NBA Insider Gives Scathing Review Of Celtics’ Underwhelming Offseason
Based on what they’ve done (and haven’t done) this summer, the Boston Celtics don’t have much to look forward to next winter.
After losing Jayson Tatum to an Achilles tear in the playoffs, the Celtics decided to dismantle their 2024 championship core and prioritize financial flexibility this offseason while they wait for him to return. They traded Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday, lost Luke Kornet in free agency, and are expected to lose Al Horford as well.
Boston hasn’t done much to replace them beyond acquiring Anfernee Simons and Georges Niang. The Celtics missed out on Damian Lillard and Marcus Smart and appear unlikely to sign Ben Simmons, seemingly content to roll the dice with younger, relatively unproven players like Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh and Hugo González.
NBA insider Zach Lowe is skeptical that this strategy will pay off for Boston, however, even in a weakened Eastern Conference.
“The depth chart after White, Brown, Pritchard and whatever you think of Simons crumbles to sand so fast,” Lowe said on Thursday’s episode of “The Zach Lowe Show.” “And being that top-heavy, and that dependent on guys with minimal to no NBA track records is a recipe for a wildly below expectations regular season. I don’t really see a case for Celtics optimism.”
His guest, Michael Pina, agreed, lumping the Celtics in with the Indiana Pacers, who will be without Tyrese Haliburton for much (if not all) of the season.
“Fundamentally, they should be motivated to lose games and develop players,” said Pina, who called Boston’s upcoming campaign “a gap year from hell.” “I look at the roster — the frontcourt is completely non-existent.”
“It’s really hard to believe when you look at it, and it’s just like, whoa, they signed nobody proven,” Lowe added.
The Celtics have some scoring talent and shooting ability with Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Anfernee Simons, Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser (if he isn’t traded), but their lack of size and depth will likely doom them, especially if they lose any of their starters to injury for an extended period of time. Boston’s bench already looks paper-thin and could be an issue as well.
Accordingly, next season will likely be a transition year for the Celtics. They could still make the playoffs if everything breaks right, but it’s hard to imagine them competing for a championship given the state of their roster after such an underwhelming offseason.