The Boston Celtics come into the 2021-22 season looking quite different when in comparison to how they did during last year’s campaign.
Sure, there are some familiar faces returning such as Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart but newcomers such as Dennis Schroder, Josh Richardson, and Al Horford (though, one could state that he, too, is a familiar face) make this squad seem more well-rounded and a tad bit more menacing for an opposing team to go up against.
With their new-look roster at the ready, rookie head coach, Ime Udoka, will now start to piece together a rotation that he deems appropriate for the shamrocks to roll out on a nightly basis during this coming season.
Before any opening day lineups are set, decisions must be made in regard to who the Cs should play and what roles they should serve.
Because of these new key additions that Boston made this summer, in order to make things work, Udoka may be forced to cut down on playing time for some of the returning players in order to help integrate the offseason acquisitions.
Though we obviously don’t foresee any drastic changes being made when it comes to the team’s core returning pieces (like the ones we previously mentioned), we at the Houdini believe that 3 players, in specific, could see their roles being severely diminished:
Boston Celtics player No. 1) Romeo Langford
First up on our list, we have the soon-to-be third-year wing, Romeo Langford who, though he may not have had himself a substantial role within the rotation last season, could be bound for a sizeable decrease heading into this year, especially if he doesn’t have a strong training camp/ preseason.
Playing in 50 out of a potential total of 144 regular-season games throughout his tenure in the association, the 21-year-old has not only underwhelmed with his lacking ability to stay off the injury report but, during his time spent on the floor, has proven to be rather unproductive (boasts career averages of just 2.7 points on 35 percent shooting from the floor and 22 percent shooting from deep).
Though his performance in last month’s Summer League was rather encouraging (17.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists on 38.5 percent shooting from deep), this was whilst serving as one of the veterans within the lineup while also finding himself unrivaled for minutes on the hardwood.
With the fact that the Cs now have a veteran presence like Josh Richardson in tow to go along with their desire to continue developing the more offensive-minded Aaron Nesmith, the wing depth behind the likes of Tatum and Brown is already being built up without the likes of Langford being viewed as a staple.
While it may seem odd, being that his role was already rather small coming into this season, we at HH are under the belief that the former Indiana standout will be somewhat of an afterthought within the rotation for the Boston Celtics.
Boston Celtics player No. 2) Jabari Parker
A late-season pickup last year, former No. 2 overall pick, Jabari Parker, finds himself coming in at No. 2 on our list of players heading towards a diminished role in 2021-22.
Though he managed to play rather well for the hobbled Boston Celtics in 2020-21, posting 17 points and 9.5 rebounds on 54 percent shooting from the field per 75 possessions and earned a spot in their playoff rotation along the way, the major reason for why we believe the 26-year-old could be heading towards lesser playing time is due, mainly, to some of C’s offseason transactions.
On last year’s roster, Parker was arguably the only legitimate power forward they had and, in turn, saw the majority of his time on the hardwood being spent at the four.
This summer, however, President of Basketball Operations, Brad Stevens, did his best to try and address some of the team’s weakest areas within the rotation and power forward was one of said areas.
Though the four rotation may still not be perfect, it certainly looks a bit more promising what with the fact that they now have the likes of Juan Hernangómez, Enes Kanter, and even floor-spacing undrafted rookie, Sam Hauser to compete for minutes at the position.
Bring on the fact that, being the Celtics wish to get their $54 million man, Robert Williams, ample opportunities on the court, they could even slide their presumed starting center, Al Horford, up to power forward from time to time in an effort to run two big sets.
Add all this up, and it likely equals a harder time for Jabari Parker to re-claim a similar role within the rotation.
Boston Celtics player No. 3) Grant Williams
Lastly, we find the likes of Grant Williams making his way onto this list of players that we believe will have their roles reduced this coming campaign.
Throughout the first two seasons of his career, the 2019 first-round pick has managed to work his way into the C’s rotation mainly out of necessity, for during his rookie season he was a young and spry option for the team to have come off the bench as an energy booster while during his sophomore run, he was utilized as a much-needed four who could come in and space the floor.
In 63 outings played last year, Williams found himself posting averages of 4.7 points and 2.8 rebounds on 37 percent shooting from deep while logging18.1 minutes per game.
Though he has been consistently utilized by the franchise during his two-year tenure, heading into year three Celtics fans could easily see the four’s role being diminished rather considerably, and one could even argue he’s the odd-man out of the team’s rotation in 2021-22 due, in large, to the similar argument we had for Parker in the previous slide but, also, because of his inability to effectively play any other position.
An undersized power forward who doesn’t quite have the skillset to slide on up to the three, with his athletic shortcomings coupled with more competition for playing time at his position, the likelihood of Grant Williams having a similar role to what he had last season is rather slim.