Aron Baynes’ successful gamble will be the Boston Celtics’ loss
By Kane Pitman
Expanding his offensive arsenal
The Celtics had an incredible run to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they eventually fell to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games.
It was an unlikely, inspiring run that delivered numerous story lines throughout, including Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum morphing into game-breaking talents, Terry Rozier‘s battle with Eric Bledsoe and budding friendship with Drew Bledsoe, and Al Horford finally getting the recognition he deserved.
But one of the more peculiar aspects of the Celtics playoff run was Baynes channeling his inner Stephen Curry to become an outside threat (okay, maybe I’ve gone a little overboard there).
Before the 2017-18 season, Baynes had attempted just eight 3-pointers –connecting on only one — in 321 NBA games. With the Celtics, Baynes busted out of his 3-point shooting shell to launch 21 bombs from beyond the arc (0.3 per game), though only three of those attempts hit the mark.
Those regular season attempts clearly whet the appetite for Baynes, who came into the playoffs prepared to let fly, as he let rip with 23 3-point tries in 19 playoff appearances. In recognizing Baynes only connected on 14 percent of his attempts during the regular season, you’d be forgiven for assuming the sudden confidence in his shot would be to the delight of the opposition.
You’d be forgiven, but you’d be wrong.
Baynes knocked down a scorching 47 percent of his 3-point attempts in the postseason, transforming himself into a genuine outside threat in the blink of an eye.
According to Basketball-Reference, Baynes was one of only six players in the playoffs to attempt at least 20 3s while knocking down at least 45 percent of them. The list includes Khris Middleton, Joe Ingles, P.J Tucker, Bradley Beal and Alec Burks.
Via the Boston Globe, Brad Stevens revealed he himself was surprised at the shooting touch of Baynes when he first hit the courts at Celtics training camp last summer.
"“I didn’t know he could shoot it like that,” Stevens said. “Then when you watch the arc of it, and the touch.”"
The cat is out of the bag now, and for Baynes personally, it couldn’t have come at a more lucrative time.