Boston Celtics: Who might be C’s third-wheel next season?

Since the Boston Celtics broke back into the playoffs after trading most of the Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett-led title team, they have been looking (fruitlessly) for a finals appearance. They have made the conference finals three times and have made the playoffs every season since trading for Isaiah Thomas.

Boston has had elite coaching, elite shooting, elite defense, and elite team play for most of these years as they searched for Banner No. 18.

So what’s missing? Why haven’t the Celtics been able to reach the promised land despite having all these good pieces?

It’s simple, really; Boston has rarely been healthy, and they never had a true star to lead them to the finals. Thomas couldn’t do it due to his injuries and size limitations, Kyrie Irving couldn’t do it due to his playmaking limitations, and Jayson Tatum couldn’t do it because he was too young. On top of Boston’s star player’s flaws, the teams around them were never good enough to get out of the East.

IT’s Celtics were fun, and they played hard, but they were not talented sufficient to best Lebron James’ Cavaliers. Irving’s teams played well initially, but after he went down, egos inflated, roles changed. The 2018-19 Boston Celtics were not the same team Irving joined, leading to their downfall in the playoffs.

Tatum’s teams, on the other hand, were too shallow in both years he led them to the conference finals. As a rookie, the C’s didn’t have the maturity to match Lebron James in a seven-game series and the Bubble; they did not have the depth to sustain their level of play after Gordon Hayward got injures and Kemba Walker’s knee began to flare up.

Fast forward to this season; the Celtics lacked everything on both ends. They did not have enough passing, shooting, rim pressure, high IQ players, switchable defenders, and capable team defenders on the roster. That’s why they fell to the No. 7 seed and eventually lost to the Brooklyn Nets in five games despite Tatum averaging well over 30 points per game in the playoffs.

Boston finds itself on the couch, watching the last couple rounds of the playoffs while they figure out how to bounce back from last season. Brad Stevens has already reinforced Boston’s defense, passing, shooting, and leadership by bringing in Al Horford, but his job is far from over. Boston needs shot creation with Kemba Walker gone. How can they fill this gap? Is there anyone on the market for Boston to pursue?

The answer is no.

This year’s free-agent class is thin, and it does not have the kinds of players Boston needs or can afford. Would DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball, or Dennis Schroder work on the Celtics? Yeah, they would all cost upwards of $20 million apiece and would not significantly increase Boston’s ceiling.

Instead, the Boston Celtics would be better off retaining Evan Fournier, Marcus Smart, and Robert Williams and have one of those three alternates as the third option from game to game.

All three would be relatively cheap and fill a need for the Cs. Fournier helps Boston’s shooting and creation while Smart helps their defense, passing, and leadership. Williams patches their holes on both ends. His rim gravity would provide the Jays with spacing, and his passing would open up the court. On defense, his shot-blocking, switching, and activity would catapult the Boston Celtics into the top ten of defensive rating.

The aforementioned trio is not one featuring flashy names, but they get the job done, and they preserve cap space for Bradley Beal, Steph Curry, Zach Lavine, or any other max free agent that may have interest in playing besides Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

The point of this off-season is not to shell out money on new players. Instead, Stevens should stay focused on alleviating Boston’s books and retaining the players they already have. Then, next summer, when multiple top 30 players hit free agency, the Boston Celtics can make a splash without worrying about trying to convince stars to take smaller deals.