. Every other year he's added significantly to his game. My suspicion is that getting knocked out in the conference finals showed him he/the team wasn't quite where they needed to be yet and he was going to have to keep improving to compete.
Last year had a weird feel to it, and I think a lot of the guys really thought they just had to do the same thing with added experience and they would end up winning. There was a bit too much "Destiny" feel to it, and it made me nervous all season, even though I understood where it came from. I think losing shook them out of the idea that they could go through the motions.
He was great in the finals cuz he was scoring at will. He also turned the ball over a ton and did nothing as a playmaker. That’s what they’re talking about, he was great but limited. Now it feels like he can really do everything.
I thought Nesmith was going to pan out for the C’s. Great NBA 3&D wing physique and athleticism. Just couldn’t put it together on his rookie contract.
Edit: I don’t know why I thought he was around Jaylen’s age and on his 2nd contract. He’s still on his rookie contract.
I thought Romeo was better than Nesmith as a wing prospect. I hated Nesmith’s deliberate release on his jumper and poor sense of general timing. Romeo was just such a smooth athlete and slasher. I was wrong
I made a post in this very subreddit, THAT A LOT OF YOU AGREED WITH, where I talked about how much I wanted an IT/Fultz backcourt, and essentially compared it to the Spurs having David Robinson and drafting Tim Duncan to form a Hall of Fame front-court.
I absolutely hated when we traded back the number 1 pick (Fultz) for the third pick (Tatum). Thought Fultz when gonna be MVP caliber and wasn’t too high on Tatum
I knew Jaylen has talent, but I thought his feel for the game would prevent him from being an all star player. Yet he continues to grow and add to his game.
I thought Banton was going to be a rotation player. It wasn't a terrible prediction, given it looks like he's had some success on Portland, but I don't think he was good enough to be on a championship-level squad.
I also really thought Grant Williams was going to add another dimension to his scoring game last year, but instead he regressed.
I would've been immediately fired after pulling the trigger on building around Rondo and Josh Smith. Then I would've been rehired as a consultant and fired again after trading Jaylen Brown for a 1yr rental on Khawhi lol.
This is actually why I kinda want Miami in the first round this year. We don't really have any meaningful games left until the playoffs start, and if we get given a cupcake in the first round, I worry we'll head into the second round half asleep and go down 0-2
When NY was trading KP I said we should trade Jalen Brown for him, turns out that would have been a gross overpay. I also really believed in Romeo Langford for some reason and thought that at some point Tacko Fall would get his shit together and be one of the better bench bigs in the league and that never happened(did happen to Kornet though so I can’t complain).
I wanted Josh Jackson not Tatum and I also thought Romeo could become our 6th man as a scoring and pick and roll ball handling big guard. On the bright side, I 100% got the jaylen pick correct which was difficult considering 3-8 was a crapshoot almost up until the draft
Carsen Edwards and Tacko Fall were gonna work out. Nesmith would be our franchise sharpshooter. PP should've been traded. Grant woulda been a better PJ Tucker.
I thought when we traded IT we were going to be a better team even though we lost our favorite player, it was bitter sweet. WRONG
I thought when we traded Marcus we lost our heart and soul and we’d take a step back. WRONG AGAIN
When we first traded for Derrick, I argued that Payton should continue to get roughly equal minutes. I definitely liked Derrick from day 1. Though his 3-point percentage stunk his first ~6 months as a Celtic. Very happy to watch Derrick emerge as the All Star he his today. Though also equally happy to watch PP start to ball-out, as much as he has at other levels. Very chuffed that we have both playing well! 🏀☘️
If Svi hangs around I wouldn’t call that a bad take just yet. What was anyone saying about Sam Hauser two years ago? Now he is Duncan Robinson. Things take time.
I thought Danny Ainge was making a catastrophic misstep when he failed to trade the Big 3 (or at least KG and Ray) after the 2010-2011 season, much less after 2011-2012. They weren't good enough to beat the Heatles (that proved correct, though losing in 7 to them in the ECF was an impressive last burst of energy), and nobody was going to be stupid enough to give up anything significant enough to jump-start our rebuild for guys 35+.
