Now that the smoke has cleared from the stunning Jaylen Brown trade, the Celtics’ roster is starting to come into focus. And while they may have lost some high-end star power, this team is still incredibly deep, versatile, and complete.
They’ve got a great combination of veterans and youth, they splurged on Mitchell Robinson to shore up the center position, and they have more two-way wings than they even know what to do with. But if there’s one thing that the team still may be lacking, it’s a third guard and one more ballhandler.
A big part of trading JB was the idea of elevating Payton Pritchard to a more prominent role. That’s a move I’m completely on board with, but if Pritchard is getting bumped into the starting lineup and Derrick White is getting bumped to shooting guard, that means the backup guard spot is looking extremely suspect.
Celtics don't have much guard-play on the bench
Mike Conley was signed to a vet minimum, but he may be as much an assistant coach as a player at this point. He played sparingly for Minnesota last season, and while I have no problem giving him minutes here and there in the regular season, I’m not sure you can just pencil him in as the third guard.
Boston has guys who are guard-adjacent like Hugo Gonzalez, Baylor Scheierman, and Ron Harper Jr., who I am also excited about. But they all profile more as three-and-D wings who can do a little bit more, but I’m a little wary of giving any of the three major on-ball reps, letting them run the offense, or trusting them as the primary ballhandler in lineups.
Obviously, I’m expecting Jayson Tatum to play a kind of pseudo point guard role as well, which should certainly help, but it still feels like the team is a little thin in that department as their three main ballhandlers will likely all be in the starting lineup.
Celtics may need to trade for a guard
I’m sure they can piece it together and stagger the minutes so that at least one of Pritchard, White, and Tatum is on the court at all times, but that’s a big ask. And if even one of them gets hurt, they are going to be asking an awful lot of some role players.
I’m not sure there’s a great option out there. Anfernee Simons filled this role last year effectively, John Tonje is thriving in summer league, and Tatum has been seen working out with Chris Paul. But Simons signed in Philly, Tonje will be a two-way guy at best, and CP3 is in the Conley category at this point.
Maybe there’s a trade to flip a wing for a guard just to balance the roster, but short of that, I think Joe Mazzulla and his staff are just going to have to be very strategic with how they manage their rotations and make sure there is no shortage of ballhandling on the court.
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