It’s too bad Al Horford left. Again. I don’t think anyone blamed him for choosing GSW over Boston. But the records speak for themselves. Even with Steph and Jimmy, old teams always seem to struggle in this league. Imagine if Boston had Al for 15-20 minutes per game.
If there’s deal available that clearly satisfies a Boston need, I don’t think any of Walsh, Minott or Garza should be off limits. Maybe it ends up being a Nesmith situation where some regrets follow. But you usually have to give up something good to get something good.
Simons always struck me as the classic volume shooter (scorer) on a bad team. It’s different when you don’t have carte blanche to take 25 shots per night. His defense hasn’t been as bad as many feared. Is there another league team that will give him 30+ minutes per night? Probably not. Boston isn’t going to trade him unless there’s a clear talent upgrade or inexpensive salary dump. Don’t see them taking on someone else’s bad contracts…unless it’s also deals that expire after this year.
A physical and athletic big and attacking combo guard. Simons, Hauser, Tillman,Scheierman Boucher are the logical chips. Claxton and Cam Thomas? Bagley, Richards, Diabate, Ighodaro, Sharpe, Landale some post help? Dosunmu would be a great addition. Harper or Keon Johnson could provide the latter?
We all know we need another big, but I don’t think it’s up to Brad. The real question is, does ownership want to spend the money. It’s clear this team can compete, but won’t go far unless they fix the big man situation. If ownership tells Brad “go shopping”, I have faith Brad will fix it. If ownership says “save your pennies”, then we are stuck with what we have for the rest of the season.
My big concern with playing small is the wear and tear on the small guys working against bigs. I would much rather give minutes to Garza and Tillman. You can save the little guy’s bodies, see what the bigs can give you, and you will most likely still be good, but not great, so you can still go shopping in the off season.
Question 2:
I’m not familiar with his time in Portland, and I don’t want to say Simons has been a disappointment, but he hasn’t done as much as he was hyped to bring after the trade. I would have to say he is not fitting whatever role they are giving him, because I just don’t see enough from him. Maybe they need to run more plays for him, or just let him do his own thing. I don’t know. But at this point I would think even his trade value has been lowered a bit.
Question 3:
Interesting… This is something I have not really considered yet.
When ever you are ready to start making moves, you dangle Walsh and Minot to see what you can get. They both have proved they deserve to stick with the team, and I would be happy for that, but they also have some solid value right now. Gonzalea does too, but simply because he’s younger, I think you keep him and develop him.
1. I am reasonably happy with Queta's performance, and the problem seems to be in depth for centers. I would be ok with going either way, in terms of getting a top tier big that knocks Queta down the depth chart OR a more solid, reliable backup. Obvs if we go the second route, it would be nice to also get someone youngish who has longevity and upside on the table. Because I don't feel like we are in a desperate GFIN position, I think I prefer the second option.
2. Simons would be ok if there was someone else who could playmake in the second unit, but currently I think Hauser, Simons, Minott, Baylor, all those guys need someone else to feed them the ball in the right spots to maximize what they can do. Hauser in particular to me has been very feast or famine as his 3pt shooting goes, and I suspect better playmaking would improve his consistency. When Hauser is on, the Cs beat people by double digits, when he's off, it can be a struggle.
3. So, jumping off that earlier point, generally I think that we do have a need to start focusing on the younger cost-controlled guys for the next stage. Pritch and Hauser are both entering their primes, and while it would be great to keep them both, I feel like there's a good argument for sending Hauser out for other needs given the logjam at wing, and under the theory that both Walsh and Minott are developing into useful rotation players. The good thing is that in Mazzulla's system, solid 3 and D wings are necessary, so I think the young guys all have a place in the depth chart, and a ball handler is addition there that would help the most, after another legit big. Tillman and Boucher are just taking up space at this point; I think we need more return out of those roster spots
It’s too bad Al Horford left. Again. I don’t think anyone blamed him for choosing GSW over Boston. But the records speak for themselves. Even with Steph and Jimmy, old teams always seem to struggle in this league. Imagine if Boston had Al for 15-20 minutes per game.
