I think it's up in the air.

Nets are offensively more dynamic/elite scorers, but their defense is still questionable. Brown/DAJ/Prince will certainly help shore that side of the ball, but question marks still remain.

As for Turner, I'm hesitant on that. Ainge/Stevens clearly didn't think he was worth it, or it would've been done by now. I think letting Hayward go for nothing sucks, but Ainge clearly valued the TPE more than Turner and that speaks volumes.

Turner is not a stretch 4, that's far from the truth. He's a 5 in today's NBA, and that's unfortunate because Sabonis is a clear cut 5 too. I've never heard of Sabonis being a stretch big.

EDIT: Also IND already tried that experiment and failed miserably, which is why Turner's on the trade block.

This post was edited by ShampooMonK on Nov 25 2020 02:26pm

Think of it like how the Raptors utilized Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka to co-exist. They were a good fit together because they covered one another’s weaknesses. Turner and Sabonis have the same weaknesses, that’s my point. Turner would thrive more next to a player like Gasol who can act as a defensive anchor, Sabonis can’t do that

I agree, I mis-read what you meant originally. I think in today's NBA though, you can get away with Ibaka at the 5 now.

Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka co-exist?

I know you dipped out early watching playoffs to go to your yugioh convention in Las Vegas, but they had hardly no court time together against the Celtics in the semi’s. It was one or the other on the floor.

The Celtics are not as talented on paper as they were going into 19/20, but there is a great chance the internal development of Brown and Tatum more than makes up for losing Gordon. Still, top to bottom they are not as good as last season on paper. Tristan and Teague are replacement level backups who dont move the needle at all.

They didnt improve at C, they lost a borderline all-star caliber forward and their only additions are two average to replacement level players.

But in the end Brown and Tatum are both insane talents and I wouldnt be surprised to see each jump in PPG by 5+ with comparable or better efficiency. They are that good

One has to wonder if Ainge will ever make a risky move to get to that next level. Being risk averse is great for staying in your comfort zone, but in order to make the next leap I believe the Celtics will have to take a risk eventually

Matchup oriented lineups are a thing my guy. Celtics don’t have size so it’s reasonable that the Raptors would go to more of a small ball lineup to counter the Celtics have wing heavy lineups (Kemba Smart Tatum Brown Gordon) for example

Having Gasol and Ibaka on the court together makes more sense against the Bucks or the 76ers

This post was edited by Giannis on Nov 25 2020 03:23pm

Sooooo what you’re saying is, they can co-exist together in meaningless matchups, but not when it actually counts?

K cool Got it. Sorry I was wrong.

The Raptors had great success against the Lakers (Howard AD) which would require lineups with Gasol and Ibaka on the floor together

When did they verse each other in the playoffs?

I must have missed that series