2022-2023 Celtics Players Regular Season and Playoff Grades

I'm dividing this up into 'regular season' and 'the playoffs'.  The regular season got us to our #2 seed and the playoffs got us to Game 7 of the Conference Finals.  Who elevated their games in the playoffs and who didn't?  These are my personal opinions, obviously, and are subject to rebuttal.

This thread is being posted AFTER I started the poll for who do you WANT to come back, but before the poll on who you think WILL/SHOULD be back.  You can use this as reference for that determination, if you'd like.


Jayson Tatum

Regular Season:  36.9mpg

30.1ppg, 46.6% fg%, 35% from 3 on 9+ 3pt fgas/game, 8.8rpg, 4.6apg, 2.9TOpg.  85% ft% on 8.4ftas/game

Playoffs:  about 40mpg

27ppg, 45.8% fg%, 32% from 3 on 8.2 3pt fgas/game, 10.5rpg, 5.2apg, 2.8TOpg.  88.9% ft% on 6.7ftas/game


His regular season was great.  He increased his fg% over last year, took <1 3pt fga more/game but he took 2+ more ftas/game.  Slightly more assists/game but the same TO/game.  Not good 3pt fg% but other than that it was pretty good and that's why he was All-NBA.  His playoffs, however, saw a drop of 3ppg, and 3ppg from your top scorer puts a lot more pressure on the rest of the players, especially when you're consuming more minutes.  His mediocre 3pt fg shooting got worse in the playoffs.  His rebounding got somewhat better on a per minute basis, his assists about the same after the same adjustment but he became more careful with the ball as seen by his having the same TOpg rate despite 10% more minutes.  It's hard to be completely fair with grading Jayson in the playoffs since he was injured in the first minute of Game 7.  If he had his normal game we might be playing Denver instead of Miami and he might have had his normal game but for the injury.

Regular Season Grade:  A+
Playoff Grade:  B+



Jaylen Brown

Regular Season:  35.9mpg

26.6ppg, 49.1% fg%, 33.5% from 3 on 7.3 3pt fgas/game, 6.9rpg, 3.5apg, 2.9TOpg.  76.5% ft% on 5.1 ftas/game

Playoffs:  about 37.6mpg

22.7ppg, 45.4% fg%, 28.2% from 3 on 7.1 3pt fgas/game, 5.6rpg, 3.4apg, 3.3TOpg.  68.9% ft% on 3.7ftas/game


An All-NBA regular season, his first, and 2nd All-Star game.  An inferior playoffs for Jaylen.  Numbers off across the board despite playing more minutes.  I love Jaylen Brown but, for an All-NBA player, he stunk these playoffs up.  When Jayson tweaked his ankle in Game 7 that was his green light to show off and show he was ready, not just to win playoff games but, from a bigger picture, perhaps to run his own team someday.  He was a major disappointment in these playoffs.  His lack of a handle became painfully obvious, and exploited, by the Heat.  He might have left A LOT of money on the table this past month.  I'm not saying Wyc and Brad will not, nor should not, pay the man like Jayson is saying, but it isn't the no-brainer it was in April.  Unfortunately, if the decision is made, however mutually, to not extend Jaylen this off-season we will be subjected to non-stop rumors next season about Jaylen getting traded or leaving.  They won't necessarily be true, there may be a lot of reasons why both parties want to take a "wait and see" approach to how Jaylen does next season, next playoffs, but that won't stop the people who make money by creating agita for us.

Regular Season Grade:  A+
Playoff Grade:  C


Marcus Smart

Regular Season:  32.1mpg

11.5ppg, 41.5% fg%, 33.6% from 3 on 5.6 3pt fgas/game, 3.1rpg, 6.3apg, 2.3TOpg.  74.6% ft% on 1.9 ftas/game

Playoffs:  about 34mpg

14.9ppg, 45.3% fg%, 36.1% from 3 on 6.1 3pt fgas/game, 4.0rpg, 5.0apg, 2.25TOpg.  80% ft% on 3.25ftas/game


