Celtics 94-104
Weird game. The Warriors were abysmal from 3-point and yet still won rather comfortably. The roles were reversed as Golden State was up at halftime, the Celtics went on a 3rd quarter run, but couldn't sustain it and the Warriors salted it away in the 4th quarter. Wiggins was magnificent, Draymond was good, Klay was solid, Steph wasn't sharp but still controlled the game and the bench did what they needed to do. The Celtics got nothing from their bench.
Warriors 103-90
Celtics got off to a hot start but by the end of the 1st quarter the Warriors had seized the momentum. From here, the Celtics just couldn't get out of their own way and again, a 3rd quarter surge came up short. Honestly by halftime this game was over, the Celtics were just beat. Warriors are your champs (again) and the Curry was the MVP.
I said Warriors in 5. As far as I'm concerned I was right all the way: if you take out the crazy run the Celtics went on in the 4th quarter of Game One, then the next five games were precisely as I predicted. The Celtics didn't have the depth and the Warriors got better as the series went on.
The Celtics are good and next season they will hit the ground running and should be a top-3 regular season team in the East. But, as we have seen, they'll need to make a deadline trade to take them deeper in the playoffs. Jaysun Tatum is good but not ready to dominate (and can be neutralized if he isn't shooting effectively early). Jaylen Brown was good throughout this series but isn't enough of a filler-upper to carry a championship team. Marcus Smart played well, didn't hit his peak but avoided his depths, which is an amazing sign of maturation and reliability from a guy who has always been a little wild. I think Al Horford might've retired if the Celtics had won, but he's got one year left on his deal, I think he comes back and plays (and probably, sadly, becomes the trade chip the Celtics need to make an upgrade). Robert Williams was great despite being limited by injuries, but he's strictly a rim protector. Derrick White wasn't particularly good in this series but I think he's still the right guy for this team and starting fresh next season will make for a strong 6-man rotation (*). The bench (Peyton Pritchard, Aaron Nesmith, Grant Williams) should be fine through the regular season but will need to be upgraded (and I'm not anticipating that the #53 pick makes the difference for them). But I really do think that a full season of White in the rotation and a full season of Robert and Grant Williams truly understanding their roles can make a huge difference for this team. And I think the Celtics will be a top quality regular season squad.
The Celtics were overmatched in this series, they were too reliant on their starting five to win a championship and, let's be honest: the Bucks with Khris Middleton were surely a better team and the Heat with one more Jimmy Butler 3-ball probably goes down to the Warriors in 5. The Warriors are just better--we're gonna look back and be amazed the Warriors got nothing from James Wiseman, Jonathon Kuminga and Moses Moody (and only occasional contributions from Jordan Poole), so the idea that the Celtics even had a chance was pretty daffy.
The Warriors have a tough decision to make and I'm going to go ahead and offer my obviously bad opinion: they should invite Wiggins in, shower him with praise and then as sweetly as possible tell him that there are other teams in the league that will pay more for his services. The Warriors can either have Wiggins or they can stay committed to the homegrown thing--they can't do both (unless they're willing to go into serious debt, which perhaps they are).
I would strongly implore the Warriors to re-sign Kevon Looney, extend Jordan Poole and do what it takes to bring back Gary Payton II....meaning there's no room for Wiggins. To Wiggins, I would offer to trade him this summer if he wants or play out the final year and then walk (although, the Warriors would likely not be interested in a sign-and-trade because that money will already have been spent, meaning Wiggins should seek a trade now to maximize his next contract).
I know, I know: 'but Wiggins was great in the Finals! And he's kinda perfect as the 4th option on this squad! They'd be crazy to let him go! Looney is imminently replaceable, Payton wasn't that big of a deal and they can still lowball Poole for another year! They should re-up Wiggins now, no matter what it costs!' Yeah, I certainly get that argument. Hell, I've been saying for years that Wiggins is perfect for this team and trading him would be a mistake. But what I'm saying now is that what has brought the Warriors to this next level of greatness is how well they've drafted and building their own dynasty from within--and that's not Wiggins. This summer is about Looney, Poole and Payton; next summer will be about Draymond and Wiseman; the next summer will be about Kuminga and Moody. If they choose Wiggins, they basically give up on all that. And as great as Wiggins was in the Finals, he stands in the way of so much more depth behind door #2.
What do the Warriors do? Trade Wiggins to Sacramento for Harrison Barnes and the #4 pick (I'd recommend taking Shaedon Sharpe (Kentucky), giving a future 6-man rotation of Poole, Sharpe, and Moody with Kuminga, Looney and Wiseman...that don't sound bad). One last year of re-connecting the origin of the "dynasty" to the further future and they'd have a healthy trade exception for one last ringchaser (hmmm....don't be shocked if its Al Horford). Sacramento has one year to convince Wiggins (along with his old Warriors coach Mike Brown) to make it work between De'Aron Fox and Domantas Sabonis. Could be a waste of time but what has Sacramento ever done that wasn't?
Or...they re-sign Wiggins, let Looney and Payton go, maybe try to extend Poole and overpay going into next summer, when it'll be time to overpay Draymond for 3 more years. Obviously going into next year, they are committed to Wiseman, so perhaps letting Looney go is inevitable either way, but, man, I'm telling ya: without Looney this team gets no rebounds (my way of saying I think Looney is way more important than you realize). If Wiseman blows up, then moving on from Looney will seem like a no-brainer, except that I think Looney and Wiseman can play together and you could've had both. No matter what they do this summer, Wiseman needs to be the focus next season. They will either sink or swim with Wiseman.
As for the NBA in general: I'll go Bucks over Warriors as my early early early prediction for next year. I got a feeling that watching Jaysun Tatum play an extra month of basketball at his expense will make Giannis feel like he let one slip away. Celtics fans are acting like they had a chance, they did not--but the Bucks did and the real reclamation project will be coming out of Milwaukee, not Boston.
(*) White was in the "Tiago Splitter role" for this team: his job was to be the low man on the totem pole. When Tatum misses ten shots in a row, the fans aren't going to complain about his poor performance; but if White misses two in a row, the fans will wonder why White is allowed to continue breathing. Hey, man, for some guys their role is to take all the blame whether they deserve it or not simply because the fans have to let off some steam. And that can be an important role--you ever watch the Mavs and wonder why Davis Bertans plays so much? It's because a short-handed team needs a scapegoat. But starting fresh next year, White will be a part of the team on opening night and won't be forced into the goat (the bad goat) role and I think we'll see just how perfect he is for this team. (.....Or he may get traded this summer, we'll see!)
No comments:
Post a Comment