The Celtics entire roster returns next year. Jayson Tatum will be just 23. Jaylen Brown just 24. Marcus Smart just 27, which is statistically the age players enter their prime. Kemba Walker will still only be 30, with a game that ages wonderfully and more playoff experience than he’s ever gotten. Fun fact: Brown, Tatum, and Smart have all played more playoff games than Kemba. It doesn’t excuse his disappearances this playoffs, but it is certain reason for optimism.
Gordon Hayward will be healthy and building off of his best season since he left Utah. Grant and Robert Williams will both be a year older to round out the bench, and Romeo Langford will get 365 more days to start showing things. The Celtics aren’t just young, they’re babies. They have all of the 2020s to reach and demonstrate their primes. They came up a round shy of the Finals in their maiden voyage.
The roster for the future is pretty self explanatory: Kemba and Smart backcourt. Brown and Tatum wings. Tremendous unknown at center. Grant, Robert, hopefully Romeo off the bench. Gordon Hayward is entering the last year of his deal already. He’ll be 31 when he hits free agency, so he won’t command 4/$128M again, but whether he enjoys being the fourth or fifth-best player in Boston we can’t know yet. The Celtics can survive him walking, especially with Tatum’s max deal due in that same free agency.
Center, or bigs in general since the center position is both changing and going out of style, is the biggest need by far. Daniel Theis is not the present nor the future of the position for Boston.
Boston has all its own picks in the future, and total selections 14, 26, 30, and 47 this year. They have a lot of combinations to use those, the two Williams, and Langford towards a reliable big man. Myles Turner is the most common name here by far and a dream fit. Clint Capela had real noise before Atlanta swooped in. Derrick Favors is a free agent. Steven Adams will be available. If James Wiseman or Onyeka Okongwu is their guy, they can be gotten.
The only problem arises in their lack of sizable, moveable contracts. Enes Kanter, Daniel Theis, both Williams, Langford, and Vincent Poirier add up to just $18.7 million in flexible salary. After that, you’re moving significant pieces. A good amount of teams have cap space, and GM Danny Ainge is no stranger to three-team trades, so this shouldn’t be a huge concern but is worth noting. While I’m not going to cape for a Jaylen Brown move, his manageable 4 years $109M ($22M AAV) would go a long way towards an upper-tier big, should the Celtics aim that high.
Smart, Walker, soon-to-be Tatum, and Brown are all locked in through 2022 at least. That quartet will only get better and gain chemistry. The main goal for their future direction is to optimize those guys. So the logical thought is “What do they lack? What do they need to succeed?”
Fortunately, that big four is as versatile as any team’s, meaning the holes aren’t gaping. At the top of their non-center list should be a true secondary facilitator. Brad Wanamaker is fine, but not on the books next year, aging, and far from proven. Kemba has been score-first his entire career until this season. Smart is not a point guard. You don’t want Brown and Tatum having to create consistently when their offense is derived from other areas.
This draft is very deep at point guard if they want a rookie, and in general it’s a saturated position. A player who can work with the proven core is ideal; someone who doesn’t need the ball in their hands all the time, won’t get exposed on defense, and can create looks from three for the big four.
Finally, rebounding. It’s the first stat after points for a reason. Boston’s stars are all pretty solid for their position, but teams in the playoffs - especially deep playoffs - consistently are the best rebounding teams in the association. This goes hand in hand with their need for a center. A secondary enforcing big would do wonders as well. We see what success Paul Millsap (now a free agent) yields in tandem with Nikola Jokic, or Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee with Anthony Davis. If Grant or Robert is your guy, then acquiring a complementary big is compulsory (for the record I absolutely love Grant’s versatile and intelligent game. He’s the prototype modern power forward) . If someone outside the building is your answer, then whatever helps them succeed should skyrocket up your list.
TL;DR version of this article: Celtics need a core big, a playmaker, and a complementary big to that core big. That’s a short and accomplishable list. Especially for a team whose window just cracked open in a bubble.
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