We all know how hard it is to judge Marcus Smart by looking at the boxscore, he brings so many unquantifyable intangibles to the table, but not this time.  Other than a drop in his assists per game number he upped his game in the playoffs over his regular season, including on a per minute basis.  And who can forget how he battled 7' 280# Joel Embiid in the restricted area man-to-man?  His regular season eFG%, which I have not listed here, was the 2nd highest of his career this season @ 51.1%.  His eFG%, which is (fgm+.5*3pt fgm)/total fgas, in the playoffs were, get this, 55.2%.  That's a big increase in efficiency per shot/points per fgm from our 5th or maybe even 6th scoring option.  You always expect junkyard dog defense and effort from a former DPOY and current holder of the NBA's Hustle Award, but Marcus Smart helped to pick up some of the scoring loss I have attributed to the Js.  I've said this before but I think it bears repeating:  I believe that some players were born to wear green, and Marcus Smart is one of them.  He is a "big game player".  He is pure, undiluted tincture of Celtic Pride.  

Regular Season Grade:  A
Playoffs Grade:  A+


Al Horford

Regular Season:  30.5mpg

9.8ppg, 47.6% fg%, 44.6% from 3 on 5.2 3pt fgas/game, 6.2rpg, 3.0apg, .6TOpg.  71.4% ft% on .3 ftas/game

Playoffs:  about 30.9mpg

6.7ppg, 38.6% fg%, 29.8% from 3 on 1.4 3pt fgas/game, 7.2rpg, 2.95apg, .55TOpg.  75% ft% on .2ftas/game

A great regular season for Al.  His Defensive Rating was about where it has been for the last few years, but his Offensive Rating skyrocketed due to his outstanding 44.6% 3pt fg shooting.  Why he isn't used more as a high post passer baffles me since he's a very good passer and he doesn't make many bad passes.  His playoffs, however, was mixed.  OBVIOUSLY the bottom fell out of his 3pt shooting.  Just as we lost points off of the J's regular season scoring averages we lost 3 from Al too.  What's more, not only did his fg% plummet so did his fgas.  If you look at us as a team in the playoffs our fgas/game imploded.  That's survivable if your defense is locked in but ours wasn't.  I said his playoffs were mixed because he did an absolutely magnificent job on Embiid, positively "sonning" him.  Against Bam, however, not so much.  If his play vs Embiid had been less impressive his playoff score would have been much worse, but his frustration of Embiid was invaluable to us getting out of that round.  My concern now is Al's age.  He'll be 37 years old this Saturday and he's signed for 2 more years after this one for a total of $19.5M.  There are no options on this deal.

Regular Season Grade:  B+
Playoff Average:  C


Derrick White

Regular Season: 28.3mpg

12.4ppg, 46.2% fg%, 38.1% from 3 on 4.8 3pt fgas/game, 3.6rpg, 3.9apg, 1.2TOpg. 87.5% ft% on 2.3 ftas/game

Playoffs:  about 29.7mpg

14.9ppg, 50.5% fg%, 45.5% from 3 on 5.5 3pt fgas/game, 3.rpg, 2.1apg, .9TOpg. 91.2% ft% on 1.7ftas/game


Derrick's regular season was solid.  He led the league in blocks by players 6'6” and less and earned him an NBA All-Defense 2nd team nod.  Not spectacular, but very solid.  He saved "spectacular" for the playoffs.  Forget about the series-extender at the end of Game 6, he was great the whole playoffs.  His 3pt shooting was red hot and we needed every bit of it with Brogdon not being able to contribute.

Regular Season Grade:  B+
Playoff Grade:  A+


Malcolm Brogdon

Regular Season: 26mpg

14.9ppg, 48.4% fg%, 44.4% from 3 on 4.4 3pt fgas/game, 4.2rpg, 3.7apg, 1.5TOpg. 87% ft% on 2.7 ftas/game

Playoffs:  about 24.9mpg

11.9ppg, 41.8% fg%, 37.9% from 3 on 4.57 3pt fgas/game, 3.47rpg, 2.89apg, 1.0TOpg. 82.9% ft% on 1.8ftas/game

Malcolm's regular season was great, of course, he won the John Havlicek Award for 6th Man.  It's really hard to grade him on the playoffs, however, because of his injury.  Overall he didn't do so well but the series against Miami is what croaked his numbers.  In the first two series his numbers were much better.  Vs Atlanta and Philly he averaged 14.8ppg, 44.5% from the floor and 43.5% from 3.  Those numbers look MUCH closer to his regular season numbers.  Vs Miami he only scored a grand total of 34 points in 7 games, as opposed to 112 against Philly.  BIG difference.

