The Weekend Greenie Bag - What Has To Happen To Validate Danny Ainge?
Hello and welcome to another edition of the Weekend Greenie Bag! My apologies this is coming on Sunday with a shitty football game currently on, but I spent yesterday giving Walter the best day of his life, so here we are. You know the drill, another week means another chance to hear from the people and what is currently on their minds. We do this each and every week and you too can be part of the fun, just tweet me something with #GreenieBag or email greenieceltsbag@gmail.com. No more bullshit, let’s get started.
Your questions…
How can I put this nicely…
Hey Greenie,
Love your analysis of the NBA, and I wanted to get your input on a couple questions. For starters, for teams in the Eastern Conference not named the Cleveland Cavaliers, who can we expect to challenge the Celtics next year? Building off that question, how do the Raptors match up against our new roster?
And while I know it’s suuuuuuuuper early to talk about next year’s draft, how much of a fit do you see Mo Bamba making with the Celtics, presuming things break our way and he’s still available when we get our selection next year? Are there other players you’d prefer taking over him?
Keep up the great work, man. I love your blogs. – Sean
Sean brings up an interesting question because at times I get the sense that there are some who strictly think the East comes down to BOS and CLE, and to me, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Even though the Wizards are going to be without Morris for around 18 games, I still think the Wizards are absolutely right there, ready to take that leap into the top tier in the East. They have the starter talent and chemistry to be a formidable opponent.
The real question for me is what is going to be the deal with Toronto. I am on record as saying that last year the #1 seed was important for me strictly because it meant the Celtics avoided TOR in a playoff series. I just think they have been a terrible matchup for the Celts over the last handful of years, and now that there’s a chance the Celts rebounding can actually be worse, I still have those same concerns. Their problem obviously is health, and that should still be a factor going into next season. It’s also a little nerve wracking that Jaylen/Tatum will most likely find themselves trying to stop DeRozen. I dunno if they are ready for that challenge yet.
When it comes to the Draft, I am not picky. I just want the pick to convey, and I’ll be happy with ANY of the dudes in the top 6. All of them fill an immediate need in my opinion. If that guy is Bamba, fine by me.
What’s up Greenie,
Long time first time, and I’ve gotta ask: The Tacoma Twins have split, and as much as that hurts I need an official prediction. What’s the next top bromance on the squad? There’s some obvious options like Hayward/Brad or the newly blossoming Jaylen/Jason (Maybe even Kyrie/Hayward?) but I want to know who you think the next power couple on the team is gonna be.
Love the blogs man, and quick shouts to #TeamIsaiah. I was in the tough spot of having bought his jersey literally two days before he was traded. Still don’t regret it.
P.S. Could you tell my Knicks fan roommate Ricky he’s a herb? – Kevin
This is maybe the closest competition we see all year. Early favorites were our two young guns Jaylen/Jayson. They had the nickname, they would get lost in each others eyes for hours, they worked out together, it made all of us super excited. BUT, then this happened
and to be honest there is so much love on this team I don’t know how the NBA is going to handle the coming dominance. Think about it, you try harder for the people you love, you go the extra mile, make the extra pass, things like that. It’s a tough call, but after long hard deliberation I have to go with Jaylen/Jayson because there is NOTHING like young puppy love.
Great question from Wes. With 11 new guys on this team, they do not have an indentity yet. We know they are no longer the overachieving talent Celtics (Isaiah not included), but at the same time we have no idea what the attitude and fight will be. We know about Marcus, but that’s what is going to make the first few months of watching this team so exciting.
So I don’t know what they will be psychologically, but I can tell you what I hope they aren’t. I hope they aren’t a team that thinks they can skip steps just because of their talent. I hope they aren’t a team that just reads their own press about how amazing their talent is and get caught sniffing their own farts. We saw that happen at times last year, and next thing you knew we were losing games to NO, PHX, SAC etc. Personally, I think they know the pressure is on and will respond accordingly, but it’s absolutely going to take them a few weeks if not months.
Email:
Greenie,
In terms of searching for further Danny Ainge validation, which should be our priority to root for as Celtics fans:
1) Markelle Fultz to suck?
2) Nets to be halfway decent?
Personally, I would prefer the Nets to be relatively sorry, mostly because they have more then repaid their debt to us, and what a fitting final act it would be to screw over Dan Gilbert.
Thanks – Matt
First off Matt, I don’t think those things need to happen for Ainge to be validated. For me, the validation comes if A) Kyrie extends B) The Celtics win more than 1 game in the ECF and eventually make Finals/titles C) Tatum is among the best from his class.
I just think it’s unrealistic to think Fultz will suck, and the Nets pick doesn’t really make or break this trade for me. Sure it would help if it wasn’t top 3 or whatever, but for me it all comes down to Kryie. If Kyrie takes us to a level Ainge hopes he can, then he’s validated. If he doesn’t, and then he bolts or something in 2 years, it’s a disaster.
For rooting sake, I would say root for the Nets to actually be decent, and root harder for the Lakers to suck dick. Can’t go wrong there.
Joe I think it’s become clear that the Celtics do not give a shit about this roster spot and refuse to use it on a rebounder even though they still have major rebounding questions. At least they refuse to use it before the season starts, and it wouldn’t shock me if they kept it open/used for their G League guys until the buyout market arrives and they can maybe use it on a veteran player. It’s frustrating because there have been guys on the market now that could have helped that have gone elsewhere, but I think that’s just Ainge telling us he wants the flexibility when that time comes later in the year.
Email:
Hey Greenie,
I assume you play NBA2K like every other red blooded male in America and are familiar with their “Be A GM” mode. Lets pretend you’re Brad Stevens and you have to allocate the 240 minutes and create the rotation for the Celts this year like you would have to in NBA2K. Who starts? How many minutes to Kyrie and Hayward get? How about the young guns? Any rookies other than Tatum getting 15 minutes a night?
P.S. I’m real sad about IT4 too… – Collin
Easy, this is my current rotation/minutes in my 2K season
Starters
Kyrie – 32 minutes
Jaylen – 30 minutes
Hayward – 31 min
Morris – 25 minutes
Horford – 30 minutes
Bench
Smart – 30 minutes
Tatum – 23 minutes
Rozier – 22 minutes
Baynes – 20 minutes
Yabu – 10 minutes
Semi – 7 minutes
Brad if you’re reading this, things are working out well for me both in terms of record and team/player chemistry so give it some consideration.
Email:
Hey Greenie,
With all this Kryrie/LeBron drama, and the Hayward hype going into the season, doesn’t it kind of feel like one of those scenarios where we go into Cleveland on opening night and get punched in the mouth? Or is that just me? It’s not like LeBron needs any more motivation to perform.
Love the blogs, keep up the good work! – Kyle
Kyle would you like to know what keeps me up at night? That October 17th will look a lot like this
We all know Lebron only cares about regular season games that involve GS, but make no mistake. We are getting LOCKED IN Lebron to start this season, and you are straight up lying if that doesn’t scare you at least a little. The Celtics have a history of poking the bear, and it’s been about 10 years since that’s worked.
Aside from Lebron, I still think they haven’t addressed their other biggest problem when playing CLE and that’s keeping Love/Thompson off the glass, and it will be a team of all new players against one that has basically been together for the last 3-4 years. If the Celts can pull it off it would be GIGANTIC, if only because this is the only time the Celts will travel to CLE all year if I’m not mistaken.
And that’ll do it for this week, thanks to everyone who wrote in, you know I appreciate it. See you all next weekend.
Have a great rest of your Sunday!