Boston Celtics: 3 ways to fix C’s most glaring issues in 2021-22

Boston Celtics issue No. 3) Bench Scoring

As we stated earlier, the Boston Celtics once again find themselves rolling out one of the most underwhelming second units in the entire NBA, specifically when it comes to their offensive efforts.

As things currently stand, the team’s bench ranks 29th in points per game (25.8) and dead last in both field goal percentage (38.1) and in offensive rating (44.8).

Consistently, the most oft utilized bench players thus far this year have been Grant Williams, Josh Richardson, and Romeo Langford which, obviously, is not a list of names that should instill fear in the hearts of any opposing team.

Because of this, to us it’s really quite simple as to what Boston needs to do…

Solution: Use Dennis Schroder in a sixth-man role; trade for another bench scorer

Due to a myriad of injuries and other health ailments to their starters, on numerous occasions, the Boston Celtics have been forced to take free agency steal, Dennis Schroder, out of their secondary lineup and plug him into the first-five.

While he has truly been a stupendous plug and play starter for the team, boasting averages of 21.1 points, 5.1 assists, and 4.3 rebounds on 50 percent shooting in the role, with a fully healthy rotation the 28-year-old will be of most value coming off the pine as a change of pace sixth-man, where he’s only proven to excel in in the past (finished second in Sixth-Man of the Year voting the last time he served in such a role).

In fact, Monday marked the first time in nine games where Schroder found himself coming off the bench and, in turn, he ended up being an absolute revelation for Boston, dropping 18 points on 40 percent shooting from the floor and 50 percent shooting from deep.

Putting him back into the second unit will undoubtedly help fix some of the offensive struggles they find themselves enduring however, he alone will not be able to make them fully competent and trustworthy.

Looking across the association it’s apparent that many top-notch ball clubs find themselves rolling out a rotation consisting of several sound offensive contributors coming off the bench.

From Jordan Clarkson & Joe Ingles in Utah and Damion Lee & Otto Porter in Golden State to LaMarcus Aldridge & Patty Mills in Brooklyn, the league’s legitimate contenders seem to have a solid amount of players at their disposal who can come in off the pine and get their squad some much-needed buckets.

It is because of this that we believe the Boston Celtics should be looking into bringing on perhaps one more trusty scoring threat to have come off the pine alongside Schroder.

Ideally, Brad Stevens would look to use one of the team’s TPEs in an effort to bring on a player of this ilk, with options such as Jeremy Lamb, Doug McDermott, and, our personal favorite, Terrence Ross all fitting into the salary threshold.

However, other bigger names that have been mentioned over the past several weeks such as Buddy Hield could also be worth looking into, so long as the price is right.

Fixing the team’s offensive production within their second unit will go a long way in helping Boston continue to improve, and the two most logical ways of doing this are by inserting Dennis Schroder back into a high-end bench role and trading for another savvy scoring presence.