Regular Season Grade:  A
Playoff Grade:  B+ (Miami series is not being considered here)


Robert Williams III

Regular Season: 23.5mpg

8.0ppg, 74.7% fg%, 0% from 3 on 0 3pt fgas/game, 8.3rpg, 1.4apg, 1.0TOpg. 61% ft% on 1.2 ftas/game.  1.4 blks/game.

Playoffs:  20.9mpg

7.7ppg, 78.8% fg%, 0% from 3 on 0 3pt fgas/game, 6 rpg, .95apg, .8TOpg. 67.9% ft% on 1.0ftas/game.  1.25 blks/game.

I added the stats for his blocks because we know what a big part of his game those are.  His playoff numbers, if you take into account he played only about 90% of the mpg he played during the regular season, are in line with his regular season numbers.  So, he played about the same, just fewer minutes.  He played 16 more minutes in the 7 game Philly series than he did in the 7 game Miami series, probably in part due to him vomiting in Game 7.  Rwill's problem, as we all know, is availability.  He only played in 35 games this season.  35 out of 82.  It's hard to build a defense-dominant front court around a player who can't stay on the court.

Regular Season Grade:  B
Playoff Grade:  C+  


Grant Williams

Regular Season: 25.9mpg

8.1ppg, 45.4% fg%, 39.5% from 3 on 3.7 3pt fgas/game, 4.6rpg, 1.7apg, 1.0TOpg. 77% ft% on 1.5 ftas/game

Playoffs:  about 17.7mpg

5.1ppg, 47.2% fg%, 45.0% from 3 on 2.67 3pt fgas/game, 2.2rpg, 1.2apg, .27TOpg. 80% ft% on .67 ftas/game.

Grant had a good, solid regular season.  Solid rotation player.  Spread the floor with good 3pt shooting, which trailed off towards the end of the season but still ended up well above the league average.  Also a good, versatile defender who could defend 4 positions.  We all know the story of Grant in the playoffs.  Joe only played him 36 minutes in the 6 game Atlanta series, but only played him in 3 of them (12mpg in the games he played), 80 minutes in the 7 game Philly series, but he only played in 6 of them (13.3mpg) but played him 149 minutes in 6 games vs Miami (24.8mpg).  Grant played 28% more minutes in 6 games in the Miami series alone than he played in 9 games against Atlanta and Philly.  Grant fell into a black hole until Joe remembered there were reasons why he played him 26mpg over 79 games, including starting him in 23.  If you look at Grant's numbers in the Miami series he averaged 7.5ppg, 42.9% from 3 on 4.2 3pt fgas/game, 1.33apg and .33TOpg.  He had 2 turnovers, total, in 149 minutes vs Miami, and we know how sloppy we were overall.

Regular Season Grade:  A (he did everything that could be asked of him)
Playoff Grade:  A (he performed above his regular season average in almost every category)


Joe Mazzulla

For those of you who get squeamish at the sight of blood you might want to go to your happy place now.

Joe had a really good regular season.  He won 57 games, that's 6 games more than Ime won the previous year, and should have won more except that we played down to some teams and lost games we shouldn't have lost.  Is that his fault?  Well?  Some of it, but not all of it.  We saw this happen last year with Ime too, that's why he only won 51, so I can't blame it all on Joe, but he deserves some of it.  I don't know how many times our players have to get punched in the nose before they figure out other teams aren't going to lay down for you just because you were in the Finals.  Quite the opposite, playing well against a contender can put a lot of money in their pockets and more minutes from the coach.