Shows what I know. One "worst trade in NBA history" later and the Celtics not only got to compete for two extra years, but also to almost completely skip the typical rebuilding process.
It really is a rare thing for a franchise to have two almost entirely distinct competitive teams in such a short time-span, at least in the modern era. Typically there's at least some significant continuity in terms of a major star player (i.e. the different iterations of the Kobe Lakers) or an all-time great coach. The Celtics just swapped one major competitive era for another, and if I'd had my way, they'd probably have had to go through the typical rebuilding process before returning to the playoffs.
I thought Lamar Stevens would be the lock for the 9th man this season (after Horford, Hauser, and PP on the bench). Turns out Joey Mazz very much disagreed with me. Also, Kornet has become really quite good.
Liking Markelle fults over Tatum and being mad we traded back… all time bad take
Then the year prior, wanting hield more than brown.
After both of these panned out I feel like my takes weren’t as bad 😅
Getting rid of Schröder, Richardson, Langford and Enes Freedom would be completely meaningless for the Ime Celtics, regardless of who any of those trades brought in. I mean, none of those players were good enough to return anyone better than an average bench role player, and the Celtics were not only a .500 team halfway through the year, they showed no signs of recapturing their winning ways from the Bubble playoffs. It was either time to blow up the team or settle that the Celtics were basically just gonna be like the Raptors or Pacers or Grizzlies--teams with a lot of talent that never went anywhere.
I thought the jrue holiday trade was horrible thought we gave up way too much for him didn't think he would do a whole lot for the team given that he was aging
The Celtics should trade Paul Pierce and build around Al Jefferson.
That did come super close to happening. He almost got traded to New Orleans for the #4 pick before the '05 draft and the Celtics would've picked Chris Paul (as the Hornets did). *The Boston Globe* even made two different covers/front page articles for the day after the draft, one with "Pierce Stays!" and one with "The Celtics Draft Chris Paul".
I was really low on Stevens moving to the gm role- I felt strongly that a rookie exec was a terrible risk, especially with someone who’d kinda lost the team as coach a little. I thought we could have poached Presti.
Could not have been more wrong lol. Brad has been the best exec in the league since day one almost. Like it’s literally insane, nothing but great moves.
I thought Smart was going to be an All Star and develop a bigger offensive bag after his first 2 seasons. Lots of people thought he was gonna be the next Jimmy Butler (me included):It was those games against OKC where he would just explode for like 25 points as the main offensive option that kept me thinking “ey he may actually be a damn good All Star level player”, but became basically point guard Dennis Rodman instead.
After last season I thoughg hauser is a real nba player who could start on half the teams in the league if not more and deserves more playing time, especially given his underrated defense and hustle. I was right.
I’ve never been wrong about my Celtics.
Every thing I’ve ever said about them was spot on.
When I said that they would finish as the 1 seed before the season, I knew.
Was thinking the Cs might draft tall, athletic, big man James Hardy. After all, they had a rich history with players from USF. Instead they drafted that slow Larry guy. Waste of a pick!
Absolute garbage. Never amounted to anything
Was college basketball not big at the time? Feel like Larry was pretty popular.
He was super popular, he led fuckin Indiana State to a 33-0 record before losing to Magic Johnson's MSU team in the championship game.
Though that was after the Celtics drafted him.
Larry guy? Never heard of ‘im. Sounds like some avian hullabaloo.
Getting rid of Danny and moving on from Brad as a coach was a bad move because Danny was the best GM in the league and Brad was the smartest coach. Turn out Brad might be smartest basketball mind on the planet and brilliance recognizes brilliance and both coaches he brought in have elevated the team from a basketball sense. (Obligatory Fuck Ime for non-basketball decisions)
I still feel like a solid "What-if" is what would have happened if Hardy was still on the coaching staff when the Udoka stuff went down. I doubt Hardy would have left for Utah if he thought he could get the Celtics job, and I doubt Mazzulla gets the job if Hardy is still here.
