With it being reported that the Boston Celtics will not issue a qualifying offer to Brad Wanamaker, the team could be in the market for his replacement.
After months of speculation pertaining to his future with the franchise, Thursday it was reported that the Boston Celtics would not be extended a qualifying offer to backup point guard Brad Wanamaker, making him a restricted free agent and, with that, a likely candidate to jump ship this offseason.
While we personally have no gripes with the man, it has been the Houdini’s attitude that the Cs should strongly consider making an upgrade over the senior-citizen sophomore prior to the start of the 2020-21 season.
With concerns over Kemba Walker’s knee ailments growing, rostering a player who could take the reigns at starting point guard in a moment’s notice or, simply, provide quality minutes within the rotation to give the All-Star some much-needed rest will be a vital commodity moving forward.
Though Wanamaker proved to be a sound shooter for the Celtics over the past two seasons (37.6 percent 3-point shooting for his career), overall he does not have the attributes necessary to properly run an entire offense and, thus, should not be seen as the answer at the backup one spot moving forward.
There are a few players we at the Houdini believe could be prime replacements for Wanamaker at the position heading into the new league year.
Potential replacement for Brad Wanamaker No. 1) Payton Pritchard
Perhaps the riskiest player to be mentioned on this list, the No. 26 pick from this year’s draft in Payton Pritchard could actually be seen as a realistic candidate to take on the backup role to Walker right away for the Boston Celtics.
Despite not being the “flashiest” of names at the time of his selection, many familiar with the league and within the team’s organization believe that the Oregon product could be a plug-and-play talent right from day one.
In his senior season with the Ducks, the firey point guard put up stellar averages of 20.5 points, 5.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game on 51 percent shooting from the floor and 42 percent shooting from deep.
With his production, Pritchard was named Pac-12 Player of the Year and won the Bob Cousy trophy, which is bestowed to the top men’s collegiate point guard every year.
It’s evident that Danny Ainge sees something in the 22-year-old rookie. Perhaps right out of the gates, Brad Stevens will see something as well.
Potential replacement for Brad Wanamaker No. 2) Tremont Waters
Tremont Waters is a player who has peaked the intrigue of a majority of Boston Celtics fans.
Selected 51st overall in last year’s draft, the former LSU Tiger spent a majority of his rookie season logging minutes in the G-League with the Maine Red Claws.
Whilst honing his skills, Waters managed to post impressive averages of 18 points, 7.3 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and two steals a game on 43 percent shooting from the field and 35 percent shooting from deep.
With his production, the 22-year-old helped guide the Red Claws to a 28-14 record, good enough for the fourth seed in their division and earned himself the honors of G-League Rookie of the Year.
About a year ago, many across the league were already impressed by the young guard’s potential, with scouts going as far as to say they “missed on him” during the 2019 draft.
One last name that came up repeatedly talking to front office executives and scouts about the G-League Showcase: Tremont Waters. Water is on a Two-Way with Boston.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) December 23, 2019
"He's an NBA backup PG right now. I told our GM to trade for him, because he's better than what we have today."
Lastly on Tremont Waters from a scout: "I missed on him. Big time. Thought was too small for our league. But he's tough and fast. I don't know what he'll be beyond it, but he's an NBA backup point guard at least. And that's valuable because everyone plays three PGs a night now."
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) December 23, 2019
If the professionals across the league were stating this by the time December rolled around last season, then with a year already under his belt, and ample playing time in the developmental league, couldn’t that mean that Waters is coming into this season with even more hype surrounding him?
Though he only managed to play in 11 games with the Boston Celtics during his rookie year, his short spurts on the court showed promise for the young guard in this league, especially his play during the team’s November 25th bout with the Sacramento Kings where Waters recorded record seven points, three assists, two rebounds, two blocks, one steal, and a box plus-minus of +20 in 19 minutes of action.
It was already relayed to the public that the Cs are extended a qualifying offer to Tremont Waters this offseason, thus having us believe they see potential in the point guard.
Might that potential lead to the primary backup point guard role within the rotation in 2020-21?
Potential replacement for Brad Wanamaker No. 3) D.J. Augustin
Now we’re getting into the REAL free agency frenzy on this slide.
The idea of the Boston Celtics pursuing the likes of D.J. Augustin is nothing new for the Houdini. In fact, it is a move we have been preaching for quite some time.
The 12th-year-veteran once again found himself producing at an impressive rate for his respective team in 2019-20. During the fourth and final season of his contract with the Orlando Magic, the 32-year-old posted solid per-game averages of 10.5 points and 4.6 assists on 40 percent shooting from the floor and 35 percent shooting from deep.
Improving his per-game numbers to 13.2 points and six assists per game on 47 percent shooting from downtown in this year’s postseason, Augustin has shown that he is not one to shy away from the spotlight.
Having both starting and reserve experience in this league, the point guard would be a fantastic option for the Celtics to consider bringing on this offseason.
His offensive skill-set alone should warrant consideration from the franchise, as they could use a sharp-shooting sparkplug within this team’s secondary rotation that finished the season ranking as 29th in points per game (28.5), 28th in 3-point percentage (31.8), and 20th in offensive rating (53.6).
Potential replacement for Brad Wanamaker No. 4) Jeff Teague
Last but not least we see the likes of former All-Star, Jeff Teague, taking the final spot on our list of potential replacements for Brad Wanamaker within the Boston Celtics rotation come 2020-21.
Despite making it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals this past year, their postseason run exposed the lack of depth on the C’s roster. One of the most concerning problems was that it was evident that there was no real quality help in the backcourt to let starter Kemba Walker get much-needed rest.
Should they wish to add on a player with ample postseason experience and success playing the position in the NBA, Boston may not want to look much further than Teague.
Still a productive player in the league, during the 2019-20 season he averaged 10.9 points, 5.2 assists, and just shy of a steal per game on 46 percent shooting from the field and 37 percent shooting from deep.
Though no longer the All-Star he once was, the veteran has made a name for himself as a player who can create for his own on offense as well as for others via his playmaking skills and has proven capable of successfully taking command of an offense.
Adding him to this Boston Celtics squad for next season would provide them with a fantastic second unit primary ball-handler who, if asked, has shown to still have the capability of stepping into a starting role and producing admirably — averaged 12.5 points, 7.5 assists, and a steal per game on 38 percent shooting from deep in 17 starts last year.