Bound to Backfire: Without a Trade, the Celtics won’t Make it Past the First Round

(@danielrainge)

The Boston Celtics have been one of many teams to start the year off slowly. The Cs have not looked like themselves to begin the year. The defensive toughness that has defined Brad Stevens’ teams over the years is completely gone. Boston’s defensive ranking of 11th is the worst it’s been in 5 years. Their offense has been good at times, but tends to get bogged down through isolation. If Boston’s stars aren’t able to get their own shot consistently, the ball movement slows down and affects both sides of the ball.

Boston has played down to their competition this year and it’s lead to a 14-13 record, their worst through 16 games since 2014. The Celtics’ early season success has always been an indicator of their talent level. In 2018, the year they went to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, they started off 16-2. The next year they started 10-10 and lost in 5 in the Eastern SemiFinals. Boston started off last year 10-2, this year they were 8-4 through 12 games with losses to Detroit and New York. They have been blown out by the Knicks and Wizards and hold a record of 5-8 against teams over .500.

The Celtics lost an important piece in Gordon Hayward and still haven’t replaced him. The front office acquired at 28.5 million dollar trade exception, the biggest of all time, to work with. Boston has to make use of this exception at the deadline. They have three bonafide star players, despite what the “Trade Kemba” keyboard GMs have to say. If they can get another starting quality player, it could boost their offensive output and their effort on the defensive end. Boston also needs bench help badly. They are currently 22nd in bench scoring and have drafted too many young players. They have too many guys that still need to develop and nobody they can rely on for consistent bench play. Names like J.J. Reddick and Terrance Ross have been linked to Boston in an attempt to solve this problem.

(CBSBoston.com)

To be fair, Boston’s actual starting 5 has only played 2 games together all season and will only get better with reps. The Celtics were 2 games away from the Finals last year, but seem to be slipping away from their goal. It’s time for Tradder Danny to work his magic! If he doesn’t, it could be a quick playoff run for the Cs.

(celticsblog.com)