Roster Breakdown

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Taylor Snow

With training camp underway, it’s time for us to break down the Celtics' roster to give you an idea of what the team’s depth chart will look like for the 2023-24 season.

Rather than classifying players with the traditional 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 positional tags, we’re taking a page out of President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens’ book by placing each athlete into one of the following categories:

Last week we broke down the bigs and wings, so all that’s left to cover are Boston’s ball handlers.

The Celtics have several players who are capable of facilitating the offense, including a few wings and bigs; however, we’re just highlighting the five guys who specialize in that role listed in order of minutes played per game last season.

Boston made a massive last-minute roster move last weekend by trading for a new primary ball handler in Jrue Holiday. The 14-year veteran brings a long list of accomplishments to the table, along with top-notch work ethic and leadership.

Last season, Holiday earned his second career All-Star nod, his fifth consecutive All-Defense selection (including his third as a member of the First Team), and his third Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award in a four-year span. This all came after averaging 19.3 points, 7.4 assists 5.1 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game as the lead point guard on a Bucks team that boasted the best record in the league.

The last Celtics player to put up such prolific single-season assist numbers was Rajon Rondo, also the only member of the organization to reach that mark in the last 30 years. There's no reason why that number should dip much for Holiday. He has never been surrounded by so many elite shooters, so many scoring options to whom he can distribute.

Holiday’s offensive presence should also take some of the pressure off All-NBA wings Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum while complementing both of their games.

Midway through last season, Marcus Smart suffered an ankle sprain which sidelined the starting point guard for 11 games. That not only opened the door for Derrick White to step in as the team’s primary ball handler but also seemed to be a turning point in his season.

During Smart’s absence, White averaged 20.1 points, 5.8 assists, and 4.6 rebounds per game, and earned an Eastern Conference Player of the Week nod. He continued to produce impressive numbers, even after Smart returned, and was one of the team’s top playmakers throughout the rest of the season.

This season, White will likely play a similar role, whether he’s starting at shooting guard or serving as Holiday’s backup point guard. Either way, he’ll see his fair share of ball-handling responsibility.

On the other end of the floor, White and Holiday will make up arguably the most feared defensive backcourt in the league. Last season, they took up two of the four guard spots on the All-Defensive team, Holiday being an elite ballhawk and White being the best shot-blocking guard in the entire league.

This past offseason, the Celtics lost two high-minute ball handlers (Smart and Malcolm Brogdon) while gaining only one back (Holiday). That means there will be minutes up for grabs at the point guard spot, and Payton Pritchard is in a great position to snag some of them.

Pritchard’s role was inconsistent last season, but that had little to do with the quality of his production and more to do with the abundance of talent the C’s had at the position. He always stepped up when called upon, including in the regular-season finale when he earned a start and delivered his first career triple-double.

There may not be another player on the team who is more eager to prove himself than Pritchard is heading into this season. And his track record, dating three years back to his rookie season, speaks for itself. He’s a career 40.0 percent shooter from 3-point range, an elite dribbler, and a strong passer, and he’s in line to carve out a solid role now that the point guard log jam has been cleared up a bit.

Dalano Banton left a historic impression on the Celtics in the second-to-last game of the 2022-23 regular season when the then-Raptors’ point guard exploded for 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting from the field in the final 3:32 of action, his only minutes of the game. It marked the second-fewest minutes logged in a double-digit scoring effort on perfect shooting in NBA history.

A few months later, the Celtics snatched Banton out of the free agency pile and brought the former Massachusetts prep school standout back to the Bay State.

The third-year guard is an exciting offensive player, who can gallop upcourt in transition, drive through contact and finish at the rim, and can also operate as a pick-and-roll ballhandler. He’s extremely long for his position, measuring in at 6-foot-9 with a standing reach of just over nine feet.

Celtics fans will also be pleased to know that Banton’s favorite player growing up was Rajon Rondo, after whom he modeled his passing game.

Returning in his second season on a two-way contract is 20-year-old point guard J.D. Davison.

The 2022 second-round pick spent most of last season in the G League where he ranked among the top five in both total assists (227) and assist average (8.7) with the Maine Celtics.

Davison also saw limited action in 12 regular-season NBA games where he had a few opportunities to show off his passing skills and explosive athleticism. On top of that, he’s led the Summer League in total assists in each of the last two years.

Davison will likely see himself in a similar role this season, as the youngster continues to develop while splitting his time between Portland and Boston.

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2023-24 Roster Breakdown: The Ball Handlers

With training camp less than a week away, it’s time for us to break down the Celtics' roster to give you an idea of what the team’s depth chart will look like for the 2023-24 season.

Two days ago, we tipped off our Roster Breakdown Series with Boston’s bigs. Today, we present their perimeter-based teammates – the wings.

Wings are typically the most versatile players on the floor and are relied upon to take on a heavy scoring load. Defensively, they’ll often be tasked with suppressing elite scorers on opposing teams. Depending on their skill set, they may also be assigned ball-handling duties or they may slide into the frontcourt to take on opposing bigs.

