At top of Danny Ainge's holiday shopping list? A go-to scorer

by **bobheckler** Fri Dec 18, 2015 9:54 am

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4721396/at-top-of-danny-ainges-holiday-shopping-list-a-go-to-scorer

At top of Danny Ainge's holiday shopping list? A go-to scorer

2:07 PM ET

Chris Forsberg
ESPN Staff Writer

The NBA's trade season unofficially opened on Dec. 15, though most activity won't occur until closer to February's trade deadline. Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge tends to get his shopping done early -- swinging numerous deals in December and January the past two seasons -- so trade speculation tends to swirl in Boston even before the first snow of the season falls.

Because of Boston's treasure trove of future draft picks, their tradable talent, and the team's obvious desire to eventually add another star-caliber player, the Celtics tend to land in every trade rumor -- regardless of how much truth there is to the report (hint: usually very little).

Every time DeMarcus Cousins looks at George Karl the wrong way in Sacramento, the Celtics are referenced as a possible trade destination. Dwight Howard is unhappy in Houston? Boston has some parts that might make a trade work.

During his weekly appearance on Boston sports radio 98.5 the SportsHub on Thursday, Ainge politely declined to comment on other teams' players, but was pressed on whether he would be leery of adding so-called "disruptive" players to a locker room comprised heavily of character guys.

"I think [disruptive personalities are] a problem in any locker room," Ainge told the "Toucher and Rich" program. "There’s a time -- first of all, we have good character on our team right now and we have some mature kids, even though we don’t have an old team. I don't think it’s ever a good idea to have players that are disruptive to your team, on the court and off the court."

Ainge was pressed on what type of player the Celtics might be most interested in adding to help the team elevate further towards legitimate contender status.

"I think the one thing that we could really use is a go-to scorer," said Ainge. "We have some guys that have carried us -- Kelly [Olynyk has] carried us, Avery [Bradley has] carried us, Isaiah [Thomas has] carried us, [Jared Sullinger has] carried us at moments during the season, Evan Turner has carried us -- but it would be nice to find another player that’s a reliable scorer at the end of games, night in and night out."

Thomas scored 38 points during Wednesday's loss to the Detroit Pistons and has been one of the league's best fourth-quarter scorers since arriving in Boston, but the Celtics clearly could use another option, particularly when teams put an emphasis on stopping Thomas.

Ainge said it didn't matter which position that go-to scorer played, but given Boston's current roster configuration, he added, "Ideally, it’d be a big man, but it doesn’t have to be."

bob
MY NOTE: Something caught my eye in this piece, but I'm going to wait until others weigh in before I talk about it.

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by **dboss** Fri Dec 18, 2015 10:09 am

The need for a go-to guy is not new.

I also think we need a go-to guy as well as another interior defender and another pure shooter.

So let's put together a list of go to scorers that may be a good fit .

by **NYCelt** Fri Dec 18, 2015 10:32 am

dboss wrote:The need for a go-to guy is not new.

I also think we need a go-to guy as well as another interior defender and another pure shooter.

So let's put together a list of go to scorers that may be a good fit .

As someone who likes the idea of potentially using the highest one or two of our 2016 picks, rather than trading them...

Brandon Ingram, wing, Duke.

Heavily dependent on the position of that top pick, of course and needs of teams selecting. Way too soon but if Ingram declares, as expected, he's almost a lock for top 5, maybe top 3.

by **bobheckler** Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:17 am

NYCelt wrote:
dboss wrote:The need for a go-to guy is not new.

I also think we need a go-to guy as well as another interior defender and another pure shooter.

So let's put together a list of go to scorers that may be a good fit .

As someone who likes the idea of potentially using the highest one or two of our 2016 picks, rather than trading them...

Brandon Ingram, wing, Duke.

Heavily dependent on the position of that top pick, of course and needs of teams selecting. Way too soon but if Ingram declares, as expected, he's almost a lock for top 5, maybe top 3.

Draftexpress currently has Brandon Ingram listed at #2, behind Simmons and ahead of Labissiere. Brooklyn sucks, but they don't suck so badly that we wouldn't need some help from the basketball gods to get that pick.

bob

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by **RosalieTCeltics** Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:20 am

After the last few games, this need has become a glaring necessity. I love AB, but he is too streaky for me. He cannot be relied on for that final shot, the dagger as they call it. IT, no matter how many points he scores, is still not the guy we can say will kill a team at the end.

We need a Paul Pierce like player! HaHa! Will there ever be another PP?
I am not a big Gallinari fan, but he can shoot. It will be interesting to see if DA can pull something off, and, that being said, who will be gone because of this trade.

Rosalie

by **Outside** Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:38 am

The trick is finding reliable scorers who can also defend.

by **NYCelt** Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:49 am

bobheckler wrote:
NYCelt wrote:
dboss wrote:The need for a go-to guy is not new.

I also think we need a go-to guy as well as another interior defender and another pure shooter.

So let's put together a list of go to scorers that may be a good fit .

As someone who likes the idea of potentially using the highest one or two of our 2016 picks, rather than trading them...

Brandon Ingram, wing, Duke.

Heavily dependent on the position of that top pick, of course and needs of teams selecting. Way too soon but if Ingram declares, as expected, he's almost a lock for top 5, maybe top 3.

Draftexpress currently has Brandon Ingram listed at #2, behind Simmons and ahead of Labissiere. Brooklyn sucks, but they don't suck so badly that we wouldn't need some help from the basketball gods to get that pick.

bob

.

Bob,

A sacrifice to those basketball gods you mention sure wouldn't hurt either.

