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Your Sunday Afternoon Dump..Where Upheaval Affects C’s Left Behind

KWAPT (@KWAPT) January 11, 2015 Brandon Bass, Jeff Green, The Morning Dump 13 Comments

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

The laughter remains. The Celtics’ locker room was loose Saturday night prior to the team’s matchup with the Toronto Raptors, as if it were a normal regular-season game.

It wasn’t. Organization upheaval and tremors are cracking the ground around each player, most of them unsure of their future with the team. Jameer Nelson, who looks as if he will be a permanent fixture on the inactive list until he negotiates a buyout, appears resigned that he’s played his last game for the Celtics. Evan Turner just signed a two-year contract and appears safe. Gerald Wallace knows he’s likely going to stay put only because of the size of his contract.

Upheaval Affecting Those Celtics Left Behind-Gary Washburn

Since Danny Ainge and the Celtics made the decision to “blow it up” and trade Rajon Rondo to the Dallas Mavericks, it’s become clear that no one is safe. At this point, if Ainge feels like he can get an asset or assets that will bolster this team’s chances at becoming a contender in the not so distant future, he’ll pull the trigger. His latest deals, shipping Brandan Wright to the Phoenix Suns and the all but done three-team-deal that will send Jeff Green off to Memphis are probably not his last. Brandon Bass, who would be a solid addition to any playoff team looking for veteran help, could very well be next. Bass, as always, is taking it all in stride. Unlike Green, who publicly expressed his discontent for trade rumors, Bass has kept a level head and actually taken some positives out of the whole situation.

“I don’t know man, it’s tough,” impending free agent Brandon Bass said of the situation. “The best way to go about it is treat every day like it’s every day, like nothing’s going on and stay on top of your situation and wish the best for everybody else.”

Bass has seen it all since he’s been in Boston. He’s competed for titles, watched the Big Three get traded away or allowed to leave, and then watched Green get pulled from the lineup and told to go back to Boston.

“Man, I just try not to get too high or too low,” Bass said. “I feel like the more you are in this league, the more you experience and I’ve seen some things since I’ve been here and [Friday night] was definitely something. I’ve never seen that before. It’s another story I can share. It’s been different. There’s definitely been some highs but I think it’s a blessing to be a part of this. That fact your team is rebuilding, that says you’ve been around a while.”

I’ve always loved Brandon Bass. He just goes out every single night and gives it his all. No complaining, no slacking off, the guy’s a worker. If he does indeed get moved, I’ll miss the big fella, but hope he gets to play for a contender somewhere. As far as Green goes, he was the ultimate love/hate relationship for a Celts fan. One night, he’d be brilliant, the next, he’d disappear. Yet you still just felt like you had to pull for him-well I did anyway. Green’s had his ups & downs on the court for Boston, but off of it he’s been nothing but fantastic. Green has done a lot for the community while a Boston Celtic, and his recovery from major heart surgery, and how he used that to give kids in the same situation hope, was inspiring. But alas, the NBA is a business. So let’s hope Danny can use all of these picks/exceptions/assets to rebuild the C’s into a team that can contend for a title. Speaking of those picks…..

Page 2: What will we do with all these picks?

ESPN Boston’s Chris Forsberg has a great breakdown that makes some sense out of all of Boston’s future draft picks. From the Clippers, to the Nets, to the Cavs and everywhere in between, Forsberg lays out some possible scenarios and goes over all of the ifs, ands & buts that are Boston’s “pile o picks” for the next 5 years.

Last but not least…

Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski says that Boston is still working with the Clippers on the Austin Rivers deal. Woj tweeted this update out around 1pm EST:

Yahoo Sources: LAC working to find third team to help deliver Boston expiring deal to go w/ second rounder that C’s want for Austin Rivers.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 11, 2015

Be sure to tune-in to Celtics Stuff Live tonight at 8pm EST for the latest on all of the Celtics’ latest moves. Use the link provided or listen via the player below.

