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Tim BontempsESPN
THERE ARE TWO versions of the Boston Celtics.
One is led by two All-Stars under 25 and is expected to have reached the conference finals in three of the past four seasons. The other has eight players in their first or second year in the NBA, most of whom have not been able to earn a consistent spot in the team’s rotation.
The gap between these two realities hints at why the Celtics will face the LA Clippers tonight at .500 in a swamp of teams vying for a position in the back half of the eastern playoff photo.
“That’s shocking,” said an Eastern Conference scout over the weekend of Boston’s record. “They have more talent than their record would indicate.”
Despite developing two All-Stars in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, Boston’s momentum has turned crater. A series of free agent dropouts, wrongly done draws and payroll cuts have resulted in a team that is far from the stated goal of hanging an 18th championship flag on the TD Garden rafters. Their weaknesses have come to light and they lack good options to solve them.
With two games to go before the All-Star Break and less than four weeks to the trade deadline, the Celtics are still looking for their identity.
“I feel like our group is nice together,” Celtics GM Danny Ainge told ESPN. “Guys are still working hard, and I feel like we don’t really know who this team is yet.”
TATUM AND BROWN are heading to Atlanta this weekend not only as All-Stars, but as the first Celtics duo to each average 25 points per game since Larry Bird and Kevin McHale in 1986-87.
Add to that Kemba Walker, an All-Star a season ago, and Marcus Smart, a two-time All-Defensive Team roster, and Boston should have the merits of a champion in the championship, not a team in the bottom half. of the Eastern Conference. playoff photo.
“We have a lot of work to do to differentiate ourselves better than where we are,” said Celtics coach Brad Stevens. “And that’s the reality of it.”
An exodus of veteran contributors over the past two years has left Boston dangerously lean behind its big four. And thanks to a series of injuries to each of those players, that group has only started two games together this season and has played on the field for a total of 28 minutes.
“The injuries and everything else, I think, has definitely worked against them,” said an Eastern Conference director, “and especially if Kemba isn’t Kemba.”
Scouts and league executives shared the same view regarding the Celtics: if Walker can’t return to an All-Star level, Boston’s hopes of being a threat in the East will vanish.
“It can still provide value,” said a Western Conference director. But is he worth $ 35 million? Is he worth that number? That’s difficult [to build around] if he isn’t. “
When Walker was named All-Star last season, he averaged 21.8 points per game before half-time and shot nearly 39% from the 3-point range. Then his knee started acting, which made him miss all but 10 games in the second half of the season.
And while there are recent signs that Walker is returning to form – he dropped 32 points on the Pacers last week, part of a piece where he averaged 23.2 PPG over his past five games – he’s still shooting a total of 38 , 5%. and 35.7% of deep numbers more akin to his early Charlotte Bobcats days than his All-Star credentials with the Hornets.
“You thought he would have come out after the play-offs and start the year really well,” said the director. “Which [he hasn’t] surprised me. “
Walker’s inconsistent contribution has also exposed the lack of depth behind him. Jeff Teague, one of the few reserve veterans on Boston’s roster, shoots a career-worst 34.2% off the field. The Celtics’ other point guard options are mostly untested rookies and sophomores.
That’s a problem that exists in almost every position for Boston, as a result of decisions made in the past two offseason runs. Kyrie Irving, Al Horford, Marcus Morris Sr. and Terry Rozier all left free agency in 2019, with only Rozier’s departure bringing back some help (as part of a sign-and-trade deal for Walker). Gordon Hayward followed suit last summer when the Celtics decided that the hefty offer he was getting from the Hornets (four years, $ 120 million) was out of their price range.
Boston had previously rejected overtures from the Indiana Pacers that could have landed Myles Turner and Doug McDermott in a Hayward board and trade. After the former All-Star closed its deal with Charlotte, Boston was able to sign-and-trade with the Hornets creating a $ 28.6 million trade exception, the largest in NBA history .
That exception could become a useful asset, one that helps Boston improve, whether before the trading deadline or off-season. But so far, the inability to replace Hayward has hurt the Celtics on the field.
The two off-season Boston veterans, Teague and center Tristan Thompson, have struggled and shed better light on Boston’s decision to rely on the bevy of young players they’ve drafted over the past three years, from rookies Aaron Nesmith and Payton Pritchard to sophomore guards Romeo Langford and Carsen Edwards and forward Grant Williams to third-year center Robert Williams III.
“They’ve all had the chance to play, and they’ve all had good moments,” Ainge said. “What’s difficult about this year is just the roles we wanted to fill, especially as young players, not those of a primary goalscorer. [starters], everyone has to move up and play a bigger role. That’s when we’ve had some inconsistencies this year. “
Oregon’s No. 26 Pritchard has firmly established himself in the rotation, averaging 7.4 PPG and firing 38% from deep. Now in his third year, Robert Williams has become a dependable member of Stevens’ three-headed monster in the middle. But the rest of Boston’s rookie and sophomore brigade delivered very little; Langford even has to play this season.
That has left Boston stuck around .500, despite Tatum remaining an All-Star and Brown joining him at that level, in what has been a Most Improved Player caliber to date.
‘If you’d told me Brown and Tatum were going to be this good, I’d be surprised [at their record]”said a director of the Western Conference.” I could have seen if they had had a hard time, but not as well as those guys played. That is surprising. “
FOR THE PAST For several years, the Celtics have been trying to do the most tricky balancing act an NBA team can try: winning today, while remaining well positioned to win tomorrow. It almost worked. The Celtics reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2017, 2018 and 2020. They have won 35 playoff games in the past four years. Only the Golden State Warriors (46) have won more.
But the Warriors put up two championship banners during that time, something Boston hasn’t done since 2008.
The Celtics’ record so far this season would indicate that the drought is likely to continue, but Ainge doesn’t see the title window close for Tatum and Brown, recalling the names of players such as LeBron James and Michael Jordan, who struggled to win titles. to win. early in their careers.
“You have to keep things in perspective,” he said. “These guys are now 22 and 24 years old. If you put all those guys I just mentioned the same age, a lot of them weren’t who they became. [at that age]All great players, it just takes time for them to play their best. “
Still, league insiders don’t believe the Celtics can hold stalemate and potentially waste a year off the prime lenses of their two young elite-level building blocks.
“There comes a time when you need to do something to calm your stars and show that you are trying, especially when they are young and early in their prime,” said the East executive. “You have to make that commitment to them.”
That’s something Ainge didn’t like to do in the past. The last time Boston acquired a player in a season swap was six years ago, when the team landed Isaiah Thomas from Phoenix. Only the San Antonio Spurs have a longer drought.
“They only do something,” said the West director, “when they think they’re going to bury you.”
The Celtics no longer have the deep cache of other teams’ draft items to potentially include in a deal. They still have all of their own future first round picks, as well as the massive trade exception, which puts them in a better trading position than most other competing teams. Rival executives think they are on the hunt for a player who can play one of the two front positions and deliver a scoring hit – just the kind of player they lost when Hayward left.
And while the team’s salary is currently low, ownership has been spent on the luxury tax in the past, and Ainge has indicated that it is willing to do so this season.
“If there are players we can get that can get us over the top and keep us under the hard hat, we’ll make a deal that falls into that category,” he said. “But we’re not going to do it for a band-aid, or for someone who might be able to help us out for a game or two.”