Boston Celtics: 2 free agency mishaps from first week of action

Boston Celtics mishap No. 2) Not taking a swing at risk/ reward commodities

As we alluded to earlier, obviously a major storyline heading into the 2021 NBA offseason was the lacking cap space that the Boston Celtics had to work with in free agency.

Due to their overinflated payroll, it was already well known that Stevens would only be able to use their MLE and veteran minimums this summer which would make it a bit challenging to land a true difference-maker.

That said, a challenge doesn’t mean impossible and, in fact, creativity with who they opted to pursue could have actually been the key in landing themselves a steal of a talent at a low cost.

During this free agency period, we saw a number of players with high potential that could have been impactful assets for the Cs ultimately signed to team-friendly contracts.

Though players such as Victor Oladipo and Otto Porter Jr., for example, may have been perceived as high-risk individuals, their hypothetical reward factors could have proven to be equally as high, as their specific skillsets (Oladipo’s proven two-way excellence; Porter Jr.’s impactful scoring punch) would have been welcomed with open arms to this Cs team that seemingly needs a bit of everything.

Instead, the front office played it “safe” and opted to pass on these types of players and, in turn, they wound up signing on with the Miami Heat and the Golden State Warriors, respectively, on low-risk paydays (each were signed for less than $3 million).