Boston Celtics: 3 C’s fighting to save their job in the playoffs

The rotation for the Boston Celtics is about to trim. Still, those that get minutes could be fighting for their playoff lives when they step on the floor this postseason.

The pomp and pageantry of the postseason will be a little different this year, but all the same, the Boston Celtics will be one of the 16 teams beginning their playoff push from the confines of the Lake Buena Vista bubble in Walt Disney World.

Moreso than ever, there is a clear hierarchy with which the team will operate. Jayson Tatum is the main player, but Kemba Walker, Gordon Hayward, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart will all get their chances to run the show.

Down low, Daniel Theis is manning the middle for the starters, while a combination of Enes Kanter, Robert Williams, and Grant Williams will all be filling in the holes for the rest of the pivot minutes.

Now, before I go on, does anybody know what all of these players have in common?

They all have contract security for next season.

The following 3 C’s have no such luck, and face an uphill battle to keep their jobs in the postseason:

Brad Wanamaker

There’s a lot of fun facts about Brad Wanamaker from this season. My co-editor Mark Nilon listed a few in a recent HH piece:

"Brad Wanamaker ended his second season in the NBA leading the league in free-throw percentage, shooting from the charity stripe at a 92.6 percent clip. The reason why this is so significant for the team is that he has become just the fourth player in Boston Celtics history, and the first since Larry Bird back in 1989-90, to accomplish such a feat."

While that makes a great trivia question, it could become an even greater one if Wanamaker doesn’t continue his run as the box plus/minus leader and falters in his minutes backing up Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart in the postseason. The career journeyman could be out of an NBA job if he doesn’t perform.

Semi Ojeleye

While the final stat line of Semi Ojeleye‘s performance as a starter on Sunday reads well at 13 points and eight rebounds, what it doesn’t tell the story of is how discombobulated Ojeleye looked on offense at times.

Being that this is his third season in the league, that isn’t a good omen for his future. This offseason was always going to be tricky to make a nice payday because of the timing with the pandemic, but Ojeleye really needs to make a case for why the C’s should retain him as a restricted free agent this offseason.

Javonte Green

Javonte Green broke out in a big way in the final game of the regular season, and coupled with his versatility, he could be an obvious candidate to inherit some of Gordon Hayward’s minutes when he leaves the bubble for the birth of his child.

That said, if he can’t provide any value to the lineup–the Houdini obviously doesn’t expect him to fully cover for Hayward’s absence–it will be very obvious. Being that he was the final guy to make the roster in 2019-20, it’d be easy to justify severing ties if the dropoff is too severe to overcome.