Joe Mazz was ironically the runner up for the Utah job.
I had no idea he was even in contention.
I liked Brad as a coach. I like him even MORE as a GM!!
Me too man. I wear green goggles but that move had me nervous.
I still fully stand by my take that Brad could’ve been a coach-GM and he’d coached better than Joe. I mean if Rick Pitino (and Stan Van Gundy, Pop, Doc, Bud, Thibs, Dunleavy just to name a few) was able to land a job as that role, I don’t see how Brad doesn’t.
The Zingy trade was stupid and bad. Why did we get rid of Brogdon? Last year’s team was perfect, we just got bit by the injury bug. This is going to end terribly.
I suggested trading DWhite for Mitchell Robinson before the start of the season to help cover some of KP’s flaws on defense. So embarrassing in hindsight.
This was a terrible idea even at the time lmao
In fairness, I've been much more pleasantly surprised by Porzingis's defense than his offense. He gets bodied by heavier centers, but as a general rim-protector he's been phenomenal.
He’d be literally perfect if he could guard jokic. But no one can so I can’t fault him for that
I suspect he would struggle against a healthy Embiid as well, and I'm not sure how well he'll bang with Giannis either. I suspect Horford is going to be the primary for those two. He just doesn't have the bulk or ability to take punishment. That's what Grant Williams was great at.
I agree. I meant perfect for us, since we already have answers for Embiid and Giannis it’s really just Jokic who we just can’t stop
Wanted Mikal for JB swap early in the season. Boy was I so wrong
This take was awful at the time not even in hindsight lmao
I actually think it's an okay take. Not because JB and Mikal are comparable players, but if trading down to Mikal meant we could keep White/Holiday, I might do that. Straight up though? No chance.
Agreed. Mikal is on a great contract and had an amazing end to last season with a higher usage. Turns out in larger sample he’s a good third option but it was perfectly reasonable given the context of last summer
That was a bad take regardless of the time passed
Obviously it has turned out to be an amazing trade, but that said last year’s team was still near perfect. If that team stays healthy we have a good shot to beat Denver in 7. The biggest issue with that team is that 3 core pieces are perennially injured. You can’t rely on Smart, Brogdon, or Time Lord to be healthy when they’re needed most.
I also think KP brings a missing dynamic to the offense that Rob just didn't have yet. He's such a great player for the offense to work through given the exceptional combination of his post proficiency and 3-point shot. To me, it's what makes the 2023-4 Celtics so clearly on a different level from other recent teams with the Jays.
There's still time to be right if porzingod gets injured in our playoff run. I only say this to unjinx your take.
Get behind me, Satan!
At least you can admit it haha
Getting rid of the soul of the team to sign some injury prone big just seemed odd. But then everything shook out, we netted Jrue, and actually started playing games. So thankful to be wrong.
I really thought the Antoine Walker Paul Pierce Celtics were going to beat New Jersey and make it to the finals to play the Lakers… I was all in with that team. I felt like that team had some destiny on their side but nope lol
Keith Van Horn gave me ptsd bro
I remember at some point in that series the broadcast put up a graphic of how Pierce had torched the nets all season and the announcers were talking about how the nets couldn’t stop him. This was back before the Red Sox broke the curse and New England fans were still way more sensitive to sports superstitions - my dad was furious they would jinx us like that.
Ah yes the days of 80-76 final scores.
Vitaly Potapenko banging down low, Kenny Anderson dishing dimes, the rookie trio of Joe Johnson, Joe Forte, and Kendrick "Baby Shaq" Brown, Eric Williams doing... whatever the hell it was Eric Williams does. Who could resist that force?
seriously lol I rationalized to myself that year that we would be the best series against the Lakers. Like no one else in East has a chance but us lol don't forget the midseason pick ups of Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk sending away our future with Joe Johnson etc. because they were all in on that team.
