Celtics Off-Season 2020

 

Celtics Off-Season 2020

The Celtics surprised quite a few people this season after losing Kyrie Irving and Al Horford due to free agency. Along with those two they also traded away two key pieces in Terry Rozier in a sign-and-trade with Charlotte, as well as Aron Baynes in a move to create more cap space. 

    They used those two trades in order to bring in All-Star Point Guard Kemba Walker. They also made moves to bolster their bench by bringing in Brad Wanamaker and Enes Kanter as free agents, additionally they drafted Grant Williams and Romeo Langford with their 2019 1st round picks. 

    The Celtics finished with a record of 48-24 in the Covid shortened season, and finished with the number 3 seed in the eastern conference. After beating the Sixers and Raptors in the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Celtics fell to the Heat in 6 games. Despite having most of their cap space locked up for the 2020-2021 season, there are still moves the Celtics can make to put them over the top.

 I’ll discuss the ways they can improve through free agency and in the upcoming draft. First things first, the weaknesses of the Celtics have to be looked at. I think most of their concerns could be fixed by getting a good bench scorer to play meaningful rotation minutes. As a whole unit the only stat that was concerning was they were 25th in assists, getting a playmaker for the bench unit other than Marcus Smart will definitely help. Their bench on the other hand had many more concerns. The Cs ranked 29th in bench points, 23rd in bench assists, 28th in bench 3P%, and dead last in bench 3 pointers made per game. 

    The Celtics are pretty tied up financially for the upcoming season, the only moves the Celtics can really make in free agency are for players for the veteran minimum or a player willing to sign for the MLE. None of these players are really going to wow you as a fan, but we are looking to acquire the 2nd or 3rd man off the bench, not a superstar player. The first name I looked at was Jeff Teague, last year Teague averaged 11PPG, 5APG, and shot about 37% from 3. If he would be willing to sign for the MLE, I think the celtics would love to have him. The second name is a familiar face to the Boston faithful, in Avery Bradley. I would expect him to be a candidate for a MLE, he is coming off a season where he averaged 8.6PPG and shot over 36% from deep. Bradley will also be a plus defender, which never hurts. Lastly, I think Alec Burks would be a great addition to the roster. Last year, he averaged a career high 15PPG and shot 38.5% from 3. I think Burks may be looking for a bigger deal than the expected 6mil or so, but he fix a lot of the Celtics’ bench scoring woes. 

    The Celtics have 3 first round draft picks. I think they could do one of two things with these picks. I think the first option, the one I’d like to see, would be to package all 3 of these first round picks and try to trade up somewhere into the top 10 and get a player like Devin Vassell out of FSU or Tyrese Haliburton from Iowa State. I like the latter for his playmaking ability and size for the position. Vassell, is an athletic 6’7” wing who projects to be a good shooter and plus defender. 

If the Celtic decide to stay put at 14 I would like to see them take Aaron Nesmith out of Vanderbilt, Nesmith is a wing who is a good shooter and defender.  Theo Maldon is another player who should be available at this pick. He is a 6’5” international point guard prospect from France, there is always a lot of uncertainty with international prospects, but he projects to have similar strengths as Haliburton. At the 26 & 30 range I would like the Celtics to take 2 of these  following prospects. Jahmius Ramsey, a 6’4” guard out of Texas Tech. Zeke Nnaji, a 6’11” big man from Arizona. Lastly, Daniel Oturu, a 6’10” center from Minnesota. All three should be available when the Celtics have a chance to pick at 26.