The 5 Good Things Against the Lakers

 The 5 Good Things from Last Night's Game

Photo Courtesy of NBA.com

Matt Smith
     

    A lost like we had last night was obviously very deflating, but there were a lot of things that I thought were positives. Last night's game we only got 8 points out of Marcus Smart and Kemba, and Marcus Smart missed most of the 4th quarter. I don't think that those two will both have a poor shooting performances like that too often. Hopefully we are able to get Smart, Pritchard, and Romeo soon too to help bolster our bench unit. We still have our TPE that we can use on this roster, but here I'm focusing on the good I saw from the this current roster. 

1. Semi Ojeleye: Semi has continued to impressed me this year. When guarding Lebron last night, Semi did a really good job, I don't have the exact statistics but the eye test told me Semi is one of the better guys you could use to guard Lebron. We have seen Semi take on some superstars and really frustrate them this year and years past, Semi has become our superstar stopper this year and I'm here for it. 

2. Robert Williams: Timelord has been amazing in his short 15 minutes or so of playing time every night and last night was no different. Last night he had 10 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks on 5/5 shooting in 18 minutes of play time. He fits very well with almost any lineup with this team because he is active on defense and doesn't need the ball to be effective on offense. Every single possession he is setting multiple screens and almost all of his points come from lobs and tip-ins. He also changes the way the Celtics play on defense because he is a true rim protector. I hope we continue to see him getting 18+ minutes a game going forward. 

3. The Jays: These two are now unquestioned stars, they looked Lebron and AD in the face played right at their level last night. They were incredibly efficient and both hit a lot of big shots. There are very few things that they can do that impress me at this point, they are just simply incredible and I sleep easily at night knowing we have them both locked up for the next four years. 

4. Marcus Smart's defense and injury: Smart was super active on defense, especially early on in the game. He was doing Marcus Smart things, guarding centers and such. He was jumping into passing lanes, switching and closing out on guys like a madman. The defensive intensity rises and falls based on Smart's energy. Hopefully we are able to get Smart and his energy back soon. When I first saw the injury I thought it was the achilles, thankfully it was reported during the game that it was only a calf strain. Hopefully we can get our King back soon. 

5. Daniel Theis' shooting: Theis is shooting 38% from three this year, and has looked better as of late. In December he only shot 15% from three, in January he is shooting 52% from deep. The way the roster is currently constructed they need Theis to be able to hit wide open threes. Last night he was 2 for 3 from deep, him hitting shots opens up the floor for Tatum and Brown. 

The Timelord Hype Blog

Timelord Hype Blog

Photo Courtesy of Forbes

    My infatuation with Robert Williams started on draft night. I don't follow college basketball very closely, with the exception of the top few players. Going into draft night 2018 I wanted the Celtics to get one type of player, a Deandre Jordan type, one who rebounds, catches lobs, and protects the rim. Williams was exactly that and I was excited when Boston selected him.     
    My fascination grew stronger when I got to watch my first and only live game at the Garden. Al Horford sat out that game, which allowed Timelord to get some meaningful playing time. In 16 minutes he had two points, five rebounds, and five blocks. I began to follow him more closely and have been able to watch his development since then. Last season he was able to play a significant role, but his minutes were very inconsistent. Before having to sit out for a few games due to healthy and safety protocol, Williams was playing very well and getting steady run. Stevens even said that the reason for the unpopular double big lineup was so that Rob could get more minutes. I am going to break down why I think Timelord is so special and why he will be a key to unlocking the Celtics potential. 
    The Celtics are currently not a very good defensive team, they rank 20th in the NBA in defensive rating, allowing just about 111 points per 100 possessions. This is very odd for a Brad Stevens coached team, but Williams can be a big part of the solution. Rob himself currently has a defensive rating of 105.2, so just about 5 points better than what the team average is. This rating currently ranks him 4th among Celtic players, and first amongst their centers. While Williams is known for his defensive abilities and defense has been the Celtics main concern, he also provides quite a boost on the offensive side. If you had to guess who had the highest offensive rating on our team, you would probably say Tatum or Brown because of their offensive capabilities right? Well you'd be wrong because this is a Timelord hype blog so of course it would be Robert Williams. His offensive rating is 115.6, which is about 5 points per 100 possessions better than Boston's team average. That means he has Net rating 10 points higher than the team average, which also leads the team. 
    So far we have established how dominant Timelord has looked in comparison to the Celtics, but he has been outstanding by league standards as well. He is currently averaging 6.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks on 72.7 field goal percentage in 16 minutes a game. Because he is a role player, it is better to compare him by his per 36 minute numbers. There are currently three players in the NBA who have played at least 100 minutes that average 13 or more points and rebounds and three or more blocks. Those players are Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Robert Williams, in my honest opinion I think that is a pretty good group of players to be in. Out of those three Williams has the highest field goal percentage, by a margin of 12 percentage points over Gobert. 
    I intended for this blog to highlight what an outstanding player Timelord is, even in his limited role. I hope that as he matures, he continues to improve as well as take on a bigger role for the Celtics. He is a productive player already for the Celtics and he is more importantly an extremely entertaining one who I hope to be able to watch in the green and white for years to come. 

