Boston Celtics: “Pass or Pursue” on 3 of C’s top offseason targets
By Mark Nilon
The Boston Celtics may be in the full swing of things when it comes to them legitimately contending for this year’s Larry O’Brien Trophy, but this is not to say that it’s a poor time to start planning ahead.
Frankly, it’s never too early to start plotting out one’s future endeavors.
Despite their second-place finish in the Eastern Conference Standings, their series sweep over the star-studded Brooklyn Nets in round one, and their present threat of taking down the defending champions in round two, by no means can one say that the C’s are a perfectly assembled team.
Looking at their roster makeup, there are certainly a few areas that could use some fine-tuning, which prompted the folks at Bleacher Report to push out a list of 3 players they believe Brad Stevens and co. may wish to look into pursuing this coming summer in order to bolster these bleak spots.
With this, it inspired us at the Houdini to push out another installment of our favorite series we like to call “Pass or Pursue”, where we take proposed ideas pertaining to the franchise and discuss whether Boston should avoid having them become a reality or if they should actively try to make them happen.
So, without further ado, let’s get started:
Boston Celtics offseason target No. 1) Duncan Robinson
The Boston Celtics have grown more and more fond of hoisting up 3-pointers as this year’s campaign progressed, finishing with the ninth-most attempts from this range.
Unfortunately, they only wound up converting on a middle of the pack 35.6 percent of these attempts (14th in the association), but this overzealous desire to chuck them up has rolled right along into the postseason which, so far, it has been working, but living and dying by the 3-point shot is not a recipe for success, at least not for this team’s current makeup as they only have two prominent players within the rotation shooting over 36 percent from distance.
That said, this offseason the C’s could be inclined to bolster their shooting arsenal around franchise cornerstones Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and, should they do this, B/R’s Zach Buckley believes that they should consider the possibility of trading for Miami Heat sharpshooter, Duncan Robinson.
Since 2019-20, the forward has boasted a sound conversion rate of 40.8 when launching them from deep whilst shooting 8.2 attempts and averaging 12.4 points per game.
Because of this, Buckley states that his playstyle and specific skill set could be of great use for the C’s, and, even with his shortcomings this season–demoted to a reserve role and dipped below 40 percent shooting from deep–, could also be viewed as somewhat of a “buy-low” option for the front office.
That said, the only caveat in this hypothetical scenario is the incredibly high price tag that would come with the likes of Robinson, as he’s only finishing up year two of a five-year, $80 million deal that will pay him $19.8 million in the final season.
Considering just how cash strapped the Celtics are and have been for the past several seasons, the idea of bringing aboard someone of such limited play range like Duncan Robinson (lacks any real offensive creation and is a putrid defender) may not be the most sensible of moves and, while Buckley is under the impression that his specific skills could benefit Boston’s overall production, even he understands that his salary alone could prove to be a bit too much for them to take on.