The Boston Celtics Have No Idea What They're Doing

The summer of 2021 was uneventful for the Celtics. The Celtics didn’t do much in free agency or the draft. Moving head coach Brad Stevens to the front office was the only “exciting” thing about the offseason.

Trimming around the edges, for the second straight season, was the name of the game. Adding the likes of Al Horford, Josh Richardson, and Dennis Schroder gave the Celtics some much-needed depth. Heading into 2022, things were looking up for the C’s.

Fast forward to today, and the Celtics of 2022 are the same as 2021. Injuries and Covid have plagued them at times. Jayson Tatum continues to frustrate us all, never figuring out what makes him one of the best scorers in the NBA. Al Horford is finally showing his age, only in town to slow down the emerging Robert Williams.

The youngsters the Celtics took chances on are hardly developing. Despite two of the most dynamic wings in the NBA, the offense is flat. Lacking creative scorers, the Celtics being conservative over the past two offseason’s looks worse by the day.

With reports emerging that they want to shake things up at the deadline, the front office realizes this team is stuck. A few years of mismanagement and the wrong mindset have killed a team that was two games away from the Finals in 2020.

Currently, in the middle of a muddy Eastern Conference, the Celtics are again failing to stand out. It’s getting increasingly clear that this team doesn’t have a plan. And if they do have one, it’s not all too bright.

The Problems

The Celtics were a team I had making the playoffs this season. I assumed that their 2021 slump could be attributed to extenuating circumstances. However, the Celtics are facing the same problems they experienced last season. These problems vary in severity and importance, but the Celtics haven’t improved in these categories at all.

That is the thing that worries me about this team. They haven’t addressed the problems that keep them an average team.

No Development For The Youngsters

Other than the home-run picks of Brown and Tatum in consecutive years (thanks, Brooklyn!), Danny Ainge was never a great drafter. That can best be summed up with them taking Romeo Langford in 2019. The underwhelming rookie from Indiana has not panned out in the NBA. The selection of Matisse Thybule six picks later makes this even worse.

But that’s not why we’re here. The Celtics have three youngsters on their roster. My gripes with Langford aside, he’s not terrible. Injuries earlier on in his career severely hurt his development path. The Celtics’ two first-rounders in 2020, Payton Pritchard and Aaron Nesmith, are also solid.

With some promising young guys who need developing, it’s up to Ime Udoka to give them playing time. There’s a reason this topic is under the ‘The Problems’ section.

Romeo Langford

Romeo Langford needs time to develop after playing just 50 combined games through two seasons. But he’s not getting the minutes or the opportunities to do so. Over his last 10 games played, Langford has played less than 10 minutes four times.

There are games where he played 20-ish minutes, but the next night he’s out of the rotation entirely. He plays too sporadically for this to work out. It also doesn’t help that he doesn’t do that much on offense for the Celtics.

A lot of possessions look like this;

I’m no development coach, but standing in the corner isn’t a recipe for success. Just a hunch.

Payton Pritchard

Pritchard played well off the bench last year for Boston, shooting 41% from 3. With the Celtics lacking ball-handlers, Pritchard seemed like a good choice for a backup role again in 2022. Instead, he’s playing less than he was last season and his production has heavily regressed.

Like Langford, Pritchard plays too randomly for any sustained success. There are games where they need him to hold down the second unit.

The Celtics lack creative ball-handlers and scorers. Not playing Pritchard is counterintuitive to solving that problem. Pritchard also went to Oregon, which means he’s the best player ever (totally not biased).

Aaron Nesmith

This boils my blood more than the other two guys. Nesmith has by far the most potential on this Celtics team. Yet, he faces the same troubles as Pritchard and Langford.

At the tail-end of his rookie year, Nesmith saw a boost in minutes. He averaged nearly 20 minutes per game over the last two weeks of the 2021 regular season. Here, he showed his potential as a 3&D wing. Even with a new head coach, I assumed Nesmith would take on more responsibilities as a sophomore.

Instead, Nesmith also plays at random, with no opportunity for growth. Nesmith has played 0-9 minutes 14 times this season. That’s the same amount of times that he’s played 10-19 minutes.

Nesmith’s development has been hijacked by poor coaching. I would love to see more playing time for Nesmith in the future, but I can’t see it happening with how the Celtics have treated Nesmith thus far.

Play the young guys more, Udoka! DO IT!

Not Unleashing Robert Williams

Robert Williams is having another great season. Like Langford, injuries slowed down Williams in his early years. When he’s healthy, Williams is one of the best centers in the NBA. He’s an elite rim protector, a solid passer, and a vertical threat in the pick-and-roll. He also carries my fantasy team. What’s not to love?

