According to Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz, the Boston Celtics bench is still too young heading into the 2021-22 season…especially if Al Horford ends up starting over Robert Williams.
While that is most likely not going to happen, the critique of the Cs second unit not being proven enough for this team to be considered anything but a low-seeded postseason possibility is a fair one.
Swartz believes the team’s best avenue for turning things around will be the as-of-yet used traded player exceptions from the separate deals that sent Evan Fournier (sign-and-trade to NYK) and Tristan Thompson (in the Kris Dunn trade) out of Beantown.
He even has a few players in mind for each TPE:
"Players like Markelle Fultz, Davis Bertans and Thaddeus Young could all fit into the Fournier trade exception, with guys like Montrezl Harrell, Mason Plumlee and Cedi Osman all making less than Thompson’s exception amount."
Out of all the players listed, Markelle Fultz is the only one that qualifies as a true game-changing potential addition. The 2017 #1 overall NBA Draft pick is currently injured after tearing his ACL last season with the Orlando Magic and might not have a spot to return to with Cole Anthony establishing himself as a go-to option on offense.
He should be gettable just like all of the other names mentioned. Davis Bertans and Montrezl Harrell are both on a Washington Wizards team that would start rebuilding the minute Bradley Beal ever gets dealt. Mason Plumlee is a stop-gap front court option for the Charlotte Hornets. Ditto for Thaddeus Young on the San Antonio Spurs. Cedi Osman has had his ups and downs in Cleveland, but there’s so much youth on the Cavaliers that he may well get squeezed from their rotation.
These are all fine (if unspectacular) names for the Boston Celtics to pursue, but Fultz is the one player listed that could be transformational if he could ever stay healthy.