No Matter What, Boston Celtics Building Exciting Future After Surprise 2014-15

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2438904-no-matter-what-boston-celtics-building-exciting-future-after-surprise-2014-15



No Matter What, Boston Celtics Building Exciting Future After Surprise 2014-15
By Grant Rindner , Featured Columnist Apr 22, 2015





The Boston Celtics may be down 0-2 to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but that shouldn’t belittle the tremendous success of the 2014-15 season.

Considered by most fans and writers to be a surefire lottery team, the Celtics managed to improve both on and off the court by jettisoning their two best players via trade: Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green. They picked up Isaiah Thomas for an inconsequential first-round pick and rode the stellar coaching of Brad Stevens to the Eastern Conference’s No. 7 seed.

Yes, they did finish below .500, but Boston managed to go 24-12 through the final 36 games and established themselves as a franchise with a smart front office, a clear direction and a novel style of play that will work even better with an offseason to build around it.

Even if the Cavaliers break out the brooms, the C’s should end the year with their heads held high, and fans should be ecstatic about what the team’s future holds.



Growing Young Core




Elise Amendola/Associated Press


The most exciting thing about the Celtics going forward is easily their nucleus of talent. While lacking a clear superstar, the pieces have jelled remarkably and make up a deep, well-rounded unit.

Boston’s top players like Marcus Smart, Jared Sullinger, Kelly Olynyk, Jae Crowder and Tyler Zeller are all 25 years old or younger. Evan Turner and Isaiah Thomas qualify as elder statesmen at age 26, and Brandon Bass is a geezer at 29. Per RealGM, Boston’s average player age of 25 is notably lower than the league average of 26.8.

The C’s have had huge success acquiring marginal rotation players like Crowder and Zeller, then turning them into key pieces, and they should continue to grow and blossom in those roles. Pretty much all of the young players have yet to reach their ceilings, and many of them still have very clear areas they could improve in.

Sully, Olynyk and Crowder will all grow as shooters. Smart will become a more disciplined defender. Turner will learn not to force passes in high-risk scenarios.

The playoff experience, however brief it is, will be huge for these young players as they will come back focused and have a leg up over improving teams like the Orlando Magic or Detroit Pistons who have talent but no playoff experience.

It is unlikely any of these players are going to grow into superstars, but once the roster finally had some continuity, it took off, which is a strong testament to the role of consistency in team building.

Sure, Boston will explore some trade options, but the flurry of moves that led to 40 different players suiting up in green, per ESPNBoston’s Chris Forsberg, probably won't happen again.

Boston doesn’t have everything figured out. They desperately need more shooting and rim protection, as we’ll address later, but they finally have some pieces in place that look like cornerstones to build around.



Major Cap Flexibility

One of the most important results of Boston’s trade activity this season is that they now have as clean a cap sheet as any team in the league.

As the Spotrac graphic below shows, the C’s don’t have huge money tied up in anyone but Gerald Wallace and Avery Bradley, and even those contracts won’t look that bad with the cap rising.



Spotrac's Celtics cap sheet through 2018.


Boston has some tough decisions to make regarding Brandon Bass and Jonas Jerebko (unrestricted) and Jae Crowder (restricted), but they should be able to re-sign them while maintaining enough space to chase a big name.

Admittedly the odds of landing a Kawhi Leonard or Jimmy Butler are slim, but the C’s could pursue unrestricted free agents like DeAndre Jordan or Omer Asik or a young, restricted free agent whose team could be outbid like Khris Middleton or Draymond Green.

The Celtics don’t have the most sterling free-agent track record, but the team now has some success to point to, a clear style of play and infrastructure that should be attractive.

Obviously, maintaining future flexibility will be important since so many Boston players are on rookie deals, and the C’s shouldn’t just sign a player for the sake of spending money, but the team has an enviable number of options.

With their cap space, Boston could also play the role of facilitator in other teams’ trades, which is how they landed Zeller and Marcus Thornton from Cleveland last season.

Even if the Celtics don’t turn their cap room into a marquee player, their financial flexibility makes them all the more intriguing for the future.