If there’s deal available that clearly satisfies a Boston need, I don’t think any of Walsh, Minott or Garza should be off limits. Maybe it ends up being a Nesmith situation where some regrets follow. But you usually have to give up something good to get something good.
Simons always struck me as the classic volume shooter (scorer) on a bad team. It’s different when you don’t have carte blanche to take 25 shots per night. His defense hasn’t been as bad as many feared. Is there another league team that will give him 30+ minutes per night? Probably not. Boston isn’t going to trade him unless there’s a clear talent upgrade or inexpensive salary dump. Don’t see them taking on someone else’s bad contracts…unless it’s also deals that expire after this year.
Yes for a stretch 5, to allow for in game flexibility - (on top of JT coming back, which will help with rebounds, assists, dimes, spacing etc)
A physical and athletic big and attacking combo guard. Simons, Hauser, Tillman,Scheierman Boucher are the logical chips. Claxton and Cam Thomas? Bagley, Richards, Diabate, Ighodaro, Sharpe, Landale some post help? Dosunmu would be a great addition. Harper or Keon Johnson could provide the latter?
Question 1:
We all know we need another big, but I don’t think it’s up to Brad. The real question is, does ownership want to spend the money. It’s clear this team can compete, but won’t go far unless they fix the big man situation. If ownership tells Brad “go shopping”, I have faith Brad will fix it. If ownership says “save your pennies”, then we are stuck with what we have for the rest of the season.
My big concern with playing small is the wear and tear on the small guys working against bigs. I would much rather give minutes to Garza and Tillman. You can save the little guy’s bodies, see what the bigs can give you, and you will most likely still be good, but not great, so you can still go shopping in the off season.
Question 2:
I’m not familiar with his time in Portland, and I don’t want to say Simons has been a disappointment, but he hasn’t done as much as he was hyped to bring after the trade. I would have to say he is not fitting whatever role they are giving him, because I just don’t see enough from him. Maybe they need to run more plays for him, or just let him do his own thing. I don’t know. But at this point I would think even his trade value has been lowered a bit.
Question 3:
Interesting… This is something I have not really considered yet.
When ever you are ready to start making moves, you dangle Walsh and Minot to see what you can get. They both have proved they deserve to stick with the team, and I would be happy for that, but they also have some solid value right now. Gonzalea does too, but simply because he’s younger, I think you keep him and develop him.
1. I am reasonably happy with Queta's performance, and the problem seems to be in depth for centers. I would be ok with going either way, in terms of getting a top tier big that knocks Queta down the depth chart OR a more solid, reliable backup. Obvs if we go the second route, it would be nice to also get someone youngish who has longevity and upside on the table. Because I don't feel like we are in a desperate GFIN position, I think I prefer the second option.
2. Simons would be ok if there was someone else who could playmake in the second unit, but currently I think Hauser, Simons, Minott, Baylor, all those guys need someone else to feed them the ball in the right spots to maximize what they can do. Hauser in particular to me has been very feast or famine as his 3pt shooting goes, and I suspect better playmaking would improve his consistency. When Hauser is on, the Cs beat people by double digits, when he's off, it can be a struggle.
3. So, jumping off that earlier point, generally I think that we do have a need to start focusing on the younger cost-controlled guys for the next stage. Pritch and Hauser are both entering their primes, and while it would be great to keep them both, I feel like there's a good argument for sending Hauser out for other needs given the logjam at wing, and under the theory that both Walsh and Minott are developing into useful rotation players. The good thing is that in Mazzulla's system, solid 3 and D wings are necessary, so I think the young guys all have a place in the depth chart, and a ball handler is addition there that would help the most, after another legit big. Tillman and Boucher are just taking up space at this point; I think we need more return out of those roster spots