The Tanklantic – Boston Celtics
The Tanklantic is a weekly feature that covers the NBA’s Atlantic teams this season, where it looks like every team outside of Toronto is sinking right to the bottom. This week, it’s all about the Boston Celtics.
When the Boston Celtics traded away Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce on June 27, 2013 for three fringe players and three first round picks, as Celtics fans, we knew that the time was now and the Celtics were entering their rebuilding stage. A season later, they let Ray Allen walk and sign with the Miami Heat. In 2015, they let go of star guard Rajon Rondo and another great player in Jeff Green. Per Real GM, the Celtics own nine first round picks up until the year 2018, plus to go along with six second round draft picks. It’s clear that Danny Ainge and the Boston Celtics have chased draft picks throughout the past season or two.
The real question here is whether Boston should stay in favour of taking the time to rebuild, or try to accelerate their progress by trading picks and contracts in return for experienced and playoff worthy players?
Committing to the full rebuild
The Celtics are trying to build around their youth, with their developing backcourt of Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley and James Young, plus other front court players such as Jared Sullinger, Kelly Olynyk and Tyler Zeller. Boston could pull the trigger and become worser than what they are now, in hope that they can secure the number one pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. If Boston look for success in the future, it can make the Celtics the best dynasty that would be destined for a championship in the next decade as they’ll have many young players who can grow together and build the team to the top of the NBA ranks. It may sound like a positive for the future, but now, it can become a long and painful situation, where many players will be tested on whether they will stay loyal with Boston’s plans, or chase success elsewhere. This type of committment is hard to find, but when you do find the players, it’s a huge pay off for the future.
Boston has done everything right in terms of a rebuild. The team is full of developing players, plus veteran experience to help complement the young players. This type of balance is essential when it comes to a successful rebuild. Having veterans that you can depend on is invaluable. Brandon Bass is the perfect player to help young forwards such as Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk. Teaching developing players the right work ethic and attitude to have in a professional organisation is invaluable. This is exactly what Brandon Bass can offer towards both players. Bass also has great movement when he plays defense, teaching both players where to place themselves and help on defensive rotations. This would be a great help for any player, especially in Sullinger and Olynyk’s case, since both are growing as players and learning everyday.
With no established players, there’s no rush for Boston to push for any type of playoff or championship push. The Celtics have plenty of young and promising players, so Boston should take the ‘wait and see’ approach. If the rebuild doesn’t go to plan, they can go to a different path and try to accelerate their plans by attempting to sign or trade players. But for the time being, it seems that the best option would be to wait until a player develops into a star and a true leader of the Boston Celtics.
Playing for immediate success
Boston is one and a half games behind the eighth seed in a weak Eastern Conference. They could make a push and become a playoff team. Looking at Boston’s future schedule and based on my predictions, Boston could win 10-15 more games, which would put them in the 32-35 win area. There’s a chance that Boston could make the playoffs, but it’s definitely not an ideal situation. It is risky due to the fact that if Boston try to make short-term moves and fail, it could leave them in a hard situation as they might end up with unwanted players.
Although, if Boston does make the playoffs, the Celtics could become a young and attractive team as free agents may want to sign with Boston and lead them to future playoff series. By going in this direction, it could make the Celtics a way better team than what they are at the minute. There’s plenty of young players who Boston could go after in free agency; Reggie Jackson, Draymond Green and DeAndre Jordan are some names that come to mind. All three players would be an upgrade of the players they have in those positions at the minute. Through signing young free agents who could make an immediate impact, the Celtics’ immediate future would look brighter than what it does now.
It may look like a dream come true should the Celtics they make the playoffs, but what if they don’t? Trying this method could be a high risk and low reward for them if they end up missing the playoffs. At their current standing, the Celtics have the 11th worst record (21-30) in the NBA. The 11th worst record gives them a good chance of a pick between five to ten. If they make a push for playoffs and fail, it will move them up in terms of record, which would give them a worse draft pick as they finished higher up. It’s on a rare occasion where you can find a hidden star in drafts where they’re picked in the 10-15 range, and this is where the Celtics could end up if they decide to follow this path. The Celtics also hold Dallas’ and the Clippers’ first round picks, but both are projected to land in the 20’s. These picks would give them three first rounders, which are a bit lower in value. Some teams are attracted by these types of picks, but they usually offload unsettled and aging players to desperate teams. Boston don’t want to become one of these desperate teams, otherwise it’ll take them five steps back for development of their players.
Success could be sweet in the meantime, but if it fails, it could be disastrous for the Boston Celtics. If Boston wants to look at which option would bring them more success, in my opinion it would be best to be patient and rebuild and go for success in a few years time.
Stay tuned for next week as we look into the Philadelphia 76ers.