Will someone please buy Jayson Tatum a ticket back from London?

I've missed him the past couple of weeks. I hope he comes back soon.

He probably needs both a physical and emotional rest. Unfortunately, neither are easy to get during the NBA season.

Kuzma seems well rested.

I think Jayson has plenty of company back there in London; it's not just him.

Also, if you look back, the fall-off started right around Christmas.

Jayson is not alone when it comes to the drop-off in the quality of his play.  The whole team, with a few exceptions, is not playing with the same intensity, the same passion to succeed, as they exhibited after Hayward went down.  Opponents all said the same thing after losing to the Celtics: they played harder, particularly on defense.

Because they were a new team, opponents didn't know what to expect from them.  Then they came back from so many impossible deficits, and it went to their heads.  In London, not only were they the winningest team in the NBA, they were part of the most glittering franchise ever.

Opponents now know that the way to beat them is to match their intensity.  Past Celtic champions have had two secrets of success: maniacal defense and the team game.  They've proven they can defend on a dominating level.  Whether they can play the team game will determine how far they go.

And the key is going to be leadership.  The current Celtics don't have that guiding spirit, like Bird or Havlicek or Russell, whose will to win lifts his teammates to new levels.  Kyrie is an awesome player and Horford is solid as a rock, but neither one has duende.  

Tatum has that indescribable something and he's going to figure out what to do about it soon.  A first step would be if he walked into the locker room before the three-point contest at the all-star break, and said, "Which one of you is coming in second?"

The Celts are sorely needing an inside presence, someone to withstand the muscle of other teams. The Lakers cleaned our clocks in the paint. That should never happen, and it happens game after game after game. We need a big man. I'm sure Danny recognizes that. There's little hope we'll get one in this year's draft, since the Lakers will not fall 2-5 IMHO, and although we will get a good pick in 2019 from Sacto, who wants to wait that long? Danny, work your trade or free agent signing magic. Work it now.

worcester wrote:The Celts are sorely needing an inside presence, someone to withstand the muscle of other teams. The Lakers cleaned our clocks in the paint. That should never happen, and it happens game after game after game. We need a big man. I'm sure Danny recognizes that. There's little hope we'll get one in this year's draft, since the Lakers will not fall 2-5 IMHO, and although we will get a good pick in 2019 from Sacto, who wants to wait that long? Danny, work your trade or free agent signing magic. Work it now.

Worcester

The need for an inside presence is something this team has needed for a number of years. We have one true center on this team in Baynes and he is very limited. In many respects we are a centerless team. I would agree with you that the Lakers pick 2-5 is a longshot but I still see possibility that we may still get that pick. The Lakers will go into another tailspin and drop 8 out of 9 and will be right back in play. They are 3 games better in the loss column than Atlanta who is 3rd from the bottom. They are not immune from the usual injury here or there and the usual slumps that teams go through over an 82 game schedule.

Nevertheless Boston should not and cannot rely on getting the pick this year.

I see two major needs on this club. We miss having a number 2 scorer in Hayward and we lack any favorable configuration at the center position. We will not be able to address both needs this year in absence of a multi-player trade. God willing, Hayward will be ready to play next season so the scorer issue for next year should resolve itself.

So the issue really revolves around strengthening the center position for this year and moving forward with salary constraints. That will prove to be a near impossible task. If the Celtics plan on keeping Horford, Hayward and Irving they are probably not looking to add a high salaried center like Jordan for example. It is difficult for Boston to make a trade now. Are they going to keep Smart? Are they planing to resign Baynes? I think Danny will be very reluctant to do a deal unless it fits with his overall plan.

I think the most likely scenario is waiting until after the trade deadline passes and using he DPE to add a player to get us through the remainder of the year. Are there any Bigs out there likely to get cut?

dboss

I totally agree with you Dboss. Sure hope the Lakers go into a tail spin. Maybe Lonzo will get healthy, and that will answer our prayers for a new Lakers losing streak.