Amid the Boston Celtics dealing their franchise player to the Dallas Mavericks, we breakdown what’s left of the C’s roster
With Rajon Rondo’s departure, the last piece of the Boston Celtics’ “Big Three” era is gone.
However, Rondo’s exodus also signals a new chapter in Celtics history; it finally allows the Celtics to properly move forward. The men in green will no longer have to worry about appeasing a superstar who may be past his prime. With that said, the Celtics do have a wealth of young pieces in place that they can build with in the wake of the trade.
First and foremost, the vacany left by Rondo signals a new era at point guard for the Boston Celtics, with Marcus Smart finally being able to take the reins as the lead guard in Boston. Although Smart does not have the passing acumen that Rondo possesses, Smart is a bigger guard who can grow into the defender that the Mavericks’ new guard was.
In addition to the defensive capabilities that Smart brings to the table, he is also more of a natural scorer than Rondo is, so Brad Stevens and the rest of the Celtics’ brass can look to him to be a focal point on both ends of the court moving forward.
First and foremost, the vacancy left by Rondo signals a new era at point guard for the celtics with Marcus Smart finally being able to take the reins as the lead guard in Boston.
Rondo’s exit from Boston also clears up what was somewhat of a logjam in the backcourt, and Stevens may finally see what how Smart and newly-extended, fifth-year guard, Avery Bradley work together. Even though spacing may be somewhat of an issue for Smart and Bradley, neither of whom are shooting better than 32.4 percent from the three-point line this year, both can hound opposing guards into submission and turnovers for the better part of four quarters, which will be a tantalizing notion for Stevens and Celtics’ fans for many years.
Even though Smart and Bradley don’t provide an immediate replacement for Rondo, and lynchpins for the future, the Celtics do have more encouraging pieces on the roster, especially in the frontcourt.
One of those pieces is third-year big man Jared Sullinger, who has displayed leadership and growth this season. Sullinger has grown into his more vital role this season by posting a career-high in Player Efficiency Rating (PER), assists, rebounding and points. Moving forward, the team is likely to accept its option on Sullinger’s contract this summer, and barring injury or a major drop-off in production, the team should look to extend the $3.2 million qualifying offer in 2016.
Sullinger’s frontcourt mate, second-year center Kelly Olynyk, is also another player that could be an integral piece in the Celtics’ rebuilding process. In his sophomore year, Olynyk has seen marked improvement in several categories like minutes, points, field goal percentage, three-point percentage and rebounding. Although Olynyk has shown flashes of brilliance, he tends to operate on the perimeter, which is disconcerting for a franchise center. Maybe Olynyk turns out to be a contributor in the Mehmet Okur mold, where he can score from the post and three-point line, but if he fails to develop into that, Olynyk may be relegated to a much lesser role in the team’s plans.
The Celtics also possess another big man who they could move forward with and build their interior around. That big man is third-year center, and first-year Celtic, Tyler Zeller. Although Zeller does not posses the shooting acumen that Olynyk does, Zeller is a much more traditional big man. By that, I mean that Zeller does like to play with his back to the basket and is less adverse to physicality than Olynyk is, as evidence by their nearly identical rebounding averages, despite Zeller playing more than six minutes less per game.
In addition to a more old school approach, Zeller seems to be the far more efficient player of the two, as he has a 22.0 PER in comparison to Olynyk’s 17.02 mark. Zeller’s edge on efficiency doesn’t end there though, he also shoots more than 13 percent better from the field and more than 17 percent better from the charity stripe.
It also remains to be seen how the Celtics fit newly acquired forward/center Brandan Wright into the rotation, but as of right now, the Boston Celtics seem to be better served with Zeller being the primary center as they head toward a new era.
In lieu of the transition the Celtics are making, they have a few key contributors that they will need to make crucial decisions on, with the most notable being Jeff Green. Green who will most likely accept his $9.4 million player option this summer and will become a free agent in the summer of 2016, by which time he’ll be 30 years old.
At this stage, the Celtics seem intent on tearing everything down and building around a homegrown foundation of young players like Smart and rookie forward James Young, so it might be wise for them to let Green walk in 2016, barring some type of unseen breakout season in 2015.
Another key veteran that may see his days in Celtic green numbered is Brandon Bass. Unless he is willing to return on a shorter contract and at a discounted price, the Celtics may be better served to let him walk to open up more playing time for Sullinger and Wright.
The rest of the Celtics roster fills out with either inexperienced players that simply won’t factor into the Celtics’ grand plan or aging veterans on their last legs that the Celtics have acquired in recent trades. However, the select few that are poised to stay in Boston for the next few years look to be a part of one of the youngest and unique rosters in two or three years time, especially with multiple draft picks coming in from the Mavericks and Nets.
Rajon Rondo’s trade to the Mavericks has taken away the only all star-caliber player that the Boston Celtics had this year, but it has allowed the C’s to build an environment, and a team, that can cultivate and nurture new stars who may play themselves into Celtics lore one day.
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