Throughout their first month of the 2021 NBA offseason, the Boston Celtics have seen many shakeups and moving pieces.
From the decision to replace Danny Ainge with Brad Stevens as President of Basketball Operations to the deal that shipped Kemba Walker to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for a package centered around Al Horford coming back in return, the shamrocks have been quite a busy organization thus far into the summer.
Perhaps the most entertaining part for Cs fans: in regard to the offseason’s timeline, we’re really only in phase one.
Still to come is the NBA Draft, free agency, and the time period where teams start to shop some of their unwanted players.
What this means is, these transactions listed earlier could very well be just the beginning for Boston.
Specifically, in regard to August’s free agency period, the Celtics are destined to be a team monitored closely by the media.
No, not because they’ll have ample cash at their disposal to be big players on the open market — they don’t — but, rather, because they find themselves with several contracts coming off their books with one, in particular, who could prove to be a hot ticket on the open market.
When it comes to these specific individuals, we at the Houdini believe that 3, in particular, should be considered flight risks.
Read on to see who we believe these players to be:
Boston Celtics flight risk No. 1) Semi Ojeleye
Since coming to the Boston Celtics in the early second round of 2017, the fans and coaching staff have been waiting to see if Semi Ojeleye‘s game can wind up becoming more impressive than his muscle tone.
Though it was a tough task to accomplish, and ultimately one he failed to live up to, these past two seasons with the ball club still have proven that, in short spurts off the pine, the 26-year-old can still be a serviceable role player for a team looking to add depth at their forward spots.
Despite measuring in at just 6-6, Ojeleye can play both the three and four thanks to his 240-pound build and impressive strength, while his much-improved 3-point shooting stroke (shot 37 percent from deep over the past two years) and documented history of sound defensive instincts will likely make him a formidable 3-and-D prospect for many teams this summer.