[Truth34]

It is 2005 Top-40 protected. Unless Golden State wins 20 in a row or so, they will not be in the top 20 teams, so they will fall somewhere between 33 and 40.

So next year it is Top 38 protected. We might get it next year. Depends on Baron Davis's health, probably.

[LX]

Alright fellas, I'm going to merge this with the offseason thread as it pertains to the off-season. Let's get that thread bumping.

[aquaitious]

Originally Posted by Premiere

We are about to run away with the Atlantic Division. Go into the playoffs with an underdog mentality and hopefully win a series or two. What do I do? I make a draft/offseason thread. So after the Antoine Walker and Jiri Welsch trade, our roster has been revamped, slightly changing our draft needs that we discussed prior to the all-star break. Looking forward at the college and international draft crop, one can tell that this draft is deep, with plenty of power forwards and point guards. We will fill some of slots with small free agent signings in the off-season. So first, we need to decide on our team need (s) of the most important value. Our current roster:

C: Raef Lafrentz / Mark Blount / Kendrick Perkins
PF: Antoine Walker / Al Jefferson
SF: Paul Pierce / Justin Reed
SG: Tony Allen / Ricky Davis
PG: Gary Payton / Delonte West / Marcus Banks

First, let's make some educated assumptions. Let us postulate that Antoine Walker and Justin Reed being resigned in the offseason. For now, let's assume that Gary Payton doesn't come back leaving us with the same roster sans Payton. Danny Ainge could possible pull off a Blount or Lafrentz trade sometime before next year's deadline, but let's not assume that. From looking at that roster, there isn't really a "weak" position, but we don't have any superstars.

Now, we all know that we want immediate sucess, but it always helps to look into the future. Our center position, excluding Kendrick Perkins, has proven to be average. We can deal with this for the next couple of seasons, but a change will soon be needed. Ideally we (I) want, a three man front-court rotation of Jefferson, Player A, and Perkins with Antoine getting minutes at PF, SF, and PG (occasionally). Let's assess what we have right now. Perkins is projected to be an enforcer and defensive stopper. His offensive game is limited as of now, but I like him to become a solid, hard-working player. Now I might be biased, but I, like most Celtic fans, see Al Jefferson as a future star. His offensive game is good, with his array of post moves and good low-block mentality. Right now, his conditioning, defense, rebounding position, and passing need work. With two opposite players complimenting each other, a third balanced big man would be perfect. Now, concerning the draft, if a projected star is available where the Celtics are picking, I think he should be selected regardless of position. But, if the talent is even, a center/power forward hybrid would be great, especially considering that they are getting harder to find.

Earlier in the season, I heavily proclaimed that Hakim Warrick would be an ideal selection after hearing encouraging reports on him and watching him dominate in the Big East, but that was before the Walker traded. With and improved Jefferson, Perkins, and Blount (hopefully), Walker should split his minutes in the PF/SF positions while playing point guard sparingly. This means less minutes for Pierce, Davis, and Allen. If we select a raw center, no ones minutes will decrease as we will bring him along slowly as we did with Perkins. Warrick is a ready player meaning he needs 15 minutes immediatly. We can't find time for him and considering SF is an easy position to fill, unlike center, I think we shouldn't select him. Now let's judge our potential first round pick and where we will end up:

Right now, I feel that we are poised to take the Atlantic. Realistically, we will end up with 42-45 wins and a third seed. Let's do two scenarios regarding our draft pick:

One, the Los Angeles Lakers miss the playoffs. We do not get their pick this year. This means we end up with our pick, which will be from 15-18. Two, the Lakers make a late-season run and end up with the eighth seed. This means that they will likely have the higher record and we do get their selection this year. Atlanta is owed the lesser of our two picks, so we give them Los Angeles'. We end up with a first round pick around 15-18. Now, let's look at our potential draftee:

I'm sick of writing. Johan Petro.

Nice post, but I wouldn't be drafting an international big guy. What I would be in favor though, is drafting a international point guard. Those are always fun to have, and most of them are much more fundemental then the 1's in the states.

Drafting international big men scares me. Maybe in the 2nd round where the risks aren't too big (Okur, and while Manu isn't a big guy, he plays like one...and as a small one too).

Also, I just don't see us resigning Toine without getting rid of Blount and/or Reaf first. Both of these guys' contracts are huge, and somehow we already have 2 future starters (AT LEAST) waiting to break out. That would be major back up money at the 4/5 wasted.

The other thing is, I don't see Ricky being happy next year comming from the bench. If he wins 6th man or not, I think he'll want to be starting again and play in the begining and in the end.

Tommy also mentioned this, but where do we really have a need? Maybe PG, or maybe we'll see one of these two points break out sometime soon. The big man look to be set, and having Ricky, Pierce and Allen on the same team makes us pretty much set at the SF/SG position, too.

Maybe the best thing to do is to trade up, but I don't see a lot of people going after mid to late 2nd rounders, and I don't think Danny's going to move any of his young guys to get a higher pick.

[Truth34]

Guys,

I am not even worried about the offseason. I like what Danny has done getting picks, and I think the Antoine trade is the trade of the year.

In Danny I Trust. You guys can talk offseason.

But you better focus on the here and now. Antoine and Paul and Gary and Co. could do something.

Start the Pistons game thread. That is everything right now.

[Rizzah]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, "In Danny We Trust"?

In Belicheck I trust, in Theo I trust. In Danny?

