Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets moves, put pressure on Boston Celtics, Danny Ainge to get it right

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2020/10/philadelphia-76ers-brooklyn-nets-moves-put-pressure-on-boston-celtics-danny-ainge-to-get-it-right-john-karalis.html



Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets moves, put pressure on Boston Celtics, Danny Ainge to get it right



Updated 12:54 PM; Today 12:54 PM


By John Karalis | JKaralis@masslive.com



No one is sure what this upcoming NBA season is going to look like. A deadline set for today for either side to opt out of the collective bargaining agreement is likely going to be rescheduled as the players and owners try to hammer out a new deal suited for the realities of doing business in a pandemic.

Eventually, though, the NBA will return. And when it does, it will bring with it a much tougher Atlantic Division.

The Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets have competently retooled, putting themselves in a position to maximize their talent and challenge the top of the Eastern Conference.

Nothing comes easy in the NBA, but the jittery Sixers and rebuilding Nets are no longer in Danny Ainge’s rear view mirror. On this Halloween eve, the Boston Celtics face an Atlantic Division horror show that threatens what they’ve built.

The Sixers remade the infrastructure of their franchise, giving it a stability it has lacked throughout its vaunted “process.” From the early days of Sam Hinkie’s extreme teardown, there has always been a question about whether he was doing the right thing or whether he could see the entire process through. He was replaced by the league-approved Colangelos, but that tenure ended in a Twitter scandal, leading Philadelphia to install rookie GM Elton Brand.

Brand traded for Jimmy Butler and then let him walk to Miami, where he helped lead the Heat to the NBA Finals. Brand chose to spend his money on Tobias Harris and Al Horford, which proved disastrous, all while head coach Brett Brown dodged the sword of Damocles for two seasons.

The knife finally fell, and now Doc Rivers is in charge. Say what you will about his failures in Los Angeles, but Rivers carries a weight of respect in the NBA that few other coaches have. He has tamed ferocious egoes and his experience with some of the league’s elite makes him impervious to whatever Ben Simmons or Joel Embiid may have in store for him.

Rivers is also now backed up by Daryl Morey, one of the most creative executives the league has seen, and one who isn’t afraid of moving a big name if he feels it’s the right thing to do. Neither Morey nor Rivers are working in fear of their jobs or from positions of weakness. They can operate how they see fit.

Time will tell if this will work, but the Sixers have buttressed their franchise against the waves of immaturity that undermined it before. Rivers can bench Simmons for refusing to shoot. He can call out Embiid if he shows up out of shape. Morey can bring in a point guard and tell Simmons he plays another position now.

If they don’t like it? Tough. It’s time to grow up. The Sixers have long-overdue structure now, and that makes them dangerous.

So do the Nets, though theirs comes in a different form.

Basketball fans scoffed at Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant when they spent part of a podcast saying they don’t see the team as “having a head coach.” Taken out of context, it seems the two stars were already throwing their new coach under the bus.

But what the enigmatic duo is talking about is the reality of the NBA dynamic where coaches are more coworker than boss. It also helps that their new coworker is Steve Nash, another elite talent who understands how that dynamic works.

Nash gives Irving and Durant a person who gets what it’s like being the best player on the floor. Nash’s ability to create things for others and manipulate games resonates with Irving and Durant. It’s almost as if they have finally found someone who speaks their own language.

Nash is inexperienced as a head coach, though, and while he wants his wild horses to run freely, they do need some amount of structure so they don’t run away. That’s why the news of Brooklyn hiring Mike D’Antoni and Ime Udoka is so important.

D’Antoni wasn’t just Nash’s coach in their Phoenix “seven second or less” days, he’s been coaching some of the league’s biggest stars in Houston. He has significant experience navigating the superstardom of today’s NBA.

Udoka is a rising star in the coaching ranks who spent seven years learning from Gregg Popovich in San Antonio. He, along with associate head coach Jacque Vaughn, also add the kind of diversity to the coaching staff Irving has been loudly advocating for.

There is a recipe for success with players like Irving and Durant, but the ingredients have to be perfect. On paper, it looks like Brooklyn has nailed it.

And so Danny Ainge looks out his office window on a snowy October Friday and sees a new landscape in the Atlantic Division as the league contemplates a division-heavy schedule for a truncated 2020-21 season. The Sixers and Nets were always going to be better, but now they’re in a position to be even better than expected.

All of this puts the Celtics in a precarious position. They are facing a draft with too many picks, free agency with little money to spend, and a roster with one, giant, looming decision. Ainge has cards to play, but not many.

Get it right and the Celtics are fighting it out for one of the top spots in the playoffs. Get it right and it signals to their young stars that they are built for the long haul and are willing to make the moves necessary to stay on top.

Get it wrong and suddenly the Celtics will be closer to the New York Knicks than they will be to the top of the division. Get it wrong and suddenly the Celtics are looking at the sixth seed. Do that too often and who knows what the future looks like in Boston.

Maybe this is why the loss to Miami seemed to bother Ainge so much. Maybe it wasn’t just the loss to Pat Riley or the feeling that it was a winnable series.

Maybe he knew this past season might have been Boston’s best chance at getting to the NBA Finals for a long time.

The Celtics are still contenders, though. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have a lot of room to grow and years before they hit their peaks. They can still be good enough next year, and beyond, to carry the Celtics and make them one of the top teams in the league.

Ainge just has to get it right. And thanks to the Sixers and Nets, his margin for error just shrunk.


Bob
MY NOTE:  I'm not worried about Brooklyn, yet, because we have to see how well Kyrie and Durant come back from their injuries, especially Durant.  An Achilles is a very bad injury, especially for a professional athlete who just turned 32.

I can almost guarantee you, based upon nothing except my gut, that Philly ownership did not hire Daryl Morey and Doc Rivers because they are planning on playing last year's hand, especially not Morey.  If there is anybody who can compete with Trader Danny as far as moving players and assets around it's Daryl Morey.  


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