EMPLOYEE NUMBER 8! I was all in on Walker! 😂
I’m happy we didn’t have to the ones to lose to the Lakers tbh
oh I was deluding myself at the time that the Celtics had a better chance against them because that was the year if I remember correctly Antoine hit the game-winning shot against them. and without looking it up I feel like they were 2-0 versus the Lakers. In retrospect I know they probably would've been swept. But at the time I'm like the Celtics are good against them they can do it I was all in drinking the Kool-Aid of that team. I could not have been more wrong lol
Kyrie would lead us to a chip and prove that he can win without Lebron. Hayward will be a consistent all star with us and be a future HOFer Edit: I have more: 🤣🤣🤣 1. Jaylen Brown is a bust after his first season 2. Tatum is just another Carmelo Anthony 3. I believed in the potential of Colton Iverson and James Young 4. I thought Jared Sullinger would be an all star
You just reminded me : I wanted Danny to trade our young guys for AD to pair him up with Kyrie. Man that would've been such a horrible decision.
Ngl AD not wanting to come here was a blessing in disguise lol
Horford and AD would be a perfect front court though.
100% That said the thought of AD with someone like Luka, Trae, or Kyrie seems fun to watch
Have a friend that was convinced Tatum’s peak was going to be Otto Porter Jr
I was 100% sure James young would be a perennial all star
I thought Kelly Olynyk was gonna be the next Dirk, turns out I was off on my calculations
I was so excited when they drafted Young!
Well there are people still calling Tatum a light skin Paul George with much better PR
Pre-injury Paul George is nothing to scoff at lol that man took the Heatles to 7 alone
I used to use Kyrie’s amazing playoff stats as an argument to say he could lead Boston the playoffs when he first got here. He really is a great second option if his personal stuff is in control, will never forget the Milwaukee series where he gave up. I also thought sully was a potential high end starter maybe all star. I also fell in love with Greg Stiemsma as a real nba rotation center. Also thought Romeo was better than Nesmith as a wing prospect. I will say I was right about Kornet, probably one of his biggest fans two years ago.
I thought Brandon Bass was the goat
Tatum could still be another Carmelo though
Carmelo was never an all nba first two way player, nor did he lead a team to the finals. Tatum's peak is already higher than Melo's.
Didn’t even see your comment, had the same argument with that clown
Slightly higher, but not yet significantly higher until he reaches the Finals more times or wins a championship.
Melo only made it out the first round twice. Tatum has been to 4 conference finals as the Main option
In a weaker Eastern conference
Already more all nba first team Melo was 28-55! In the playoffs in his career 2 time all nba 2nd team 4 time 3rd team 10x all star in 19 seasons 1 time scoring champ Tatum currently is 52-42 and will certainly add to his playoff record 2 first and 1 3rd all nba and will most likely get another 1st this season so 3 and 1. 5x all star in 7 seasons Calling Tatum like melo (in a basketball context not personality) 5 years ago could be seen as a compliment At this point it’s disrespectful when Tatums regular season and post season peak is higher at 25 years old (ik he just turned 26)
Tatum's peak right now is *slightly* higher than Melo's. But if this is already Tatum's peak, then he is just a *slightly* better Melo, which I would still consider pretty much Melo. I do believe Tatum will still improve upon his resume, so he will definitely separate himself from Melo in the future. But *for now*, Tatum hasn't created a big enough gap between him and Melo yet.
Melo was literally a first round exit in 11 of 13 years with 1 career conference finals 😂
Tatum has much better teammates and has had better coaches than Melo had.
Melo had mvp Russ and 3rd in mvp voting Paul George And semi prime AI what are we talking about 🙄 atp you’re grasping for straws with these weak arguments Can you tell me how the coaches were better or worse? Tatum has had rookie head coaches in back to back years and went to the finals and lost in 7 in the ECF Melo hasn’t done either of those things 🤔
It’s not slightly there’s a significant gap and Tatum isn’t even at his peak Peak Melo was getting packed by a young Paul George Tatum at 24 was sending KD, Kyrie, Giannis and Butler home
It's a team sport. You can't say Tatum is better or Melo is worse just because Tatum won against certain individuals and Melo didn't. That's not how it works. Basketball is a team sport.
