Celtics Hope Depth Is Enough

https://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics_nba/boston_celtics/2015/09/celtics_hope_depth_enough



Celtics hope depth enough
Star power still lacking





Photo by: Christopher Evans

Sunday, September 20, 2015
By:  Mark Murphy



In the summer of 2007, Danny Ainge had Paul Pierce and Ray Allen in hand when he flipped the rest of his lineup for another star, Kevin Garnett.

The subsequent era, which probably lasted two or three seasons more than anyone had a right to expect, was traded off in the name of rebuilding two summers ago.

When training camp opens on Friday, the Celtics president of basketball operations will roll out a lineup that is certainly improved thanks to the additions of former All-Star David Lee and Amir Johnson.

But no other professional sport depends on star quality as much as this one, and Ainge is no closer to landing a major name than he was before the gears started clicking in 2007. He’s actually further away. At least then he had Pierce and Rajon Rondo, a quiet rookie who few outside the organization had handicapped.

The Celtics have depth, though. A glut of it at power forward, not such a bad thing with centers and power forwards melding into one big hybrid position.

As Celtics coach Brad Stevens demonstrated with last season’s surprising playoff appearance, depth can sometimes counter superior talent.

Atlanta was hailed last season for its “starless” system — a somewhat overstated claim considering Al Horford, Paul Millsap, Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver were all All-Stars. But can a team succeed without stars?

“History has shown us that you need stars — or at least some level of stars,” said Ainge. “But I do believe you can win with really good players. Teams in the past that have won haven’t had the best players.”

Ainge’s prime example is San Antonio’s 2013 NBA title.

“Even though they still had (Tim) Duncan, Manu (Ginobili) and Tony Parker, they accomplished it with guys who were aging,” he said. “Detroit (in 2004) had a very good team, but I don’t think they had the most talent.

“The Sacramento team that lost to the Lakers in seven games (in the 2002 Western Conference Finals) was another good one,” said Ainge. “They had Chris Webber, though it was late in his career. Mike Bibby was probably the best player on that team.”

The Celtics, though, have every right to look at a return to the playoffs as a significant challenge.

Miami and Indiana finished out of the running last season because of poor health. Both are now fresh, and with their respective stars back on the floor are in position to reclaim their spots in the playoff order.

Stevens, on the other hand, has to once again configure a winning rotation of solid role players. Maybe Marcus Smart has a breakout year. Maybe Isaiah Thomas can score big on a consistent level in the weaker conference.

Maybe you can get by with simple depth.

“That can also be a challenger, because sometimes guys want bigger roles than you have for them,” said Ainge.

Or maybe, like last spring, they all buy in.

FIVE EARLY TRAINING CAMP THEMES

1. Is this already Marcus Smart’s team? Before dislocating his fingers in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, the young Celtics point guard took charge of the summer league group. Can he do the same once the varsity reports? That would seem to be the case, the team’s relative newness considered.

The idea in Las Vegas was to run the offense through Smart as much as possible, though rookie Terry Rozier was given a lot of time on the ball, too. Defensively he’s probably the best on this team, and along with teammates Jae Crowder, Thomas and Jonas Jerebko is a tone-setter for the Celtics’ growing reputation as an energy-driven group.

2. Something has to give. Sixteen players, including the recently acquired Perry Jones, are under contract with only 15 slots available. This will be quite a proving ground for the 6-foot-11 Jones, who was brought in for a look more than anything secure. Even with all of these contracts, though, Celts president of basketball operations Danny Ainge will continue to look for flexibility. He has too many guards and power forwards, and it could be here that he has the resources for that next trade.

Perhaps the most surprising development of the summer was Ainge’s inability to parlay any of his first-round picks into a package that another team wanted. But that can easily change.

3. Land of the hybrid big men. Tyler Zeller is the only pure center on this team, but that doesn’t mean he can count on 30 minutes a night. Jared Sullinger, Kelly Olynyk, Amir Johnson and David Lee can (and undoubtedly will) all swing to the so-called 5-spot.

The Celtics generally were at their best with a small lineup, and in that situation Crowder translates well as a power forward. So coach Brad Stevens may have more combinations on his hands than ever. He may also discover, before long, that his best frontcourt includes Lee, Johnson and Crowder.

Expect a lot of positional battles here.

4. Proving time for Avery Bradley. There is also an overload at shooting guard, with Evan Turner, rookie R.J. Hunter, James Young and even Smart all expected to see time there.

Avery Bradley, now the most veteran player on the Celtics roster, is the starter of record at this position. He also struggled through a horrid shooting performance in the playoffs, and never has been a pure scorer. It may be time to look over his shoulder.

5. Judgment time. The team has talked to the agents for Sullinger and Zeller about contract extensions, though management may be more comfortable at this point seeing how both players develop in training camp. Zeller is one of the more unique talents the Celtics have up front, but the reportedly trimmed-down Sullinger is still attempting to take firm hold of his place in the lineup. He’ll be compared to the development of Olynyk, and also judged in the context of Lee and Johnson.

The latter two could upgrade this frontcourt significantly, which isn’t necessarily good news for Sullinger.



bob
MY NOTE:  No real news here although the reminder of the teams who competed without stars is welcome.  Danny never sleeps.  We have 16 players for a 15 player roster.  At worst (best?) one player gets let go and we now have a more clear idea of who/what Brad is going to war with (at least to start the preseason) and at best (worst?) Danny makes a move.  Remember the rumor about Danny contemplating a "blockbuster trade"?  Just because it didn't happen doesn't mean it won't.  The players might be identified and Danny wants to give them Player A but they want Player B and they're going to wait until they go through the pre-season and see how everybody looks before they do the final handshake.  We don't know, we just don't.  The only thing we can say with a fair degree of confidence is that Danny will not stop moving the pieces around the chess board until he feels he has a core that he feels can compete and then he'll try to keep them for as long as he can while building the rest of the roster around them.  That's what he did with Pierce/Allen/KG.  He got his core, filled in around them and did that for as long as he could until it was clear it was beginning to fall apart with the departures of both Allens, Ray and Tony, and KG's minutes shrinking down to where he was only able to play rotation player minutes and not starter minutes.

Marcus Smart's team?  With 10 year veteran Amir Johnson and World Champion David Lee on the roster?  With all respect to Mahcus Smaht, he hasn't accomplished anything yet, besides not having his rookie year blow up in his face.  At least Bradley has been nominated to a couple of All-Defense teams.

Danny's point about how people might want bigger roles than management sees for them is very possible.  David Lee requested a trade from GSW precisely because he wants a bigger role than he had there (he never made a peep throughout the year, it wasn't until after it was all over he requested a trade).  Wanting and deserving are two very different things.  If they want and deserve bigger roles then Danny moves someone, either them or someone else to make more room for them.  We have a lot of players on one-year deals or in the last year of their contracts:  Amir, Lee, Sully, Jerebko, Young, Jones, Zeller, Turner.  That's 8 out of the 16 players we have in camp now.  Half the team, half, is playing for their next contract and in the case of Young, Jones and Turner, their basketball careers.  Every day that goes by makes those expiring contracts more valuable as the balance due on them shrinks.

5 days until they can officially report, 6 days until the opening of camp. Almost there, almost there...




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