Skip to main content

Trust in Ainge: The future is bright

Image
By

It feels like every offseason we hear about how much of a mistake Danny Ainge has made with this roster. Nick Wright's take last year comes to mind:

Of course, the Celtics made it all the way to the conference finals, largely thanks to those "disaster" players listed. This offseason, many were clamoring for Ainge to make moves, either by trading draft picks, acquiring Myles Turner through Hayward's sign and trade (which obviously became impossible after Jordan gave Hayward a Brinks truck), or signing valuable vets. The Celtics missed the first two, and arguably only dipped their feet into the third option, with the signings of Tristan Thompson and Jeff Teague.

Going into the season without Kemba Walker was definitely concerning; the team was going to have to rely on Tatum, Brown and Smart to continue progressing, with the bench being a complete question mark. Grant Williams had a good run last season and into the playoffs as an undersized big man, Timelord had some good moments but was still a raw prospect, and the Theis/Thompson rotation remained to be seen. Jeff Teague was someone that Brad Stevens has wanted to add to the team for quite awhile, but was cautioned against by Timberwolves fans. Payton Pritchard and Aaron Nesmith were obviously completely unproven.

Despite all of this noise, the young Celtics are off to a 3-2 start, with 4 of those games including playoff teams (Bucks, Nets, Pacers twice). Jaylen Brown is averaging 28/4/3 with 1.8 steals and Tatum is adding a solid 23/8/3 with 1.4 steals, both looking like All Star (and potentially All-NBA) quality players. Marcus Smart is doing Marcus Smart things. Jeff Teague and Tristan Thompson have provided huge contributions. Payton Pritchard looks like a solid rotation piece right out of the gate, and has only improved every game. Timelord looks the best he has since coming into the league.


Given all of these results, it looks like The Green are on their way to another deep playoff run. After going to the conference finals 3 out of last 4 years, many forget how young this team is. The current Celtics roster is the 6th youngest team in the league, behind only the Nuggets, Hornets, Knicks, Grizzlies and the Timberwolves, at an average age of 25.0 years.

With Kemba Walker out for the foreseeable future, we get to see more of the young guys, and our future:

With a core of Tatum, Brown, Smart, Pritchard, and both Williams looking promising, and Nesmith still full of potential (and who knows what Tacko will turn into), the Celtics have a really solid team that can compete for years to come. Ainge may be criticized for not trading his assets, but we ended up with an exciting young core that compete now and into the future. Exciting times are ahead.



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Elm Street Nightmare

By
 A true-and-suspenseful horror tale of haunting, homicides and the hunt for triple-murderer, Daniel Laplante - as told by the cops that were there By Lt. Thomas Lane (Ret.)  Daniel Laplante - cold, calm, clever, calculating- Photo: YouTube   Elm Street  surfaces on four occasions in the Laplante saga: 1.) He  resided on Elm Street  in Townsend, Massachusetts 2.) He  kidnapped a woman  at gunpoint on  Elm Street, Pepperell , Massachusetts 3.) He was arrested and transported to Massachusetts State Police Barracks on Elm Street in Concord . 3.) He was  tried, convicted   and sentenced for the murders at  Superior Court , corner of  Elm Stree t and Gorham Street, Lowell, Massachusetts. When evil and cleverness reside in the same mind, the stage is often set for true horror. Such was the case with triple-murderer, Daniel Laplante . As a 16-year old , he quickly transitioned from: Minor thefts and breaking into homes To: Taunting and threatening a father and his two daughters as an unseen
9 comments
Read more

Rules of survival: When search-and-rescue turns into body recovery

By
 How the Hell did this happen? Two days after 19-year-old Emily Sotelo was supposedly dropped off in Franconia Notch (NH) at roughly 5:00 AM ET, Sunday, November 20, 2022 by her mother, to hike several mountains alone, the search continues for the young lady. Photo by Linda Lane The information from news agencies indicated that Emily started hiking the trails while it was still dark. She was supposedly wearing only sneakers, a coat and workout pants. I can persona;ly attest that the weather in the area was very cold with high wind speeds, and gaining elevation on the trails would only add to the horrendous conditions. Ms. Sotelo was reportedly a seasoned hiker, but had little or no experience hiking in winter. At the peaks, temperatures on that Sunday dropped to zero degrees with a wind chill of minus-30 degrees. It is beyond my comprehension to imagine a hiker-of-experience tackling that kind of travel - in extreme weather - with only basic clothes and few (or no) supplies. I have hik
42 comments
Read more

Nik Stauskas adds "shooting with size" voiced by Brad Stevens

By
 As a 6'6" shooting guard, 28-year-old Nik Stauskas adds that shooting with size sorely needed by the Boston Celtics. Drafted 8th-overall by the Sacramento Kings in 2014, Stauskas has bounced around to various teams since then. Nik Stauskas' deal with the Boston Celtics includes non-guaranteed salary for the second season in 2022-23, a source tells @celticsblog . — Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) March 4, 2022 Nik has never averaged more than 9.5 points per game in the NBA, but Boston is most likely counting on his production for Grand Rapids in the G League as the incentive to sign him. In 17 games thus far, he has averaged 24.7 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 4.8 APG - while shooting 50% on field goals and 45% on treys. Nik Stauskas is signing a two-year deal with the Boston Celtics, his agents Mark Bartelstein and Andy Shiffman of @PrioritySports tell ESPN. Stauskas had an historic week, scoring 100 points on 57 and 43 point performances in back-to-back games for Grand Rapids. — Adrian Wo
Post a Comment
Read more