Here are the seven players who will be sharing that job listed in order of minutes played per game last season:

Perhaps the most well-rounded wing league-wide resides in Boston, and his name is Jayson Tatum. He can score from anywhere on the floor, he can defend any position, he can rebound, he can make plays for himself and for others, and the list goes on from there.

Tatum is coming off a historic season during which he became the first player in Celtics history to log a 30-point-per-game season, and he did so while also leading the league in total points. On top of that, he paced the team in rebounds, 3-point makes and free throws, and was second in assists and steals.

This season, JT will look to continue to lead the way in those areas, while also potentially taking on more ball-handling duties and leadership responsibilities now that Marcus Smart is gone.

In the last couple of seasons, Tatum has risen as an MVP candidate while also coming so close to his first NBA championship. If he can continue to improve just as he has in each of his previous six years, maybe lucky No. 7 will be his year to be a league MVP and a champion.

Having two All-NBA players in the same position group on the same team is almost unheard of, but that’s exactly what the Celtics have in Tatum and his wingmate, Jaylen Brown. JB is also coming off a career year during which he averaged 26.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 49.1 percent from the field, earning him All-NBA Second Team honors.

Combined, those two averaged 56.7 PPG, while no other duo in the league (minimum 65 games played together) even reached 50.0 PPG. The scary part is they are both just entering their prime playing years.

Entering year eight, Brown now holds the distinction of being Boston’s longest-tenured player, and he, too, will be relied upon to help lead this team. The soon-to-be 27-year-old has a little extra incentive this season now that he has a nice new contract extension in hand, and he’s all-in on helping the C’s achieve their championship goals.

We shift from the longest-tenured player to the newest member of the team. Signed just a week before the start of training camp, Lamar Stevens has an opportunity to prove himself a viable backup for the Jays.

Stevens is a totally different type of player compared to Brown and Tatum in the sense that he is more of a defensive dog than a high-volume scorer. But every team needs those defensive dogs.

Stevens played his first three seasons in Cleveland after going undrafted in 2020, and he saw his role increase year over year. His hustle on the defensive end earned him 25 starts last season for a 51-win Cavs squad.

The Celtics recently got a taste of Stevens’ impact during a March 6 matchup in Cleveland where he grabbed six offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter and overtime, and also made a go-ahead and a game-winning basket down the stretch in overtime, during a 118-114 Cavs victory.

It’ll be nice to have him on Boston’s side now.

OK, so we're doubling up here because Oshae Brissett is somewhat of a special case. He's not a typical wing, and he's also not a traditional big (we also listed him as one in our Bigs Breakdown), but he plays a little bit of both.

Brissett is a slashing 4, so he's not the type of wing who will be consistently camping out beyond the arc. On the other end, he's an exceptionally versatile defender, so he can guard guys on the perimeter and in the paint.

The 25-year-old Toronto native spent his last three seasons in Indiana, where he averaged 8.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in 153 appearances, including 43 starts. He has a strong rebounding presence on both ends and his 5.4 offensive rebound percentage last season ranked in the 83rd percentile.

Brissett should be a solid addition to the frontcourt and his versatility will allow him to play somewhat of a hybrid big/wing role.

While Brissett and Stevens can provide defensive depth at the wing position, Sam Hauser will be aiming to provide a scoring punch.

Hauser broke into the rotation last season and gave the Celtics 6.4 points per game off the bench while averaging 16.1 minutes in 80 appearances. He made 140 3-pointers at an impressive 41.8 percent clip and made 40 of his 61 attempts from inside the arc.

Hauser also played an underrated role on the defensive end. Teams often underestimated him and targeted him in individual matchups, but that approach generally didn’t pay off, as Hauser led the league with a 106.4 defensive rating.

When given substantial minutes, Hauser was a major scoring contributor. He averaged 15.5 points per game during his eight starts, which ranked third on the team behind Tatum and Brown among players with at least five starts. That included back-to-back, career-high, 26-point efforts to close out the regular season. So he’ll look to pick up where he left off.

The C’s added another sharpshooter in early September by signing five-year veteran Svi Mykhailiuk. The Ukrainian wing spent last season split between New York and Charlotte and shot 42.4 percent from long range combined for both clubs.

Like Hauser, Mykhailiuk also put up big numbers when given an increased role. He started the last seven games for the Hornets, during which he averaged 17.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.4 steals per game.

Those are all nice numbers, but the most important one he put up all season was his 50.0 percent clip on open 3-point attempts, which ranked second in the NBA behind Luke Kennard's mark of 51.9%. A shooter like that should thrive on a team with elite spacing such as the Celtics.

Most Jordan Walsh draft talk centered around the 19-year-old’s NBA-ready defensive skill set. However, the second-round pick may have more to offer than just that, as indicated by his Summer League performance.

