The Celtics probably need to find a third star to become title contenders, but they may not have the assets to acquire one, Tim Bontemps of ESPN writes in an extensive look at how the franchise arrived at its current position. Boston has been on a hot streak this month, winning eight of its last 11 games and putting up the NBA’s best defensive numbers during that stretch. But as Bontemps talked to team officials around the league, he found skepticism about whether the Celtics are built to win in the playoffs.
“They probably need another guy,” an Eastern Conference scout said. “I love Al Horford, but he’s getting older. And I love (Marcus) Smart. But once you get past (Jaylen) Brown and (Jayson) Tatum — and especially past (Horford and Smart) — every guy is a question mark for me. They’re down to two legitimate stars, (and) you normally need three (to win).”
Bontemps traces Boston’s misfortunes over the past three years, including the losses of Horford, Kyrie Irving and Marcus Morris in free agency and draft picks acquired from the Kings and Grizzlies that both fell to 14th, which was much lower than initially expected. Center Robert Williams has been the only full-time rotation player the Celtics have drafted in the past four years.
There are also concerns about whether Brown and Tatum are good enough to lead the team to a championship.
“Jaylen and Jayson aren’t making anyone better,” a Western Conference scout said. An Eastern Conference assistant coach added, “Jayson Tatum is about Jayson Tatum. I don’t think he cares about winning now, and if he does, it is on his terms. He doesn’t want to score 15 and win. He wants to score 39 and win.”
There’s more from Boston:
- Brown was cleared to play tonight, but coach Ime Udoka said he will be considered questionable for every game for the next week or two as he works his way back from a strained hamstring, Bontemps tweets.
- Williams was thrilled to receive an extension during the offseason that will keep him in Boston for four more years, he said in an interview with Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston. “I told my agent as soon as the season was over, I want to go back. I want to be back,” Williams said. “I feel like we’ve building something great here with a young core getting stronger and stronger every day. And I want to be a part of that celebration when we get to the chance where we raising that banner, I want to be a part of it. To be able to say we went through it all together. It was a big emphasis on me staying.”
- Nets owner Joe Tsai is the latest target of criticism from Celtics backup center Enes Kanter, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. In a Twitter post, Kanter calls Tsai a coward and a puppet of the Chinese government.
RE: Jayson Tatum — Amen! Preach brother!
Pistons offer Bey, Grant and Kelly O for Simmons
Celtics can beat that offer via third team
I don’t know how many teams will make a better offer than that for Ben.
Sixers said a couple days ago they don’t want Jeremi Grant. He’s not good enough.
Nothings happening until they can trade guys they signed in the offseason aka Furkan in a Simmons deal to offset salary.
So in other words the Celtics are done. They can play defense with the best of them with the shop blocking and Marcus Smart and other guy’s toughness. But they struggle to score in the half court. Either brown or Tatum goes one-on-one and if that fails that’s it.
I wouldn’t go that far. Celtics can always mortgage their future picks (a la Brooklyn last year) if they really want to go in for a third star.
The rumblings about Tatum are concerning though. They might want to make sure they have the right two before pursuing a third.
“Celtics are done”
What does that even mean? Were they not done last year, but are done now? Are they still done three years from now? Obviously, this isn’t a contending team, this year, no one thought it would be.
Exactly. The Celtics were good when they had Isaiah and Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart in the backcourt. They had grit and toughness and scoring and defense. Horford was good and they were top of the East. But no more.
Well, other teams were weak then. Since IT & Avery the NBA has gotten so much better with all the incredible talent coming in.
The celtics two stars are 25 and 23. Just checking, but how many stars won a chip at that age?
Valid point. There was a lot of “Is Giannis REALLY a superstar?” late last season. Then he wins a ring (at 27) and now he’s consensus top 3 again.
These could just be growing pains for Brown/Tatum, but I think they’ll need to bolster the depth-chart at some point either way if they want to contend.
Mr Williams you will never ever win a championship with BOS, it just isn’t the way that this franchise rolls, too many holes no way to mend it, can see them getting worse rather than better!
Mr Kanter can you do us all a favor & shut up & dribble, please?
Stop attacking people, maybe you can give all your personal fortune to some cause as well… BTW you haven’t effected any change whatsoever in your own country, so what is the point of what you are doing?
Shut up and dribble when it’s something I’m against – El Don.
#FreeKanter
Interesting how Kanter came out at the 3;36 mark, Horford came in, Smart scored quickly, and we didn’t score again, SA scored 15 in a row. Maybe missing Kanter was the problem. #FreeKanter
Lanter might be horrendous when it comes to defending the pick and roll, but he’s extremely brave and a major hero in my book. Not because he can dunk a ball, but because he simply speaks without fear. Irving could learn a lot from Kanter.
The WC scout sounds a lot smarter than the EC scout. The Celtics strain to provide shots for Tatum and Brown… they don’t need a third too.
Trading valuable pieces for Kyrie was the beginning of the end. So many non-deals I got annoyed at Boston for sitting around doing nothing… I still can’t believe Kyrie is the only one they finally went in on. It’s not like his behavior issues were a secret.
The big What If of that era is Hayward’s foot. Kyrie is crazy either way but you have to wonder—Hayward, Irving, Horford in their primes with younger Tatum, Smart, Brown, and Rozier in supporting roles? That was a team that could have had at the very least an epic EC Finals series with Cleveland.
To a large extent the franchise really has yet to recover from that opening night.
Who/what did they really give up that had value for Kyrie? An injured IT? A garbage center? low draft picks? They definitely didn’t blow their load with acquiring him. Also, he was definitely a head case before the trade, but he was the one star that became available that particular off season… Who else could they have gone for?
Celtics showed up for Lakers. Played with sense of urgency. All played as a team both ways. Cause they wanted that W. Have not seen that consistently. Doesn’t matter how much talent you got. It’s a team sport both ways. Some teams just gotta work harder to get wins. And that’s harder to bring every game. That’s what I see with Celtics.
I love how candid Kanter is. Especially when he called LeBron a hypocrite for speaking on social justice while he’s in bed with Nike who uses slave labor overseas. That was great. But I know how the NBA is, and these outspoken comments are eventually going to deter teams from employing him.