Top TPE Trade Targets

Celtics' Top TPE Targets

    The Celtics' were able to acquire the largest traded player exception in NBA History at 28.5 million dollars. The C's have a full calendar year to use this TPE. Unfortunately, Boston is 21 million dollars away from the hard cap, so unless they dump some of their salary, they will not be able to use the full TPE this regular season. Above I have listed the top nine players I would most like to see Boston acquire using the TPE. I will briefly discuss why I think each of these players on here fill a need that would help the Celtics in their goal to win a championship. The players listed in red are players that I think are cheap enough so that they could be paired with another player on this list. The Celtics could probably easily shed a few million to make room for these incoming players, but not enough to reach 28.5 million. I'm listing these players in order of who I would like to see on the Celtics. 

P.J. Tucker-

    Tucker is the type of player that we hope Grant and Semi become, a versatile defender who you can rely on to make catch and shoot corner threes. So far this year I have been very impressed with both Grant and Semi, but it wouldn't hurt to add the veteran version of them. Tucker has shown in the past that he can guard positions three through five on the court and has been a league average or better shooter over the past few seasons. Lastly, it never hurts to have multiple guys to throw at some of the top forwards in the east.

Rudy Gay-

    Gay is a veteran player who can do a lot of things well. He is a guy who can create his own shot if needs to, but won't force his shot. He's not a great three point shooter, but can shoot from the mid-range at an effective rate. He is a good defender who has mostly played at the power forward position the past few seasons, but can guard smaller forwards and can play a small ball five at times. He is someone that can do a lot, but he wont try to do too much. 

J.J. Redick-

    Redick is a veteran who is accustomed to winning, with last season being his only season he hasn't made the playoffs. He is a deadeye from three point range, which would certainly help Boston. The Celtics are a pretty average three point shooting team, and adding a guy like Redick would certainly be a welcomed addition. 

Evan Fournier-

    It is still unclear whether or not the Magic will be selling at the deadline, but if they are Fournier is on an expiring deal and he could certainly help the Celtics. I think he could most positively help the Celtics  coming off the bench, Fournier is a good scorer and can get his own shot. He is a career 14 point per game scorer and a 37.5% three point shooter. Other than Pritchard and Teague we don't really have any guys who can create for themselves on our bench. Fournier is used to being in a starting role, but if he wants to make a deep playoff run he'd be best served as a reserve. 

Delon Wright-

 There is a lot to like with Wright, he is a bigger guard at 6'5" who can create for others and defend. He is a mediocre shooter from deep at 34% for his career, but his scoring ability is not what interest me about him. There are three things I like a player to be able to do, defend, create for others, and space the floor. Wright is able to do two of those three which would make him a beneficial addition to this roster. 

Terrence Ross-

    Ross has played a key role for the magic over the past few seasons, which is being a guy off the bench who can score. The Celtics' bench has been much improved over last season, but I can't help and get a little greedy. Ross is a guy who is a good scorer from almost anywhere on the court including the free throw line, and better yet he is someone who is pretty good at getting to the line. If the Celtics are looking to further improve their punch off of the bench, Ross would be a great candidate. 

