The Boston Celtics are breezing right on through towards the bitter end of the 2021-22 regular season, only to then start anew during the playoffs where they’ll look to embark on what is hoped to be a long and successful run.
With how the team as a collective has been playing, many are under the impression that the C’s should be up there with the likes of the Phoenix Suns, Philadelphia 76ers, and the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks when it comes to the discussion of legitimate title contenders, and a big reason for why is because of their overall play as a unit.
Though the bulk of attention and praise has been directed towards franchise cornerstones, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown when it comes to the team’s midseason turnaround (and rightly so, may we add), there have been quite a number of players outside of the Jays that have been undeniably vital to their recent successes.
That said, while the majority of players found on the roster have managed to make all-out positive impacts, some of whom have even all but guaranteed long-lasting tenures with the ball club as a result, there are some who have been rather underwhelming (to say the least) and, with this, we believe there are 3 talents, in specific, that could wind up being axed by the organization this summer:
Boston Celtics player No. 1) Nik Stauskas
Before being called upon by the Boston Celtics in early March, former lottery pick, Nik Stauskas, was admittedly on the brink of calling it a career after struggling to nab a spot on an NBA roster all year long, finding himself shuffling around the G-League, and having not received more than a mere 10-day contract offer from an organization since the 2018-19 campaign.
Once he got the call from Brad Stevens, however, he decided to put the concept of retirement on hold, as he managed to ink a two-year deal with the ball club worth up to $2.6 million.
Of course, the major caveat of this contract is that year two is a team option, meaning that it’ll wind up being the front office’s decision on whether or not he remains on the roster past 2021-22 and, based on his play thus far, we wouldn’t be at all surprised if his deal winds up being void come the end of the postseason.
Boasting averages of just 1.2 points on 33 percent shooting from the field, it’s evident that his presence on the roster hasn’t made much of an impact on this team and, even during his lone stint with the C’s G League affiliate team, the Maine Red Claws, he wasn’t necessarily turning heads either (11 points on 31 percent shooting from the floor and 14 percent shooting from deep).
Barring a drastic turn of events during these final few weeks of the regular season or any unforeseen injuries out on the wing, one shouldn’t be expecting to see the vetran making his way into the playoff rotation, thus meaning April 10th could prove to be Nik Stauskas’ last shot at attaining meaningful minutes with the Celtics and, quite possibly, in the NBA overall.