Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
Whatever move or moves Boston makes leading up to the Feb. 18 trade deadline, the Celtics have to address the logjam in the frontcourt which consists now of too many guys who don’t fit into the team’s long or short-term plans.
I asked David Lee earlier this week about possibly requesting a trade. While he indicated he had not asked for one, it’s definitely an option that he’ll give more thought to as the DNPs continue to pile up. But asking for a trade won’t do him much good, especially when you consider the Celtics have been open to moving him for most of his time as a Celtic.
The “eye test” says Lee still has something to offer on the floor, but not enough to help the Celtics right now. And when you look at the analytics data, it only confirms that Boston plays better when he’s off the court than when he’s on it.
The chance of the Celtics hitting such a shot are frighteningly remote, but if you ever watched Ainge play, you know his favorite stat was FGA. The only way you can get another team to do something stupid for you is to ask. He’s already gotten Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov to essentially bid against himself for Pierce and Garnett, so it’s not like a three-quarter-court hook shot — off glass — doesn’t occasionally find the net.
The more reachable goal for the Celts is finding a loving home for one or more of their big men, freeing up valuable developmental playing time for people like Kelly Olynyk, who has proven worthy of additional minutes.
So the honeymoon on “expectations” is officially over. Like, say, the expectation that David Lee would be a valuable upgrade from Gerald Wallace (arguably the C’s traded a truly awesome ‘glue guy’ for a low post player that can’t separate himself from the Celts’ other ten low post players.) Or the expectation that the Celtics would, at some point in time, figure out how to put the ball through the hoop at at least a league average rate. The expectation that Isaiah Thomas could pull starter’s minutes is pretty much dead as well–and, perhaps Thomas will accept a future bench role with relish, given the pounding that he’s taken at 30+ minutes a game.
Time to start talking about ‘assets’ as opposed to ‘players’ and see who wants what and what they’re prepared to give up for him.
Sherrod Blakely does a pretty good job outlining why the C’s need to trade and Steve Bulpett does a good job explaining why getting an upgrade is going to be difficult.
However, it’s worth noting that things appeared equally bleak last year, and yet the C’s managed to pick up Jae Crowder and Isaiah Thomas for next to nothing in the grand scheme of things (let’s be honest, Rondo had a foot out the door already). In one case the Celtics picked up a valuable contributor that few people recognized as such, and in the other, the Celtics acquired a player that we all thought was unavailable.
The lesson? Whatever you’re thinking will happen is probably going to be something else. Right now, it kind of seems like everybody’s waiting for that first big trade to set the market. You can be sure that offers have been made and rejected as either too high or too low. But all it takes is for two GMs to agree that, say, Brandon Knight is worth a first rounder and an expiring contract and it’s off to the races. When that happens, you can bet Danny will be working the phones in earnest trying to turn his ‘assets’ into another team’s players.
Page 2: Steez Steezes, Team Loses
Jordan Crawford, who–from the Celtics’ perspective–became Jordan Mickey and, probably, the 31st pick of the 2016 draft, notched 72 points in China on Friday.
Jordan Crawford scored 72 points in a single game in China but his team lost 113-104 2PT: 21/40 3PT: 4/12 FT: 18/20 16reb 5stl 45 min.
— Sportando (@Sportando) January 8, 2016
But wait! There’s also video!
And there’s not only that video, there’s this video–better quality (yay!) less Taylor Swift (yay? boo? I don’t even know anymore)
So this is now (thanks to KWAPT for the second video above), the Steeziest Dump in years.
The rest of the link:
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