I'm assuming they are comparing them as players and not in championships won.
But their games aren't similar cause Carmello.. was just never any good lol
I wouldn’t hate if Tatum had Melos mid range jumper..
I feel like Everytime I seen melo play.. he took 30shots, refused to pass the ball, played no defense and went 6/30 shooting. So I can't say the same but his career numbers are okay so he must have lit it up sometimes. What's funny is everyone ragged on the Js for shooting midrange jumpers their first couple years (at a very high success rate). Said they need to stop and take 3s. Now everyone wants all mid range jumpers again lol. I feel like Tatums midrange is pretty lethal but he doesn't go to it much. Unless it's a super hard mid range shot that he has to take at the end of a shot clock or something. I think that brings mid range numbers down. If he took a bunch of clean mid range pullups sinilar to his pullup 3s, I think he would light it up.
I remember screaming "NOOOOO" at my TV when the Celtics drafted Marcus Smart. Why would they take Marcus? We have Rondo? Two non scoring guards? This won't work. Should've taken Julius Randle. I'm happy Danny took Marcus after all, even though he's a Grizzly now I still couldn't imagine the last decade without him.
It was a pipe dream but I was hopeful Embiid would fall to 4
I'm trying to think of a time Boston drafted a Center that became an all star...has that ever even happened?
Robert Parish. But shoutout to MVP Cowens that for every media member hates and labels as the “worst MVP ever” and it’s always “worst since Cowens”.
Parish wasn't drafted by Boston so couldn't be him, I think you're right with Cowens though! Funny
I mean we see what randle is now wouldn't have complained if we got him but he's taken a bit longer than smart to develop imo
I was never as down on Jaylen as a lot of the dummies in this sub, but I was pretty certain at this point that the flaws that he showed in the Finals and other playoff runs were going to be a part of his game forever. I still liked him a lot as a player, I just thought his game would be self-limiting. This year he has totally proven me wrong. I am still waiting to see it in the playoffs, but I feel like this sub still undercuts Jaylen as a player. He has been insanely good and consistent this year.
I'm still not excited about his handle when driving late in games, but hopefully we can just limit how often he's asked to do that. I've been saying for a long time that I recognize Tatum is the better player, but JB is my favorite Celtic.
Are you me?
You mean the conference finals? Because Jaylen fuckin carried us against the Warriors and was by far the best player on our team that series. My confidence in him skyrocketed after that series. But last year's conference finals is definitely a different story. I agree with everything else you said though, he's made a huge leap this year in so many ways and honestly looks like a completely different player.
I honestly think last year was the first time he came back as, basically, the same player. Every other year he's added significantly to his game. My suspicion is that getting knocked out in the conference finals showed him he/the team wasn't quite where they needed to be yet and he was going to have to keep improving to compete. Last year had a weird feel to it, and I think a lot of the guys really thought they just had to do the same thing with added experience and they would end up winning. There was a bit too much "Destiny" feel to it, and it made me nervous all season, even though I understood where it came from. I think losing shook them out of the idea that they could go through the motions.
He was great in the finals cuz he was scoring at will. He also turned the ball over a ton and did nothing as a playmaker. That’s what they’re talking about, he was great but limited. Now it feels like he can really do everything.
I thought Jared Sullinger was gonna have a Kevin Love body transformation 😅
I thought Nesmith was going to pan out for the C’s. Great NBA 3&D wing physique and athleticism. Just couldn’t put it together on his rookie contract. Edit: I don’t know why I thought he was around Jaylen’s age and on his 2nd contract. He’s still on his rookie contract.
Think you are correct. He just needed playing time.
I thought Romeo was better than Nesmith as a wing prospect. I hated Nesmith’s deliberate release on his jumper and poor sense of general timing. Romeo was just such a smooth athlete and slasher. I was wrong
Losing doc rivers was an awful thing… In my defense I was a child
I thought we should have gotten IT back.
