By: Jordan Green
The Boston Celtics’ 117-109 loss to the Utah Jazz last night gave Celtics fans a better idea of what improvements must be made to the roster prior to the NBA trade deadline on March 25 if they want to have a better chance of winning a championship this season:
- A wing scorer and defender to take the work load off of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown
- A shooter
- Another playmaker
According to Brian Robb of MassLive Media, the Celtics’ 117-109 loss to the Utah Jazz last night now makes the team’s record 0-8 against the current top 5 teams in the NBA (Utah, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Brooklyn, Los Angeles Lakers). That stat is evident of the Celtics’ need to improve their roster before next week’s trade deadline.
The Celtics are in big need of another wing player off the bench who can score and defend to take minutes and scoring pressure off of their top 2 players in minutes and points per game, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Tatum, averaging 25.2 points in just over 35 minutes per game, and Brown, averaging 24.4 points in just under 34 minutes per game, are by far the team’s leaders at the wing position in points and minutes per game. The next wing player on the Celtics roster with the most minutes and points per game is Semi Ojeleye, who is averaging just 5.4 points in 19.1 minutes per game. Tatum and Brown can only carry the load at the wing position for so long until they begin to exhaust themselves, especially in the playoffs where the Celtics will be facing a quality team each game. The team’s defense has also been atrocious, allowing an average of 116.1 points per game over the last 10 games. The last time that the Celtics held an opponent to under 100 points was a month ago in a 112-99 win against Denver. They need a wing player who can not just score but defend well too.
The Celtics need a shooter off the bench, preferably a player who has a lot more experience than the team’s current top shooters off the bench, which are Payton Prichard, Semi Ojeleye and Aaron Nesmith. They are not bad shooters, but the Celtics need someone with more experience. Ojeleye is the only one of those three with any playoff experience. Another shooter added to the Celtics roster would make life easier for Tatum, Brown and Kemba Walker, the team’s top 3 scorers. The Celtics rank 26th in the NBA in assists per game. Having another shooter could increase their assist per game ranking if they add a player to the roster who can knock down shots from the outside after receiving a pass instead of having to play so much isolation basketball like they often do with their top 3 scorers. Tatum, Brown and Walker would be able to play less isolation and have someone they can rely on more to knock down a shot when they pass to them.
Lastly, the Celtics need another playmaker. Their 26th league ranking in assists per game is evident of that. The Celtics’ leader in assists per game is Marcus Smart at 5.5 assists per game and he has only played in 20 of the team’s 39 games this season. Adding another playmaker to the team would make scoring easier for the likes of Tatum, Brown and Walker, and for the team overall. Three of the league’s current top 5 teams, Phoenix, Brooklyn and the Los Angeles Lakers, are ranked in the top 15 in the league in assists per game. Phoenix and Brooklyn are ranked 3rd and 4th respectively. If the Celtics want to have success like those teams are having this season, and be able to beat them in the playoffs if they face any of them, they must go out and get another playmaker in the next 8 days.
The Celtics Cave 