Boston Celtics 2020 Offseason Review

Just a few short months ago, following the Boston Celtics’ Eastern Conference Finals loss to the Miami Heat, I wrote about how Danny Ainge and company should keep this team together. I also pointed to the backup point guard and center positions as obvious areas for improvement. Given that the Celtics’ two biggest offseason acquisitions came at these positions, I think it’s safe to say that Danny Ainge was one of the 29 people who read that post, and that he is actively seeking out more basketball insights from me. Well, Dan, you’re in luck. Here I’ll rate the Celtics’ offseason acquisitions (including draft picks), and talk about the team’s prospects for this season.

Let’s start with the biggest player (literally and figuratively) Boston signed this offseason, Tristan Thompson. Khloe Kardashian’s boyfriend should give the C’s a much needed presence on the offensive glass, and he’s said he wants to bring a Marcus Smart-like energy to the center position. At just 6’9”, he may need to bring that much energy to compete with the likes of Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis. While he isn’t the towering rim protector I’d hoped for, he’s still an upgrade over Enes Kanter in that department. With a short 2-year $19 million contract for the 29 year old Finals veteran, it seems clear that the Celtics are still dedicated to the development of Tacko Fall, which makes me very happy. Who among us doesn’t like to watch 7 ½ footers swat shots and dunk on helpless defenders (and help defenders) without even jumping? That’s not to downplay the addition of Thompson, who significantly improves his team’s second-chance opportunities, and gives Brad Stevens something to work with until the long-term investment in Tacko pays off.

Perhaps the most slept-on move the Celtics made was the signing of Jeff Teague for $2.5 million/1 year. Teague is probably undervalued in his current contract, as he was actually having a solid season last year—in line with his career averages of 13 PPG, 6 APG, 44% FG—until he got traded back to Atlanta and saw his minutes decrease. If you watched any Celtics basketball last year, you probably, at some point, wondered who Brad Wanamaker was and why he was touching the ball so much. No disrespect to Wanamaker, but Boston desperately needed a backup ball-handler, and Teague is a consistent veteran who should be able to effectively run the second unit. Once upon a time (2015), he was an All-Star who ran the offense for the 60-win Budenholzer-led Hawks team. Coming off the bench behind Kemba Walker, it’s unlikely he’ll recapture that form at age 32, but he still offers depth, veteran leadership, and another great locker room presence.

The Celtics had a solid draft, landing a couple of guys who may be able to make an impact right away with some much-needed scoring off the bench. Danny Ainge once again employed the “best player available” strategy, taking 6’6” Vanderbilt wing Aaron Nesmith with the 14th overall pick. While he played just 14 games last year due to a stress fracture in his foot, he averaged 23 points in those contests while shooting 52.2% from 3-point range. Boston is deep at the wing, but not as deep as they were last year with the loss of Gordon Hayward. Nesmith should go a long way toward replacing his productivity. With the 26th pick, Ainge further cemented his backcourt depth by grabbing point guard Payton Pritchard. Kemba Walker and Jeff Teague are both on the wrong side of 30, so grabbing the four year Oregon starter here was a prudent move.  Pritchard is 22 years old, the same age as Jayson Tatum, so their primes should coincide at some point in the not-as-far-as-you-think-but-still-pretty-far future. With their third pick, the Celtics took 19 year old draft-and-stash point guard Yam Madar from Israel. I don’t know much about his game but I’ve got a couple of interesting notes here:

1.      His first name is Yam, which is arguably the coolest first name possible for a basketball player.

2.       He was born December 21st, 2000. This makes him the first player the Celtics have ever drafted that was born in the 2000s, and it also means his birthday is coming up. Happy birthday Yam!

Overall, I’d say the Celtics did a great job filling in positions of need on their roster this offseason. They lost Gordon Hayward, but the production just didn’t match the price tag (injuries aside, you can’t pay a guy $30 million to come off the bench). In order to compete in an Eastern Conference that now contains Kevin Durant (and may soon contain a thicc James Harden), the Celtics needed rebounding, ball-handling, and bench scoring. They managed to get all three, improving the team and creating cap space in the process. After the shortest offseason in NBA history, the Celtics look like they may finally be ready to take that leap, and lose in the NBA Finals instead of the Eastern Conference Finals.

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