Walsh led the Summer League squad with 18.0 points per game, which included a 25-point outburst against the Lakers. He was also the most prolific 3-point shooter on the team, knocking down 11-of-27 from deep for a 40.7 percent clip – a vast improvement from the 27.8 percent clip he logged during his lone year in college.

It will take more than a special summer for Walsh to crack Boston’s rotation, but he is certainly an option for Joe Mazzulla to call upon.

Jay Scrubb also had a stellar summer for the Celtics – good enough to earn him a two-way contract with the organization. He was the most consistent scorer on the team in July, logging between 15 and 18 points during each of their first four games in Las Vegas.

Scrubb had the eighth-highest scoring average in the G League last season at 22.3 points per game and was also one of six players to earn at least 100 trips to the free-throw line. He also has an intriguing story, being one of the few Junior College players to ever be drafted and play in an NBA game.

The 23-year-old Louisville native will split his time this coming season between Boston and Maine.

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2023-24 Roster Breakdown: The Wings

1. Ball handlers – Typically played by the 1.

2. Wings – A hybrid between the 2, 3 and 4.

3. Bigs – A hybrid between the 4 and the 5.

We’ll begin our Roster Breakdown Series by highlighting Boston’s bigs. As their title indicates, these are often the largest players on the floor and are usually responsible for handling the post and protecting the rim.

Here are the players who will be sharing that job listed in order of minutes played per game last season:

Since we’re on the topic of bigs, let’s dive into the biggest acquisition of Boston’s offseason. Kristaps Porzingis brings both immense size and skill to the Celtics’ frontcourt and gives them a third star to place alongside Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.

The 7-foot-3 Latvian is fresh off his best NBA season after averaging a career-high 23.2 points to go along with 8.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.5 blocks per game. He also shot a career-best 49.8 percent from the field along with a 38.5 percent clip from 3-point range.

Porzingis gives the C’s a third high-volume scoring option, while most other teams have two at best. He’s someone who can score all over the court and should add a new layer of production to Boston’s offensive system with his ability to make shots from the post.

Porzingis should also give the Celtics a boost on the defensive end, where last season he ranked among the top five in pick-and-roll defenders while also being a top-tier shot-blocker.

Although he had a minor offseason hiccup in the form of plantar fasciitis, Porzingis is expected to enter training camp fully healthy and ready to go. And having just turned 28 in August, his best years could be yet to come.

To be entering year 17 in the NBA is a feat in and of itself. But to be entering year 17 potentially in a starting role? That’s superhuman stuff. And that’s where Al Horford finds himself as he embarks on another year with the C’s.

Horford showed little sign of slowing down in year 16. In fact, it was one of the most impressive seasons of his career. Horford fully bought into his role as a 3-point specialist on the offensive end, making a career-high 145 3-pointers (his previous high was 99) at a remarkable 44.6 percent clip, good for the second-best percentage in the league.

On the defensive end, he continued to step up to the challenge by taking on some of the best bigs in the league such as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid.

The addition of Porzingis may lessen Horford’s production in some areas, but it should also enhance the 37-year-old’s ability to space the floor if the two of them share the court.

Oshae Brissett is the lone member of this group who could also qualify as a wing, but considering how he played 92 percent of his minutes at the 4 last season and that he brings a similar defensive skill set as Grant Williams, we’re slotting him in with the bigs. At 6-foot-7, 210 pounds, Brissett is the “smallest” member of this group, but he makes up for that with his strength and hustle.

The 25-year-old Toronto native spent his last three seasons in Indiana, where he averaged 8.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in 153 appearances, including 43 starts. His combination of athleticism and length (he has a 7-foot wingspan) allows him to guard multiple positions and be a threat on the glass. His 5.4 offensive rebound percentage last season ranked in the 83rd percentile.

One of the guys who helped fill in for Rob Williams last season was Luke Kornet, who played an important and underappreciated role. Having a viable backup big is essential, considering how it is the most physically demanding position on the court and Kornet was always available to provide solid minutes.

The 7-foot center strung together some strong outings in November and December, which included a 15-point, eight-rebound, four-block effort Nov. 16 in Atlanta.

Should the Celtics need to give any rest days to Porzingis or Horford, it’s reassuring knowing that they have a dependable backup to turn to in Kornet.

One of the organization’s three two-way roster spots was filled last week by Neemias Queta, a 7-foot center who was runner-up for G League MVP last season. Queta was the best player on the best team, averaging 16.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.9 blocks per game while leading the Stockton Kings to a league-leading 25-7 record.&nbsp;

He, too, is an elite rim protector, as he proved at Utah State where he set nearly every shot-blocking program record, was a two-time Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year, and was a national finalist for DPOY.

The first Portugal native in NBA history will split his time this season between Boston and Maine with the hope of providing an energetic boost for both squads.

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2023-24 Roster Breakdown: The Bigs

With regular-season games just around the corner, it’s time that we break down the Celtics' roster to give an idea of what the team’s depth chart will look like for the 2022-23 campaign.