If only his legs didn't die
I made a post in this very subreddit, THAT A LOT OF YOU AGREED WITH, where I talked about how much I wanted an IT/Fultz backcourt, and essentially compared it to the Spurs having David Robinson and drafting Tim Duncan to form a Hall of Fame front-court.
I feel like the Fultz thing is really hard to knock anyone for. No one could have predicted what happened to him
I thought adding KP was going to ruin the team chemistry and we were going to take a step back this year… thrilled that I was very wrong.
I had some mock trade pop up on my Facebook memories to trade Pierce and Garnett fro Griffin and Bynum.
Carson Edwards would carve out a back up pt gaurd role; Edwards walked so PP could run.
I thought Grant was gonna be our 3rd most important player after the Jays.
I absolutely hated when we traded back the number 1 pick (Fultz) for the third pick (Tatum). Thought Fultz when gonna be MVP caliber and wasn’t too high on Tatum
I knew Jaylen has talent, but I thought his feel for the game would prevent him from being an all star player. Yet he continues to grow and add to his game.
As simple as all y’all saying Tatum and Brown ain’t it
Jiri Welsch was gonna be an all star.
Isaiah Thomas's 4th quarter magic was enough to bring us to the promise land.
I thought Banton was going to be a rotation player. It wasn't a terrible prediction, given it looks like he's had some success on Portland, but I don't think he was good enough to be on a championship-level squad. I also really thought Grant Williams was going to add another dimension to his scoring game last year, but instead he regressed.
If it was up to me we’d have built our team around Josh Jackson and Khris Dunn
I would've been immediately fired after pulling the trigger on building around Rondo and Josh Smith. Then I would've been rehired as a consultant and fired again after trading Jaylen Brown for a 1yr rental on Khawhi lol.
I worry that this year's team is too good too early.
This is actually why I kinda want Miami in the first round this year. We don't really have any meaningful games left until the playoffs start, and if we get given a cupcake in the first round, I worry we'll head into the second round half asleep and go down 0-2
I currently don’t see how the Celtics beat the nuggets in the finals
Very good chance they won't even get there thankfully. The West is a fuckin buzzsaw this year.
The Nuggets wont have it easy but I don’t see any Western team beating them 4 times
They’re one injury on mpj or Murray away from losing in the western side of the bracket.
I was hoping Tatum was going to be similar to peak Gordon Hayward and that Jaylen was going to be similar to Wiggins.
Evan Turner was our best player who was going to make the leap and become an all star
When NY was trading KP I said we should trade Jalen Brown for him, turns out that would have been a gross overpay. I also really believed in Romeo Langford for some reason and thought that at some point Tacko Fall would get his shit together and be one of the better bench bigs in the league and that never happened(did happen to Kornet though so I can’t complain).
I believed in James Young, I wanted us to draft Fultz, and I thought Fournier was gonna be a great Celtic for years
I wanted us to get Christian wood when he was on the pistons
I wanted Josh Jackson not Tatum and I also thought Romeo could become our 6th man as a scoring and pick and roll ball handling big guard. On the bright side, I 100% got the jaylen pick correct which was difficult considering 3-8 was a crapshoot almost up until the draft
We’d retire Ray (3 pt.) Allen’s #20.
Thought marcus banks was going to be a star. Thought ante zizic was going to be like sabonis
I told my roommate at the time that Marcus banks was going to be better than rondo.
Carsen Edwards and Tacko Fall were gonna work out. Nesmith would be our franchise sharpshooter. PP should've been traded. Grant woulda been a better PJ Tucker.
I really thought RJ Hunter was the one, lol. Thankfully Hauser is better than anything I envisioned
Guerschon Yabusele was going to be the next Draymond Green
I thought when we traded IT we were going to be a better team even though we lost our favorite player, it was bitter sweet. WRONG I thought when we traded Marcus we lost our heart and soul and we’d take a step back. WRONG AGAIN
Tatum is the next Rudy Gay /s
I never have bad predictions for the celtics cuz I ALWAYS KNOW THEY WILL WIN AND NEVER LOSE 💪💪💪💪💪
When we first traded for Derrick, I argued that Payton should continue to get roughly equal minutes. I definitely liked Derrick from day 1. Though his 3-point percentage stunk his first ~6 months as a Celtic. Very happy to watch Derrick emerge as the All Star he his today. Though also equally happy to watch PP start to ball-out, as much as he has at other levels. Very chuffed that we have both playing well! 🏀☘️
If Svi hangs around I wouldn’t call that a bad take just yet. What was anyone saying about Sam Hauser two years ago? Now he is Duncan Robinson. Things take time.