Chance to Build to the System




Mark Duncan/Associated Press


Stevens had his moments during the ghastly 2013-14 season, but this year has been when his true intentions as a coach became clear.

The pace-and-space system he employs has proven successful, but it necessitates some additions and changes to the roster. For example, the C’s finished 13th league-wide in three-point attempts at 24.6, but just 27th in percentage at 32.7.

The team lacks consistent volume shooters, but now has the opportunity to add outside shooting on the wing that could help to open up the floor.

Bradley, Turner and Crowder are all capable of stroking the occasional catch-and-shoot triple, but they can’t be relied on to hit three or four threes in a game with any consistency. Thomas can nail threes, but he’s at his best driving to the hole and finishing in traffic, something that becomes a lot easier when he has open lanes.

The C’s can also look to add more versatile forwards that can switch seamlessly between the 3 and 4 spots. Crowder found a ton of success in that role, but he’s best deployed as a reserve, and Boston can peruse the free-agent market for a starting-caliber player or someone suited to split the minutes with Crowder.

Boston can also address their glaring need for rim protection, a flaw that has been exposed by LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and the Cavs.

The Celtics, as noted by CelticsBlog’s Kevin O’Connor, play a conservative pick-and-roll style, requiring the big man to drop back and coral the ball-handler near the foul line. This defensive system works when the big man is capable of protecting the rim, but Boston lacks a true shot-blocker, and once opposing guards get free off screens they generally have an easy shot at the hoop.

Finding a franchise center is not an easy task, but Boston could add a shot-blocking specialist who could soak up some of the minutes at the 5 absorbed by Olynyk and Sullinger.

With adjustments like these being made, the team will be better-suited to play Stevens’ style on both ends and only build on the 2014-15 momentum. For as impressive as this campaign was, it is important to remember this year was basically Stevens making the most of an island of misfit toys.



Proven Front Office Plan




Michael Dwyer/Associated Press


While it initially seemed like the front office had no idea what it was doing with its hodgepodge of veterans and unproven young talent, the team now has a cohesive identity they can build around. They are no longer just a franchise hoarding first-round picks without a clear strategy.

The trades of Rondo and Green prove clearly that Boston has an interest in getting younger, and now that the team has a nucleus in place, they can start trying to add more established talent around.

The Celtics have a treasure trove of assets they can dangle at teams looking to trade stars as they did, albeit unsuccessfully, with Kevin Love and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Boston has also proven savvy at buying low on players, with Thomas and Zeller being prime examples.

If they can continue leveraging these late first-rounders into on-court assets, the team could improve in a hurry, and there is just no way it makes sense to actually use all their picks to draft unproven young guys.

The C’s finally have a blueprint in place for how they want to build, and Danny Ainge has proven capable of building a quality team in the past.

It took one brutal season of tanking and one revolving door season to finally find a direction, but Boston now understands how it wants to build as a franchise: by leveraging its first-rounders to buy low on talent and building a versatile pace-and-space squad.

The Celtics’ future looks bright again, and it may be coming much sooner than anyone expected.



bob
MY NOTE:  Another bullet in Danny's gun, unmentioned in this article, are his Traded Player Exceptions (TPEs).  I don't know the exact number, but he has at least one that is HUGE, as in the neighborhood of $10M.  This lets us eat salary on a trade (e.g. we give up little to nothing but take on a big salary marquis player by using the TPE to make the numbers work).  They also can be used to acquire a contract that is ugly but comes with something we want, like what we did with Gerald Wallace's contract.  Suppose, just for example, agree to take Javale McGee's contract (($12M) off their hands in exchange for a possible 1st round pick (depending upon how the pingpong balls bounce for Miami and Lakers, they have protected picks from them) and the TPE to make the numbers work and we throw a player into the deal?  Might not be a great deal, might not fly, but the opportunity to use the TPE to get teams out from under bad contracts so they can use that money to sign free agents is a valuable asset.  How about Brook Lopez in a Russian fire sale?  My point is that there doesn't have to be a straight up match up on players and dollars.  He can be a facilitator or he can be one of the principals, using his TPE's to get the player(s) he wants.

