A trade for Kyrie Irving has the Celtics roster looking much different, and much more star-studded, than last year's team that got blown out in the Eastern Conference Finals by LeBron:
Though it's hard to knock a team that added Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward in the offseason, you also have to consider what easily could have been:
PG
1. Markelle Fultz
2. Marcus Smart
3. Terry Rozier
4. Kadeem Allen
SG
1. Gordon Hayward
2. Jaylen Brown
3. Jabari Bird
SF
1. Jae Crowder
2. Semi Ojeleye
PF
1. Paul George
2. Marcus Morris
3. Guerschon Yabusele
C
1. Al Horford
2. Aaron Baynes
3. Ante Zizic
Hayward isn't a typical starting two, nor is George necessarily a four, but Hayward, Brown, Crowder, and George can all play the three (Crowder can also play the four) and having atypical, versatile players is a valuable commodity. They also keep Zizic for more security in a suddenly-thin center position, which has lost Kelly Olynyk, Amir Johnson, and Jonas Jerebko this offseason.
The bench is significantly upgraded with the George roster as well. After the Irving trade, the Celtics bench as it stands now features only Marcus Smart, Aaron Baynes, and unproven young players. In the George scenario, Marcus Morris adds depth at the four in a more appropriate role than his current one as a starter. Jaylen Brown may have a breakout season starting beside Irving next year, but he would still see plenty of minutes at shooting guard in a sixth man role.
Some may question whether Fultz would or should start on a team with championship aspirations, but with three All-Stars playing next to him, the transition to the NBA would be made a lot easier for the dynamic playmaking rookie, as would having Smart and Rozier to back him up. The days of being keyed on and double-teamed on a dreadful Washington team in college long gone, he could be a potent third or fourth option on a team loaded with offensive talent.
But how would this other Celtics roster have happened? Only two simple steps:
1) They don't trade the number one pick to the 76ers, and draft Fultz instead of Tatum. In this scenario, the Celtics would also no longer have the lottery pick they acquired in the trade.
2) They do trade for Paul George. George was acquired by the Thunder for a 25-year-old guard who has never sniffed the All-Star game after four seasons (Victor Oladipo) and a rookie who was taken 11th overall in the 2016 draft (Domantas Sabonis.) The Celtics could have offered a 28-year-old guard who just finished in the top five in MVP voting (Isaiah Thomas) and the Nets pick they own the rights to in next year's draft, which will likely be in the top five.
On the surface, the Celtics offer blows away what the Thunder gave up for George. Sabonis could turn out to be a good player, as could Oladipo, but they are almost certainly never going to be garnering MVP votes. Perhaps the Pacers would be hesitant because of Thomas' hip injury, or the fact that he's 28 and heading into a contract year and they don't want to pay him. The Celtics might have had to include Zizic, or maybe Crowder, but I doubt it. The Pacers were worried about losing George for nothing after next year. Even if you take Zizic or Crowder away, the Paul George roster is still a deeper, more versatile, and more daunting lineup than the one they now have after the Irving trade.
Another factor in trading for George instead of Irving; the Celtics don't help out the Cavs, the team they are trying to knock off. Sure, losing Irving hurts, but if Isaiah Thomas is himself, the Cavs don't look like they will miss a beat, and could be well on their way to another finals appearance. This Cavs team might not have quite as much top end talent as some of LeBron's other teams (and health will certainly play a factor) but with the additions of Thomas, Derrick Rose, Crowder, Zizic, and even Jeff Green and Jose Calderon to go along with Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, Channing Frye, JR Smith, Kyle Korver, Richard Jefferson, and Iman Shumpert, this is undoubtedly the deepest roster ever assembled around The King.
Of course, the Celtics roster in the Paul George scenario would not have as much contract security as the Irving one, as George is a free agent after next season and could decide to head to the Lakers. Irving is signed for two more seasons. It's quite possible Celtics GM Danny Ainge did not like the idea of losing George, and justifiably so. But if George fell into the right situation, it doesn't seem unreasonable he could have been persuaded to stay east and avoid the Warriors and the rest of the loaded Western Conference. And on the flip side of the contract situations, Fultz and Zizic would have been in the first year of their rookie contracts. Jae Crowder is signed for three more seasons at the rock bottom price of only about $7.5 million per year.
You can go back and forth forever on this shit with hypotheticals that are impossible to predict. What would the Cavs have gotten for Irving from another team? Will Fultz (or Zizic) blossom into NBA contributors immediately? Will the future first round picks that were traded or kept turn into stars? The bottom line is this; the Celtics just chose Kyrie Irving, Jason Taytum, and a future lottery pick over Paul George, Markelle Fultz, Jae Crowder, and Ante Zizic.
It's hard to argue the Paul George haul isn't the better one. With it comes a roster very capable of knocking off a Cavs team still in disarray, though dispatching LeBron would still be far from certain. From there, George could have decided to re-up with a Celtics team he grew to love through their deep playoff run, albeit in an eventual loss to the Warriors in the finals, and lead Boston to years of Eastern Conference dominance. Or maybe the Celtics would still go down in flames to the Cavs, and George would tell everyone in Beantown to piss off and takes his talents to Hollywood, which goes fine for about a year until a permadrought forces the franchise to relocate to Lincoln, Nebraska.
Don't worry, Celtics fans, the second scenario is surely the one that would have played out. The Irving gravy train has arrived. He's the next Tom Brady, but even better, because if you saw him on the street you wouldn't have to battle the burning desire to punch him in the face.
