Originally Posted by different_13

Dude, you can't just ignore the #5 in a strong draft..

Originally Posted by different

Btw, when were these 2 seasons?
And when was his last surgery?

Originally Posted by Premier

Currently, I expect that the Celtics will likely win their first-round series, barring injuries, but if Ainge can sign someone like Mo Williams for the mid-level exception and trade for an interior defender like Jeff Foster, the Celtics can realistically make the Eastern Conference Finals, at the very least.

Originally Posted by #1AntoineWalkerFan

i am SICK AND TIRED of hearing about allens age and ankles...hes only had 2 seasons where he hasnt played a full season in his career...its not like hes injury prone a la raef and wally...and omg its the end of the world because he turns 32 in 2 weeks...does anyone realize that we traded a 30 year old guy with no legs along with a career role player and ANOTHER 19 year old or however old jeff green is for him...none of which we wanted or needed...its not like we traded al jefferson for ray allen...his ankles are fine his jumpshot is perfect and he is a great addition to this team...from last years team we basically lost delonte and added ray allen, i dont see how this is a bad thing at all

Originally Posted by Basketball

I don't think he was ignoring it, just making the point that the #5 pick in this draft wasn't that helpful to the Celtics.

We already have young, developing players at PG (Rajon Rondo), the wing (Gerald Green) and PF (Al Jefferson). Therefore, who would we get at #5 that would not be redundant?
Btw, was there anything structurally wrong with Ray Allen's ankle that caused the surgery?

What was the surgery in fact for?

Originally Posted by different_13

I'd say Allen and Pierce are both upper second-tier players.
Jefferson is ranked where in bigmen? Or even just overal players?

First tier is your dominant superstar, your Wade, Lebron, prime Shaq, etc..

Second tier is your excellent supporting cast player, Pippen, Garnett, Ginobili etc.

Third Tier is starter quality on a championship team, but no better than the third option, closer to 4th or 5th. This includes specialists, such as Ben Wallace or Bruce Bowen. Jefferson COULD be this. It's arguable.

Fourth tier, quality players but not really championship material unless the roster is stacked. Now, I see Jefferson as being this, until Boston get a better guard and center - he can improve, and both those pieces would help him improve even more.

Until Jefferson improves, or the overall quality of the roster improves, I just don't see the Celtics going anywhere. Outside of Jefferson, the bigmen kinda suck. (Perkins is decent, but not exactly good - would he start on the Spurs over Oberto?)
Gomes is decent, but best served as a backup.
Rondo has the potential to be good. I see him as more like jacque Vaughn (with better playmaking) than Tony Parker (minus the shot) though.
Gerald Green. Well, he could develop into a decent 6th man, or even a starter somewhere down the road (not with Allen and Pierce though).
Tony Allen - good defensive guard, decent slasher. But a bench player, especially with Pierce/Allen.

Now, who else is there on the Celtics?
Noone that's gonna put them over the Pistons, Bulls, Cavaliers.
You have two good outside shooters (luckily, they can both create for themselves as well). Pierce is a good slasher, so he can draw open looks for Allen. Jefferson could get double-teamed in the post too, so that creates looks for Pierce/Allen.
Outside of them, how is the team gonna score or get easy looks?

The Spurs have three guys that create open looks - Manu, Parker and Duncan. Their centers are average, but Duncan can also play there so it doesn't matter (and Horry is a good backup).
Their starting SF is an excellent defender, and also can capitalise on the open looks he gets - Rondo cannot.

I'm with seifer0406 - the Celtics simply aren't good enough to contend, at least with getting rid of Pierce you get some picks, allowing you to build for the future.
Imagine if instead of dealing #5 etc to Seattle, you dealt Pierce to Minnesota.
Pierce for Davis, #7 and filler (maybe throw in #5 but get back Foye?)
(this would be before the Mike James for Juwan Howard trade)

The Celtics would still have Green, Jefferson, Tony Allen, Rajon Rondo, Delonte West, Ryan Gomes, and Kendrick Perkins.
At #5 they take Jeff Green - he becomes the starting small forward (backed up by Green/Gomes)
at #7 they take either Noah or Brandan Wright (Noah to play alongside Jefferson at either C or PF, Wright if you think Jefferson is a C)
Let's argue they take Wright.

In 3 years, they still have all these players. Let's say they've converted their draft picks into a defensive bigman (such as Jason Collins), a shooter at the swing spots (think Morris Almond type) and garbage (future picks, cash, etc)


Jefferson/Perkins/'Collins'
Wright/'Collins'/Gomes
J.Green/Gomes/'Almond'
G.Green/T.Allen/D.West
D.West/Rondo

That team, in 5 years, has a chance of contending for the Eastern Conference title.
The team you currently have will struggle to do so in the next 3 years, after which they'll have to do all this anyway, but with worse picks!

I think the Allen deal is only good if you genuinely believe the Celtics can win the East. And I just don't think they can.
Added to this, they have no cap, so can't improve the team either.

I'll say this though - Allen and Pierce will be valuable trade chips. Pierce can contribute in a Finley-like manner when his contract expires/is in the last year, so he'll have value.
And Allen, well, that's some cap for ye! (or draft picks, whatever)

Originally Posted by Basketball

What was the surgery in fact for?

Originally Posted by LX

The surgery was to remove bone spurs. Not for any structural damage to the ankle.

Originally Posted by silverpaw1786

BONE SPURS!!! Almost certainly non-recurring