What NBA analysts say about Celtics’ recent battle

After the Celtics lost two consecutive games against the two bottom teams of the Eastern Conference, they were able to come off the Schneid on Tuesday night and defeat the Nuggets 112-99. However, they still lost more than they gained in the past month.

Boston is 6-10 over its last 16 games, giving the Celtics a 14-13 record of the season. The struggles of the Celtics were one of the best storylines in the NBA, considering the hope they carried into the season, plus the run of the Eastern Conference last season.

NBA reporters and analysts have been observing and judging the problems with the Celtics lately, which started by the time Jayson Tatum missed five games due to COVID-19.

“I know Brad Stevens admits Jayson Tatum is struggling, but he’s actually played him more minutes since he left COVID,” Windhorst said. ‘It’s because they have no depth. Marcus Smart is out. They found no way to replace Gordon Hayward. They sustained several more injuries. Kemba Walker does not play rugby due to injuries. Walker’s backup Jeff Teague shot the ball so poorly that he was pulled out of the rotation. ”

The Athletics’s John Hollinger came to a similar assessment as Windhorst. Looking at the figures, Hollinger notes that the Celtics outplay their opponents by 8.9 points per 100 possessions in which Tatum and Jaylen Brown are on the field together.

There is a noticeable difference if only one of Brown or Tatum is off the court. The Celtics are defeated by one point per 100 possessions when Brown is off the field. It’s even worse for the Celtics without Tatum. They are exceeded by 5.3 points per 100 possessions if Tatum is not on the floor. Boston’s offensive rating also drops from 114.9 points per 100 possessions with Tatum on the court to 107.3 points per 100 possessions with Tatum off the court.

“To go back to the whole picture,” Hollinger wrote. ‘Boston’s supporting cast basically boils down to two things, both of which are potentially recoverable: Kemba Walker is at least not Kemba Walker yet. The bank is bad. ”

Hollinger has questioned some of the Celtics decisions in the past that have led to this point, such as signing Tristan Thompson for a two-year, $ 19 million contract, and the Pacers believe in a sign-and-trade deal for Gordon Hayward.

“What’s left now is a horrible evil,” Hollinger wrote of the Celtics bench. ‘The two free agents in Boston, Tristan Thompson and Jeff Teague, both suffered disappointments. Rugby players Grant Williams and Semi Oeieye are a feather in their cap as strong, helpful defenders in small doses whose serious offensive limitations in more prominent roles are exposed fairly quickly. The lottery pick, Aaron Nesmith, was supposed to offer a 3-point weapon with a grab-and-rip point, but hasn’t said the least. The late first-ranked Payton Pritchard was the only reserve to play satisfactory rotation play. ”

Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix blamed Celtics basketball president Danny Ainge for the current state of the list.

“Trader Danny” has made some great deals with Boston in his nearly two decades, perhaps no bigger than the 2013 Brooklyn heist that brings back the draft capital that eventually landed Brown and Tatum, “Mannix wrote. “But over the last few years, Ainge has talked about more deals than he’s done. The Celtics kicked the ties on Kawhi Leonard. They were heavily involved in talks with Anthony Davis with New Orleans. Armed with young players and the Brooklyn picks , it looks like Boston was in the spot everyone.

“But they never pulled the trigger.”

All three came to the same conclusion that the Celtics should do: make a move for someone, anyone.

“The Celtics really need corpses,” Windhorst said. ‘They need not only their stars to play better, but also depth. It almost begs the question of whether this team, which almost never wants to move mid-season, will make a mid-season trade to bolster the depth and try to rest Jayson Tatum. ‘

Luckily for Boston, he has a few things in the treasury if he wants to trade. The Celtics have five players all selected in the first round over the last three NBA drafts. Even though they no longer hold for someone else’s first round, they still have it for the foreseeable future. The Celtics also have negotiable contracts in Thompson and Daniel Theis to facilitate a move.

Probably their biggest asset, however, is the $ 28.5 million trade exception they acquired from the Hornets for Hayward. The exception allows the Celtics to essentially earn someone who earns $ 28.5 million or less this season, which is anything but 31 players in the league. Their only problem is that they are about $ 19.5 million below the tax card, which they can not overcome.

Hollinger has released some potential names for the Celtics to trade with. He thinks Thunder keeper George Hill, Kings center Nemanja Bjelica, Bulls forward Thaddeus Young, or even former Celtic Al Horford will all be a good addition to Boston.

‘They have to do something,” Hollinger wrote. “For some teams, mid-season trading is optional; in this Boston group it seems mandatory. The supporting cast is just not enough, and ‘playing harder’ is probably a relatively small part of the solution. ‘

Chris Forsberg, NBC Sports Boston, threw out a few more names there that the Celtics could obtain with the exception of the trade. Forsberg looked to bigger names like Harrison Barnes, Kings forward, Nikola Vucevic, Magic center, Aaron Gordon, and Jerami Grant, Pistons, for the top players to target the Celtics with the exception.

“Barnes is checking all the boxes for Boston,” Forsberg wrote of Barnes, who he said should be the No. 1 target for the Celtics. “He’s a size (6-8), he needs to shoot (38.8 percent on 3s this season), he has defensive versatility and he knows what it’s like to be a third or fourth option in a championship team. “

If the Celtics want to trade, they only have a little over a month to do so. The NBA’s deadline for trading is March 25. They are also still waiting for the return of Marcus Smart, who has been out since January 30 due to a calving strain.

Luckily for Boston, its leading rivals in the Eastern Conference have yet to do much to advance further in the standings. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Celtics are holding the fourth series in the conference and they are only 3.5 games out of first place.