Celtics 2021 Offseason

Sometimes I feel the NBA is actively trying to work against any parity in the league. It's all about big markets and stars bundling together. The Suns and the Bucks go against that trend so HEY LOOK HERE'S BROOKLYN!

Whoops, an earlier version of that story omitted Celtics/Bucks and Suns/Warriors.

I was looking forward to seeing the C's play a good game last night, that didn't happen. Silver lining would be that those guys won't be over confident and realize they have to keep working hard.

That Mitchell guy for the Kings can play some serious D, he was in PP's kitchen all night.

Tuned in for like 5 min when the Sox were frustrating me and Mitchell’s D was my takeaway too

If you think Schroder starts along with Smart, which I do. I'm not so sure about that,  as Pritchard with his great shooting could be that guy. Given how Smart, Schroder and Richardson can be so so shooters at times. Nevermind who starts at center, I wouldn't be surprised to see the first player off the bench be Horford or Williams. So for me he went from sure fire starter getting 30 minutes to much less. Heck at one point with the Dunn rumors I was thinking he might even play some PG. That's unlikely to happen now. So yeah compared to a week ago I see him buried on the depth chart, likely first time since his rookie year he doesn't get 30 minutes a night. I haven't even mentioned if Nesmith or Langford breakout either.

I was certainly debating if you start Schroder and Richardson,  letting Smart bomb away with the second unit. I can certainly see the value in that, yet that's not happening after you give Smart a huge long-term deal.

I agree with all of this!!  PP off the ball with his range will spread the floor and Schroder was a 6th man candidate the year you are talking about. With the veteran depth and the development of Nesmith and Langford the 2nd unit should be much improved. Hopefully with Brad upstairs Ime does a better job with a consistent rotation, that would help and health is obviously part of that.

The biggest improvement I expect to see is on D, their are a lot pf guys who have shown they can be tough and with Horford back I expect that will be the biggest focus. And with the depth it will be easier to maintain the intensity from the starters thru the 2nd team.

The next thing will be ball movement. The D will carry them but ball movement will decide just how good they will be. Of course this is based on if their are more trades coming and what the roster looks like, kind of hoping they go with what they have.

This is all in theory given we haven't seen this team play together and it's hard to project how quickly things like chemistry can form.

I say Schroder starts because he's a true PG and his style fits. He's a quick athletic PG that can attack the basket unlike any other PG we have. That's key, just go back and look how different this team was when Kemba could attack versus when he couldn't and was just shooting jumpers. Schroder was a bench piece for two years for the Thunder, 2020 for me is Chris Paul, not because he was a bench piece. Also those two years Schroder played PG 100%, they moved Paul and SGA to SG. Which makes sense, they are better shooters. The only time Schroder wasn't a PG full-time was with the Lakers last year and look at how people's view of him changed. The good news is that Schroder has proven he can play with other PGs, he's no Irving.

I make Pritchard the backup PG because he's just a much more creative dribbler than Smart. It looked ugly last night because he was getting doubled all game long. Yet that's the Pritchard from the start of last year. He attacks the defense with his dribbling and put up big assist numbers. Plus if you want to be a good defensive team, Pritchard is a PG.

I've talked numerous times about Smarts battle with being a SG versus PG. Schroder doesn't have those issues, he's not going to just start bombing away and not be a PG. With Tatum and Brown that's crazy important. So make him the SG, were he'll be a combo guard and secondary playmaker. Gives you Schroder driving to collapse the D, combined with Smarts craftiness playmaking. I also like the defensive pairing of Smart/Schroder and Richardson/Pritchard and frankly the offensive pairing. It's splitting up the guys that like to take the most three's, which I feel is crazy important.

It really comes down to what type of team you want, I want a defensive team that plays team ball. Again in theory I start Tatum, Brown, Robert Williams, Smart and Schroder. Second unit of Horford, Tatum/Brown, Richardson, Pritchard and Nesmith/Langford. Maybe that changes, yet Stevens always kept Tatum or Brown in. Obviously based on matchup you'll see Grant and Parker along with other guys. You just have very good depth at center, SG and PG. PF is your weak spot, followed by SF depending how the young guys do. That's a second unit that could be darn good and you don't have to count of Nesmith or Langford, unlike last year. You can bypass the depth issues by just going small. Play Brown at PF some, he can easily handle guys like Siakam and Durant. You could play Smart and Richardson at SF for stretches.

The only thing you really lack is a good small ball center, who could also play PF if you wanted to go big. I hate the idea of Horford playing big minutes at PF. Those days should be long gone. It's why I'd focus on trying to trade Dunn to get a PF or a SF that can play PF. As Texas brought up I'm certainly eyeing the Grizz as Kyle Anderson or Brandon Clarke would be perfect. Yet it's a horrible fit even after they traded Beverly and I don't see why they'd do it.

It's the modern positionless NBA. I'm less concerned about how well our guards fit into predetermined boxes and more concerned about skills and fit. If they improve their ball movement, Schroder fits well with the starting unit since he can run the pick and roll, draw help and kick out to Tatum/Brown or play off the ball and attack closeouts. I could see that going downhill, though, if Schroder starts thinking too much about his next contract and they slide back into alternating iso ball. In that case, you might bring him off the bench to add a little more shot creation to reserve units.

A guard rotation of Schroder/Smart/Richardson/Pritchard is legit, though. If they play the right way and stay healthy, I think they can surprise some folks and be a top 3 seed in the east.

If things go their way (Nesmith and Langford becoming consistent rotation pieces and Pritchard handing primary ball handler duties on the 2nd unit - both while being a legitimate playoff team), you could end up looking to trade 2 of their biggest offseason acquisitions in JRich and Schroder at the deadline. That'd be weird but I'd take it if the other things are true.

Trying to find that small ball 5 that is likely available for what we'd have to offer is haaaard.

Not sure there is anyone they could acquire that would be better than a combination of Grant and Jabari (actually surprised Grant wasn't logged as having more minutes at the 5 but, admittedly, I didn't watch a ton last year).

Otherwise, you're looking at guys like Kevon Looney (not sure why GS would trade him for what we have to offer), Anderson (even more so), maybe Eric Paschall (is he better than what we have)?

Might just have to roll with what we have.

Good, he’s not ready