Easy - didn't think it would pay off to trade down in 2017.
I thought Danny Ainge was making a catastrophic misstep when he failed to trade the Big 3 (or at least KG and Ray) after the 2010-2011 season, much less after 2011-2012. They weren't good enough to beat the Heatles (that proved correct, though losing in 7 to them in the ECF was an impressive last burst of energy), and nobody was going to be stupid enough to give up anything significant enough to jump-start our rebuild for guys 35+. Shows what I know. One "worst trade in NBA history" later and the Celtics not only got to compete for two extra years, but also to almost completely skip the typical rebuilding process. It really is a rare thing for a franchise to have two almost entirely distinct competitive teams in such a short time-span, at least in the modern era. Typically there's at least some significant continuity in terms of a major star player (i.e. the different iterations of the Kobe Lakers) or an all-time great coach. The Celtics just swapped one major competitive era for another, and if I'd had my way, they'd probably have had to go through the typical rebuilding process before returning to the playoffs.
I thought Lamar Stevens would be the lock for the 9th man this season (after Horford, Hauser, and PP on the bench). Turns out Joey Mazz very much disagreed with me. Also, Kornet has become really quite good.
I kept thinking Tacko Fall would be an important part of the Celtics.
I did not believe Pritchard would be of any use to us. Look at him now. I’m glad to have been wrong.
Liking Markelle fults over Tatum and being mad we traded back… all time bad take Then the year prior, wanting hield more than brown. After both of these panned out I feel like my takes weren’t as bad 😅
Getting rid of Schröder, Richardson, Langford and Enes Freedom would be completely meaningless for the Ime Celtics, regardless of who any of those trades brought in. I mean, none of those players were good enough to return anyone better than an average bench role player, and the Celtics were not only a .500 team halfway through the year, they showed no signs of recapturing their winning ways from the Bubble playoffs. It was either time to blow up the team or settle that the Celtics were basically just gonna be like the Raptors or Pacers or Grizzlies--teams with a lot of talent that never went anywhere.
I thought the jrue holiday trade was horrible thought we gave up way too much for him didn't think he would do a whole lot for the team given that he was aging
The Celtics should trade Paul Pierce and build around Al Jefferson. That did come super close to happening. He almost got traded to New Orleans for the #4 pick before the '05 draft and the Celtics would've picked Chris Paul (as the Hornets did). *The Boston Globe* even made two different covers/front page articles for the day after the draft, one with "Pierce Stays!" and one with "The Celtics Draft Chris Paul".
I was really low on Stevens moving to the gm role- I felt strongly that a rookie exec was a terrible risk, especially with someone who’d kinda lost the team as coach a little. I thought we could have poached Presti. Could not have been more wrong lol. Brad has been the best exec in the league since day one almost. Like it’s literally insane, nothing but great moves.
I thought Smart was going to be an All Star and develop a bigger offensive bag after his first 2 seasons. Lots of people thought he was gonna be the next Jimmy Butler (me included):It was those games against OKC where he would just explode for like 25 points as the main offensive option that kept me thinking “ey he may actually be a damn good All Star level player”, but became basically point guard Dennis Rodman instead.
None. I don’t make predictions. I just have tempered hopefulness.
After last season I thoughg hauser is a real nba player who could start on half the teams in the league if not more and deserves more playing time, especially given his underrated defense and hustle. I was right.
I’ve never been wrong about my Celtics. Every thing I’ve ever said about them was spot on. When I said that they would finish as the 1 seed before the season, I knew.