Appearing on FanDuel’s Run It Back show (Twitter video link), Shams Charania of The Athletic said that he anticipates the Celtics being active on the trade market as February’s deadline nears. The goal for the C’s, Charania says, will be to “beef up” their bench rotation.
The expectation coming into the season was that Boston would have a top-heavy roster, and that has certainly been the case so far this fall. Top scorers Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis have averaged nearly 69 combined points per game, while the club’s reserves are totaling just 25.7 points per contest, which ranks 29th in the NBA.
As Charania observes, the Celtics parted with a pair of future first-round picks in their preseason trade for Jrue Holiday, but one of those came from Golden State, so they still have some flexibility with draft assets going forward and could theoretically move multiple first-rounders. The team also has a trade exception worth approximately $6.2MM that could come in handy in a deal involving a player earning a modest salary.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- There are still no concrete updates on the status of Raptors big man Christian Koloko, who has been sidelined since Summer League due to a respiratory issue, tweets Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. The 23-year-old appeared in 58 games as a rookie last season, but is still just doing drill work with coaches after practices and has yet to participate in full practices this fall, Grange notes.
- Raptors forward Pascal Siakam is in the midst of one of the worst shooting slumps of his career, having made just five of his last 52 three-pointers, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. Siakam’s poor shooting has been a major factor in Toronto’s underwhelming 33.7% rate on threes (28th in the NBA), but he’s confident he’ll turn things around. “I think the most important [thing] is just putting the work in,” Siakam said. “… Either you stop shooting them or the other thing you do is you keep shooting and it just kinda [evens out]. I think it’s just basketball. It happens and you just got to continue to work on it, trust the work and the process.”
- The scheduling around the in-season tournament has resulted in a stretch of four consecutive off-days for the Sixers. Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer takes a closer look at how the 76ers have been taking advantage of the break in their schedule, including head coach Nick Nurse giving his team two days off followed by two days of “sharp, intense” practices.
who would the Cs trade for to help beef up their bench of improve their late game execution?
The last 3-4 mins of the Pacers v Cs game was your turn my turn with the Js. Too slow and bad shot selection.
The last 3-4 min was them trying desperately to catch up against a team that was scorching hot and making everything. Not sure what looks they would have gotten. They were trying to score points as quickly as possible not set up plays. Pacers were the better team last night but probably not over 7 games.
I am stating the obvious here, but both of you are correct. The C’s roster is not the issue. Every team needs wing and center depth. the issue is they ran into a pacers team that went 50% from 3 on 40 attempts. they threw everything at Haliburton and his teammates carried knocked shots down. I like those odds in a 7 game series any day…. Joe must figure out a way to contain browns turnovers. coaching has improved but until progress is made, joe will get the blame
There isn’t anyone who thinks the Pacers beat the Celtics over 7 games.
If Celtics do “beef up the bench” I doubt they would bench our two young stars in crunch time & sub in some new bench player acquisition. Or bench our other top guys like KP, Derrick or Jrue. Or Playoff Al. We just have to get our two stars to pass the ball to find the best shot. That’s the huge challenge for Coach Mazzulla & our two stars. Go Celtics!
The Celtics bench isnt very good, but I dont think its concerning enough for any major shakeups, maybe get someone better than Kornet defensively, and overall better defense off the bench, or other teams will attack the weak bench and the celtics would just start leaking points as soon as the starters get off the court. Keep Pritchard but as far as the rest they can go for more defensive anchor type of players. IDK im not a celtics fan LETS GO GRIZZLIES
“sharp, intense” practices.
Oh My!!!
To go far in the playoffs you need a decent bench. Celtics bench is trash. 2nd Rd exit
Haha. Ok buddy
Absolutely you need galaxy opal lamelo with hof badges or it’s impossible to win
Can you read Little Dingdong? You better learn how to read before you speak to me.
Dude, you better learn rosters aren;t set for the playoffs in early December.
The champs won it all with a 7.5 man rotation.
And Celtics barely got 5
who was on the 2008 Celtic bench? James Posey and WHO?
The Celtics bench is ok at point guard with Pritchard, and at small forward with Hauser. They could use another big, but I think a real need off the bench is at shooting guard. 32 year old Alec Burks is not going to be kept by Detroit and they’d like to get rid of his 10 MM salary for their upcoming rebuild. Boston could use their 6.2mm TPE to acquire him by giving the Pistons a 2nd round draft pick. He’s still got a decent 3 point shot and could contribute at the free throw line drawing fouls.
If there was no such thing as a 3rd quarter in a basketball game, the Celtics would be outstanding.
best record in the NBA isn’t outstanding?
First thing is first, the Celtics need a new head coach! Joe needs to go! Got out coached by Carlisle
Mazzulla sure can’t wake the team from their half time naps.
LOL yeah bc halftime is not a time to make adjustments or motivate the team?
Joe Mazzulla is not a good coach. The fact that he gets continually beat in 3rd quarters should worry the Celtics A LOT!!!
Our Celtics have the talent to win it all! We just have to take care of a few things. Jayson & Jaylen have to pass more. Drive when they can, we need their drive-to-the-rim scoring & resulting free throws & can put up with a few strips on drives, but pass when they get triple teamed. Turns out our best 3-point shooters are NOT Jayson & Jaylen. Big Al, KP, Derrick, Jrue, Hauser & Pritchard are better. Get these others more and more open three point shots. Then we need to get more offensive rebounds. Play Neemis Queta more as he gets offensive boards. And work on defending threes. In other words play as a team and use our better and stronger bench! Go Celts!
Yes, get Mazzulla so much talent that he cannot possibly ruin their chances.
Issue with the Celtics is not their bench, its poor coaching and poor offense. Nobody fears this team. Every playoff team believes they can win bc their coach is better than Joe M and they know if Boston goes cold, they other team wins.
Celtics put together one of the most talented teams in recent history and gave that team to a stat geek who barely understands what other coaches are doing.