Though it's hard to knock a team that added Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward in the offseason, you also have to consider what easily could have been:
PG
1. Markelle Fultz
2. Marcus Smart
3. Terry Rozier
4. Kadeem Allen
SG
1. Gordon Hayward
2. Jaylen Brown
3. Jabari Bird
SF
1. Jae Crowder
2. Semi Ojeleye
PF
1. Paul George
2. Marcus Morris
3. Guerschon Yabusele
C
1. Al Horford
2. Aaron Baynes
3. Ante Zizic
Hayward isn't a typical starting two, nor is George necessarily a four, but Hayward, Brown, Crowder, and George can all play the three (Crowder can also play the four) and having atypical, versatile players is a valuable commodity. They also keep Zizic for more security in a suddenly-thin center position, which has lost Kelly Olynyk, Amir Johnson, and Jonas Jerebko this offseason.
The bench is significantly upgraded with the George roster as well. After the Irving trade, the Celtics bench as it stands now features only Marcus Smart, Aaron Baynes, and unproven young players. In the George scenario, Marcus Morris adds depth at the four in a more appropriate role than his current one as a starter. Jaylen Brown may have a breakout season starting beside Irving next year, but he would still see plenty of minutes at shooting guard in a sixth man role.
Some may question whether Fultz would or should start on a team with championship aspirations, but with three All-Stars playing next to him, the transition to the NBA would be made a lot easier for the dynamic playmaking rookie, as would having Smart and Rozier to back him up. The days of being keyed on and double-teamed on a dreadful Washington team in college long gone, he could be a potent third or fourth option on a team loaded with offensive talent.
But how would this other Celtics roster have happened? Only two simple steps:
1) They don't trade the number one pick to the 76ers, and draft Fultz instead of Tatum. In this scenario, the Celtics would also no longer have the lottery pick they acquired in the trade.
2) They do trade for Paul George. George was acquired by the Thunder for a 25-year-old guard who has never sniffed the All-Star game after four seasons (Victor Oladipo) and a rookie who was taken 11th overall in the 2016 draft (Domantas Sabonis.) The Celtics could have offered a 28-year-old guard who just finished in the top five in MVP voting (Isaiah Thomas) and the Nets pick they own the rights to in next year's draft, which will likely be in the top five.
On the surface, the Celtics offer blows away what the Thunder gave up for George. Sabonis could turn out to be a good player, as could Oladipo, but they are almost certainly never going to be garnering MVP votes. Perhaps the Pacers would be hesitant because of Thomas' hip injury, or the fact that he's 28 and heading into a contract year and they don't want to pay him. The Celtics might have had to include Zizic, or maybe Crowder, but I doubt it. The Pacers were worried about losing George for nothing after next year. Even if you take Zizic or Crowder away, the Paul George roster is still a deeper, more versatile, and more daunting lineup than the one they now have after the Irving trade.
Another factor in trading for George instead of Irving; the Celtics don't help out the Cavs, the team they are trying to knock off. Sure, losing Irving hurts, but if Isaiah Thomas is himself, the Cavs don't look like they will miss a beat, and could be well on their way to another finals appearance. This Cavs team might not have quite as much top end talent as some of LeBron's other teams (and health will certainly play a factor) but with the additions of Thomas, Derrick Rose, Crowder, Zizic, and even Jeff Green and Jose Calderon to go along with Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, Channing Frye, JR Smith, Kyle Korver, Richard Jefferson, and Iman Shumpert, this is undoubtedly the deepest roster ever assembled around The King.
Of course, the Celtics roster in the Paul George scenario would not have as much contract security as the Irving one, as George is a free agent after next season and could decide to head to the Lakers. Irving is signed for two more seasons. It's quite possible Celtics GM Danny Ainge did not like the idea of losing George, and justifiably so. But if George fell into the right situation, it doesn't seem unreasonable he could have been persuaded to stay east and avoid the Warriors and the rest of the loaded Western Conference. And on the flip side of the contract situations, Fultz and Zizic would have been in the first year of their rookie contracts. Jae Crowder is signed for three more seasons at the rock bottom price of only about $7.5 million per year.
You can go back and forth forever on this shit with hypotheticals that are impossible to predict. What would the Cavs have gotten for Irving from another team? Will Fultz (or Zizic) blossom into NBA contributors immediately? Will the future first round picks that were traded or kept turn into stars? The bottom line is this; the Celtics just chose Kyrie Irving, Jason Taytum, and a future lottery pick over Paul George, Markelle Fultz, Jae Crowder, and Ante Zizic.
It's hard to argue the Paul George haul isn't the better one. With it comes a roster very capable of knocking off a Cavs team still in disarray, though dispatching LeBron would still be far from certain. From there, George could have decided to re-up with a Celtics team he grew to love through their deep playoff run, albeit in an eventual loss to the Warriors in the finals, and lead Boston to years of Eastern Conference dominance. Or maybe the Celtics would still go down in flames to the Cavs, and George would tell everyone in Beantown to piss off and takes his talents to Hollywood, which goes fine for about a year until a permadrought forces the franchise to relocate to Lincoln, Nebraska.
Don't worry, Celtics fans, the second scenario is surely the one that would have played out. The Irving gravy train has arrived. He's the next Tom Brady, but even better, because if you saw him on the street you wouldn't have to battle the burning desire to punch him in the face.
No comments:
Post a Comment