Boston Celtics: 3 ways Cs can break Lakers tie for banner No. 18

No. 3) Utilize the MLE and Veteran’s Minimum

It’s a well-known fact that the Boston Celtics come into this year’s offseason with little cap-flexibility. Because of this, the only contract offers they’ll likely be able to field will be the Mid-Level Exception and Veteran’s Minimums.

While this does infringe upon their chances of pursuing the top-billed talents on the open market, in the end, they won’t be missing out on too much as, frankly, this year’s free agency class is relatively weak.

That said, there are a few solid contributors who could potentially be enticed by the C’s allure to come aboard and help tie up loose ends on the roster and help them better position themselves for the Larry O’Brien trophy.

One of the most oft-talked about talents we believe should be high on Boston’s radar is Toronto Raptors’ big man Serge Ibaka, who possesses quite a valuable skill-set and plays a position in which the team could seriously use bolstering at.

Argued in much greater depths in the past, I’ve went on to state:

"Offensively he has an impressive array of post moves and can easily help Boston space the floor better (shoots 36 percent from deep for his career). Defensively, well, we know how good he can be. The man referred to as “Serge-I-block-a” is a 3x All-Defensive First-Team selection and a 2x NBA blocks leader — averages 2.1 blocks a game for his career."

Ibaka, however, is not the only player the Boston Celtics could pursue that we believe could have a massive impact on this team. Other savvy vets such as Paul Millsap, Justin Holiday, and D.J. Augustin have all been brought up in the past, as all possess skill sets and veteran experience that would likely only benefit this young and talented Cs squad moving forward.

A few veteran presences can go a long way for a championship aspiring team and, this past postseason, it was evident that a strong veteran presence was lacking from their roster.

They must intelligently address this area come free agency.