Boston Celtics Need to Address Their Bigs
The Boston Celtics have stability and depth in the back court, but the front court is in complete disarray, and the playoff series amplified it. The Celtics’ only all star plays in the back court, their best perimeter defender starts alongside him. On top of that, their best defensive depth it sitting right behind them. Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart, Evan Turner and rookies Terry Rozier and R.J Hunter have given the Celtics a core of guards that they can build around right now and in the future.
Smart and the rookies still need to make a lot of progress and there may be contract issues with Turner and Bradley, but they have the necessary pieces for their back court, and they will have options all the way through. Their front court, however, has none of the stability or depth that is found in the back court. Jordan Mickey may be the safest big on the team but Kelly Olynyk also separated himself a bit. Amir Johnson was solid, but far from the game changer that they need and has only one year left on his contract. The Celtics are set up to completely reshape their front court, and finally get it to catch up to the back court.
Other than those two, all the Celtics got was inconsistency in their front court. Jared Sullinger brought some much needed offensive rebounding, but remained dreadful as a shooter. Tyler Zeller completely lost the mid range shot that made him so good last season. While the Celtics have a collection of guards that all have a great shot at a future with the team, there is nothing that can compare in their front court.
Ideally, the Celtics will be able to completely fix their lack of a stable front court with Kevin Durant in free agency, but that remains a long shot at best. Last year, the Celtics spent two first round picks on guards, and the year before they also spent their first on Smart. The Celtics also went out and traded for Isaiah Thomas. They have done a great job of assembling assets for their back court, and now is a great time to shift to the bigs.
Jae Crowder gives the Celtics a great starting small forward (that has proven he can play the 4 in small ball lineups) but there is absolutely no depth behind him. Turner is the next closest but plays the three only in small ball lineups. The Celtics got solid contributions from their other front court players, but, other than Crowder, none have given the confidence that they can be more than a role player on a contending team.
The Celtics have three first round draft picks this year and, long term, that is the best way to fix the front court. The Celtics could get more immediate satisfaction from free agency but they have an opportunity to draft the future of their front court (along with Jordan Mickey) this season. They will not ignore their back court but an emphasis needs to be put on the front court this offseason given how much better the back court was this season.
Adding more guards could actually do more harm than good. Even if Turner is not resigned, the Celtics still need to find out what kind of impact Rozier and Hunter can truly have. Those rookies give the Celtics the potential depth they may need if Turner is lost this season and there is a similar concern when Bradley’s contract also runs out. They are not guarantees but the Celtics at least have options to take over key positions in the back court and have some stability in the future with Thomas and Smart.
The front court, on the other hand, has absolutely no stability (outside of Crowder) and Mickey is the only youth behind them. Olynyk still has an opportunity to change into a true difference maker for the Celtics, but they need better options if their front court is going to catch up to the back court. Olynyk will always be valuable as a stretch five, but he is yet to prove that he can be more than an impact player off the bench.
Two of the Celtics’ biggest issues, interior defense and shooting, could also be drastically improved with the front court. Stevens is always looking for dynamic bigs that can at least give the Celtics another option in the mid range game and, preferably, from beyond the arc as well. They are also completely lacking of a rim protector. The majority of the Celtics’ defensive success was because of 1-3 positions and that included their of their best shooters in Thomas, Bradley and Crowder. On offense and on defense, the best the Celtics have to offer all comes from the 1-3 positions, with little help from their bigs.
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The Celtics have an opportunity to make a lot of improvements to their team this offseason and the front court is in much more need of being improved than the back court that has made phenomenal strides for the future. The Celtics can rely on and win with the guards they have now, but they need significant changes before the front court reaches that state.