interesting indeed.

Since I didn't want to resign IT, I'm thrilled to swap him for Irving. I see that part of the trade as giving up one year of IT for multiple years of Irving.

Losing a couple other young contributing players is a necessary part of any consolidation process.

It's giving up the Brooklyn draft pick I've got big doubts about.

I'm going back and forth on the deal. Losing the pick hurts but I'm also tired of hearing about all the assets. There are a bunch of bad teams in the league so who knows where that pick ends up. They do have an open roster spot now. I wonder if Danny tries to make another deal or he just signs a vet like Gerald green or Tony Allen.

Edit - It's going to feel very weird rooting for Kyrie and against IT after the last couple of years. I'm sad to see IT go but It will be a huge difference when you don't have to take your pg off the floor late in the 4th quarter.

I'm hearing a lot of uproar about trading away IT, as he was basically the face of the team. Reminds me of when Nomar got traded. Sometimes these things are necessary.

So all of a sudden Crowder is god's gift to basketball..... So many talking heads talking about what a huge asset he is, really? Apparently they didn't watch him front-rim 3's and get beat off the dribble OVER AND OVER last year.

And let me answer this question for all the NBA 'tards out there. THE CELTICS ARE BETTER NOW! holy @#$@#$ are people really this dumb???

Crowder hit 39.8% of his 3s last year? I mean yeah, he missed 60.2% of them buuuuut...?

It's a bad trade. Giving up the Nets pick & not putting protection on it is a drastic overpay for a disgruntled player who wanted out & there wasn't that clear of a market for. Next year is a loaded draft & the Nets are still bad at basketball.

Without the pick, it's a fine trade & should make them better this year, but that pick might be the most valuable thing traded in the deal.

I'm just assuming those in the offseason thread who are claiming Crowder is gods gift, didn't watch too many Celtics games last year. You are correct, he front rimmed a lot of shots last year especially in the playoffs. His defense was also suspect at times. It's a great contract for sure but he's not nearly as good as they are saying.

The only part of the trade that hurts is the pick but if that pick falls to 3 or 4 then I don't feel so bad. They can't keep drafting the same type of player every year.

Also with Tatum changing from 11 to 0, I wonder if the C's knew they were making this deal a couple weeks ago.

Bill Simmons trying to talk himself into the Nets pick being 7th because they'll be trying while other teams tank.

Nets are officially the team I'm rooting for 2nd most this year. Losing out on Doncic/Bagley/Porter if they live up to the hype will be pretty crushing.

i liked crowder like everybody likes him, strong, good guy etc. but dude is like 6'5''. i hated rolling out 5'8 and tiny forwards and small bigs. we'd play on national tv, then like okc would play the spurs the next game and it was embarrassing, we looked like we were playing in a different league. kyrie is 6'3'', the rookie is long.

i like that too.

we are bigger. avery was short for a 2. now at the 2 we go 6'5'' smart, long strong 6'7'' with brown and 6'8'' with gordon.

morris needs to rebound more but a motivated morris is a big strong dude who can score. amir killed us. he fell off a cliff, got old in one season. zeller was meh, kinda useless. kelly never really panned out, health and just too soft.

we are the big bad boston celtics. cant line up a midget that you have to hide all the time. yes, all heart and buckets, but f it come playoffs, against real teams, they will exploit him. kyrie can play defense when he wants to. he is still young. getting better each year. now he has leadership and a leadership star role. up to him and the coaches and the big strong vets on this team to get him hustling through screens and moving his feet and digging in with some hard nose defense.

This is kind of how I'm feeling, but my basketball knowledge is suspect at best currently.

Crowder is definitely one of the most polarizing players in the league, but I'm in the "he's really good" camp.

im with anatta re: IT. I just don't understand all the C's fan slurpage going on. He was fun to watch, but i'm not sad to see him go. the brinks truck stuff wasn't funny or adorable; it just indicated that an awful contract for the C's was looming.

the hurt hip isn't very encouraging and it strongly suggests he won't be 100% going forward.

and i want more mchale clotheslining rambis and less stupid emoji twitter stuff.

So depressed after that injury

LeBron runs like God.

jh, feel you. gotta be gutted. the summer build up and then that, only a few mins into the opener? ****ing gotta be awful.

beast, come on tho. that's how you feel??

I just meant in the sense he's never hurt and this is finally a team to challenge them in the east and GH goes down in minutes. He's obviously the GOAT.

i know the future is bright, but man this hurts. was so hyped for gh

JT gonna fill the role? ROY in play if he's the man to fill GH's shoes.

Well that sucked. They treated Giannis like LeBron and Brown like common trash. Kyrie is also not trying on d and stalling out the offense.... ugh. Pretty cool way to lose.

Kyrie trying way to hard to get others involved and it's throwing him off. He needs to be more selfish. Loved when Giannis took 4 steps and it doesn't get called and Marcus can't buy a call.

Call me crazy but if I were Brad I'd consider starting Rozier. Let Tatum or Smart run with the second unit at least until the 4th quarter.

7-2: Best record in the NBA

Maybe the season isn't lost

Heck of a win tonight

What a roller-coaster season. I'm still hopeful we can end on a high note. We might not make as deep a playoff run as we would have hoped, but Brown, Tatum, and Rozier can get some playoff experience and maybe give us a glimpse of the future. I hope Kyrie can bounce back from this and resume his career without a hitch, but these surgeries give reason for pause. And obviously it'll be exciting to see Hayward on the court.

I don't think Smart did enough this season to get a big payday. I'm maybe not as bullish on Smart as many, but I wouldn't mind him coming back. I thought Theis showed a lot of promise this season. We're in a great place for the future.

For now, it's hard not to be excited for playoff basketball at the garden, so let's enjoy it while we can.

It's been a great season somewhat ruined by injuries.

The Celtics could get lucky in their playoff matchups. I'd like to avoid the Wizards in the first round despite their recent losing. Right now the Celtics would get paired against the Bucks and that seems best.

In a second round matchup, I'd rather play the 76ers despite their recent winning. Avoiding the Cavaliers seems as long as possible seems optimal.

Brooklyn finishes with the 8th worst record in the league. Here are the odds of where the pick lands in the draft.

#1: 2.8%
#2: 3.3%
#3: 3.9% (10% chance of top 3 pick)
#8: 72.4%
#9: 16.8%
#10: 0.8%
#11: < 0.1%


Meanwhile, the Lakers finished with the 10th worst record in the league. Here are their draft lottery chances.

#1: 1.1%
#2: 1.3%
#3: 1.6%
#10-13: 96.1%

The Celtics get the Lakers' pick if it's the #2 or #3 pick. So, there's just a 2.9% chance of us landing that.

Instead, the Celtics will likely get a 2019 pick. It will be the better of the 76ers' pick or the Kings' pick (which the 76ers have the rights to and is #1 protected).

This year's Kings finished with the 6th worst record in the league, may be in decline, but have a lot of cap space for next year. The 76ers had the 5th best record and are clearly on the rise.