As far as the playoffs go I thought Joe was terrible overall.  He moved away from what got him there by not bombing away from 3.  I wasn't a fan of it during the season but ya dance with who brung ya and for Joe and these Celtics it was the 3.  Furthermore, after Brad gave him such a great bunch of bench upgrades over last season, Joe decided to shrink his bench down to 7 players.  I mentioned Grant already.  Basketball is a team sport.  That not only means comeraderie and having multiple players on the court at the same time it means units.  Joe eliminated very effective units when he benched Grant.  He, finally, started learning around game 6 but by then the hole was too deep and our guys had already played so many minutes because the bench basically evaporated on them.  He did learn to call timeouts (Hallelujah!) and he did make some strategic and tactical adjustments but, just like the team in general, he had to do it the hard way and by then it was too late.  He got lucky he ran into Doc when he was in full career meltdown mode.  Doc in 2008-2011 wouldn't have lost that series.

Regular Season Grade:  A
Playoff Grade:  D+/C-


Brad Stevens

GMs don't call plays in the playoffs, so his playoff grade is about what GMs do to tweak the roster and get it ready for the playoffs by making trades during the year and at the deadline (like he did with Derrick White last year) and adding players that are waived by other teams after the deadline.  This year Brad added Blake Griffin and Malcolm Brogdon before the regular season started, and those were great additions.  He saw something in The Green Kornet that I didn't and that worked out also.  Same with Sam Hauser, he gave him an NBA contract because he did something very well that has value in the NBA.  But how about playoff roster tweaks?  He added Mike Muscala and Justin Champagnie.  Muscala, ok, that's a decent addition, especially given RWill's questionable availability, but Champagnie?!  That was your “depth behind Tatum”?  I hate Carmelo Anthony but, damn, wouldn't you have liked to see him come in and launch a few in Game 7, ala Gerald Green vs Chicago a few years ago?  What's wrong with having a “break glass in case of emergency” player like that?  There's a difference between “tweaking” and “tinkering”.  If you don't know what I mean “tweaking” is making adjustments with an eye on minor, or marginal, improvements.  “Tinkering” is playing around because you have some extra time on your hands just to see what you've got.  The signing of Justin Champagnie was “tinkering”.  And then there was the hiring of Joe Mazzulla.  Ime was a rookie head coach too but he had tons of assistant head coaching experience under multiple head coaches including Pop.  Joe had significantly less such experience and it wasn't as broad.  The team that Brad handed Joe was built for a Championship run, we were two wins away from #18 last year and that was before Brad got Malcolm.  That's not an OJT type of situation.  A Championship-ready team deserved a Championship-ready coach.  They didn't get one, and that's on Brad.

Furthermore, we lost assistant coaches Tom Hardy to Utah and Damon Stoudemire mid-March to Georgia Tech.  Why didn't Brad replace them?  Joe was coaching a team with a shortage of assistant coaches and none of them long-time playoff vetted.  

Regular Season Grade:  A (he got Brogdon for a song, signed Gallo.  Gallo's injury's not his fault)
Playoff Grade:  F


I'll do the Paytons and Lukes etal in another post, this one is about how the people we expected to step up during the season and the playoffs performed.  


Bob


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Can’t disagree with your grades here.

prakash wrote:Can’t disagree with your grades here.

I find them pretty accurate, I think Joe shortening the bench hurt the team, they looked tired to me at times. I don’t see Joe being a good enough coach long term to fix this teams bad execution, we had issues all year in giving up leads and blowing close games. That only got worse in the playoffs, also I saw repeatedly pundits breaking down different strategies that Joe wasn’t using, that are go to strategies for say attacking a zone that we didn’t execute. We got by on our talent all year, the playoffs are a different animal as good coaches know how to game plan and take a lot of things away. Barkley claimed we didn’t even have a system it got so bad. As the playoffs went longer it seemed we had more and more problems getting easy baskets, especially at clutch time. That’s one of the biggest reasons for Jaylen not looking near an all NBA superstar during the playoffs, every shot he got seemed to be challenged, no easy looks for him in this system. He’s not smart enough to find them and the coach doesn’t know how to implement it. Last year he carried us in the playoffs, this year he got literally tied up, huge regression. Giving up that 10 point lead in game 6 was agonizing to see no execution or strategy or urgency or smarts. We are a dumb team that doesn’t get near enough out of our talent. We had to win by near blow outs and it was painful to see all the chaos and blown opportunities in close games that everyone had to question what Joe and the players should have been doing. Tatum not scoring a FG in the 4th quarter until game 4 shows how tired he was and how bad the offensive strategies were, again on the coach and players, but until proven otherwise I don’t see Joe fixing these issues to the degree it needs to be done.