Kyle Anderson-

    What Slomo would bring to this team is another guy who can defend at a high level. He is definitely not someone who is going to have big scoring games, but he does a lot of other things well. Along with his great defense, Anderson is averaging a career high 4.3 assists this season. 

Alec Burks-

    Burks has only played in three games this season due to an ankle injury, but he is still an intriguing player to look at as a midseason acquisition. If we get Burks it is because of his ability to shoot and score the basketball. He has bounced around the league a lot the past few seasons, but had a really solid season last year after a few down ones. I'm a little skeptical of Burks because last season may have been more of a fluke than what his output will be going forward. With all that being said, if we could get the Burks from last season it would be a nice scoring punch to add to our bench. 

Victor Oladipo-

    The Celtics going after Oladipo is more of an in case of emergency plan rather than something I believe the Celtics should be looking into at the deadline. I don't know how much Vic would enjoy being a third or fourth option on a team and I am not even sure Houston would want to give him up. I think the Rockets are going into rebuild mode, but they may have plans to resign him after the season. The only real way I would like to see Oladipo in green is if Kemba is not fully healthy. I'm hoping and wishing he is back to 100%, but if not I wouldn't mind seeing an All-Star caliber player to pair alongside Tatum and Brown. 

 The James Harden Trade Dominoes

    The NBA trade season has finally kicked off with an absolute blockbuster. This was technically two trades in one, but the James Harden to Brooklyn trade led directly into the LeVert and Oladipo swap. I'm going to try to breakdown this trade as a whole and how this effects each team involved.

    First off we have the Rockets. I think this was a good decision on their part because of Harden's noticeable displeasure with Houston. This is essentially a move that begins the rebuild of the Rockets. They are not in terrible shape with the players that they have right now, but they definitely could've gotten more talent than Vic, Exum, and Kurucs. The reason for acquiring these players is as simple as this, Oladipo and Exum are on expiring deals and Kurucs is making less than two million on a team option next season. This provides Houston with a lot more cap space and a ton of draft capital that they did not expect to have coming into next offseason. 

    Next, we have the Nets. Brooklyn definitely raised their ceiling with this deal. James Harden is a top 10 player and makes the Nets an instant title contender. In raising their potential, they completely hemorrhaged both their depth and their future draft assets. Even with all that, if they are able to win a championship with this core then it would all be worth it. This is definitely a swing for the fences, but if Kyrie doesn't return this could be devastating for the Nets. Personally, I think that the loss that hurts them the most is Jarrett Allen, he is a great young center who was going to be a restricted free agent after this season. 

    The Cavs were the 3rd team involved with the initial Harden to Brooklyn deal. They acquired both Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince. Their only loss was Exum and the Bucks 2022 pick, which doesn't carry a whole lot of value. Honestly, the Cavs made out very good in this deal. This moves seem weird because Drummond is already in Cleveland, but I don't think the Cavs were going to pay him after this season and Allen is a restricted free agent after this year whose timeline better matches their young core. Prince is a decent wing player who could help them on the court, but also has a very good contract for trades as his deal sits in the mid teens in AAV. 

    Lastly, we have the Pacers. Indiana parted ways with former All-Star guard Victor Oladipo for Caris LeVert and a 2nd round pick. Oladipo had seem to express displeasure in the past with the franchise. Oladipo is set to be an unrestricted free agent after this season, and I believe Indiana saw the writing on the wall and decided to make a move. LeVert looked like a borderline All-Star last year, when he was the number one option in Brooklyn. I think he'll be a fine addition and this be will a big plus for the Pacers going forward. I really don't think this hurts them at this time either. LeVert is going to step right in and be able to contribute to this team just as much as Oladipo had. 

    For this being a four team trade, only the Rockets got clearly worse from this deal but they received an absolute haul for Harden and are in a good position for a quick rebuild. It'll be interesting to look back on this trade in three to four seasons and see how this deal panned out for all teams that were involved.  