Ingram tops my list of scorers who should enter the draft. In terms of simply finding a scorer, I would consider several guards after him, but guards are currently our strong point. Trying to stay away from guards, and if you want to look further down the likely draft list but in the top 5, Kyle Wiltjer from Gonzaga could bear watching. We need bigs, and dboss mentioned a list of those who can fill it up, so Wiltjer fits for me. Nigel Hayes, a forward with my Badgers, is a possible top 10 who can score and will probably be available a little later.

Regards

by **dboss** Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:54 am

bobheckler wrote:
NYCelt wrote:
dboss wrote:The need for a go-to guy is not new.

I also think we need a go-to guy as well as another interior defender and another pure shooter.

So let's put together a list of go to scorers that may be a good fit .

As someone who likes the idea of potentially using the highest one or two of our 2016 picks, rather than trading them...

Brandon Ingram, wing, Duke.

Heavily dependent on the position of that top pick, of course and needs of teams selecting. Way too soon but if Ingram declares, as expected, he's almost a lock for top 5, maybe top 3.

Draftexpress currently has Brandon Ingram listed at #2, behind Simmons and ahead of Labissiere. Brooklyn sucks, but they don't suck so badly that we wouldn't need some help from the basketball gods to get that pick.

bob

NYCelt and BobH

With all the bad luck we have had in the draft it seems it is high time for luck to visit again.

I like the Duke kid Ingram but we know who we really want ..the Simmons kid.

I have a feeling that Danny wants to get a SF. If you recall he tried to not only make a draft day trade to get Winslow but he also tried to do a deal to get Oubre.

I know the draft is a crap shoot but I sure would like to roll the dice based on the draft position we will be in.

The Nets are tied for the 3rd worst record and I have to believe that the Pelican will finish better than the Nets.

DA may still execute a deal before the trading deadline but I really hope he doe not move this year's Nets pick. The team really need pair down their collection of PF's. Too many players are dividing up too few minutes plus we have the very promising rookie up in Maine that in any other year would be in the rotation.

dboss

by **dboss** Fri Dec 18, 2015 12:00 pm

another site that I visit to see draft projections is this one http://www.nbadraft.net/

by **kdp59** Fri Dec 18, 2015 12:13 pm

"I think [disruptive personalities are] a problem in any locker room," Ainge told the "Toucher and Rich" program. "There’s a time -- first of all, we have good character on our team right now and we have some mature kids, even though we don’t have an old team. I don't think it’s ever a good idea to have players that are disruptive to your team, on the court and off the court."

Danny is funny for sure

am I confuiised or didn't he try to sign JaValle "Shakin a fool" McGee last year?

looks like Boogie will be in town soon to me!

top ten players right now in points/ 36 min
1. Curry
2. Cousins
3. Durant
4. Harden
5. Westbrook
6. P. George
7. LeBron
8. Griffin
9. Lilliard
10 IT

by **dboss** Fri Dec 18, 2015 12:42 pm

Another interesting prospect is Jaylen Brown. he actually played here in GA in Marietta

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/jaylen-brown

by **gyso** Fri Dec 18, 2015 3:44 pm

kdp59 wrote:"I think [disruptive personalities are] a problem in any locker room," Ainge told the "Toucher and Rich" program. "There’s a time -- first of all, we have good character on our team right now and we have some mature kids, even though we don’t have an old team. I don't think it’s ever a good idea to have players that are disruptive to your team, on the court and off the court."

Danny is funny for sure

am I confuiised or didn't he try to sign JaValle "Shakin a fool" McGee last year?

looks like Boogie will be in town soon to me!

top ten players right now in points/ 36 min
1. Curry
2. Cousins
3. Durant
4. Harden
5. Westbrook
6. P. George
7. LeBron
8. Griffin
9. Lilliard
10 IT

He tried to sign him to a non-guaranteed Celtic-friendly contract. He would have finished up the season and he could been let go if he became disruptive at any time with little or no cost to the Celtics.

Details, details.

gyso

by **wideclyde** Fri Dec 18, 2015 5:20 pm

Although a top three pick in next year's draft sounds very good, there are no guarantees that even the Nets pick is going to fall there. The Nets don't look to be that bad at this point of the season even though I wish that they were losing every single game, and the ping pong balls have never bounced our way.

The other side of hoping for the Nets pick to be the future of the team is that even if the pick is very high next summer I have a difficult time thinking that any one of the top players who are only 19 years old next season will be ready to help the current re-build very much next season.

Trading the Nets pick is risky, but must be looked at while considering exactly who it gets traded for.
Including that pick for Howard is a no go, but for Cousins it is a distinct possibility. Cousins is a gamble, but has far more positives and potential than Howard.

Lee, the Nets pick this year, another first (Boston's?), and some of the many number two picks for Cousins is well worth the gamble, in my opinion if the Kings decide to move Cousins. Not really interested in Howard as he is not the scorer the team needs.

by **worcester** Sat Dec 19, 2015 11:42 am

Bob, what caught my eye was Stevens use of the words "There's a time -" To me that signals his desire for Cousins. Cousins and IT together would be a potent scoring duo, and Cousins with Smart and AB would pack some defensive punch.

by **kdp59** Wed Dec 30, 2015 5:13 pm

was just looking at the current list of top scorers.

out of the current top 50 NBA scorers
http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2016_per_game.html

the following have been talked about as being possibly on the trading block (or not)

7. D. Cousins

11. D. DeRozen

12. C. Anthony

36. D. Gallinari

39. R. Anderson

43. P. Gasol

39. E. Gordon

I have read each of the above names talked about as possibly being available for trade.

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