I pretty much agree with your assessment.
However, I would not give Joe an “A” for the regular season.
I don’t generally use a grading system but for this i would give Joe’s regular season a C+.

THE BOSTON GLOBE'S GRADES:



Celtics report card: Grading Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, and management


By Adam Himmelsbach Globe Staff,Updated June 7, 2023, 5:00 a.m.



Here are evaluations of the top of the Celtics roster, as well as coach Joe Mazzulla and president of basketball operations Brad Stevens. Players are graded based on performance related to expectations, not simply skill level.


Jayson Tatum: A-minus

Tatum is one of the NBA’s most durable superstars, so it was a cruel twist when his ankle sprain on the opening possession of Game 7 of the conference finals may have cost this Celtics core its best chance at a title.

By most measures, the season was a resounding success for Tatum. He was a first-team All-NBA pick, finished fourth in MVP voting, was named All-Star Game MVP, and he kept the Celtics among the league’s elite. Advanced stats and the eye test both made it clear that the Celtics’ play suffered when Tatum was on the bench. But a championship remains elusive.

Tatum has shown progress getting to the rim. His .399 free throw rate — the number of foul shots per field goal attempt — was a career high by a wide margin. He continues to evolve as a willing passer in the face of double-teams and averaged a career-best 4.6 assists per game.


But his 3-point percentage fell for the third year in a row, to a career-low 35 percent. And the downturn was even uglier in the playoffs, when he connected on just 32.3 percent of his tries, down from 39.3 percent during last season’s Finals run.

He shot 47.5 percent from the corners during the regular season, but just 59 of his 685 3-point attempts came from that area.

Lastly, he’d benefit from spending less time complaining to officials.

The ankle sprain Tatum suffered on the opening possession of Game 7 vs. the Heat may have cost this Celtics core its best chance at a title.  The ankle sprain Tatum suffered on the opening possession of Game 7 vs. the Heat may have cost this Celtics core its best chance at a title.


Jaylen Brown: B-plus

When Brown was named second-team All-NBA last month, he became eligible to receive a five-year, $295 million super-max extension from the Celtics this summer. If he gets that contract, he would briefly become the NBA’s highest-paid player when it kicks in, and for many who saw Brown go 8 for 23 and cough up eight turnovers in the Game 7 loss to the Heat, that simply does not compute.


Brown continues to evolve as a gifted scorer. This season he set career highs in field goal percentage (49.1), free throw percentage (76.5), free throw attempts (5.1 per game), and points (26.5). In a league that devalues mid-range attempts, he remains very dangerous from that area. He made a blistering 57.6 percent of his 2-pointers. He did regress from beyond the arc, however, shooting a career-low 33.5 percent.

But Brown’s bigger struggles occurred elsewhere. He remains uncomfortable as a playmaker, his ball-handling is a detriment, and late in the season he was often involved in defensive miscommunications that led to wide-open perimeter shots for opponents.

The Celtics were 3.7 points per 100 possessions worse with Brown on the court in the regular season, and 7.9 worse in the playoffs. By comparison, they were 5.6 and 7.8 points better with Tatum on the court during the regular season and playoffs, respectively.

With Jayson Tatum hampered, Jaylen Brown struggled in Game 7 vs. the Heat, going 8 for 23 from the field with eight turnovers.  With Jayson Tatum hampered, Jaylen Brown struggled in Game 7 vs. the Heat, going 8 for 23 from the field with eight turnovers. BARRY CHIN/GLOBE STAFF


Marcus Smart: B

The 2021-22 season was almost perfect for Smart. He was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and after years of playing behind point guards such as Isaiah Thomas, Kyrie Irving, and Kemba Walker, he was handed the keys to the offense and helped this core to its first Finals appearance.


