Changing two pieces of the quintet is never an easy operation. By exchanging Smart for Porzingis then Brogdon + Williams for JRue Holiday the Celtics have carried out a decisive reversal of management philosophy.
First of all a reversal at the level of team-building: from a decidedly Draft-oriented franchise, they have moved on to giving importance to trades (even sensational ones) to acquire important players; they sacrificed both past and future choices: Smart and RobLob had been two great peaches, much more effective than the number (6 and ) with which they had been called. Secondly, they went from favoring depth (with at least 3 quintet players rising from the pine: White, Brogdon, Williams) to a structure with well-defined quintet and sixth man and a bench which at the moment can only be looked at with hope. Third, but not least, they stopped protecting Tatum e Brown. The abundant bench was the last of the wads that stood between the two BOS Stars and truly adulthood. Now the green-and-white DinamicoDuo, despite the other two “almost” Stars who have arrived, has the keys to the team and destiny. Rob Williams’ sacrifice is very painful, but I agree with his choices Brad Stevens. Without Williams they obviously lose intimidation and depth, they give up a big man who perhaps has yet to reach his peak and who, in any case, is built for the modern game; but he was often injured, or rather: he had started to get injured often, which is a different and very dangerous thing, in the last two years. Brogdon was also away a lot, both before and during his Boston experience, and had shown some intolerance towards the management: it’s better for everyone to have a change of scenery in these cases.
We haven’t finished hearing about the Blazers being at the center of some trades yet: Brogdon won’t stay. I think we need to start talking about Joe Cronin, Portland’s CBO, with a lot of respect now. He managed the Lillard deal in the best possible way, with zero leaks and zero hysteria, and is accumulating a future for the franchise. Holiday’s trade is different from that for Lillard: it brought two first picks, 2024 and 2029, but the first (which would then be that of GoldenState in the hands of the Celtics) is theoretically protected top-4, so if GS were to have a season horrible on the field + lucky in the Lottery would remain in favor of Boston. In this case the Blazers also seem to have targeted a specific player, and it wasn’t Brogdon. The count of first round calls from 2025 to 2030 goes to 15, of which 9 have accumulated in recent trades.
The Celtics starting five will be Holiday Brown Tatum Porzingis Horford. Having retired after the last Eugolega Othello Hunter, Horford is now the official highlander of basketball in the world: he needs a back-up. As strong as the quintet is, a lineup doesn’t win the Ring by having a 4,000-year-old big man and one who, as almost the only flaw, has fragility. Luke Kornet and Neemias Queta it cannot be their exchanges, quite simply.
Money? Figures easily compatible, indeed BOS has gained something. As mentioned in previous articles, JRue calls 76 M$$ in the next two years: in the same period the two parties would have earned 69 MM, but Williams would have also had a third year at 13 MM.
Finally a look at this very unattractive bench. The role of Derrick White it’s classic: the luxury sixth man. Then, basically, it ends here. Pritchard he can be a drinkable fourth guard also from a Finals perspective, and Hauser from 3 he puts it. The rest is very questionable, unless we hypothesize a resurrection of Mykhailiuk (who would have been ready for the EuroLeague). It risks (in every sense) becoming important Dalano Banton. He is an atypical player (206 x 92), a sort of cross between a large player and a long (in theory) triple player. He can really play anywhere but in TOR, in his two years in the NBA, he averaged less than 10 minutes, held back by his shooting percentage: 41 the first year, 42 the second. But he can change on everyone, he has the ass/misses ratio of a real 2-precise pg and if you combine recoveries and blocks he almost gets to 1/match.
2023-10-02 04:31:29
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