This past week, we’ve analyzed the Celtics’ depth at the ball-handling and wing positions. Today, we wrap up our Roster Breakdown series by highlighting Boston’s bigs. As their title indicates, these are often the largest players on the floor and are usually responsible for handling the post and protecting the rim.

Here are the players who will be sharing that job for the Celtics this season:

If Marcus Smart is the perimeter patroller of Boston’s defense, then Rob Williams is the interior anchor. The 6-foot-8 center established himself as one of the elite rim protectors in the NBA last season when he led the league in defensive rating and finished third in total blocks, all despite missing more than a quarter of the season. Even with the missed time, he still managed to land on the All-Defensive Third Team.

Williams was the most improved player on the team last season after being elevated into a starting role, churning out averages of 10.0 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 2.2 blocks per game. His offensive role as a lob threat also helped him finish second in the league in field-goal percentage with a clip of 72.8 percent.

Unfortunately, Williams is expected to miss approximately the first two months of the season as he recovers from offseason knee surgery. But when he returns, he’ll continue to be of utmost importance for Boston’s championship quest.

Considering what he’s still capable of at age 36, Al Horford may be the most impressive member of Boston’s roster. Not many NBA players make it into Year 16, let alone a 6-foot-9 center. Yet Horford is still going strong, in a starting role at that.

Last season, he returned to the Celtics feeling rejuvenated and averaged 10.2 points, 7.7 rebounds (his highest mark since 2013-14), 3.4 assists, and 1.3 blocks in 69 regular season games. In the playoffs, he upped his scoring and rebounding to 12.0 PPG and 9.3 RPG, while playing 35.4 minutes per contest.

Despite coming off 92 total appearances last season, Horford claims to be entering this campaign in tip-top shape. His presence will be especially important during these first couple of months, as he’ll look to step up at the 5 in Williams’ absence.

The name Williams coincided with improvement last season, as Grant Williams took just about as big of a leap as Rob. After slimming down in the summer of 2021, G-Will saw his production jump up, as well as his role with the team.

Williams averaged 7.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game in 77 appearances (21 starts), becoming Boston’s most reliable and durable sixth man off the bench. The biggest improvement he saw was in his 3-point shot, which skyrocketed from 32.0 percent in his first two seasons to 41.1 percent in Year 3.

Williams also played a massive role in Boston’s postseason success, highlighted by his career-high 27-point effort in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against Milwaukee, in which he tied Stephen Curry’s Game 7 3-point record with seven makes from beyond the arc.

This offseason, Williams focused on expanding his shot repertoire so that he can be an even more reliable offensive weapon. And on defense, he’ll continue to be one of the hardest-working players on the team, while serving as one of their vocal leaders.

Just two weeks before the start of the regular season, the Celtics made an unexpected free agency splash by signing six-time All-Star Blake Griffin.

Although he may be past his All-NBA-level prime, the 33-year-old power forward/center still has plenty to offer as someone who can provide an offensive spark – both at the rim and from beyond the arc –and defensive hustle off the bench.

Griffin hangs his hat on putting his body on the line for his team, as he showed last season when he led the league in charges despite missing 26 games. He also takes pride in the opportunity to play for a championship contender such as the Celtics, claiming that he’ll accept any role as long as he’s able to help them achieve their title goals.

The former No. 1 overall pick should provide Boston’s frontcourt with extra stability, especially as it navigates through some injuries at the start of the season.

When it comes to fitting the big man mold, Luke Kornet takes the team crown – at least from a literal standpoint. Standing 7-foot-2, 252 pounds, Kornet is the tallest player on the roster by a full four inches, and he uses that size to his advantage around the rim.

During his first stint with the Celtics two seasons ago, Kornet blocked 25 shots in 252 minutes. He also made 68.2 percent of his shots from inside the 3-point arc in the 18 appearances that he made.

Kornet only saw action in 15 games last season, including 12 for the Celtics, but he has an opportunity to earn more playing time at the start of this season while Williams recovers from surgery.

“I realize there’s definitely a great chance of being a more involved member, in terms of being on the court,” Kornet said at Media Day prior to the start of training camp. “I think it’s kind of the same thing I’ve always done, just being ready for whatever role I’m given.”

Rounding out Boston’s big man group is third-year power forward/center Mfiondu Kabengele, a 25-year-old former first-round pick who has claimed one of the team’s two-way roster spots.

Kabengele spent his last two seasons split between the Clippers and Cavaliers organizations before joining the C’s for the 2022 Summer League, where he stood out with his rebounding, shot-blocking, lob-catching, and electric style of play.

Kabengele averaged team-high marks of 8.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game for the Summer C’s, while also finishing fourth on the team in both points (14.8 per game) and assists (2.4 per game).

