Chris Mannix take on the Celtics off season so far

The 2023-24 Boston Celtics will take some getting used to.

Their offseason started with a bang when they acquired Kristaps Porzingis but parted ways with their longest-tenured player Marcus Smart in a three-team trade with the Washington Wizards and Memphis Grizzlies. A couple of weeks later, they shipped Grant Williams to the Dallas Mavericks in a sign-and-trade.

Oddsmakers still have the C's listed among the frontrunners to win the NBA championship next year, but are they better or worse than last season's group after the moves they've made this summer? Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix joined Tuesday's "Arbella Early Edition" to share his take.



"As of now, mid-July, they're worse," Mannix said. "It really is Kristaps Porzingis for Grant Williams and Marcus Smart. That, to me, is a step back because Marcus Smart, even though he was flawed, you know what he is. Grant Williams, as bad as he was in the second half of the season, he shot 41 percent from 3 in the first half and I think getting a contract and security would have made him better going into this season.

"And Porzingis, I'm sorry, he worries me. He does. He had a great year last year, but he was in a contract year playing for a team that went nowhere. Now, he's going to have the security of a long-term contract playing for a team that needs him to fit into a system to be highly successful. I just have my concerns at how seamless he's going to fit into this mix."

Porzingis averaged a career-high 23.2 points per game while shooting 49.8 percent from the field for the Wizards in 2022-23. The soon-to-be 28-year-old gives Boston another consistent scoring threat alongside stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown while bolstering what was a thin frontcourt.

Despite those positives, Amina Smith joins Mannix in being skeptical about the state of the team.

"I do think that this team got a little bit worse," Smith said. "Not drastically worse with the addition of Kristaps Porzingis, but I really don't know what Kristaps Porzingis can bring to this team. The one thing that worries me is that injury history throughout his entire career. But also, you lose Marcus Smart, the former Defensive Player of the Year and really the only guy that held your superstars accountable. He held Jayson Tatum accountable, held Jaylen Brown accountable.

"And then you lose Grant Williams, which I know a lot of people are torn over about whether or not he was a good part of this team, but he was good, he was versatile on the defensive end, on the offensive end as well. Honestly, I just don't feel comfortable saying that this team got better when you lose Marcus Smart and Grant Williams and only get Kristaps Porzingis."

Porzingis' injury history is a legitimate concern. Besides last season, during which Porzingis played in 65 games, the 7-foot-3 Latvian hasn't played in more than 60 games since his second NBA season in 2016-17. If he misses an extended period of time in the upcoming campaign, that would be a major blow to a Celtics frontcourt that currently consists of an injury-prone Robert Williams and a 37-year-old Al Horford.


There are plenty of question marks, but our Chris Forsberg offered an optimistic outlook on the situation.

"I feel like they do have more top-end talent, which ultimately is what drives success in the NBA," Forsberg said. "And so, if Jayson, Jaylen, and Porzingis give you a real Big Three, I do think they are better equipped to handle the playoffs. But they need to figure out that grit. They've got to figure out (how to replace) what Smart brings. And one thing I push back on with Grant: If the coach isn't going to play him, is it really that big of a loss?"

The Celtics could still look to make an addition or two before they return to the court. President of basketball operations Brad Stevens recently expressed a desire to bolster the team's wing depth or add a "4/3 type" at some point this offseason.

Mannix has been, IMO, one of the more negative writers and commentators in regards to the Celtics.

The injury risk factor for Porzingis is undeniable.  However without risk there is no reward.

Brad Stevens made a decision.  He determined that the  Celtics needed to add more fire power from their center position.  He did not just add any center.  He added a guy that can score the basketball at all 3 levels.  If KP gets injured Brad will take a lot of heat.  We already know that.

It is however impossible to plug KP into the mix and take MS and GW out and determine that team is not as good.  We really do not know because we have never seen KP play along side the Jays and the rest of our players.

A legit argument can be made that we parted with 2 players that made the team physical.  The bump and grind that they brought to the table has not been replaced.

Defensively, I would not be surprised if their schemes change.  I think we will see less switching and a lot more zones.   That may help to mitigate the loss of Grant and Marcus.  At least one of the new guys will need to step into the void and provide solid defenses play.  

I must admit that I am anxious to see what the team will look like on offense with KP.  

CJ now has a full year of head coaching experience and a full offseason to get his team ready to play.

They bring up Porzingis's "injury history" while ignoring Smart's marginally less "history" of his own.

They said Smart held both J's accountable.  Ha, ha.  Not likely.

They are bad at creating comparisons.  They didn't include all variables.  Like: Porzingis + Oshae is more or less equal to Smart + Grant.  Brad did, that's why Grant is gone.

They also said Grant sat because of a coach's decision, but they failed to mention his need for surgery right after the season ended.

It seems like they had already come to a conclusion, and then proceeded to ignore all the information that didn't support that conclusion.

That is some weak tea.

gyso wrote:They bring up Porzingis's "injury history" while ignoring Smart's marginally less "history" of his own.

They said Smart held both J's accountable.  Ha, ha.  Not likely.

They are bad at creating comparisons.  They didn't include all variables.  Like: Porzingis + Oshae is more or less equal to Smart + Grant.  Brad did, that's why Grant is gone.

They also said Grant sat because of a coach's decision, but they failed to mention his need for surgery right after the season ended.

It seems like they had already come to a conclusion, and then proceeded to ignore all the information that didn't support that conclusion.

That is some weak tea.

GYSO

You nailed it down once again. I think that we can also add in the future draft assets obtained including getting a guy that may develop into a really good defender with offensive potential. (at bargain basement prices)

All the variables should factor in.

I'm with you two gyso and dboss. Mannix sure has an ax to grind against Brad. I don't get it.

I'm with you two gyso and dboss. Mannix sure has an ax to grind against Brad. I don't get it.

Porzingis had surgery to repair an MCL on February 13, 2017.  So he was about halfway through the season, and played 48 games that year.  That's very healthy until his season ending injury.  He missed the entire next year rehabbing.   Understandable.  He has played 402 games in 7 seasons (the  key operative word is 'played'), 57+ games per season,  but the 2017-2018 season was cut short.  

How many games did Marcus lose because he punched a mirror on a road trip?

Brogdon has a history of injuries but was healthy until a freak injury in the Miami round.  He was healthy because we didn't overplay him.  Between RWILL,  Al, Luke and whomever we can do the same for Z.  Joe just has yo be savvy about managing minutes and not play players into the ground just because they don't want to come out.


Bob


.

Like Grant Williams and Smart were perfect players. Smart had a huge injury history every year too from the punishing nature of his game. On his bad offensive nights, which happened alot, I always thought he was beaten up and playing thru a nagging injury. While there were nights he would surprise me by hitting his shots and making alot of assists, there were too many defend him like Rondo games, where he couldn’t hit the shot.

Grant is still an undersized 4, in certain match ups it didn’t hurt us so much and sometimes it did. Bigger players could shoot over him and saw too many games where he would play 25 minutes and only get 2 rebounds. When he played with Al, which happened alot with RWill’s history we used to get killed on the boards; one of the reasons we blew alot of leads IMHO.

Zinger will add so much scoring versatility and defense and rebounding compared to Grant, it’s not even a fair comparison. Knick beat writers used to get on a young Zinger, expecting him to carry a team because he had so much skill in a 7’3” frame that we hadn’t seen before, but he never had enough help. He won’t have that problem here.

I’ve also never been impressed by Mannix, he’s got no more knowledge of the game than anyone here, even with his inside connections. The guy is not that sharp.