The Celtics' plan to fix things over the next month

The Celtics' plan to fix things over the next month

WEEI By Tyler Devitte

The blame goes to everyone. We all should have expected some bumps in the road with COVID and injuries impacting this team overits first 30 games. While a 15-15 record is not ideal, the path that brought the team here has been downright ugly.

How many times have we said, "Well that’s the worst loss of the year?” You have three in just the past two weeks -- Saddiq Bey torching the Celtics for a Pistons upset, the no show against the Wizards and then Sunday afternoon’s 24-point collapse in New Orleans.

So how does Danny Ainge, Brad Stevens and the Celtics get this turned around by the March 25 trade deadline?


Unleash the Time Lord

It’s time for Brad Stevens to give Robert Willams 20-plus minutes a night. His productivity is through the roof when he’s on the court but defensive lapses and past injury history have kept that from becoming a reality. Rob is just about two games worth of action from setting a new career-high in minutes for a season. He has shown an ability to take on that increased workload by playing in all five of the Celtics games in the recent seven day stretch.

Williams gives the Celtics an above the rim dimension that really only Javonte Green brings them. He keeps possessions alive for second and third chances and that’s shown to be important on nights when Boston’s offense slows down. According to Basketball-Reference’s “game score” stat, Williams’ second-, fourth- and fifth-best performances of his season have all come this week.


Tread water until Marcus Smart returns

Smart was originally set to be out 2-3 weeks after a calf strain against the Lakers on January 30. But ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Smart will continue to rehabilitate that calf through the All Star break with hopes to return when the Celtics begin the second half of the season.

As someone who said he was the most overrated player in Boston, I have to admit how much I underestimated this team would miss Smart. I’m not sure if Donovan Mitchell, Brad Beal and Trae Young go off against the Celtics defense with Smart in the lineup.


Boston is 28th in assists per game and 27th in assist-to-turnover ratio in the 12 games since Smart has been out.

Get the best out of Kemba Walker

While his shot has begun to start falling this month, his ability to finish as well as pull up in the lane hasn’t been there. There is no reason to believe he will ever get back to his days in Charlotte let alone what he was last season. He’s a minus defensively and has the worst contract in the city going forward. Kemba is owed $36M next season and $37.6M in 2022-23.


Of the 42 players with six or more possessions per game as the ball handler in pick & roll situations, Kemba is 42nd in field goal percentage at 33.8 percent. That’s over 13 percent worse than how Walker shot in the same situation in 2019-20.

Don’t let him dribble up the court and waste 6-7 seconds of the shot clock. After a made bucket, race the ball up the court and try to steal an easy bucket. Teams have been doing it to the Celtics all season. Kemba against a scrambling defense is an easy way for him to find his shot or others.

Poach the buyout market


The Celtics trade exception makes it more likely that they use it to acquire a soon to be moving player rather than via free agency after being bought out.

Here are some guys the Celtics should have some interest in if they are bought out: Andre Drummond, Cody Zeller, Mike Muscala, Garrett Temple, Trevor Ariza.

The Celtics can only offer these guys minimum contracts or their bi-annual exception which is about $3.5 million per year.


Trade for Wayne Ellington

It’s not sexy but Ellington is a 42 percent three-point shooter this season. There are 51 shooters this season who take six or more threes per game. Ellington is eighth in shooting percentage of those guys. He’s on an expiring deal and is 33 years old. Grant Williams and maybe a pick should be enough.

Encourage Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum to not play in the NBA All Star Game if possible


These guys should both be chosen as All Stars but need the time off. Last season’s All Star break marked the decline of Walker’s knee. Tatum and Brown are already banged up and could use multiple days off.

The players can’t say no to the All Star game without a heavy fine from the league. Could tendonitis be enough for Brown to sit out? A healthy Tatum and Brown with five days off entering the second half is ideal.

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