Celtics fans got a taste of Kabengele’s energy during the first preseason game when he dropped in 10 points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting effort in 10 minutes of action. His most memorable play was diving between two Hornets players for a loose ball, which brought Boston’s bench to its feet and got a rise out of two-time NBA Hustle award-winner Marcus Smart.

Kabengele’s two-way contract will give him an opportunity to showcase his talents both in Maine and also in Boston whenever the NBA squad is in need of some frontcourt depth.

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2022-23 Roster Breakdown: The Bigs

With the start of Celtics training camp just a couple of days away, it’s time that we break down the roster and provide an idea of what the team’s depth chart will look like heading into the 2021-22 Season.

Rather than classifying the players with the traditional 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 positional tags, we are taking a page out of President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens’ book by placing each athlete into one of the following three roles:

This week, we’ve analyzed the Celtics’ depth at the ball-handling and wing positions. Today, we wrap up our Roster Breakdown series by highlighting Boston’s bigs. As their title indicates, these are often the largest players on the floor and are usually responsible for handling the post and protecting the rim.

Robert Williams saw his role increase significantly from the first half to the second half of last season, as he transitioned from being a backup big into becoming the Celtics' starting center. Even with Al Horford and Enes Kanter back in the mix, there is still a great chance for Williams to remain in such a role – especially considering how well he meshes with Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, and Jayson Tatum, who says Williams is his “favorite person to play with.”

The 6-foot-8 big man has seen perennial improvement since entering the league, increasing his scoring, rebounding, and assists in each of his first three years. Last season, he produced career bests of 8.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.8 blocks, and 0.8 steals, while playing 18.9 minutes per game. So on a per-36 minute basis, he put up 15.2 points, a team-high 13.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 3.4 blocks, and 1.6 steals.

However, his games and minutes were limited due to a long list of health issues, including hip, knee, toe, and ankle injuries. He also missed extended time in the league’s Health and Safety Protocol. If he can avoid such misfortune this season, Williams would find himself earning much more playing time, which could then help turn him into one of the best stat-sheet stuffers in the league.

The first move that Brad Stevens made during his presidency was bringing Al Horford back to the Celtics. And the new head of basketball operations had great reason to.

Since Horford’s departure two summers ago, the Celtics have lacked in the stretch-big department. So having him return fills a significant void.

Horford’s versatility makes him an invaluable weapon on both ends of the floor. He’s able to score in the post, from the mid-range, and out beyond the arc. He can handle the ball and he’s a great passer, meaning teams can run their offense through him. And he’s a solid rim protector who can defend multiple positions, as proven when he earned All-Defensive honors with the Celtics four seasons ago.

The big question with Horford is whether his age will limit his action. At 35 years old, he is the only Celtic in the plus-30 committee, and typically a player with a 6-foot-9, 240-pound frame would begin to feel all those years creeping up by now.  However, Horford has yet to see a decline in his production; last season with Oklahoma City, he averaged 14.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game, while also shooting 36.8 percent from beyond the arc on a career-high 5.4 attempts per game. So as long as he keeps sipping from the fountain of youth, Horford should continue to have significant minutes on his plate.

Stevens brought back another locker room favorite in Enes Kanter, who has now ping-ponged back and forth between Portland and Boston over the past four seasons.

The 11-year veteran is coming off a stellar season with the Trail Blazers after averaging 11.2 points and a career-high-tying 11.0 rebounds while playing 24.2 minutes per game. He placed second in the NBA in both offensive rebounding percentage (16.8 percent) and total rebound percentage (24.2 percent), trailing only Hawks center Clint Capela in both categories. He was also one of only 11 players who appeared in all 72 games despite the uncertain nature of last season.

Kanter may not be seeing quite as many minutes now that he’s back with the Celtics (he played 16.9 minutes per game in Boston two seasons ago with averages of 8.1 PPG and 7.4 RPG), but his rebounding efficiency should remain the same whenever he's on the court. He’s a great option if the Celtics are in need of playing some traditional big minutes, as he’s a low-post monster and one of the most elite glass-cleaners in the league.

Grant Williams has established a solid frontcourt role through his first two seasons with the Celtics. He hasn’t necessarily been a stat-sheet stuffer, but he’s been a jack-of-all-trades type of player who provides defensive versatility, above-average shooting, non-stop hustle, and vocal leadership.

At 6-foot-6, Williams doesn’t fit the typical mold of a big; however, his 240-pound frame gives him plenty of strength (he was the leading bench-presser at the 2019 NBA combine) to bang bodies with opposing 4s and 5s. And Boston’s certainly going to need some extra muscle in the frontcourt this season after the departures of strongmen Semi Ojeleye and Tristan Thompson.

Another factor that will keep Williams earning minutes is his 3-point shooting, which has improved drastically since his rookie season when he missed his first 25 attempts from beyond the arc. He went from shooting 25.0 percent on 1.4 attempts per game in his first season to shooting 37.2 percent on 2.0 attempts per game in Year 2, including an exceptional 44.6 percent clip on corner triples.

