The Celtics got better. Right?
IN: Derrick White, Daniel Theis.
OUT: Josh Richardson, Dennis Schroder, Romeo Langford, Enes Freedom, Bruno Fernando, Bol Bol, PJ Dozier, 2022 1st round pick, and a 2028 1st round pick swap.
That seems like a hefty haul heading out the door for a limited return, but is it the right return?
PROS:
I really like Derrick White. I like him even more as the back up PG for this team. His selfless, hard nose, ability to create for others fills a need off the bench that neither Schroder or Richardson was filling. White is a better distributor and defender than Schroder or Richardson. White is averaging 5.6 assists per game to Schroder’s 4. With his size, 6’ 4” 190lbs he can guard 1 - 3 and he does it at near elite level. White has close ties with Ime, Tatum, Brown, and Smart from their time with USA basketball. He’s in his prime at 27 years old on an easy contract for 3 more years. There is a lot to like about this player.
CONS:
How does Derrick White help the points off the bench? White averages 14.4 points, same as Schroder. Richardson’s 10 points and 40% 3 point shooting frankly is going to be missed. Richardson, like most of the team recently, has really stepped into his role and executed it at a high level. Scoring in general has been one of the biggest issues for the Celtics this season so shipping 24 points out the door to replace it with 14.4 seems incomplete.
This of course opens the door for Pritchard and Nesmith to step into some regular rotation minutes. This was part of the plan by Brad, make no mistake. The Celtics have failed to develop some of their young talent stemming from the onslaught of Danny Ainge hoarded picks. They need to do there best to turn Nesmith and Pritchard into rotational guys. I’ll just add that all of the talk about setting up future moves, shut up. There have been 7 years of “the next move”. Although, Derrick White may end up making Smart expendable. Just sayin’.
Have I gone all this way with out mentioning Daniel Theis? Maybe there is a reason for that. He’s a back up big. Who is shorter than Tatum. I’m not going to sit here and bash Theis. He was good for the Celtics. There were stretches where he was really good. But, at the end of the day he is a back up center. So for this team his fills another need behind Rob Williams and Horford. He can provide a lot of Horford does especially on the offensive end, but most importantly he can spell old Al. Instead of 30 minutes a night we can see Al get a healthy 22 and be ready to slow down the Emid’s and Giannis’. However, at $9 million for the next couple seasons I hope it’s not a contract that binds them up in any future moves.
Look, I think on a whole the Celtics got better. They have tighten up their rotation, improved their PG position, bolstered future flexibility, opened 5 roster spots for buy outs, all while getting under the tax.
Quick aside, this better be the last year we hear about this tax. If Wyc and the Boston Brass want to show Tatum and Brown they mean business putting getting under the tax as a priority aint a good look. Wyc has said they will pay the tax for teams that are contenders. So what does it say when there is such a hard push to get under the tax?
But, ya they are better as a whole. Brad made it a point to identify the holes on the team surrounding the Jays and was aggressive filling them (insert Mom joke, please). Shooting and scoring is an issue. It could be addressed in the buy out market, but don’t rest your hopes and dreams on it. That’s a thin needle to thread.
For anyone underwhelmed by the moves are the same ones who were screaming for Danny to build a team. Brad is building a team. He’s still got a little more to do.
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