The Weekend Greenie Bag - Would You Trade Brad Stevens For Lebron?
Why hello there! Welcome back to everyone’s favorite Saturday tradition The Weekend Greenie Bag. Training camp opens in just a few days in case you weren’t aware, so generally things are pretty great. Be on the lookout for the first ever 3 Part Season Preview that should be out once camp starts. Thought about releasing it earlier but Rear Ad got in my dome so you’ll just have to wait.
In the meantime, given the news becoming official about KG, if you haven’t yet, go take a look at the celebration we had for him this past week. I think you’ll like it.
As always thank you to those who emailed/tweeted in for this week’s bag, as a reminder if you want to join in on the fun it’s easy. Tweet me anything with #Greeniebag, or go crazy indepth in an email to greenieceltsbag@gmail.com
Now…to your questions
Jonathan, I’m glad you asked because let me tell you a little story. For the last 6 years I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my refurbished PS3 that I got from Gamestop for like 150 bucks. We’d been through great times together, multiple NBA titles, some Super Bowls, a couple of World Series titles etc, but here’s the thing about me. I am extremely Jewish. Not in a “I go to to Temple every night, never miss a high holiday, and can actually read Hebrew without looking at the English version” but more “I am cheap as fuck when it comes to video games”. For example, I never buy new games. Ever. Madden 2011 Franchise Mode and unfortunately I had to buy 2k15 for $8 once my 2k11 stopped working all day long in my house. Over my dead body am I buying a new version of a game for another $60 when I finally got my player in MyCareer mode to be able to hit a damn jumpshot.
Which brings me to your question. See a few days ago I was in my local Walmart to pick up some windshield wiper fluid. That’s all I needed, one thing for like $1.50. Well, I walked out of that Walmart with a PS4 and NBA 2k17 because I should not be trusted to go anywhere by myself. Dropping like $350 when mentally I was preparing to spend $1.50 was a little interesting, but I’ve since made my eyes bleed playing 2k17 (which is way harder imo) so I feel prepared to answer.
The answer, for me is obviously Isaiah. He’s basically the whole reason I even bought this game, so no way I trade him. It also helps me fuel my unconditional love for him in real life, by seeing him also dominate in fake video game life. Graphics are so good it might as well be real if you ask me.
The first person I target to trade for is obviously Boogie Cousins, and not for the reason you might think. It’s not because he’s a really good player who is unstoppable in the game, but simply because everybody knows that if it happens in 2K, it happens in real life. So many times over the years playing Franchise Mode or MyCareer mode, when someone gets hurt or traded or whatever, it always seems to happen in real life. Those are facts. So naturally I want it out there in the universe that Boogie is coming to Boston.
Hey Brandon, we actually touched on this in our premiere bag. I think a lot of it will be based on need, and if any moves are made this year at the trade deadline. From a prospect perspective, guys like Josh Jackson, Harry Giles, Jason Tatum, Markelle Fultz, and Lonzo Ball are the guys I think the Celtics would love to have, but I also think chances are there is going to be a player or two that nobody is thinking of that has a breakout college year and rockets up the chart. At the same time, maybe some of these preseason favorites struggle, so the list is pretty fluid at this point.
And honestly, just like this past year, I’m not above trading this pick. I know people will have problems with that since this is supposed to be the deepest class in a long time, loaded with players that are said to be impact players. I’d still prefer Boogie Cousins or something. Give Trader Danny the right offer and I bet you he’d do the same thing.
Email: Greenie – Juicy one this week, but you gotta take the green goggles off for this one. Money/contracts aside, and assuming they will stay with the Celtics for the rest of their career – would you trade Brad Stevens for Lebron James straight up?
BronBron is basically a guaranteed ECF appearance every year for the next 5 years, but Brad represents the organizational stability for 10-15 more years. I’ve argued with my buddies on this, and I think it would be stupid to not take Lebron. Let me know what you think. – Swanny Sec309
Damn you Swanny. First off, how dare you tell me to take off my green goggles. Suggesting that my takes are clouded by homerism is offensive. I make it my mission to provide the masses with the most honest and biased Celtics takes the internet has ever seen so that’s a little rude of you.
Ok I forgive you.
Now what I’m not sure I can forgive you for, is your question. I know we’ve only been doing this for about a month or so but I am confident in saying this is the worst question I’ve ever had to answer. Unfortunately, this one only took me about 0.3 seconds to come to a conclusion on…
Of course I make that trade.