Juancho Hernangomez is an interesting case in our roster breakdown because he’s somewhat on the fence between a wing and a big.  With Minnesota last season, he played 23 percent of his minutes at the 3 and 77 percent at the 4 (via Basketball-Reference), which would categorize him as a wing. Though, he also played significant minutes at the 5 when he was in Denver in previous years. So, as we considered Boston’s immense depth at the wing and the likelihood that Hernangomez will serve almost entirely as a stretch-4, we decided to slot him with the bigs.

The stretch-4 was a role that Boston needed to fill this summer, and Hernangomez gives them a solid option to call upon off the bench. The 25-year-old Spaniard has seen his scoring climb in each of the past four seasons, including a mark of 7.2 PPG last season while playing an average of 17.3 minutes per appearance.

A good chunk of Hernangomez’s scoring comes from beyond the 3-point arc, where he owns a career shooting percentage of 35.1 percent. He only shot 32.7 percent from deep last season, but playing in an offense that includes a pair of elite playmakers in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum should be mutually beneficial, as defenses will need to keep tabs on Hernangomez when he’s stationed out beyond the arc.

It didn’t take long for Bruno Fernando to win over Celtics fans this past summer, after revealing that Kevin Garnett is his favorite player of all time. The newly-acquired center will also likely earn their respect on the court once they see the KG-esque intensity that he brings to the game. If you happened to watch any Summer League action, then you already know what we’re talking about; he was the loudest, most enthusiastic player on the floor in Vegas.

Fernando joins the C’s after spending his first two seasons with the Atlanta Hawks, for whom he made 89 appearances, including 13 starts. At 6-foot-9, 240 pounds he brings a powerful presence to the frontcourt, which helped him to pull down 12.4 rebounds per 36 minutes last season.

The 23-year-old still has some areas to improve upon before he can carve out a consistent role in Boston’s rotation; however, being around a couple of established vets in Horford and Kanter should help with his development.

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2021-22-roster-breakdown-the-bigs

2021-22 Roster Breakdown: The Bigs

With the start of Celtics training camp just a few days away, it’s time that we break down the roster and provide an idea of what the team’s depth chart will look like heading into the 2021-22 Season.

Yesterday, we tipped off our roster breakdown series with Boston’s ball handlers. Today, we present their perimeter mates – the wings.

Wings are commonly the most versatile players on the floor and are relied upon to take on a heavy scoring load. Defensively, they’ll often be tasked with suppressing elite scorers on opposing teams. Depending on their skill set, they may also be tasked with taking on ball-handling duties, or they may slide into the frontcourt to take on a big man role.

The C’s are extremely deep at the wing this season, as they have seven players capable of filling the role including a couple of stars, some established veterans, and a few rising youngsters.

Jayson Tatum managed to take another jump in his fourth NBA season, becoming one of the most dominant scorers in the NBA. He averaged career-highs of 26.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game last season, while leading the league in 50-point games with four spanning across the regular season and postseason.

With that being said, the two-time All-Star may be entering his fifth campaign with a chip on his shoulder, considering how he was snubbed from making the All-NBA team last season after earning a Third-Team selection the previous year.

Tatum’s active offseason should help him take his game to an even higher level. In August, he won an Olympic gold medal with Team USA, for whom he was the second-leading scorer behind Kevin Durant. He also bulked up his frame, adding muscle that should help him become an even more lethal inside scorer and a more physical defender.

Tatum’s game was already at an ultra-elite level prior to this summer, but adding his medal-winning experience in Tokyo along with his improved physique to the equation could mean that we’re in store for yet another leap from the 23-year-old superstar.

The same could also be said about Tatum’s ever-improving wingmate, Jaylen Brown.

Last season, Brown earned his first All-Star selection while logging career-high averages of 24.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 0.6 blocks to go along with career-high shooting clips of 48.4 percent from the field, 39.7 percent from 3-point range, and 76.4 percent from the free-throw line. It was by far the most aggressive version of JB that we’ve seen to date, and it showed, as his drives to the basket per game (10.5) increased by nearly 25 percent from the previous season and by more than 100 percent from the season before that.

Unfortunately, Brown’s stellar campaign ended on a sour note as he tore a ligament in his left wrist just prior to the playoffs, resulting in him needing to undergo season-ending surgery. The good news is that the 24-year-old has been out of his cast for three months now, so his return to the court could be just around the corner.

Together, Brown and Tatum shouldered a heavy burden on both sides of the ball last season; however, the arrival of Josh Richardson should help to alleviate their workload moving forward.

Entering his seventh NBA season, Richardson is a proven veteran who can score, facilitate, and defend the perimeter at a high level.  He boasts career averages of 12.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.1 steals per game and has been a starter for the last four-and-a-half seasons while playing for a trio of playoff teams in Miami, Philadelphia, and Dallas.

