Mailbag: Long Boston Celtics careers, moving Maine, Isaiah Thomas reflections

7 comments

1. ☘️☘️☘️☘️

2. I would love a new state of the art arena where the Celtics and Sun could play. In it there should also be a huge interactive Celtics Museum where fans can learn the full history of all the great Celtic teams and legends. They could also start putting statues of Red, Bill, and Larry for example outside the arena. Going to games would be a greater overall experience than the current which is good but could be better. We could even have our own unique version of the Sacramento ‘beam’. ☘️☘️☘️

3. I think brad is up set at the lack of outcome from trading Isaiah Thomas for what was supposed to be better point guard play but that turned out to either not fit with Kyrie or injury issues with kemba. In hindsight brad probably feels like we would have had a championship earlier with Isaiah given his heart and commitment along with What JT, JB, Rozier, and smart and big AL did to get us so far with out Kyrie and kemba

4. Should have sent this question in but totally forgot. Where do you see Oshae going? Camp is right around the corner..

5. What the true plan of Brad Stevens is no one really knows. The biggest thing for Boston is they have outs with everyone. The point of extending Tatum and brown was to create a 5 year period where you can commit to going for a title. I think both those guys stay with Boston to see those contracts expire. Jrue is older, and just signed a new deal for a lot of long term money. It is a real question if this could be his last year in green. Dump some of the salary, use that FA to patch, because you can’t fill a holiday home, but patch it and your team still looks great around you. Both Hauser and Pritchard are on team friendly deals that make them expendable. Hauser is a lights out shooter who has become a better defender. Any team that thinks they are right there would throw you more than Hauser is probably worth. Pritchard is a solid regular season back-up guard with playoff experience and solid shooting to boot. White to me is about as safe as JB and JT. He has now had a large impact in three playoff runs. Horford looks to be entering his final year. KP is tricky. His contract is a value for how well he played this year. When healthy he can post-up, shoot the three, and even move in and out of actions. Don’t expect him to play much this year though which drives his value down. The Celtics have the luxury of having a core regardless of who they give away. So when push comes to shove over the next five years they are always going to have a contending team.

6. Brown can also transition into a spot-up shooter as an elder statesman, will be a great locker-room presence. He's also quite durable though he has received more nights off since his play style is more aggressive.
   IT4 should not have been traded, in hindsight, but no GM would pass up getting Kyrie. The Celtics pulled the trigger on the trade because the team was set up for title contention that year. Kyrie, Hayward, and Horford would be the new Big Three with a great young cast of Tatum, Brown, Rozier, and Smart. Imagine if injuries did not derail that season. The Celtics made the ECF without Hayward the entire season and without Kyrie the entire postseason. What happened to IT4 after was really unfortunate, he came back too soon from injury and playing outside of the Celtics ecosystem exposed some of his glaring weaknesses. Players his size have a small window of opportunity to be impactful, we were fortunate to witness his journey while it lasted.

7. As a bigtime Worcester guy (my GGF and GF lived there, my GF went to Holy Cross) who supported moving the WooSox (looks good now dunnit?) I DO NOT support moving the Maine C's to Worcester or anywhere else. Boston sports franchises are, in reality, NEW ENGLAND franchises. Presence in other states is important. If people in MA want to see lesser, cheaper B-ball, they can go to Providence, UMASS or BC. They can watch the Connecticut Sun. The LAST thing we need is a mentality that nothing cool in New England can happen north of Portsmouth.