Post-Mortem: 2021-22 Boston Celtics

[jokeboy86]

The answer for the Celtics may be a simple one. If ur Udoka see is there any way you can convince Brown or Tatum to be the Scottie Pippen type player of the team. If one of them can be convinced to assume that role than that may be all it takes

[Statlanta]

Keep
Keep
Above expectations
Treadmill

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

Curry, Thompson, and Wiggins> Brown and Tatum

Golden State only had brown and Tatum to worry about. Offensively and Boston had at least four Golden State guys to worry. Boston desperately needs a third scorer.

[ITYSL]

Marcus Smart is not the answer at point guard for this Celtics team and that's just the beginning of the fix list. I hope the people behind the scenes for the Celtics see these holes in the team and find a way to address them in the offseason.

Tatum can improve as a playmaker.

Marcus Smart was the best plus minus player on the Celtics again tonight.
Don’t try to get an upgrade on Smart. It won’t work.

Tatum improved his playmaking a lot this season. He really needs to improve his finishing in the paint through contact rather than looking for calls, as well as his off-ball movement. The last point is something of an offensive system issue as well.

[BK_2020]

If we treadmill as a finals team I'm ok with that.

[CharityStripe34]

Tatum has to realize he's a 6'9" forward and really learn how to play around the basket. He tends to avoid contact on his drives. Which is strange since he's a good FT shooter you'd think he would want to attract contact.

Of course Grant Williams forgot how to shoot in the Finals, whereas in the ECSF he turned into Prime Bob McAdoo.

[TheMartian]

Marcus Smart is not the answer at point guard for this Celtics team and that's just the beginning of the fix list. I hope the people behind the scenes for the Celtics see these holes in the team and find a way to address them in the offseason.

Tatum can improve as a playmaker.

Marcus Smart was the best plus minus player on the Celtics again tonight.
Don’t try to get an upgrade on Smart. It won’t work.

Why not upgrade on Smart as the point guard? Clearly he doesn't work as the primary ball handler. I'm not saying to get rid of Smart, he's a vital cog to the system, but the high number of turnovers prove the Celtics need someone who can take care of the ball and facilitate the offense. Smart ain't it. Tatum ain't it either.

[ATLTimekeeper]

Time to move on from Smart. Steph clowned the DPOY. Flip him for some tertiary scoring. Can they get Sexton or Herro for him? I'd look along those lines. Throw picks with Smart to get an upgrade on some scoring/playmaking talent.

Also Grant Williams' lack of composure really cost them in the Finals. I noted that he physically bumped two refs in previous series without even getting a technical. They may want to consider seeing if he has trade value that can bring back a similar but more mature role player.

Everything else is good to go. Tatum is special. Brown is a solid #2. Horford is a quality vet. Williams is a legit eraser. White probably has negative trade value at the moment so may as well hope he comes back with his confidence.

[dWadeOwnzYou]

So much for the defense wins championship notion. They have the best defense in the league so what else do they need to improve on?

[Jerry Maine]

So much for the defense wins championship notion. They have the best defense in the league so what else do they need to improve on?

Scoring on elite defensive teams like the Dubs

[HabsAndDubs]

Tatum has to be better. He’s Boston’s franchise player but didn’t have a single game in the finals where he was close to being the best player on the floor. That’s the series right there for Boston.

[Pharmcat]

They need a franchise player. Brown and Tatum are just guys

[Castle Black]

So much for the defense wins championship notion. They have the best defense in the league so what else do they need to improve on?

Their offense was a mess in the Finals. Part of that was due to the dubs’ defense of course, but a lot of it was just due to poor performances from a lot of their players, especially their best player and their bench players. Tatum looked completely shook this series and played about as poorly as a star player could. And their bench completely fell off a cliff last 3 games. White, Grant Williams, Pritchard, etc. They all got a lot of open looks from 3 this series and they couldn’t throw it in the ocean. Just brutal. You’re not winning anything with how poorly their offense played.

[ky_23]

I don't know what everybody thinks but i think this team desperately needs CP3. I know CP3 is not much of a winner but he knows how to read the game on the court to guide his team and Tatum and Brown have a lot of things to learn from a veteran like cp like keeping composure at some points. Most importantly, this team needs an alpha dog to yell at or scold the team at some points. Tatum's game 6 performance or or the fall of role players throughout the series was not only because Tatum's or team's mindset but the whole team planning. Not everybody comes to the league with Kobe mindset to ready go off anytime. Some players need some time and even failure to improve both mentally and technically. Most recent example: Giannis.
Smart wasn't one of the worst players in this series for the Celtics but his presence defines this team's character and game and i don't think that's a good thing. No doubt about his value on defense but his instability on offense is gonna hurt every team that plans to go for a playoff run let alone a championship. Celtics' defense is already one of the top ones in the league without Smart and his defense doesn't balance his place on offense for a team like Celtics.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

Marcus Smart is not the answer at point guard for this Celtics team and that's just the beginning of the fix list. I hope the people behind the scenes for the Celtics see these holes in the team and find a way to address them in the offseason.

Tatum can improve as a playmaker.

Marcus Smart was the best plus minus player on the Celtics again tonight.
Don’t try to get an upgrade on Smart. It won’t work.

Tatum improved his playmaking a lot this season. He really needs to improve his finishing in the paint through contact rather than looking for calls, as well as his off-ball movement. The last point is something of an offensive system issue as well.

