Boston Celtics should focus on floor spacing
Last season, the Boston Celtics did an abysmal job of spacing the floor around Jayson Tatum. They relied heavily on younger players to hit shots created by the All-Star, which led to opposing defenses not respecting the C’s perimeter shooters.
On top of their immature personnel, they did not have a floor-spacing big.
Instead, Danny Ainge gave Tatum three paint cloggers and only one elite roll man who did not play significant minutes until after the trade deadline.
Tristan Thompson, Daniel Theis, and Robert Williams is an unacceptable center rotation.
Since Stevens has taken over, he has done an excellent job reshaping the roster to solve this dilemma. Bringing in Al Horford and sending out Kemba Walker will do wonders for the team’s spacing.
Horford shot 37 percent on 152 3-pointers attempted last season with the Thunder in just 28 games.
However, Boston cannot settle after making this trade.
They still need to send out Thompson and bring in more shooters on the wings. If the Celtics want to keep Aaron Nesmith, his development should be a priority since he will be one of Tatum’s floor spacers off the bench.
Evan Fournier needs to be re-signed, and Stevens needs to bring in one more movement shooter for good measure.
Having multiple shooters around Jayson Tatum means two things — teams are less likely to send doubles at him, and Boston’s offense will have more player and ball movement.
Both of those things were severely lacking last season, and if Boston wants to contend, both need to change.