The Weekend Greenie Bag - Anything Happen Recently?
As Sunday comes down the home stretch, the Sunday Scaries are starting to kick in. Enter this week’s Weekend Greenie Bag. It has been an eventful weekend for Celtics fans and as you can imagine there are strong opinions from stoolies on the matter. We have a shit ton to get to so I won’t waste time. Submit anything you want with #greeniebag or email greenieceltsbag@gmail.com. As you are about to see, we are open 24 hours a day.
Your questions:
Email:
Greenie,
It’s 2:16am and I am currently thinking about what the hell just happened. Now I know what everyone is thinking that all this trade stuff is just to get PG 13 or Butler. However, I am looking at a different player for a trade. One that likes to use googly eyes and make my heart flutter when I think of him in Celtics green. That man is Andre Drummond. Now I know typical bigs don’t work on Brad’s offense and all that bs, but if I have to watch this team get out rebounded so badly in a playoff series again I’m gonna go crazy. He fills the biggest need on this roster, but if we get him I don’t know if we could make the money for Hayward work. I personally like Andre more because he just is the piece on this team we need the most currently. I am just curious your thoughts on Andre and potentially other trade targets besides the two players everyone keeps bringing up. Keep up the good work, better than Celtics blogs. – Blake
Well Blake, know that I too was up at 2:16am last night thinking about what the hell just happened. Take solace in knowing there were probably a shit ton of Celtics fans doing the same thing. IOn terms of your question, I’d rather they not give up the pick and any other potential FAs this summer for Andre Drummond. I don’t think you can ignore the style fit. Basically since the Celtics traded Fultz, my hope is that they are committing to Isaiah. The LAST thing Isaiah needs is players around him who are going to clog the paint. There’s also the matter of his FT shooting and how that impacts your ability to use him late in games. Yes, his rebounding is outstanding and fills a glaring hole. I just don’t need to spend a pick and 25/27/28M over the next three years to get it.
If I know Danny like I think I do, whoever he is trying to build an offer for is a player nobody has even thought about. Or it’s a player we all think is currently unavailable. If he keeps the pick this year he can still move his future picks. There are literally hundreds of scenarios Ainge could go, but Andre Drummond most definitely will not be one of them, in my opinion.
Advertisement
Email:
I don’t understand trading down from #1 at this point. Why do the move now instead of waiting until draft night to see how things play out? If Ainge really likes Josh Jackson and the Lakers take him at 2 then what does he do? Ball doesn’t want to come to Boston. I think he should’ve waited to make the trade and maybe he could have gotten more value as well. Thoughts? – Willie
If you’re looking for a clue as to what Ainge might be doing, this certainly could be used as a sign that he doesn’t plan on keeping this year’s pick. If Ainge doesn’t care who is there at three, it was simply about getting more picks, then I don’t think it matters what the Lakers do. I also think even though Josh Jackson is the hot thing at the moment, I believe Ainge prefers Jayson Tatum. He did this move because I don’t think he feels like the Lakers are going to take Tatum, so whether they take Ball or Jackson makes no difference here either.
If Ainge DID truly think the player he wanted was going to be picked, he has to wait until the draft right? Make the Fultz pick, wait out the Lakers pick, and then trade it. Happens all the time.
Man great question. It’s too bad that concept got shut down by Dave a while back, probably could have bought another Nantucket house after this weekend.
Email:
Now that I think about it, I don’t hate the trade down with the Sixers. Cuz then we will have Brooklyn’s and Philly’s picks next year and we get a good chance at like Porter, Bamba, etc who have superstar potential. Get best chance at that superstar (Fultz could be a star, but so could Jackson, Fox, etc. it’s a 1-5 draft) while only dropping two spots and still getting Jackson, Fox, etc. Ainge not sold enough on Fultz. Bamba/porter > Fultz. Thoughts? – Alex
Obviously this came in before the trade was official, and really this was a logical way to look at the situation. It’s not as if this was some doomsday scenario where the Celtics are ultimately fucked. They are still in great position. This was Step 1 of whatever Ainge’s plan was.
As I wrote this morning, there are two sides to this argument, this was an example of one of those sides.
