The Celtics made their long-awaited acquisition of David Lee official today, one of a flurry of moves that took place as the team used up the last of its cap space. Boston also traded for Zoran Dragic, though it appears the C’s will let him go and simply pocket the second-round pick they acquired as part of the deal. Boston formally announced its deal with Jae Crowder and signed first-round picks Terry Rozier and R.J. Hunter, too.
Today’s moves still represent just a fraction of a busy month that also saw the Celtics sign Amir Johnson, re-sign Jonas Jerebko, sign No. 33 overall pick Jordan Mickey, trade for Perry Jones III and reportedly agree to camp deals with Levi Randolph and Corey Walden. Thus, the question of the day: How would you grade the offseason for the Celtics so far?
The team didn’t end up with a star, though it did bring in a former All-Star and 20-10 guy in Lee. The Celtics placed a heavy focus on youth, signing three of their four draft picks, and they also picked up another pair of future second-rounders in the Jones and Dragic trades. The team isn’t necessarily done, either, with 17 guaranteed contracts on the books, counting Dragic’s deal, so more moves appear to be in the offing. Still, in late July, the picture of Boston’s summer seems fairly clear.
So, being mindful of the commenting policy, let us know how the Celtics grade out. Just put in your name, email address, and comment and submit it; there’s no need to become a registered user.
I’d give the Celtics a B for the off season. Obviously, they wanted to move up the draft board and use their multiple picks to get an impact player, but they’ve added to a decent roster and continue to stockpile picks and leave cap room open for the future.
That’s probably a fair grade, though obviously their goals were much greater. You might call that grading on a curve, given the degree of difficulty of what they really wanted to do.
They needed to build a new chemistry. They’re obviously starting at the ground floor. As a Raptors fan, I hope Celtic fans don’t expect too much out of Amir. I think he was overplayed not for his talents, but for his leadership. I’d say C+ but that’s still an improvement from last year
Johnson has certainly carved out a pretty good career for a guy who was drafted as a late second-rounder out of high school by the then-powerhouse Pistons.
It’s funny; I’ve heard a lot of people say that the Amir Johnson contract is team-friendly. I’m really not so sure about that. I like Amir, but $12MM is a lot, even if it’s only essentially a one-year deal.
I’ll go with a B as well. Draft was decent. Good value on RJ and Mickey but really made a reach for a guy like Rozier. I would have liked to see them make a play for Oubre after missing out on Winslow. He’s a solid talent and only cost the Wizards two 2nd rounders and the 19th pick. They must not of been to gun-ho on him considering it wouldn’t have cost much to grab with them sitting only a spot behind the Hawks. Rozier is a good talent, but he’s the type of guy who you’d like to see fall to you (which likely wouldn’t have happened) instead of reaching for.
Wasn’t expecting a lot out of free agency. Amir was a good pickup, kind of follows the Red Sox philosophy of a few years ago, slightly overpay on a shorter term deal. A lot of people didn’t see the need with Jared Sullinger playing the same position, but his health and conditioning issues have not permitted him to average over 30 minutes a game in his career. The Jerebko and Crowder re-signings were all solid. I’ve always thought the only difference between crowder and Demarre Carroll was 38% from behind the arc. If he can become an adequate shooter i think the deals a bargain.
As for trades, as usual Ainge improved us in the short term and the long term. Lee will bring some inside scoring and rebounding (which we sorely lacked) and is a 15 million expiring deal. They get a solid young talent for a pick they might not convey (unless its a late second rounder, in which case it has minimal value) and he managed to convince Presti to through a guaranteed one on top for good measure, love it. Dragic trade gives them a another guaranteed pick for one they will only convey if its in the late late second round.
The only reason I wouldn’t grade higher is because Ainge, as usual, promised some big moves this offseason. I never understand why he does this. He has only so much control over whether someone wants to trade with us (look no further then the supposed draft night offer to move up) and we’ve never been big players in free agency. All it does is make casual celtics fans moan over the smaller deals (“whose Perry Jones? what another guard? David Lee? Why not Kevin Love !!??!!”) even though all these move are clearly beneficial to the team.
The Celtics certainly have some quality role guys but no one that really stands above the rest as their franchise player. It will be fascinating to see how Stevens puts the pieces together and doles out playing time.
You make a good point about overpromising. I think Kevin Love was a legitimate possibility at some point, though the Cavs always had the inside track there. But aside from that, I don’t think they’ve really come close. Maybe it’s a matter of talking the Celtics up as a potential destination in the hopes that if you say it enough, people (and free agents) will start to believe it.
Someone on this roster is ripe for a break out year, maybe two players. With their existing toughness and cohesion this should be one entertaining hoop team.
It would be a big help if Smart lived up to his status as a lottery pick.
It’ll be interesting to see how they all mesh. As it is, there are a lot of misfit parts. Some of them are very talented, but it’s difficult to see how they can all play together and complement each other given the lack of balance. Brad Stevens will earn his money this year.
It’s tough to give the Celtics a grade. On one hand, you had Danny Ainge talking up something huge happening, and in the other, you had Danny Ainge talking about not mortgaging the future and preserving flexibility. So which Danny Ainge comments to you grade off of? If it’s the huge franchise-changing move, then they fell well short of that. If it’s the preserving flexibility route, then I think they did quite well. Crowder’s deal looks like a long-term bargain, and adding Lee/Johnson/Jones/etc will help the C’s stay in the 5-8 range in the east. C+/B-.
Also, I should mention I am a life-time C’s fan, so I am obviously biased!
I guess if I had to set a criteria, I’d grade them on how they used their resources and the market available to them, and how that compared to what other teams accomplished.
Your assessment makes sense, though. They didn’t really score, but they kept the ball moving.
Grade: A
Few organizations have the business acumen to stall free agent signings in order to collect (essentially) free second round picks and further the roster depth.
Furthermore, Danny Ainge can clear the contracts of Lee, Johnson, Jones III, Turner, Jerebko, Zeller, Sullinger and Olynyk for cap room heading into the 2016 Free Agency.
And perhaps most importantly,
Brooklyn’s roster looks like a sure fire lottery team, especially when considering Lottery flukes such as the Heat, Pacers and OKC are back to full health.
The pastures are greener in Boston.
In Danny we trust!
Wish they had traded Olynyk, essentially for another body. Can’t rebound for a seven-footer and seems to lack the instinct of where to expect those rebounds to come off the rim. Disappointed in the fact that they eschewed big men in yet another draft, and seemed to want to corner the market on small guards. I’m not yet sold on Young, and couldn’t agree more with all who claim Rozier was a reach of monumental proportions. Still, I have the utmost faith in Danny and as a 15 year season-ticket member, I know for a fact that better days are ahead.