Year two of the rebuild for Danny Ainge and the Boston Celtics is underway and the roster is filled with new life and youth after this offseason. While the Eastern Conference is still very weak, the Celtics aren’t likely to make the playoffs yet. Let’s take a look at what this offseason was like:
In: Tyler Zeller, Marcus Thornton, Marcus Smart, James Young, Evan Turner and Dwight Powell
Out: Jerryd Bayless, Kris Humphries, Joel Anthony, Keith Bogans, Chris Johnson and Chris Babb
The Celtics began the offseason by using some of their massive stash of picks on some dynamic players in PG Marcus Smart and SG/SF James Young of Oklahoma State and Kentucky respectively. After that, they were the major benefactors of Cleveland’s cap clearing efforts for LeBron James, by picking up a true center in Tyler Zeller and SG Marcus Thornton (from the Nets) for almost nothing. They rounded out their offseason by taking a flyer on the former number two overall pick, Evan Turner and trading bad contracts in Joel Anthony and Keith Bogans and even picking up another rookie in former Stanford standout Dwight Powell.
The Celtics have upgraded their roster slightly but the more important thing that Danny Ainge has done is acquire numerous first and second round draft picks, as well as expiring contracts which could set themselves up for bigger names to join the fold. But for now, the Celtics will have to look from more out of their rotations. Here is what they could look like.
PG: Rajon Rondo, Marcus Smart, and Phil Pressey
SG: Avery Bradley, Marcus Thornton, and James Young
SF: Jeff Green, Evan Turner, and Gerald Wallace
PF: Jared Sullinger, Brandon Bass, and Dwight Powell
C: Kelly Olynyk, Tyler Zeller, and Vitor Faverani
There are still injury concerns with Rajon Rondo, but he is looking more and more likely that he will be back for opening night. Vitor Faverani will miss extended time with a knee injury but for the most part, this is a surprisingly healthy team, who saw injuries to almost every top of the line rotation player last year.
The Celtics have added a three-point shooting dimension in Marcus Thornton and James Young, as well as vastly improved three-point shooting from Jared Sullinger, Brandon Bass and Kelly Olynyk. Brad Stevens will get this team fired up despite the negative outlook on the playoffs to start the year. At the end of the day, expect Danny Ainge to make some moves (Rajon Rondo or Jeff Green trade?) and set this team up to spend big time in free agency this year. It will be another long year but will see some improvement. Prediction: 32-50 (11th in the East)
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