New Article- Celtics Lack of Depth is Troubling

[BringToughnessBack]

https://www.si.com/nba/2021/02/17/celtics-problems-nba-trade-rumors

Yes, I know this idea is in a few places on our board but figured since this was a new article written by an SI writer, lets drop it here.

So, key things I got from this is that number 1, Tatum is still struggling with his recovery from Covid. This was to be expected and hopefully he can get back to "normal" by playoffs. We cannot control this but I would sure be careful about pushing his body to hard. We are dealing with something that is new and pushing him to breaking point is not a good move. Be very careful Celtics with this rare diamond.

He calls out Danny like many have done. He says we blew it with the Pacers debacle but fails to mention that the Pacers were not going to pay Hayward what the Hornets did. We will never truly know if there was a deal in place and Danny blew it or in fact, Hayward simply was always going to go where he would get the most money. Our Trade exception is still there and Mannix says use it now. I probably dont disagree with that.

He calls out Kemba and his knee. Yes, that is a huge risk for us of course. His shooting is poor but he is clearly not back in top shape as he tries to recover from this. I am not a doctor or Nostradamus here. I can only hope Kemba does get close to where he once was and in time for the playoffs. But truly, who really knows how his body will react to this comeback.

The East is a crapshoot for sure this year. Any team that peaks going into the playoffs could end up in the finals. All teams are very beatable and our biggest issue is of course, our depth.

I am not sure the right player is available as of yet but hoping something opens up very soon. I feel a distribution PG is something we just don't have and I feel it could make a huge difference. Kemba and Smart are not the answers for distribution. I would love to see a fast PG who thinks pass first put in charge to run our offense. Maybe Kemba makes more sense doing what Kyrie has now claimed he wants to do and become our SG. Pritchard needs at least one more season to be slotted into that slot but maybe now is the time to try that approach. Suddenly, Smart could become our sixth man or better yet, maybe Kemba becomes that as we try to work him back.

Coach Stevens needs to figure these things out while being mindful of potential long term impact of pushing someone to hard when they are not ready for that.

[Jiri Welsch]

Thanks for the summary and post. I know it doesn't excite anyone, but our best bet may be the internal improvements of specific young guys.

I truly believe RWIII, Pritchard, and Nesmith all need to be getting consistent minutes by the end of the year for us to be decent. Pritchard and RWIII both have skillsets that are unique to the team and help us win certain games. Nesmith has huge energy and if he ever can be good for a couple 3's a game and good defense, that will open up the court dramatically for our skilled guys.

It stinks because basically we're relying on a coinflip plus whatever Danny manages to scrounge up. But considering Danny's Trade Deadline track record in previous years, I'm not banking on him dramatically improving the team from the outside.

[footey]

Wow, we could have gotten McDermott, who is shooting a scalding 36% from 3; the Celtics could really use that.

And suggesting JJ Redick or Andre Drummond are possible solutions?

Chris Mannix is an idiot.

[NKY fan]

Just keep the course and hope for the best. Last year the excuse was that there were not enough contracts to trade that are the right size .. this year is don’t go into luxury tax at any cost. I would add preserve draft capital to that.
Just hope for internal improvement as usual and keep the course. No realistic trade is out there. Maybe that change at the deadline but any move Danny wants to make will not come cheap. Unless it’s a salary dump for an ok player just keep the course

[PhoSita]

Two things I think are true:


(1) Danny should have known that heading into the season relying on a bench of Jeff Teague, Payton Pritchard, Semi Ojeleye, Grant Williams, Robert Williams etc was going to be an issue given that everybody in the world knew that this season was going to come with added availability challenges.

(2) Nothing really matters with this roster so long as the top 4 guys are constantly getting hurt, needing rest, getting COVID etc.  If your best 4 players are not consistently available, and have had barely any time to play together, your team is going to struggle.  There's no way around that.

[Vermont Green]

The conclusion is true, right now, our depth is weak.  But it looks like Kemba is going to hold up and we will get Smart back, plus maybe Langford.  Then if we just add one or two TPE vet depth types, say Thad Young or George Hill not a star, just a reliable decent player at PF or wing, I think we end up with plenty of depth.

To me, it is not a stretch or a pipe dream to hope we can add depth this season with some combination of trades, buy out pick ups, and TPEs.  This is just the kind of holes that teams often fill in this way.

[wdleehi]

I am hoping that the return of Smart, return of Langford and improvement of one or two young guys will be enough that adding one more player with the TPE will be enough for a playoff level rotation.   


Outside of that, the buyout market.   I can see vets looking at the Celtics bench and saying, there are minutes for me there and find it more attractive then hoping for touches from Harden and Irving.

[Moranis]

Wow, we could have gotten McDermott, who is shooting a scalding 36% from 3; the Celtics could really use that.

And suggesting JJ Redick or Andre Drummond are possible solutions?

Chris Mannix is an idiot.

In his last 8 games, Redick is shooting 52% from 3.  He seems to be rounding back into form.  That said, he also had a stretch earlier in the year where he looked like young Redick before collapsing again, but Boston absolutely could use a bench SG (or heck anyone on the bench) that can actually shoot the ball.  Drummond would be the best rebounder Boston has had since probably Bill Russell.  He isn't going to do much else (well he is a very good dunker), but Drummond will get rebounds and Boston could use rebounds. 

IMO, neither of those moves are going to make Boston a contender because Tatum and Brown aren't yet good enough, but if you believe that Tatum and Brown are good enough, then those moves make perfect sense as those guys are both available and won't cost much of anything to acquire.

[slamtheking]

I am hoping that the return of Smart, return of Langford and improvement of one or two young guys will be enough that adding one more player with the TPE will be enough for a playoff level rotation.   


Outside of that, the buyout market.   I can see vets looking at the Celtics bench and saying, there are minutes for me there and find it more attractive then hoping for touches from Harden and Irving.

that's the tease of this season so far.  there's games, like last night, where the J's get support from the bench and Kemba and this team looks really good.  Then there's games where the bench and Kemba are MIA (like against Detroit).   

if this season is considered a non-contender year due to the loss of Hayward and no quality replacement, I suspect there's going to be a bit of run for the younger players to see what we have either as building blocks or as trade chips.  I doubt a mid-season deal is in the cards simply because it's unlikely a really good player will be available with the TPE that wants out from their current team at a price we'd pay (something that doesn't cost us more than 1 first rounder and possibly 1-2 low ceiling propects like GWill, Semi, Edwards or Green).  At this point, I really think Danny will use this season to evaluate what we have and use the TPE in the offseason to go after a starter-quality player to fill in where we're weak.   Maybe Atlanta would S&T Collins into the TPE and take a TPE in return with a pick.  Maybe we can break up the TPE to bring in a couple of good vets to fill out the bench if Pritchard, Nesmith, Timelord and Romeo look like legit players by the end of the season.