With Williams on the floor, the Celtics outscore opponents by 3.5 points per 100 possessions. He’s one of my favorite role players in the NBA. The addition of Al Horford in the offseason seemed like a good idea, pairing two versatile bigs together. While the defense of Horford & Williams has been fine, the offense is sluggish.

In 400 minutes logged together, this duo boasts a +6 plus/minus. In 400 minutes together, they’ve outscored opponents by just two baskets. This is due to their poor offensive output. A 102.7 offensive rating illustrates how awkward they are together.

Williams is someone who can work all over the court. His starting position on most plays in the dunker’s spot. With Horford, the spacing for such plays becomes horrendous.

This play makes me cringe every time I watch it. It’s just so awkward.

Timelord works better alone when he’s the only center on the floor. This allows him to be in the dunker’s spot, roll freely for lobs, and run handoffs on the perimeter. He’s a dynamic weapon, one of the few things that work on this Celtics team. Instead of capitalizing on such an advantage, the Celtics are sabotaging him. Nice.

The Many Different Pathways of the Boston Celtics

The Celtics have concluded that “moves need to be made” at the deadline. Expect them to be in numerous trade talks over the coming days as they try and improve this roster. The Celtics are at a fork in the road. The possibilities for their next move(s) are endless.

Do they want to retool for next season with their cap space? Do they want to make a few aggressive moves for a playoff push? The Celtics have a lot of different pathways to choose from. Here are a few of them;

Retool For 2023

If the Celtics want to start fresh in 2023, this would be a great way to do so. Tatum, Brown, and Timelord are their untouchables, but other than that? They could shuffle a lot of pieces around.

Somewhat tanking to end 2022 isn’t the worst idea in the world. The young guys would develop, cap space would be cleared, and they could form a real plan as to what the future of this team is.

Retooling would involve moving (some) of these guys;

Al Horford ($41.5 million over next season / $14.5 million in 2023)
Dennis Schroder (UFA this offseason)
Marcus Smart ($13.8 million this season / 4-year extension starts in 2023)
Josh Richardson ($11.6 million this years / $12.1 million next year)

Guys like Horford, Schroder, and Richardson are prime trade pieces for the Celtics. Given the size & length of their contracts, moving on from them would be easy. That can’t be said for Marcus Smart, the most confusing player in the world.

At his best, Smart is the heart and soul of this Celtics team. But, we haven’t seen All-Defense Marcus Smart since 2020. He’s not a reliable offensive threat, so the Celtics are counting that his defense is worth the $77 million extension they gave him this summer.

Smart fits well with a lot of other teams, but it doesn’t make sense to trade him right now. He hasn’t played out his extension yet, so I find it hard to believe that the Celtics would just trade him.

Retooling would do a lot of good for the Celtics, but I don’t think they’ll commit to this fully. Trading for picks and the future seems unlikely given how desperate they are to turn things around.

Do Nothing

This one is self-explanatory. Boston could let things ride our the way they have been. They could rationalize their struggles this season to learning to adapt to Ime Udoka, the first-time head coach. Even with their mediocre record, the playoffs are still in view.

There is still time to turn the ship around, says the front office. Give them more chances, they plead.

Go Crazy

Instead of retooling and getting picks in return for their trade targets, going crazy would mean going for it.

The Celtics would try for player-for-player trades instead of stocking up for the future. Jerami Grant, anybody? How about Bojan Bogdanovic? What about Duncan Robinson? How are Buddy Hield and Harrison Barnes doing?

This seems like the most realistic pathway for the Celtics. With so many teams being competitive in the East, if they want to stand out, aggressiveness is needed to get out of this slump. It’s risky but perhaps needed to reignite this franchise.

Overview

The Celtics are in a good and bad position. On the one hand, they don’t need a lot to free themselves from their struggles. Adding more shot-creators and shooters would make this team exponentially more successful.

On the other hand, the Celtics are the same team they were last season. Their conservative mindset has made them redundant and predictable. Despite having one of the best wing-combos in the NBA, they’re average.

The best route for the Celtics is to pick a direction. Retooling would allow for them to evaluate all their assets. Is Aaron Nesmith valuable? How good can Robert Williams get? Is Romeo Langford that bad?

Being aggressive at the deadline could also work. Swinging trades for more versatile and offensive-minded players could kickstart their team. Let’s just hope things work out better than they did with Evan Fournier last season.

In short, the Celtics are weird and they need to figure things out.

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The Boston Celtics Have No Idea What They’re Doing