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Boston Celtics: 2 midseason departures that paved way to Finals berth

By Mark Nilon

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 08: Dennis Schroder #71 of the Boston Celtics handles the ball against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on February 08, 2022 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 08: Dennis Schroder #71 of the Boston Celtics handles the ball against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on February 08, 2022 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images) /
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It’s hard to believe that this Boston Celtics team that’s up 1-0 against the dynastic Golden State Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals was once a sub-.500 ball club that was on the outside looking in on a playoff spot during the early stages of this very same season.

But, yes, this was in fact the case for Ime Udoka and co. by the midway point of this year’s campaign.

Seeing a lackluster record of just 20-21 through 41 games played, many were expecting the C’s to once again find themselves participating in the newly established play-in tournament for a shot at postseason action, while others were under the impression that they’d miss the playoffs altogether and that we could even see the front office break up the likes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown via trade at the deadline.

Of course, as we all now know, none of this wound up becoming a reality as Boston managed to go on quite an incredible run from the mid-point on, seeing a complete 180-degree turnaround as they breezed through the remainder of the season by piecing together 31 wins during the final 41 games played and finished things off as the second-seed in the Eastern Conference standings.

Now, while this flip of the switch was able to be done with the team’s main core remaining intact (so much for the infamous ‘the Jays can’t coexist together’ notion), perhaps an underrated factor in their second-half surge was the numerous transactions Brad Stevens and co. opted to make in an effort to reshuffle the rotation.

Be it by means of trading or waiving, Boston’s decision-makers were found working tirelessly to reconstruct Ime Udoka’s talent pool to better fit the scheme his staff was looking to run, and, while we saw several new additions to the roster by year’s end, in the process we also saw a bevy of departures along the way as well.

In all honesty, this year’s NBA Finals berth may not have been achievable without these in-season moves made and, with this in mind, today we at HH pay homage to 2 specific departees that wound up benefiting the ball club in arguably a greater fashion upon their dismissal:

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