When you are a 19-17 team that is clearly behind the three top teams in the Eastern Conference, change seems like a necessity. In the NBA, change seems borderline evil–at least it did when Boston Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge traded away Isaiah Thomas after a hip injury in 2017–but it is oftentimes the only way forward.
While the C’s recent winning streak seems like a reason for the team to no longer worry about its roster flaws, if you dig deeper you’ll realize this recent winning streak is less impressive on the surface.
For starters, the team’s recent win over the Toronto/Tampa Bay Raptors did not include Pascal Siakam nor Fred VanVleet, the team’s two top scorers. Similarly, the Los Angeles Clippers were missing Kawhi Leonard during Boston’s 117-112 victory this past Tuesday.
This isn’t to discredit the Boston Celtics, who beat the teams in front of them. Really, it is to point out that things are not as seemingly fine as they appear to be.
Moves should be made in the coming weeks if Ainge has any ambitions of courting a championship team in 2021…and perhaps beyond. Underperformance leads to drastic changes, but the Houdini believes there are easier ways to improve the roster.
Unfortunately, that is bad news for someone. For any changes to be made, guys would need to hand in their green and white jerseys and potentially move across the country for a new opportunity.
Here are 3 players who could be getting that call before long:
Boston Celtics SG/SF, Javonte Green
When a team is riding high as an overachieving feel-good contender, a player like Javonte Green can maintain a roster spot.
But when that same team falls short in the Eastern Conference finals and finds themselves sitting below .500 a third of the way through the following season, that roster spot should be used on someone who immediately raises the ceiling of the team in either the short-term or the long-term.
There will value to be had with the veteran’s minimum on the buyout market…perhaps more so than what Green currently possesses.