In 2014, Elfriid Payton was #10 and traded to Orlando for #12 Dario Saric plus a couple of future picks, which Danny has by the bushel.  In 2013, #6 Nerlen Noels was traded to Philly for Jrue Holliday plus picks.  #9 Trey Burke traded to Utah for #14 Shabazz Mahammad and #21 Gorgui Dieng. In 2011, #7 Bismack BiyOOMMMMBOOOO!!! was traded to Charlotte as part of a multi-team deal involving Charlotte, Milwaukee and Sacto (Charlotte gave up Stephen Jackson, Shaun Livingston and the #19 pick for Corey Maggette and #7 BiyOOOMMMMMBOOO!!!) and #10 Jimmer Fredette was involved in a multi-team draft day trade involving Sacto, Milwaukee and Charlotte.  Teams DO trade top 10 picks, sometimes for much lower picks (see Burke, Trey).


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Bob,

McGee and his contract can't be traded because he was waived by Philly.
Even if Philly didn't waive him, I doubt they would want to give up assets to trade him because they need to add salary.

Rumor has it that Lopez will opt out of his final year of his contract. I'm not sure I believe that.

Yes, teams do trade up to the top 10 area, but it's rare to trade into the top 5.

My head is just buzzing reading all of these options. Going to be an interesting off season Is this the year that Gerald Wallace leaves the Celtics or will he stay for the length of his contract. Danny was on the radio today stating the Celtics desire to sign Crowder for the future, they feel very strongly about him and I am sure Stevens wants him too.

All this supposition and we still have a while to go before anything takes place. It is clear the Celtics are happy with the way the rebuild is going and are ready to make a big move this summer to bring a big name on board to help solidify the lineup and who knows were the draft will lead.

Like bob mentioned.. there's those tpe's to go with our cap room- then there is the expiring contract of Wallace and a zillion draft picks.

An interesting scenerio could be achieved this off season let's imagine that come draft night we trade either Ko or sully and our collection of draft picks to move up higher into the draft.. thus allowing us to get one of those rim protecting big we all want. The added benefit would be exchanging three rookie contract for one.

We then sign a max player

Now we also possibly have a glut of players at certain positions and multiple firsts that can be used in deals. Also the expiring contract of wallace.

A new home for wallace with a team who was looking for future cap relief could allow boston to pick up a near max player with the trading of his contract and the change left over after a max signing.

Then with that tpe we'd have another near max type of player..

That's 3 upgrades in deals and whatever the new rookie could give us.

It could be a very exciting summer...

In the meantime though... I'm still rooting for these guys we have now.

Let's go celtics!!

Hey Matty!!!  HI  haven't seen your name here in a while. So good to know we still have the crazy Celtic fans from years ago rooting on these yourgun's

tjmakz wrote:Bob,

McGee and his contract can't be traded because he was waived by Philly.
Even if Philly didn't waive him, I doubt they would want to give up assets to trade him because they need to add salary.

Rumor has it that Lopez will opt out of his final year of his contract. I'm not sure I believe that.

Yes, teams do trade up to the top 10 area, but it's rare to trade into the top 5.

TJ,

My exact words were "Suppose, just for example".


bob


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bobheckler wrote:

tjmakz wrote:Bob,

McGee and his contract can't be traded because he was waived by Philly.
Even if Philly didn't waive him, I doubt they would want to give up assets to trade him because they need to add salary.

Rumor has it that Lopez will opt out of his final year of his contract. I'm not sure I believe that.

Yes, teams do trade up to the top 10 area, but it's rare to trade into the top 5.

TJ,

My exact words were "Suppose, just for example".


bob


.

Sorry Bob.
I didn't realize you were intentionally using an example of a transaction that could not happen.
My apologies.

I guess the omission of Jae Crowder from the financial situation table was due to his choice of deodorant.  Perfectly understandable, and a major plus in the credibility of the writer.  And shouldn't Pressey at least be mentioned in the analysis?

Sam