# Has Boston's day come and gone?



## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

> *Fact or Fiction: The Celtics' title window has closed.*
> 
> *Hayes Davenport, Celtics Hub:* Fiction. For next year? Yeah, probably. They aren't going to improve, and a lot of teams are going to get better around them. But the prospect of rebuilding with one of the league's best distributors, an aging star or two, and an otherwise vacant roster is actually pretty exciting.
> 
> ...


http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/5-on-5-110905/boston-celtics-offseason-questions


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## Luke (Dec 7, 2008)

They're finished as far as next year in concerned, but they have the capspace to rebuild and snag a Dwight Howard calibur player in the not to distant future if I recall correctly. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

Frankly everyone's finished next year.


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## R-Star (Jun 13, 2002)

VanillaPrice said:


> They're finished as far as next year in concerned, but they have the capspace to rebuild and snag a Dwight Howard calibur player in the not to distant future if I recall correctly. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.


A Dwight Howard calibur player?

Theres only one guy of his calibur in the league bro.


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## edabomb (Feb 12, 2005)

Very suprised 4/5 went for fiction. It is pretty widely known that in 1999 the older teams struggled massively in the shortened season. Multiple short turnarounds (4 games a week) was much harder for them to cope with than a spread out 82 game season.


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## Luke (Dec 7, 2008)

R-Star said:


> A Dwight Howard calibur player?
> 
> Theres only one guy of his calibur in the league bro.


Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin ect.


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## R-Star (Jun 13, 2002)

VanillaPrice said:


> Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin ect.


Jon Bender.


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## Bogg (May 4, 2009)

I have a hard time seeing the current core really contending for a title without a legitimate center. They're well-positioned to rebuild for 2012-2013, though, so I suppose that counts for something.


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

Thankfully there won't be a season next year because Rondo's game is increasingly out-of-sych with everyone else's. I'm hopeful that once a new CBA is finally signed that they can work out a Rondo for Paul swap. Alternatively Rondo for Westbrook is a possible fallback, as that deal makes a lot of sense for both teams.


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## Luke (Dec 7, 2008)

E.H. Munro said:


> Thankfully there won't be a season next year because Rondo's game is increasingly out-of-sych with everyone else's. I'm hopeful that once a new CBA is finally signed that they can work out a Rondo for Paul swap. Alternatively Rondo for Westbrook is a possible fallback, as *that deal makes a lot of sense for both teams*.


If by both teams you mean the Boston Celtics and the Boston Celtics, then yeah, that deal makes a lot of sense for both teams.


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

The Thunder are having issues dividing up the shots between their two primary scorers, while Rondo, though a guy that needs to have the ball in his hands, doesn't shoot it. So, yeah, teaming up someone like Durant, who's in the "The refs are whistling any defender within ten feet of me whenever I fire up a jumper so get me more ****ing shots!" phase of his career with someone that does nothing but get him those shots makes a lot of sense. It also allows Harden more room on the offensive end of the floor. And it helps keep the payroll lower as Rondo isn't on a max deal and Westbrook soon will be,


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## Luke (Dec 7, 2008)

E.H. Munro said:


> The Thunder are having issues dividing up the shots between their two primary scorers, while Rondo, though a guy that needs to have the ball in his hands, doesn't shoot it. So, yeah, teaming up someone like Durant, who's in the "The refs are whistling any defender within ten feet of me whenever I fire up a jumper so get me more ****ing shots!" phase of his career with someone that does nothing but get him those shots makes a lot of sense. It also allows Harden more room on the offensive end of the floor. And it helps keep the payroll lower as Rondo isn't on a max deal and Westbrook soon will be,


The Thunder aren't going to win anything with only two players on their team that can score the ball. Rondo is a great playmaker and defender, but he would e exposed in Oklahoma City and his presence would be detrimental on offense. Westbrook is not an ideal fit, but neither is Rondo. If they can somehow swap him for CP3 the rest of the league is in trouble.


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## Adam (Jan 28, 2003)

Boston can sign great players and win in the future but many teams have that possibility. The question was about this current Boston squad and they're definitely finished.


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

VanillaPrice said:


> The Thunder aren't going to win anything with only two players on their team that can score the ball. Rondo is a great playmaker and defender, but he would e exposed in Oklahoma City and his presence would be detrimental on offense. Westbrook is not an ideal fit, but neither is Rondo. If they can somehow swap him for CP3 the rest of the league is in trouble.


The Thunder are going to move Westbrook one way or another because he's a poor man's D-Rose and that's causing issues on the offensive end for them. But the same dynamic that comes into play with New Orleans & Paul is at play here. In any deal they need to replace him, and there just aren't that many teams out there that can make that deal. And most of the few that can (i.e. Golden State, Washington) probably wouldn't be interested in the lateral move.


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## Bogg (May 4, 2009)

VanillaPrice said:


> *The Thunder aren't going to win anything with only two players on their team that can score the ball*. Rondo is a great playmaker and defender, but he would e exposed in Oklahoma City and his presence would be detrimental on offense. Westbrook is not an ideal fit, but neither is Rondo. If they can somehow swap him for CP3 the rest of the league is in trouble.


Harden and Ibaka averaged almost 16 and 11 points per game, respectively, in the second half of last season, both at the age of 21. Can you win with the best scorer in the league(Durant), an 18-20ppg guy (Harden), and two other starters in the mid- to low-teens(Rondo and Ibaka) coupled with one or two bench scorers? I don't see why not.


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

Yeah, I mean Ibaka's an OK garbageman, and with Durant and Harden the Thunder don't need to worry about Rondo dribbling the air out of the ball. Because at the end of the day he's more than happy to defer shots to the other players. In Boston the problem is that the guy dribbling the air out of the ball barely commands a defender and their primary scorer is on the downside of his career.


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## jaw2929 (Dec 11, 2011)

I fear that it is, but I'm REALLY hoping that I'm wrong on this. I think the bench and the starters' health are key to seeing just how far into the Playoffs they can go.


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## UNHFan (May 14, 2005)

It depends! I really like the bench that Danny is putting together this year but we truly need a center! Is there a center out there? If we can bring in a center and stay healthy we could make one more run!


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## Adam (Jan 28, 2003)

Chris Wilcox was a good signing. Has the potential to work out well.


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