This season, Smart was the first to admit that he was not as effective on defense, calling his performance at that end of the floor “mediocre.” Just about every advanced metric agreed, showing slippage from his award-winning campaign. The Celtics’ defense was actually 3.2 points per 100 possessions better when Smart was off the court.

Smart remained an effective conductor for the high-powered offense, however. He averaged a career-high 6.3 assists and seemed to be more judicious with his shot selection. His shots per game fell for the third season in a row, to just 9.9. And his 3-point percentage ticked up slightly for the second year in a row, to 33.6.

After being named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2022, Smart admitted he regressed on defense this season. After being named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2022, Smart admitted he regressed on defense this season.


Joe Mazzulla: B

Last summer, Mazzulla was preparing for another season as a behind-the-bench assistant on Ime Udoka’s staff. When Udoka was suspended in September, after top assistant Will Hardy had already left to join the Jazz, Mazzulla suddenly found himself in charge of a championship contender.


There were rocky moments, for sure. Mazzulla probably should have gone to the Al Horford/Robert Williams lineup earlier in the conference semifinals against the 76ers. His benching of Grant Williams was puzzling. His usage of timeouts and his reliance on 3-pointers drove some fans mad.

But as a whole, there is plenty to build on.

Mazzulla led the Celtics to 57 regular-season wins, more than Stevens or Udoka ever did. The 3-0 deficit against the Heat in the conference finals was discouraging, but Mazzulla at least ensured that his team did not quit there.


He’ll remain under a microscope next season, but Stevens and ownership remain quite bullish about the 34-year-old coach’s future.

Joe Mazzulla has drawn plenty of criticism from Celtics fans, but Brad Stevens remains bullish about the young coach's future. Joe Mazzulla has drawn plenty of criticism from Celtics fans, but Brad Stevens remains bullish about the young coach's future.


Brad Stevens: B-plus

Over the last two years, Stevens has acquired Horford, Derrick White, and Malcolm Brogdon without giving up any pieces that led to regrets. It’s been an incredible run, really.

The addition of Mike Muscala at the trade deadline had no impact, and maybe Stevens should have tried harder to do something bigger. But it was very unlikely that the Celtics could have brought in a player who would have bumped Brogdon, White, or Robert Williams out of the rotation.


Stevens’s biggest fault this season was not doing more to fortify the coaching staff after a string of departures.

The Celtics lost Udoka, Hardy, and Damon Stoudamire over an eight-month span and did not make any outside hires to replace them. Some of the timing was unfortunate, but the bench could have used the voice of a former NBA player down the stretch.


Bob


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THE BOSTON GLOBE'S GRADES:



Celtics roster report card: Grading Malcolm Brogdon, Al Horford, Derrick White, and Robert Williams


By Adam Himmelsbach Globe Staff,Updated June 6, 2023, 5:00 a.m.



Here are evaluations of the second tier of the Celtics roster. Players are graded based on performance related to expectations, not simply skill level.


Malcolm Brogdon: B-minus

When Brogdon was acquired last summer, there were questions about his health and his willingness to accept a reserve role. During the regular season, he loudly answered both, as he provided essential offense off the bench and was named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year.


Whenever Brogdon talked about sacrificing playing time, he said he would do whatever it took to win his first title. Then everything came crashing down at the end, when a forearm strain rendered him ineffective in the conference finals against the Heat. He missed Game 6, and was 1 for 16 from the field over Games 3, 4, 5, and 7. Unfortunately, that’s what will be remembered most about his season.


Before that grisly stretch, Brogdon was remarkably consistent. He shot at least 44 percent from the field in every month of the season, as well as the first two playoff series. He provided necessary scoring pop when Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown struggled, gained coach Joe Mazzulla’s trust, and was regularly part of the closing lineups.


During the playoffs, Brogdon was critical of the Celtics’ departure from the defensive identity that carried them to the Finals a year ago. But he was part of the problem. His defensive real plus/minus of minus-4.6, a measure of the points allowed while on the court compared with a league-average player, ranked 503rd out of 525 eligible players.

Brogdon was critical of the Celtics for departing from the defensive identity that carried them a year ago, but he was also part of the problem. Brogdon was critical of the Celtics for departing from the defensive identity that carried them a year ago, but he was also part of the problem.