This is Danny Ainge we're talking about, the meticulous, overtinkering Danny Ainge, the guy who makes about six unnecessary moves per week in your fantasy move. The man who handed Mark Blount a huge contract and traded for Raef LaFrentz, who graduated from the Brad Sellers School of big guys who prefer to be 20 feet from the basket. I know he's going to do SOMETHING stupid this summer. I can't let him off the hook just yet.

That said, I'm still on the fence on Antoine. I love him to death; I was always one of his biggest defenders the last time he was in town, but after we gave him an extension in '99, he showed up out of shape and shot his way out of town. If we do re-sign him, we'll probably need to go after a PG in the draft, because I like Delonte West, but I'm not 100% sold on him. At this point the chances of Deron Williams falling to our draft spot (assuming we have a #1 this year) are nil, but I've actually seen Jarrett Jack slide pretty far in some mocks.

If Antoine does leave, PF/C becomes a necessity, in which case guys like Shelden Williams (assuming he declares), Ike Diogu (ditto), or Channing Frye become possibilities.

[toolatetoride]

With respect to the Walker situation, I think we should release him. Jefferson is coming on too fast to keep Walker, unless they came up with some genius idea. We cant move Walker to SF, because even if we put Ricky at PG and PP at SG we still have two up and coming PG's so thatsa out of the question. One idea is to move Jefferson to Center, but I dont really see him getting the job done as a long term center at only 6'10".

So...release Walker, lock up all our contracts and two last thing.s..

In my opinion, we made a mistake releasing McCarty. Every team needs a consistent three point shooter. Im a strong believer in the veteran three point shooter a la McCarty, Steve Kerr, Eric Piatkowski. I dont see a consisten three point shooter like that on this squad. Our depth is great, Our starters are awesome, but the last thing that should be trying to jump on a Center in the draft. Draft a huge man, no 6'11" nonsense, 7'0, 7'1. We need a huge presence down low that can block shots like crazy and defend well. We dont need scoring. Although I like Blount, i dont see him being the starting center for much long....

That is all, random thoughts, hope you understand it all...

[KJay]

good stuff, the only problem with 7'1 players now, is that they are three point shooters now.

[#1AntoineWalkerFan]

there is no way they should release walker...did u not see how much of an impact he had on the team when he came back?...yes jefferson is playing very well but who says we cant keep both?...i think jefferson is very servicable at the center position he is only 1 inch shorther than raef so height isnt an issue...and lets say they keep walker he can play 35-38 min a game split between pf and sf...leaving plenty of minutes for al and ricky...if they get rid of walker it will be the worst decision theyve ever made...again...

[Al Jefferson]

Originally Posted by toolatetoride

With respect to the Walker situation, I think we should release him. Jefferson is coming on too fast to keep Walker, unless they came up with some genius idea. We cant move Walker to SF, because even if we put Ricky at PG and PP at SG we still have two up and coming PG's so thatsa out of the question. One idea is to move Jefferson to Center, but I dont really see him getting the job done as a long term center at only 6'10".

So...release Walker, lock up all our contracts and two last thing.s..

In my opinion, we made a mistake releasing McCarty. Every team needs a consistent three point shooter. Im a strong believer in the veteran three point shooter a la McCarty, Steve Kerr, Eric Piatkowski. I dont see a consisten three point shooter like that on this squad. Our depth is great, Our starters are awesome, but the last thing that should be trying to jump on a Center in the draft. Draft a huge man, no 6'11" nonsense, 7'0, 7'1. We need a huge presence down low that can block shots like crazy and defend well. We dont need scoring. Although I like Blount, i dont see him being the starting center for much long....

That is all, random thoughts, hope you understand it all...

Couldn't have said it better myself.
Nice post.

PdP

[Premier]

First of all, we cannot release Walker in the off-season (his contract is due).

I cringe when I hear Jefferson is coming too fast. After watching the last 15 or so games, it is apparent that he has hit the rookie wall. It happens to the best of them. Remember, he is fresh out of a high school where he faced little to none competition.

Why can't we move Antoine to SF and why do we have to? Jefferson won't be ready to start next year. Perkins isn't either. Ricky Davis comes off the bench and he seems happy there. Even if we decide to start him, Antoine, Pierce, and Davis wouldn't be playing the majority of their minutes together (although you never know with Doc Rivers). There would be too much of a drop off between the first and second unit as Rivers barely combines them.

Who said you can't be 6'10" to play center (even though Jefferson isn't going to start next season)? Have you seen the Eastern Conference. The only centers are Shaq, Curry, and Z.

McCarty a consistent three point shooter.

Johan Petro.

[Al Jefferson]

Originally Posted by Premier

Who said you can't be 6'10" to play center.

Ben Wallace plays the Center spot really well to be under 6'10"...

PdP

[KingHandles]

Jefferson's 20 years old hes got more time then he know what 2 do wit...Keep Walker 4 a few more years then when hes done well have an all out awesome PF in his place named BIG AL JEFFERSON...

[agoo101284]

We need to resign Walker. I don't really see why that is open for discussion. Except that people can't remember beyond the last four games.

We draft Joey Graham, Taylor Coppenrath, and either Salim Stoudamire or Nate Robinson. Let Payton walk. Then we have this:

C--Raef - Blount - Perkins
PF-Walker - Jefferson - Coppenrath
SF-Pierce - Graham - Reed
SG-Allen - Davis
PG-Banks - West - Robinson/Stoudamire

We'd probably see Reed and Coppenrath on the IR.