Check Out Sports Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Celtics Stuff Live on BlogTalkRadio

The rest of the links:

Herald: C’s Can’t Keep Up| Celtics Notebook|Pierce Shares Savvy With DC Teammates

Globe: Ainge’s Plan Doesn’t Make Losing Easier|Makeshift Lineup Bullied In Toronto

Jake Gruber

soooo……at this point is it safe to say the Jeff Green trade was one of the worst failures in Celtic history?
- Brian Pahlm
  
  Depends on if you think having Perk Sit next to Wallace on the bench making 10 million a year because he is a shell of his former self is a better Option. Green is a great 4th option, but not a 1/2/ or even 3. Problem is he needs touches to get going and that is hard off the bench. Sheed being out of shape and Shaq being old is what did this team in, not the Perk trade for Green that year. After that… you got a point, but Kg as your center with Paul and Bass was better, Then Perk post knee surgery with KG at PF and Paul at your SF. Having to get Bass instead of being able to convince David West to player here really hurt as well.
  - Dave
    
    Well, the Big Ticket sure let his ear have it:
- msnthrop
  
  I think so…I wanted the young guys to get minutes, but also get minutes in the atmosphere of trying to win…trading Green makes that essentially impossible, bad move by Ainge since whatever pick he is getting back isn’t worth the psychological damage he is subjecting the young guys too
  - wil
    
    i wouldnt go as far as psychological damage lol
    
    they are still getting payed to play a game that they love. NBA is a business and the sooner they learn that the better. I wouldnt put too much drama into it.
    - msnthrop
      
      Well all right, using the phrase psychological damage is rather histrionic of me, but I still think encouraging a culture of winning is an important and essential task for the management of any sports team…I’m an ecologist and I tend to think less in terms of individual actions or motivations as I do in terms of collectives or communities where the whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts…I’ll just have to hope Ainge knows what he is doing here I guess.
      - wil
        
        If youve watched the games after the Rondo trade, Jeff Green was out of it. His facial expressions showed it all. He looked miserable and didnt have energy. He brought every body with him.
        
        This few games with out him the Celtics have gotten alot more physical and the hustle is there. After tonights game im sure youd agree with me that there was no damage to their morale at all.
        
        Atleast now they dont have Rondo or Green to look up to and rely on. They will grow alot more when they have to do the dirty work themselves and cant blame anybody else.
      - msnthrop
        
        Indeed they played well last night, except for the first few opening possessions which were all piss poor isolations that had me yelling at the computer…O’Conners article makes me see what your saying as well, I’m glad I’m wrong…http://www.celticsblog.com/2015/1/12/7528749/the-boston-celtics-gained-more-than-meets-the-eye-after-trading-jeff-green
- Curt Hays
  
  I’m certain there are worse trades. Trading Paul away and receiving Gerald Wallace seems like the dumbest one to me in recent times. It was good for Paul. Bad for Boston.
  - bob
    
    Are you kidding me? The Nets picks are going to be decent picks (because the Nets suck), Wallace’s expiring contract will help him be gone this summer and he has been a good locker room presence. Nets wouldn’t have done the deal if Wallace wasn’t included.
    - Curt Hays
      
      Yeah, Wallace has really helped make our team great while costing us as much as Rondo. He really helped out all those guys who got traded away.
      - bob
        
        Talk about it when you see how we benefit from the next two draft picks. (We already have Young from that trade) The trade wouldn’t have happened without Wallace. Lets just hope the Nets keep losing! Wallace was never expected to contribute much. He will be gone before those other two draft picks play in the NBA.
- bob
  
  NO! Trading Joe Johnson was much worse. Trading Perkins for Green and a first round pick was bad because of the timing and wasting the pick on Fab Melo, who showed great promise and was a bust. Green was inconsistent and a little bit expensive, and he had to go for the rebuild, but Celtics should have waited for a better offer.