The Hospital Celtics

    The Celtics already started the season without All-Star point guard Kemba Walker and 2019 lottery pick Romeo Langford. The news came out on today, on January 8th that confirmed what we had been fearing for the past 24 hours, a few keys pieces of the Celtics team are going to be missing the next few games due to COVID-19 protocol. The Celtics frontcourt is going to be especially hurt by these losses, as we will be without Tristan Thompson, Robert Williams III, and Grant Williams for the next few games. 

#NEBHInjuryReport update: Carsen Edwards - AVAILABLE Tristan Thompson (Health & Safety Protocols) - OUT Grant Williams (Health & Safety Protocols) - OUT Robert Williams (Health & Safety Protocols) - OUT

-@celtics 

    A few key players will need to step up in their absence. Daniel Theis is a guy who I thought was very underrated last year, but has not played as well this season. I think part of the reason for this is he is playing a little out of position, logging a lot more minutes at four than he did last year. I really believe he will play well over this stretch, and Boston really needs him too. Semi Ojeleye is another guy who I expect to get a big minutes increase over these next few games. Semi has played almost all of his minutes at four so far this year, but I think he will run some small ball five, while we wait for Thompson and Timelord to return. Semi has been shooting the ball well and always is a plus defender, as long as this shooting keeps up he will be extremely valuable to this thin frontline. Lastly, we have fan favorite Tacko Fall. Tacko will definitely get his first legitimate opportunity to showcase his improvement since being drafted last season. We can only hope for Boban like efficiency in his time on the court. If he can rebound, protect the rim, and take advantage of smaller centers offensively he could be a huge plus for the Cs. 

    There is some good news on a few of our injured players, Jeff Teague and Jevonte Green are back after missing a few games. The even better news is we finally have an update on the timetable for Kemba Walker to return. Kemba has just been cleared to practice with the team, and he has a date in mind for his return. Next Friday, January 15th Walker hopes to return against the Orlando Magic. The Celtics have played well in Kemba's absence, but the All-Star PG will certainly be a big boost. 

The Celtics are in the process of dismantling the Wizards tonight. The lack of bigs seemed to be no problem whatsoever. The three I mentioned previously have all played well tonight. We'll see how this lineup fairs against an All-Star caliber centers like Adebayo and Vucevic. The Celtics next week play, the Heat(1/10), Bulls(1/12),  and the Magic twice (1/13&1/15).

It's Time for Captain Smart

Captain Smarf

Photo Courtesy of ESPN

  

     The Celtics are one of the most historic franchises in the NBA, over the years there have been many all-time greats who have worn the green and white. The list of players who have held the title of captain for Boston is a pretty elite list. The Boston Celtics have had only 15 players named captain in the franchises' existence, and none since Rajon Rondo in 2014. The list includes Hall of Famers such as Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, and Larry Bird. 

    Marcus Smart has been apart of the Celtics franchise since 2014-15 and has made the playoffs every single year he has been in the league. Smart is 5th in team history in three pointers, 9th in steals, and 6th in steals per game. He is continuing to climb in many other statistics as well. He is the unofficial leader of this team, and easily the longest tenured. He is respected by his teammates and his coaches alike.

    Brad Stevens' has said before that he doesn't like the idea of captains, because he would rather see a team full of leaders rather than just one individual. If there is anyone who Stevens' would be willing to name captain, I almost certainly think it would be Smart. Marcus Smart has been named captain before, as he was named co-captain of Team USA a few years ago, along with teammate Kemba Walker and Jazz star Donovan Mitchell. Smart has matured as player and as a leader under Stevens, and I think he is very deserving of this title. 

    Naming someone a captain midseason would be very strange, so I'd like to see this before the start of next season. The biggest reason I believe this may not happen is, Marcus Smart enters the final year of his deal next season. It would make very little sense to name someone captain who is not under contract for at least a few years. I would like to see Smart get an extension for another three or four years, before the start of next season.  He is a player fits in to almost any lineup seamlessly, with his ability to shoot, defend multiple positions at an elite level, and create shots for others. He is someone who will continue to be an incredible role player alongside Brown and Tatum. So if they are able to get a deal done, it would be awesome to see Captain Smart for the '21-'22 season and beyond.