Last season, Richardson started in the Mavericks backcourt alongside All-NBA point guard Luka Doncic. While Doncic dominated the scoring column, Richardson complemented him nicely, putting up 12.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game. He was also one of the league’s premier free-throw shooters, as his 91.7 percent clip ranked fifth among all players who attempted at least 100 such shots.

Richardson has built a solid reputation on the defensive end, as he has earned All-Defensive votes in two of the past four seasons. Pairing him alongside Brown, Tatum, and two-time First-Team All-Defensive guard Marcus Smart should make Boston one of the most feared perimeter defenses in the league after enduring somewhat of a down year on that end last season.

If there was a Most Improved Player from the first day of the 2020-21 season to the last, Aaron Nesmith would have easily earned that recognition for the Celtics.

The 21-year-old forward experienced typical rookie growing pains during the first few months of the season and registered 26 DNPs through Boston’s first 57 games. However, near the end of April, Nesmith began to carve out a consistent bench role as a high-energy defender and knockdown 3-point shooter.

In his first 32 appearances through 58 games, Nesmith averaged 3.2 points and 2.1 rebounds per game, while shooting 36.5 percent from the field, 31.9 percent from 3-point range, and 68.8 percent from the free-throw line. In his last 14 games of the regular season, he put up 8.2 PPG and 4.3 RPG, while shooting a remarkable 52.4 percent from the field, 46.2 percent from deep, and 91.7 percent from the foul line.

Such improvement allowed Nesmith to earn significant playoff minutes, as he proved his worth as the 14th overall pick from the 2020 Draft. All of his hard work should also open the door for a significant role this coming season, meaning his DNP days are likely long gone.

A string of unfortunate injuries led to a frustrating first two years of Romeo Langford’s career. But, as he reached full health down the final stretch of last season, he finally got to show how much potential he could bring to the table in Boston.

Langford’s defensive tenacity earned him a substantial role throughout the last two months of the 2020-21 campaign; he even earned a few spot-starts late in the season, including in the last two matchups of the playoffs. Though, he also showed promise on the offensive end, re-displaying his ability to drive the ball (he led the NCAA Division I in drives during his freshman season at Indiana), while also showing off an improved 3-point shot.

The best game of Langford’s career also happened to be his last one before the summer – a 17-point, two-assist, two-steal, two-block effort against the Brooklyn Nets in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

Putting icing on the cake, Langford was finally able to have his first completely healthy offseason this summer, which means he had four full months to prepare and improve heading into his third season.

Each of the aforementioned wings brings a high level of defensive intensity to the game. In Jabari Parker’s case, he’s capable of providing instant offense.

Signed as a late-season addition last spring, Parker produced a handful of impressive outings, including an 18-point, seven-rebound effort in the regular-season finale against the New York Knicks and a pair of double-digit playoff performances against Brooklyn.

The 6-foot-8 veteran forward averaged 16.7 points and 9.4 rebounds per 36 minutes in 10 regular-season appearances, and 20.7 points and 9.2 rebounds per 36 in four playoff games, making him one of the Celtics’ most efficient scorers and rebounders during his limited action.

The question heading into his first full season with the C’s is whether Parker can remain healthy. The 26-year-old has been cursed with injuries throughout his career, which derailed a once-promising start with the Milwaukee Bucks. If he can amend that trend and stay on the court this season, the former No. 2 overall draft pick could be a solid offensive option off the bench.

Undrafted rookie Sam Hauser is the only player, so far, who has earned a two-way contract with the Boston Celtics and Maine Celtics for this upcoming season.

Hauser joins the organization after four standout collegiate seasons at Marquette (2016-19) and Virginia (2020-21). He’s fresh off an All-ACC season with the Cavaliers during which he averaged 16.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, while shooting 41.7 percent from deep on 151 such attempts.

Sharpshooting is Hauser’s specialty, as he showed at the 2021 Summer League. The 6-foot-8 forward shot 46.2 percent from long range during five appearances for the Summer C’s, which included a 21-point, 6-for-10 3-point effort against the Orlando Magic.

Per his contract, Hauser will be splitting time between Boston and Portland, Maine this season, as he tries to make his case for becoming a full-time NBA player.

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2021-22-roster-breakdown-the-wings

2021-22 Roster Breakdown: The Wings

We begin this series with arguably the most important role on the court – the ball-handling position.

Boston has several players who are capable of steering the offense, including a few wings and bigs, such as Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Al Horford, among others; however, there are only three guys who fit into a true ball-handling role.

Here is the trio that will be largely responsible for controlling the pace for the Celtics this season:

Marcus Smart has improved tremendously as a playmaker over the last couple of years and is coming off career-best averages of 13.1 points and 5.7 assists per game in 2020-21. This season, he’ll have a chance to shine even more.

Following the offseason departure of Kemba Walker, Smart will now be Boston’s primary ball handler, a role in which he should thrive.