As much as I hate him, as much as it would pain me to have to root for the guy, this is about as no brainer as it comes. The NBA is a players league, especially when that player is the best basketball player on the planet. While it’s nice to have the best young coach in the league for the next decade plus, he doesn’t play the game. Even if Brad overachieves as a coach, ultimately he has to live with the results of his players. A coach like Brad is important because he finds a way to motivate and get the absolute most out of every player on his roster. Often times that helps you win games and be competitive. Veteran players respect him, and the hope that we all are banking on is that people will want to play for a coach like that and come to Boston for the foreseeable future. Sort of like Pop in SA.
Well, if Brad Stevens makes you competitive and a possible destination, you know what also does that? Winning titles. You know who gives you a better shot at a title than Brad Stevens? Lebron James. Put Lebron on the Celtics and it makes absolutely zero difference who the coach is, you’re still in the Finals and probably winning it. In your question you say Bron for Brad straight up, which means my starting lineup could be Isaiah/Avery/Jae/Lebron/Horford? Shit not even Rick Pitino could fuck that up.
Anybody who doesn’t take the player in these type of questions is just being a hater. Now excuse me while I go light myself on fire.
I’m gonna be honest with you Jonathan, I have absolutely no fucking clue what the hell you’re asking. At the same time, thank you for writing in. Here’s what we’ll do, we’ll pretend this was your question
“With roster crunches looming do you see Ainge trading a player for less than he’s worth if he makes the cut?”
Damn…even when I do that it doesn’t really make sense. Here’s why. If you make the cut, why would Ainge need to trade you to make space? I could see them finding a way to trade someone if they knew he wasn’t going to make the cut, that way he gets something of value for nothing. The argument there is, why would a team trade for a player they all knew Danny was going to cut anyway. You can see why your question is a tad confusing.
Email: Hey love your blogs keep up the good work. My question is how can you rank Isaiah Da Gawd over Kyrie Irving? I love the guy too but after that Finals performance Kyrie has to be around the top 5 PGs in the league and certainly better than Isaiah right?
Thanks – Greg
Greg I’m glad you brought this up. It appears as though people were a little outraged when I said that Isaiah should be closer to Kyrie Irving in the SI list. I’m proudly on record saying that I prefer Isaiah to Kyrie as a player. Here’s the problem I’ve noticed, and you brought it up in your question.
“I love the guy too but after that Finals performance Kyrie has to be around the top 5 PGs in the league”
I’ve never once said Kyrie wasn’t a good player. His Finals was impressive, anyone who watched can admit that. But here’s my problem, you’re looking at Kyrie through a recency bias. Yes, hitting a shot to win a title is huge, but one play does not make me forget about everything else you’ve done that season and in your career.
The responses I got when that blog was posted talked a lot about how I was just being a homer, how I have lost credibility because I apparently know basketball, and all that did was make me laugh. Do people realize Isaiah has been outperforming Kyrie since he was in SAC?
And Greg, pleased rest assured that you will never read me say anything that I can’t back up with clear cut facts. All over this site is hyperbole and substanceless takes, but that just isn’t my game. Let me show you
So am I really to blame for saying Isaiah > Kyrie? Everybody knows that men lie, women lie, but numbers don’t. A lot of why people think this is a ridiculous statement, isn’t really based on fact. It’s that people continue to not accept the fact that Isaiah produces at an elite PG level. Remember, Kyrie was winning like 19 games a year before Lebron and Love got there, Isaiah came to the Celtics and turned their entire team around. I look at it like this. People say Kyrie’s numbers are what they are because they in fact do have Lebron so he is used differently. They think that’s a strong argument. Then you see that he and Isaiah had the exact same usage rate. People say Kyrie’s strength is in his ability to score. Then I see that Isaiah scores more. Shit like that doesn’t make me a hater, or a homer, it’s reality.
I also think it’s lame when I hear the “Isaiah didn’t even get out of the first round and Kyrie did THAT in the Finals” argument. So Kyrie must be better than CP3, Westbrook, Lillard etc because he played in a Finals and they didn’t? When I hear that I know the person on the other end of the argument is truly reaching.
So no Greg, Kyrie Irving is not “certainly” better than Isaiah Thomas. Whether people want to accept that or not.
I’d love to keep going, but that concludes the entries we had for this week. Disappointing I know, you were just getting into it. Lets strive to be better next week, because I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but we kinda need “franchises” now so don’t make me look like an asshole would ya please. Have a fantastic weekend everybody.