The Boston Celtics are currently one of the elite teams in the NBA. They came within two games of winning a championship last season, and in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, they have two All-Star players who only figure to get better.
They are both big wings—the most important position in the league right now—and between the creative brilliance of Tatum and the defensive intensity of Brown, there is no reason why they can’t make the Finals again next year. Throw in reigning Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart and their foundation is strong.
Have the Boston Celtics helped their cause this offseason?
Boston is close—there is no doubt about it. They have reached maybe the hardest point in winning a championship. Now they are tinkering with a group that is close to winning it all but hasn’t gotten over the top. They must try not to move on from the wrong players and fall back down the long and arduous ladder of contention.
The two key additions for the Celtics this summer have been Malcolm Brogdon and Danilo Gallinari: Absolute no-brainers in a vacuum. They should each take the pressure off the younger players during the regular season and move to the fringes of the rotation once the postseason begins.
The Boston Celtics took a gamble with Brogdon and Gallinari.
News on Kevin Durant continues to swirl with a trade centered on Brown and Smart, alongside a host of picks and a couple of other players, mentioned as a possibility. This would be a huge risk, but Boston is already in the business of risk-taking. The Celtics still need to realize what they are getting themselves into by relying on Brogdon and Gallinari through the winter months.
It would be fair to say both are injury-prone, with Brogdon playing 146 games for the Indiana Pacers across the three seasons he was there. Brogdon was meant to go to Indiana to get out from under the stars in Milwaukee by running his own team. Although that didn’t happen, Brogdon’s numbers when he did play are exactly what the Celtics are looking for.
A player who can come in and take some of the pressure to create off Tatum. On the defensive end, Brogdon is no Smart, but he’s a stocky guard who is mobile. If nothing else, he can attempt to match the physicality of Smart when he is on the court. That is kind of the problem though—when the Pacers asked Brogdon to carry a big load, he broke down more often than not.
The Celtics didn’t give up much to get Brogdon, so to that end, it was a move that made sense for them. If he can play 60 regular season games, average 20 minutes per night and post numbers anywhere close to what we’ve seen before, this will have been a masterstroke by the Celtics. Ironically reverting back to his days with the Bucks—the very thing Brogdon once tried to escape—is what the Boston Celtics need. He spoke about accepting his role in an interview with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:
"“He talked about me coming into Boston and embracing a sixth man role,” shared Brogdon. “If I wanted to come to Boston, that would be one of the things I needed to embrace. For me, I’ve made a lot of money. Whatever I can sacrifice to get back to that championship level, I’m willing to do it.”"
Gallinari’s case concerns a different area—one that the Celtics were strong in last season. They topped the league in defensive efficiency (106.2), and it is no secret that at this stage in his career, Gallinari is not a good defender. He has an amazing ability to look like he’s not moving at all, yet to his credit, always seems to find the right spot offensively to get off a good look. This skill should shine while in a more defined role for the Boston Celtics because of his size and shooting stroke.
That’s the trade-off here, as the Celtics also went through phases where they completely failed to engineer good looks. This was especially prevalent when Tatum was off the court. It appeared like Brown forgot how to dribble from time to time. Combo guard Derrick White is a defensive-minded guard with streaky shooting and Smart attempted too many hero-ball 3-pointers deep in the shot clock. Adding Gallinari to the mix should ensure that at least one shot-maker is available at all times.
The Boston Celtics must temper their expectations for Brogdon and Gallinari.
The Celtics ended the regular season ninth in offensive efficiency (113.6) and were even worse in the playoffs (ninth out of a possible 16 teams, 110.3). As already stated, Gallinari isn’t here for the postseason, but if the Celtics have to give up some of their exceptional defensive work to get better looks at certain points in the regular season, then so be it.
Gallinari is 34 years old while Brogdon is still only 29. Gallinari has never played more than 70 games in a season, played less than 60 games three separate times, and on one occasion, played just 21 games due to an ACL tear. Brogdon’s poor injury luck stopped him from becoming the multiple-time All-Star he could have been with the Pacers.
Is placing your trust in them two, even during the regular season only, really going to get the Celtics over the top?
Conservatively, you can say they’ll miss about 20 percent of games combined and will cause the Boston Celtics’ league-best defensive play to suffer. These moves take some pressure off their stars when Brogdon and Gallinari are available, but it does make the Celtics more beatable on any given night. Given how tough the Eastern Conference will once again be, seeding will be important.
These weren’t the wrong moves by the Boston Celtics, but the team needs to be wary of its expectations for Brogdon and Gallinari.