Over the years, Smart has often either backed up Boston’s lead floor general or filled in when needed, such as last season when he stepped in for Walker while the former All-Star was working his way back from offseason knee surgery. Smart played roughly 45 percent of his minutes at the point guard position last season which, according to Basketball-Reference, was the highest mark since his rookie season (74 percent) when he was backing up Rajon Rondo.

Being Boston’s longest-tenured player should benefit Smart in this role, as he knows the system and his teammates’ tendencies as well as anyone. For instance, he’s built solid chemistry with Brown and Tatum over the last several years and understands how to facilitate open looks for the star tandem, and he had a special connection with Al Horford during Horford's first stint with the team.

Smart has always been relied upon to be a defensive stalwart for the Celtics, but this year, the team needs him to continue to step up on the offensive end as they put the ball in his hands.

The Celtics would have been fairly light on ball handlers heading into this season if it hadn’t been for the surprise addition of Dennis Schroder in mid-August. And what an addition he should be.

Schroder brings to the table eight years of NBA experience and career averages of 14.3 points and 4.7 assists per game. Last season, he started 61 games for the Los Angeles Lakers and finished second on the team in assists (5.8 per game) behind LeBron James.

In recent years, Schroder has been a facilitator for several Hall-of-Fame-bound, high-volume scorers including Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, and James. Such experience should be helpful as the 28-year-old transitions into playing alongside a couple of rising superstars in Brown and Tatum.

Much of Schroder’s playmaking is initiated by driving to the basket. Last season, the shifty guard averaged 13.3 drives per game, which would have placed him first on the Celtics in that category ahead of both Tatum (12.4) and Brown (10.5). He chose to pass on 42.9 percent of those drives, a trend which should bode well for Boston’s shooters as Schroder will look to kick out to them on the perimeter if he can't find an open look inside.

Rounding out Boston’s trio of ball handlers is sophomore point guard Payton Pritchard. The 6-foot-1 University of Oregon product burst onto the scene as a rookie last season, averaging 7.7 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game, all while shooting 41.1 percent from 3-point range. By the end of the season, it was clear that the Celtics got a steal in the previous year’s draft, considering how 25 players had been picked before Pritchard and he out-performed most of them.

Pritchard is primed to break out even more in his second season, especially after the Summer League showing he just put forth in Las Vegas, where he averaged 16.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 8.5 assists, and 1.8 steals while shooting 47.8 percent from the field, 46.9 percent from long range, and 88.9 percent from the free-throw line.

Now that there’s less traffic on the ball-handler depth chart, Pritchard should have plenty of opportunities to zoom into a more substantial role.

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2021-22-roster-breakdown-the-ball-handlers

2021-22 Roster Breakdown: The Ball Handlers

Now that the Boston Celtics have officially begun their preseason, it’s time that we break down the roster and provide an idea of what the team’s depth chart will look like heading into the 2020-21 campaign.

Rather than classifying the players with the traditional 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 positional tags, we are taking a page out of coach Brad Stevens’ book by placing each athlete into one of the following three roles:

This week, we’ve analyzed the Celtics’ depth at the ball-handling and wing positions. Today, we wrap up our Roster Breakdown series by highlighting Boston’s bigs. As their title indicates, these are the largest players on the floor and they’re responsible for handling the post and protecting the rim.

The biggest acquisition that the Celtics made this offseason – both literally and figuratively – was the signing of veteran center Tristan Thompson. The 6-foot-9, 254-pound big man checks off a lot of boxes that the Celtics needed to cover heading into this season, from his interior scoring abilities to his rebounding and rim-protecting skills to his championship pedigree.

After spending his first nine seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, sticking with them through the good and the bad, Thompson finally felt it was time to move on and join a young team on the rise that he believes has a chance to be a title contender. And being the only current member of the C’s with title experience, having been a member of Cleveland’s 2016 championship team, Thompson knows what it takes to get over the hump of the Eastern Conference Finals and hopes to share his wealth of knowledge with his new teammates.

Thompson also brings a combination of skills that the Celtics were in need of, being a tough, physical frontcourt player who can rack up boards on either end of the court. He’s averaged a double-double in scoring and rebounding during each of the last two campaigns, including a career-high 12.0 points and 10.1 rebounds per game last season when he also averaged a career-best in assists with 2.1 per game.

Unfortunately, Thompson is currently sidelined with a hamstring strain, so we won’t see any of him this preseason. However, he’s not expected to miss much time at all, and possibly could be ready to go by the regular-season opener.

If there was an unsung hero award for last year’s team, Daniel Theis would have surely been the recipient. The third-year big man stepped into a starting role after the departure of Al Horford and flew under the radar among Boston’s All-Star caliber cast of wings and ball handlers, while averaging career highs of 9.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.

Theis earned a great deal of appreciation from his teammates for doing so much of the dirty work on both ends of the court. The 6-foot-8 center held his own against larger opponents under the rim, while also being versatile enough to step out to the perimeter to defend guards. He also proved to be one of the best sealers in the league, as he constantly put his body on the line to help pave easy paths for his teammates to get to the rim.