Email:
Hey Greenie,
Hope your heart is doing ok with all of these rumors flying around. Also, how do you still have a real job on top of being a full-time Celtics beat reporter? Anyway, onto the question: by the time you get this out I’m sure we will have more information but as of writing this it sounds like we will probably send the #1 pick for at least the #3 pick and next year’s LA pick (which better be unprotected, but I don’t know how protections work if you are trading another team’s pick). So my question is this: if we draft at #3 it’s almost guaranteed that we take a wing, most likely Jackson. To which I say, how many SFs do we need? I know Brad likes to have versatile guys and loves to play small ball but if the above happened we would have Jae Crowder, Jaylen Brown, and Josh Jackson before we even started talking about Gordon Hayward. Everyone around the league seems to think we are the front runners for Hayward so why would we be moving this pick to grab another SF? I understand getting the additional likely top-10 pick in 2018 would be sweet in a big man heavy draft, but at the end of the day it seems like we could seriously be hindering Brown and Jackson’s development if all the above were to take place. I think drafting Fultz while trying to add Hayward or maybe even Blake Griffin through FA would position us best for the future. I hate to admit it but it seems like IT might be on his way out of town after next year so we will need a PG for the future. What do you think? Would potentially having 4 starting caliber SFs be too much? Am I crazy to assume we have a very real shot at adding Hayward? How many first round picks do we need in 2018/2019? Is the moon really made of cheese? Keep up the good work. – Jeff
Advertisement
First of all Jeff, not very nice of you to throw that Isaiah dig in there, and I’ll have you know the Celtics DID end up trading the #1 pick so it looks like Isaiah should be here to stay, but I digress. Jeff brings up a really good question in terms of how this roster is being constructed. I think the goal everyone in the league has to keep in mind with every deal they make is how does it stack up against CLE/GS. Well, what that series told us is you can’t really have enough quality wing play. In today’s NBA positions don’t really matter, so you’re telling me there’s a scenario where the Celtics could have a lineup next year of IT/Avery/Hayward/Zizic/Horford with Smart/Rozier/Jaylen/Jackson/Jae/Yabu etc on the bench? It obviously doesn’t hurt if you then need to trade the position for another piece, but at the same time you have a plethora of high potential SFs. Think of a lineup with Smart/Jaylen/Jackson in it, that’s a pretty good defensive trio. At the same time, I have the same fears you do about what that does for Jaylen’s development. Maybe the Celts project him as a player who can legit play the 2, and then don’t resign Avery after this season. As the league trends to get smaller on the frontline’s I think this would actually go in the Celtics favor.
Email:
Am I crazy for preferring Rudy Gay over Blake as a fall back option if we can’t get Hayward? – Patrick
The short answer? Yes. For starters Rudy Gay is two years older (30), and I don’t think he opted out to sign a short deal. He’s also coming off an Achilles injury which doesn’t make me feel great, and while everyone knows Blake has his own medical issues what seems like every year, he’s avoided that one so far. Also remember, as recently as two years ago Blake was a top 5 NBA player. He provides skills that the Celtics need more than Rudy Gay does. I think from a fit standpoint I’d prefer a Blake/Isaiah pick and roll so anything involving Gay. I think if there’s some way for the Celtics to have Blake sign a 2+1 or something, so he can re-enter the market at just 30 if he wants, that might be the best case for everyone.
Email:
So I really wanted a new Celtics jersey because my friends kept shitting on me for still wearing my youth xl jersey from middle school (I’m in college now and over 6 feet). But since no one was safe really on the Celtics, I had to buy the Barstool 33 Celtics lookalike jersey. What I’m trying to say is do you almost feel bad for Danny? Like he has so many options that there is almost no way that he makes the best choice. I think it’s easier to be a shitty GM with fewer options. Thanks – Cory
Congrats Cory. That’s a fire jersey. What are we talking about you might be thinking? Only this super sweet item you can buy on this here website called Barstool Sports.
Advertisement
Yeah so what if he is? Ever hear of job security?
Probably…
Alberto Abalde
Vlatko Cancar
Advertisement
Isaiah Hartenstein
Mathias Lessort
Alright, that’s going to do it for us today. I have more Jayson Tatum highlight videos to fall in love with. Thanks to everyone who wrote in, keep em coming as always. See you guys next weekend!