pre-draft and trade thoughts

[steve knight]

thanks for your thoughts. i couldn't agree more that
this year is pivotal for the team in many ways. 

my thoughts: 
• tony allen's recovery is a key. remember how good he
was when he went down? if he can get there sooner than
later, that solves our two-guard problem and adds a
solid defender to the lineup. 

• wally being healthy is also key. if he can give us
15 minutes a game as a scorer, i'd be happy. 

• one person you left out is ratliff. if he can get
healthy, he can help us. laugh if you must, but he's
the pj brown we were missing last year. 

• i'm willing to be patient with green, too, but the
dude has to step up this year in limited minutes to
produce. when he's not scoring, he doesn't have enough
of a game to help in other areas. if we can get a
dozen pts a game from him consistently this year, i'm
cool with that. 

• rondo/west can be a solid pg solution, but we still
need a crafty vet pg on the squad (a
five-years-younger eric snow) 

here's hoping several things go right in the coming
months. 


Message: 14
Date: Thu, 31 May 2007 23:58:58 -0700 (PDT)
From: R Howe <regmanw6 at yahoo.com>
Subject: pre-draft and trade(s) thoughts 
To: Celtics list <celtics at igtc.com>
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<130499.57543.qm at web56705.mail.re3.yahoo.com>
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Kind of the calm before the storm thing. All we can do
is speculate 
what will be soon transpiring.

IMO I feel between now and the end of the camp will be
the defining 
moment for Ainge's tenure as C's GM. and weather the
C's will be a team on 
the rise or heading for another 3-5 years of yet
another re-mold 
program. 

The C's are young with general upside talent that has
yet to translate 
into a mature product on the floor or have we yet to
get an accurate 
handle on ceilings on a number of the young guys but
by camp we should 
have at least a foreshadowing to answers on a lot of
the question marks 
concerning the young players. Also should have answers
on the injury 
front for two very important vets in T. Allan and
Wally.

Keys and things we know:

1. Pierce and Jefferson form one of the better
outside/inside scoring 
duos in the East and have barely scratched the surface
as far as 
potential. Both are also double/double threats every
nite. Defense?? well 
that's where surrounding them with good two way
players has to happen. 

This is where Ainge has his work cut out, he has
acquired young 
unrealized to emerging talent but now needs to mold or
parlay that to a 
winning team vs just acquiring more talent. Who
stays/goes or comes to us via 
draft or trade? This is it, he has all he needs to get
this team going, 
Pierce/Jefferson Duo, young talent, future picks, a
5th pick in a 
supposedly deep draft, cap relief fodder for trades,
key vets coming back 
from injuries. Getting excited thinking about
possibilities. Go C's!! ... 
OK I am calming down.

2. Rhondo/West PG combo is very young, intriguing,
with question marks. 
Each brings differing strengths. Both are quick and
play hard on the 
defensive side, both are on the shorter side but at
the PG position not 
as much a problem as with other positions. If somehow
we could morph 
West's grit and jumper with Rhondo's pure speed and PG
instincts then we 
become contenders right away.  Key is how quickly does
Rhondo mature to 
his potential and what is that? Could use a PG "D"
specialist as 3rd PG 
backup - Greene anyone?

3. Perkins/Jefferson is not a bad PF/C combo, Perkins
with his 
D/rebounding, Jefferson as the scoring stud but could
use a upgrade to 
Gomes/Powe as regular rotation/subs. Maybe Gomes
improves w/jumper & defense 
enough to swing between forward positions, good player
but not someone 
the other team has to game-plan for, nor does he
spread the floor enough 
to compliment Jeffersons or Perkins inside work. A
healthier more 
steady player of LaFrentz,s skill-set would be nice. I
like draft pick X 
here (Yi, Green, Noah)?

4. Need for Allen and Wally to come back from
injuries. Neither will be 
traded before camp breaks because of salary and
injuries but both if 
healthy are very important to the C's depth and
success. These two 
represent veteran presence during games, 20+ pts and
good perimeter "D"  
(Tony) that was not available to the C's during last
season.  All huge 
needs for the C's that mean the difference between a
winning season and a 
losing season. If Tony does not project to come back
healthy maybe Draft 
pick X here or MLE signing for starting perimeter D
and scoring player 
at the wing position. 

5. Leads me to Green. Ainge has a decision to make.
Trade him or keep 
him. He oozes with potential, was forced into playing
major Min's before 
ready w/out benefit of a solid stable rotation to play
with. We saw 
glimpses of a special player but he also showed he has
a ways to go before 
he is able to be a force nite in and out. Usually the
3rd year is where 
you see the biggest improvement (Jefferson) with such
young players so 
do we hold on to him to play behind Tony, Wally, West
and wait for him 
to earn a rotation spot from one of them or do we
trade him with 
sweeteners (Ratliff, future pick(s), current players
not named Pierce or 
Jefferson) for a solid vet starter X or maybe to gain
a late lottery pick 
this year?  Me I would rather hold on to him and at
least wait to mid 
season to make a decision. I would hate to see him
bust out to be an 
impact player on another team because we were not
patient enough to see if 
he is just a athletic show player or real impact game changer.


       
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