Al Horford: B-minus

The Celtics focused on Horford’s freshness for the playoffs by keeping him from playing in games on back-to-back nights. But his workload remained quite high. In fact, Horford averaged 30.5 minutes per game this season, his most since 2017-18. And there were times during the playoffs when he appeared gassed.


At his best, though, Horford remains a valuable piece of this core. The Celtics’ 118.9 offensive rating with him on the floor was second to only Tatum’s mark. Horford’s game continues to evolve, even at this stage of his career.

This season, he mostly planted himself in the corners on offense. That pulled opposing big men to the perimeter to create space for Tatum and Brown, and when Horford was left open, he capitalized, connecting on 44.6 percent of his 3-pointers. He struggled mightily in the playoffs, however, making just 29.8 percent. It’s hard to know whether tired legs factored in.

On defense, Horford remains a sturdy force in the paint and a good rim protector. But he was sometimes exploited by perimeter players in the Celtics’ switch-heavy scheme. 76ers guard James Harden provided the most recent examples in the conference semifinals.

Horford turned 37 Saturday, and it’s fair to wonder how much he has left.


Derrick White: A

There was a moment when White appeared destined to cement his place in Celtics lore. He followed up his Game 6 buzzer-beater in the conference finals against the Heat by leading the Celtics’ Game 7 third-quarter rally from a 17-point deficit. He received loud “MVP” chants from the Garden crowd. Though the Celtics lost that game, it was a memorable and strong season for White anyway.


After White was acquired from the Spurs in February 2022, he sometimes appeared tentative as he tried to adjust to his new surroundings. And during the Finals run that year, opponents often tested his self-doubt and left him wide open beyond the arc.


This season, White’s confidence oozed at both ends of the court. He emerged as perhaps the best rim protector among NBA guards and earned second-team All-Defense honors. On offense, his strong drives were followed by soft-touch floaters, and he shot 3-pointers with tremendous confidence, connecting on 45.5 percent during the postseason.

In the regular season, the Celtics were 9.7 points per 100 possessions better with White on the court than off, more than 4 points better than the next-closest player. And he was the only Celtic to appear in all 82 regular-season games. His strong play this season absolutely raised the team’s ceiling.

Derrick White (right) oozed confidence this season, connecting on 45.5% of his 3-pointers during the playoffs.  Derrick White (right) oozed confidence this season, connecting on 45.5% of his 3-pointers during the playoffs.


Robert Williams: B

Williams had a team-leading plus-11.4 net rating during the regular season. That is impressive on its own, and it’s remarkable considering he missed the team’s 22-5 start as he recovered from offseason knee surgery.

Williams’s potential remains immense, but his inability to stay healthy for an entire season remains troubling. The Celtics were incredibly cautious with the big man even after his return, limiting his minutes and refusing to play him on back-to-back nights.

Assuming he has a healthy and productive offseason, the Celtics have to ramp up his workload next year. The illness that hampered Williams in Game 7 against the Heat was simply crummy luck.


Robert Williams played just 14 minutes in the Game 7 loss to the Heat while dealing with an illness. Robert Williams played just 14 minutes in the Game 7 loss to the Heat while dealing with an illness.

Williams is dangerous above the rim at both ends of the court and is also a gifted passer. He can be a central part of this team’s offense. Mazzulla has urged him to develop a scoring punch that goes beyond alley-oops, though, so maybe that will be an offseason focus. He attempted just 1.2 free throws per game this season.


Bob


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THE BOSTON GLOBE'S GRADES:



Celtics roster report card: Grading Grant Williams, Payton Pritchard, and the rest of the non-rotation players


By Adam Himmelsbach Globe Staff,Updated June 5, 2023, 7:00 a.m.



Here are evaluations of the bottom half of the Celtics roster for the 2022-23 season. Players are graded based on performance related to expectations, not simply skill level.


Grant Williams: B-minus

The indelible image of Williams’s perplexing season came during Game 2 of the conference finals, when his trash talk seemed to ignite Miami star Jimmy Butler, who led the Heat’s comeback that eventually sparked a Finals berth. But Williams also stood up to Butler when no one else would. It was another example of how dissecting his value is never simple.