Tatum showed me one move that is unstoppable and looked like he could perfect it and make the core move in his game.
The move was Tatum allowing himself to be stopped from going to the basket and instead continuing his drive to the right edge of the backboard where he leaps high and extends his right arm with the ball even higher and flips a shot off the backboard. He seems more accurate with that shot than with the other shots. Defenders can stop Tatum from getting to the hoop but I don’t think defenders can both stop Tatum from getting to the hoop and also stop Tatum from getting to the right edge of the backboard. Blocking that high bank shot would be goalteng. Tatum should get 15 points a game out of that backboard bank shot and another 15 points a game from whatever the defense gives him. The Celtics need 30 somewhat efficient points a game from Tatum whenever the Celtics face a very good defense. I think Tatum can do it if he relies on that bank shot from the right edge of the backboard.

Sort of like Kareem relying on his skyhook, Tatum relying on that bank shot migh mean giving up other shots that he likes shooting that are not as reliable.

[TheSuzerain]

Definitely some concerns offensively. Playing 5 good defenders comes at a cost on the other end.

But if you think about it, they had the best player in zero of their playoff series. That usually means disaster, but they were able to make it to the finals.

[R-DAWG]

I go back and forth in analyzing this version of the Celtics and I keep flipping between this team is the 2004 Pistons - who won with depth and defense - to this team is the 2007 Cavs/2009 Magic - a team that made it to the Finals in part because of a weak conference.

Any analysis starts with Tatum and Brown. At their best, they are as good as a 1-2 wing punch out there. But in these Finals, they looked like a #2 and a #3, not a #1 and a #2. Both are so young and have yet to hit their ceilings, and the internal improvement alone can elevate this team. In reality, the open item is more about Tatum than Brown. Is Tatum a top-5 caliber player or is he more of a fringe top-10 guy? The answer to that question is TBD, and the outcome will determine how many, if any, championships this version of the Celtics win.

Long term - you want to find a way to add a third star to Brown/Tatum. While you might say it needs to be a playmaker or a two-way big - it's hard to get top-20 level talents on the same timeline as your 2 stars, so you kind of need to get the guy you can get and fill in around the margins. Obviously, your less concerned about fit if it's a top-10 guy and more cautious with a fringe top-20 guy (i'm not sure I would go all in for Donnovan Mitchell the way I would Anthony Davis).

Short term - the team would really benefit from another big wing. In a lot of ways, a guy like Josh Richardson (and it leads me ask why didn't they just take Derrick White into the Fournier TPE?). Richardson would have given them another versatile defender who can also shoot and handle while lengthening the rotation. Something as simple as giving Brown/Tatum an extra 2 minutes of rest per half could have been beneficial. On this point, depth is a real issue for the team. The starting unit of Smart/Brown/Tatum/Horford/Williams was excellent, and White and G. Williams had their moments, but they needed some more bodies.

They have some resources to play with this summer. 2 TPE's, moveable contracts in Smart, White, Theiss and R. Williams, all their draft picks going forward. They also have the taxpayer MLE. Combined, this should add two players (being realistic w the lux tax) to extend the rotation without giving up the value pieces.

As others have mentioned, a true floor general, even if not a star, seem to be the most important piece. Maybe they take a chance on a Mike Conley or Malcom Brogdon (likely costs White + Neismeith for salary purposes plus draft capital). Monte Morris from Denver fits into a TPE. Getting below the apron to use the full MLE to sign Tyus Jones requires moving some contracts (I'm not sure given Horford's partial guarantee if they can work out a long term extension that reduces his current cap hit). Seems like you need to move either Smart or White's money in a deal or a PG, or a subsequent deal if you acquire a point guard elsewhere, since you really don't need to pay 2 combo guards off the bench a combined $35+MM.

Long term you also need to start thinking about replacing Al Horford - which is easier said and done as there are few big men that offer the 2 way versatility that he does in addition to being the glue that holds the team together. Robert Williams showed great potential in this series as looks like he can be your starting C going forward - but at his best he isn't Horford.

All in all, Boston should be thinking about improving in the margins while remaining flexible enough with their cap sheet and future draft capital/young assets to be in play for the next game changing star that is (a) looking to move and (b) fits on court and on timeline with Brown/Tatum.

A homegrown 24 year old and 25 year old just took a rotation with 6 out of 8 homegrown guys to Game 6 of the NBA Finals. That's damn impressive and something that any organization would be proud of an excited for the future. Does this team turn into the next Golden State (could a Kevin Durant-level guy be walking through the door?), or does history remember them like the 2007 Cavs or 2009 Magic. My guess is it's probably somewhere in between.

Congrats Boston on a great season - and on behalf of all Knicks fans - we don't necessarily wish you on court luck in the future - BING BONG!

[SweetTouch]

curry pretty much ended the celtics again

not only did he treat them like his b, he also disrespected their fans

[PizzaSteve]

Good result, especially after their season start. They will learn, add pieces and compete again.

Tatum needs to study tape of how the warriors contained him and of how Curry deals with 'The Curry Treatment' by playoff defenses. Practice distributing to open men in the regular season, and work on adding 2 assists per game, even if that means fewer 30 pt scoring games and less recognized alpha props. It took Curry time to get better at building up team mates to trust he will get them the ball.

Iso post ups were successful, but built the wrong habits to defeat a defense like the warriors who are tying to get you to rely on that as you offense then suprise with the quick DG or Wiggins help. When people talk about improving team there is too much 'player change' discussed vs 'play change.' The NBA is not a video game.

[DwayneSchintzus]

Tatum is a #2 on a championship team until further notice

He isn't ready to lead anyone to a title