What is the Celtics’ Biggest Need This Off-Season?

The Boston Celtics have holes to fill this off-season, but what’s their biggest need?

The Boston Celtics 48-win season showed a lot of promise for the future. Brad Stevens cemented himself among the top coaches in the league and Boston is now certain that they have one of the strongest cores in the NBA.

Led by Isaiah Thomas, there are few teams who have as many team-friendly contracts as the Celtics. Unless they bring back Amir Johnson, the Celtics will go into free agency with no one on their roster making above $8.5 million.

It gives them a lot of room to make big moves this summer, whether via trade or free agency. The idea of adding a rim protector or three-point specialist are seen as the biggest holes the Celtics need to fill this off-season, however, there is actually a bigger need Boston needs to address if they want to get closer to a title.

A rim protector would definitely be beneficial for one of the shortest teams in the NBA, and a three-point threat would help space the floor, especially in the playoffs when Boston had no way of getting to the basket. Still, if the Celtics aren’t able to add another pure scorer alongside Thomas, they will continue to struggle in the playoffs.

Isaiah Thomas is one of the best scoring guards in the NBA. He’s coming off a season where he averaged 22.2 points per game and shot 35.9 percent from three. He’s not a player who can make a living off of shooting from behind the arc, although he’s more than capable of catching fire and having a great game from deep. He does most of his scoring by driving to the lane and finishing at the rim.

Most 5’9″ point guards aren’t able to get to the basket as often as Thomas does, or aren’t able to finish among the trees. Thomas defied the odds as 34 percent of his shots came at the basket, and he connected on 58.1 percent of them.

A big reason is Boston’s fast-tempo creates a lot of fast break opportunities for the little guard. It’s also why the Celtics lost in the first round of the playoffs, again, as Thomas wasn’t as efficient near the basket or on offense in general.

He still managed to get to the basket for 38.7 percent of his shots but his field-goal percentage from 0-to-3 feet out went down to 50 percent.

As much as we want to believe that Thomas is able to work around his height, it’s a major disadvantage in the playoffs. The game slows down and teams are able to match-up a bigger defender on Thomas to create more problems. They’re also able to trap him and force him to take wild, contested shots, or force him to try to pass out of a trap at mid-court.

Either way, Thomas has failed to shoot 40 percent or higher from the field in both playoff appearances – 39.5 percent this past season. The fact of the matter is he needs a faster tempo if he’s the only reliable scorer on the team or else he’ll struggle.

Jae Crowder and Kelly Olynyk not being healthy, as well as Avery Bradley missing the final five games, are all viable reasons why Thomas struggled so much. Still, he only shot 38.1 percent from the field in Game 1 when Bradley was healthy and Jonas Jerebko replaced Olynyk as the teams’ stretch-four.

It’s wishful thinking to assume Thomas would have been his normal self if the Celtics were fully healthy. The playoffs are a slower game and Boston needs to give Isaiah Thomas a reliable scorer next to him, not just a three-point specialist. Sure, a three-point specialist would help space the floor and take a little pressure off of Thomas, however, it won’t be enough as Thomas will still be the center of attention.

Boston needs someone who isn’t just a three-point threat because it will still allow teams to double-team Thomas.

The Celtics need a player who can create for himself and not rely on Thomas creating plays for them, or someone they can feed the ball to in the post and let go to work, because relying on Thomas too much is how Boston got into trouble this past postseason.

As much as Al Horford would help tighten up the paint on defense, his offensive presence would be the biggest help to the Celtics. He’d attract big men out of the paint and teams would have to focus on him, making it harder to double-team Isaiah Thomas.

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The same would go for if the Celtics were able to sign Harrison Barnes or draft a player like Jamal Murray. Both are primarily seen as catch-and-shoot players but that’s because that was their role on their former teams. Barnes is more than just a kick-out option on offense, and Murray was able to create for himself at Kentucky.

When it comes down to it, the Celtics need to add someone who will always get their points. As reliable as Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley are on defense, they have off-nights on the other end. Obviously players will have bad shooting games but great scorers are always able to find ways to score, and that’s what Thomas did last season and the type of player he needs next to him.

Avery Bradley was the only Celtic other than Thomas to average more than 15 points per game in the regular season (15.2 PPG), and no one did so in the playoffs. Adding a player who can score 18 points a night and help Thomas when he struggles shooting would make Thomas a better player and help the Celtics a lot.

Next: Jamal Murray is the Answer With The Third Pick

There’s no doubt that signing a max-contract player will fill a couple of holes, but Boston will keep getting knocked out in the first round if they don’t give Isaiah Thomas a sidekick on offense.