Last fall, the forward turned down Boston’s extension offer and bet on himself. He actually played well when he had chances, serving as a valuable defender and a good shooter who improved at attacking close-outs. But when the playoffs arrived, he surprisingly spent long stretches outside of coach Joe Mazzulla’s rotation. He sat out five games and played very little in several others, despite connecting on 45 percent of his 3-pointers during the postseason.


But advanced numbers were unkind to Williams, particularly during the playoffs, when the Celtics were 10.3 points per 100 possessions better when he was off the court rather than on it. It’ll be fascinating to see how Williams is viewed around the league when free agency opens in a few weeks.


Payton Pritchard: C

It was an incredibly frustrating season for Pritchard, who made it clear that he hoped to be traded before the February deadline and then voiced his disappointment when he was not. The addition of Malcolm Brogdon and the emergence of Derrick White, combined with the general good health of Boston’s backcourt, knocked the third-year guard out of the rotation for most of the year.

He appeared in just 48 games and averaged a career-low 13.4 minutes. Mazzulla sometimes turned to Pritchard to give the team a jolt of energy when the overall play was sluggish, but his lack of rhythm made even those chances challenging. Pritchard hit more than 40 percent of his 3-pointers in each of his first two seasons but made a career-low 36.4 percent this year.


Sam Hauser: B-plus

When forward Danilo Gallinari tore an ACL last September, some fans clamored for the Celtics to make a move to fortify their bench. But the team’s brass was confident in Hauser, the second-year forward who signed a two-way deal after going undrafted in 2021. Hauser mostly delivered, serving as a valuable 3-point outlet when opponents smothered Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

Hauser had some shooting lulls but did a good job snapping out of them. After making 29.5 percent of his 3-pointers in December and January, he drilled 45.7 percent in February and March. Hauser is viewed as a weak link on defense but his 106.4 defensive rating actually ranked second on the Celtics behind Rob Williams. No, that’s not an indication that Hauser is a lockdown defender, but teams strayed from their normal game plans to hunt mismatches against him, and he held up quite well.


Blake Griffin: B

Griffin is a 34-year-old six-time All-Star with nothing really to prove, but the hustle he displayed whenever he received a chance belied his age and stature. He took charges, went flying across the court in search of loose balls, and generally gave Boston a boost with his presence. He never publicly voiced displeasure about having such a minor role and seemed to provide a steady presence in the locker room, too. A few strong performances near the end of the season made it seem as if he might even get a chance to crack the playoff rotation, but that never happened.


Luke Kornet: B

Rob Williams missed 47 games and Al Horford did not play on back-to-back nights, and Kornet generally filled in admirably. His familiarity and comfort with Boston’s system was obvious. Kornet made a career-high 66.5 percent of his shots and averaged 11.7 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 2.1 blocks per 36 minutes. For a team well over the luxury-tax line, Kornet’s nonguaranteed minimum deal for next season is good value.


Mike Muscala: C

The Celtics sent the Thunder two second-round picks in exchange for Muscala in February to bolster their frontcourt depth. There were no substantial injuries, though, and Muscala never carved out a spot in the regular rotation with his play. Opponents sought mismatches against him often.


Justin Champagnie: Incomplete

The Celtics filled their final roster spot by signing the 21-year-old wing during the final week of the regular season. His contract for next season is nonguaranteed, but he should get a look during training camp.


JD Davison (two-way contract): C-plus

The rookie point guard, who is still just 20 years old, had a solid season with the team’s G League affiliate in Maine, averaging 8.7 assists. Davison’s shooting still needs work, and it seems most likely that he’ll return on a second two-way deal next year before the team makes a decision about whether he fits into the long-term plan. He played just 66 minutes with the Celtics.


Mfiondu Kabengele (two-way contract): C

The 2019 first-round pick parlayed a strong showing on the Celtics’ Las Vegas summer league squad into a two-way deal last July, but he was unable to earn playing time in Boston. Kabengele averaged 20 points and 10.8 rebounds in Maine, but as a fifth-year player he’ll no longer be eligible for a two-way contract, so his time as a Celtic has likely come to an end.


Bob


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