While Danny Ainge has been making less changes to his roster in recent months, could he consider bringing back a member of the 2017-18 Boston Celtics?
It was somewhat surprising to see the Boston Celtics stand pat at the February 6th trade deadline, but it wouldn’t have mattered much anyway. The NBA season has been suspended and is not guaranteed to return.
That said, there were clear issues up and down the roster. Injuries to their starters and sixth man Marcus Smart revealed how shallow the depth chart was on many nights. Brad Stevens often shortened his rotation to just eight.
Many nights, the starters had to carry a significant load. With talents like Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, Kemba Walker and Jayson Tatum that isn’t a stretch of the imagination.
Often nights, the second unit was hapless, though. Whenever the season does start, the C’s will have to address their scoring woes the team faced from their second unit on far too many nights in 2019-20.
One potential option to prop up the bench? Former 2017-18 Boston Celtics backup point guard Shane Larkin:
Whenever the NBA offseason starts, one player that is expected to receive significant interest is Shane Larkin. Larkin had a dominant season for Anadolu Efes in Turkey this year and has an NBA opt-out for 2020-21. Multiple teams like Larkin as spot-starter/high-end backup PG.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) March 26, 2020
In 37 games (25 in EuroLeague) Larkin averaged 18.6 PPG and 3.9 APG (assists are much harder to record in European ball). Larkin's shooting splits were 50.6/45.4/90.7.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) March 26, 2020
Vs Olympiacos on 3/6, Larkin had 40 points and went 10-of-15 from three. Also had 5 assists and 3 steals. https://t.co/C5MQCmOq67
Could a Larkin-Celtics reunion benefit Beantown? The Houdini examines the pros and cons: