Ralph Freso / Associated Press
The Boston Celtics may shuffle their lineup ahead of the NBA’s negotiation deadline this season.
According to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, “league sources have long said Boston is looking for updates to reinforce its wing and big man position.” He added that “several league executives “believe the Celtics are” up to something “.
The Celtics had a mediocre start to the season, at least by their standards, with 12-10 (0.545) after a 48-24 (0.667) campaign. Fortunately for them, this is still good enough for fourth place in the Eastern Conference at the moment, making a start more or less less impactful.
The wing update makes sense for almost all NBA teams, given the importance of the position. It would be almost right for in-depth purposes with the team’s excellent starting options at Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart. But you can never have wings solid enough in the NBA, and the Celtics are feeling the effects of Gordon Hayward’s departure from the free agency this off-season.
Upgrading your strengths makes even more sense, where players like Tristan Thompson and Daniel Theis are not bad, but will do little to slow down elite league centers like Joel Embiid in the postseason. Neither of them is particularly adept at protecting the rim or blocking shots, and the Celtics have lost a defensive anchor in position since Al Horford left in 2019.
It is true that some of Boston’s problems will resolve themselves when the owner Kemba Walker (15.9 PPG, 4.0 APG) returns to normal after a knee injury. Walker is shooting only 35.7% in the field and 30.9% in three – these numbers are 6% worse than the average of his career and should improve with the course of the season.
The Celtics have Tatum and Brown to hold the score until Walker gets his mojo back. But it is quite clear that these Celtics are not candidates for the title as they are built today. Improving your depth in the wing and center positions would go a long way to improving those chances.