Random Thoughts as the Road Trip Concludes

 As the Celtics left on this 6 game road trip from Hell projections were that they could possibly return 0-6 for the trip.   They had to travelan incredible number of miles, 2 back to backs while crossing a time zone for each one of them, play 6 games in 10 nights including a 4 game in 5 night stretch, and face some of the top teams in the West.  Add to that the fact that the Celtics hadn't won on the road against a Western Conference team in Brad Stevens' tenure as coach. 

Also, they had just traded away their leading scorer and two of the players received in return would meet the team for the first game of the trip and hadn't yet practiced with the team.  Given all that was going against them, it wasn't a stretch to predict that the Celtics would return home winless.   But, against all odds, the Celtics now stand 3-2 on the trip with a good chance of finishing with a 4-2 record.

The Celtics now find themselves just 2 games behind Charlotte for the 8th spot in the playoffs.  Two of the teams ahead of Boston the Pistons and the Hornets just lost their starting point guards for the rest of the season.  Brooklyn is ahead of Boston (9th) but they are rumored to be ready to tear it down and begin a rebuild of their own. Also, the Celtics own the easiest remaining schedule in the league. The opponents that the Celtics have yet to face own a .451 winning percentage. Compare that to Brooklyn with the 11th most difficult remaining schedule (.516), Orlando with the 16th most difficult schedule (496), Charlotte at 17th (.492), Detroit 20th (.483), and Indiana 25th (.474) and the Celtics chance of making the playoffs seems even better.


There are the Celtics fans (although not as many as I thought there would be) who want the Celtics to cease winning immediately and tank the rest of the season.  But, the Celtics have already won too many games to catch up to the bottom 3 teams, who don't look to stop losing any time soon.  The Celtics would need some big time lottery luck to get one of the coveted top picks.  That's something the Celtics have never had (at least in the David Stern era and beyond). 

So what is a team of talented young players and classy vets to do?  My answer would be to keep trying to win.  Make a playoff push.  This team has proved one thing on this trip,  the players and the coach want to win regardless of the lottery balls and their GM's intentions.  Of course, there's always the possibility that Danny will trade away the remainder of the vets over the next couple of weeks before the trade deadline and that could put a monkey wrench in the playoff plans.

But, if any of these young players are a part of the core going forward,  making the playoffs would be an invaluable experience for them.  Much more valuable than losing.   But therein lies a big question.  Will Danny keep any of these very talented young players?  Jared Sullinger, Kelly Olynyk, James Young, Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, and Tyler Zeller all show promise of being diamonds in the rough who can be the core of a championship team. 

My fears are that Danny will trade them all away for stars as he did back in 2007 to build the last championship team.   The young players on that team weren't near as ready or as talented as this group but we did see Al Jefferson and Gerald Green, in particular, develop into very nice players.  My hope is that Danny will keep this group together.  If he does,  winning this season will be the best thing for them.

I've seen reports that the Celtics will be back in the Vegas Summer League along with also joining the Utah Summer League as well.   The Orlando Summer League is good, but nowhere near the exposure or expericnce that Vegas will give the team.  It makes sense to go all out for Summer League this season as they will have 2 rookies from last season, possibly 4 from this draft, and more than likely Colton Iverson as well as other youngsters they plan to take a look at. 

Again, I'd love to see this young core stay together and add some pieces and build a young team that stays together and builds chemistry and cohesion and will be contenders for years to come, similar to the Thunder.  I'd much rather that than to build with 2 or 3 established players for a 3 or 4 year window at the most.     If he was going in that direction,  it seems that hanging onto Rondo would have been his best move.  Unless Rondo's personality really was a hindrance to team unity, that is.


The Celtics still have a couple of big needs in order to take the next step.  The biggest and most glaring need is a rim protector.  Personally,  I'd be fine with bringing Perk back as a mentor and defensive force in the paint.  He's not a rim protector as such, but he's still one of the best low post defenders in the league.   But if not Perk,  perhaps Danny can find a good rim protector in the draft or trade for a good young rim protector or sign one in free agency.  Maybe find one overseas.  However he does it,  that is one thing that the Celtics need.

Another need is a go to scorer in crunch time.  It's possible that with a little seasoning,  we may already have that in James Young.   We haven't seen enough of him this season to know one way or another, but he has a pretty shot and is a scorer so I'd say yes, he could fill that need.   Marcus Smart looks like he will be the point guard of the future once he gets a bit more experience.   So, really all we need for certain is a rim protector.


Regardless,  going forward through the end of the season and this next off season are going to be interesting.  Lots of questions needing answers.  Will Danny trade the remaining vets to once again hamstring the young team with a ton of heart but not much experience?  Will the Celtics continue to win or will they go back to losing?  I guess the second question depends a lot on the first.

Will Danny keep this young core or will he go the route he did in 2007 and trade most of them for established stars to jumpstart the rebuilding process.  What will he do with all of those draft picks?  Will he make the picks or group them to move up or trade them?  What will become of the 6 trade exceptions that Danny has gathered?  Will the Celtics young players develop quickly enough to get the Celtics into the playoffs?    The future is bright.  How bright will depend on how all of these questions are answered.


The Celtics face the Timberwolves tonight to close out this road trip.  This is the one game that people thought they could win going into this trip.  They are the worst team in the league and struggling.  But, as winnable as the game is, it is also losable if the Celtics don't keep their focus and play with the heart they showed over the last 4 games. 

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