The Celtics are kicking off 2024 with their busiest stretch of the year including five games in seven nights starting with a Jazz matchup Friday in Boston. Let’s jump into some questions about the team in this week’s mailbag as they try to stay atop the Eastern Conference amid a brutal stretch. If you have questions about the Celtics or NBA, free agency or more email brobb@masslive.com or tweet @briantrobb
Brian,
Could you explain Joe Mazzulla’s logic not calling a timeout at the end of the OKC game with 12.1 left? The Cs needed two scores and only had one timeout, so they were obviously going to have to go full court at least one time.
But by not calling that first time out, they took 8.4 seconds off the clock and only left 3.7 seconds remaining to a) foul and b) get the ball the length of the court and score. At that point, even if Porzingis’ shot is a 3, the game is over as they don’t have enough time. It seemed like a major time burn on Mazzulla’s part. — Sean
I think there is no good route for the Celtics to take there. If they take the timeout in that spot, they are left with none which is a major problem on the ensuing possession. Assuming they made a 3 and are in a one-possession game, they would have to go the length of the floor to try to tie the game. That’s a recipe to get fouled before even getting a shot up to try to tie the game with little time left on the clock.
Instead, Mazzulla gambled to try to get the 3 without using the timeout so he would be able to do it on the ensuing possession and increase the odds of getting off a game-tying shot from the half court. There are drawbacks to either option as we saw by the Celtics’ strategy but that was the mentality from Mazzulla for that sequence.
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Happy New Year. Keep up the great work. No one is missing Marcus Smart or Grant Williams in the least are they? Gotta give GM Stevens credit. — Malcolm W
It’s certainly a situation where Stevens pulled off moves at the right time. To be honest, he was probably a year late on moving a guard (be it Smart or someone else). That area was loaded after the acquisition of Malcolm Brogdon and clearly there weren’t enough minutes to go around for everyone. By opening the door for more minutes for White and filling a huge need with Porzingis, the Smart deal was clearly a home run.
The Grant deal remains to be seen from an evaluation standpoint. The team let an asset walk away for future draft picks and a small TPE. If the Celtics do something useful with that TPE that would make it defensible. However, if Boston ends up being a big short in the postseason due to injury after letting Williams walk, that’s a situation that will be rightfully second-guessed.
Brian,
Do you anticipate any Celtics being waived before their contracts become guaranteed next week? Thanks, Jeff
I asked directly to Brad Stevens at his press conference on Thursday and he played it pretty close to the vest.
“I’ve been really pleased with all those guys,” Stevens said. “I don’t want to say what we do or don’t do. I don’t ever want to speak in absolutes but I’ve been really impressed with all those guys. They’ve all come in and done well for us.”
For the record, Dalano Banton, Svi Mykhailiuk, Lamar Stevens and Luke Kornet are all playing on non-guaranteed deals. I’d say Kornet is a lock to stay put given his major role and the same goes for Banton since the team has control on his deal through next season at low money. That leaves Stevens and Mykhailiuk as potential cut options. I’d guess one of them gets moved if forced to bet but would think its close to a coin flip. The expectation here is one gets traded if the team moves on instead of being cut. That way the Celtics would save millions in luxury tax penalties by clearing the salary.
What do you think about if the Celtics could add two players like Fontecchio and Achiuwa? One player could be added by TPE and the other one via trade — Frederico
Achiuwa would have been an intriguing name as a big but he’s off the board now it feels like with the Knicks. They like him as a backup center and have that need with Mitchell Robinson out for the year Fontecchio certainly fills the need for another big wing that could shoot. The price is also right with his salary being $3.2 million. Would Danny Ainge help out the Celtics or try to squeeze a bounty of second round picks out for a depth piece? Find out in the next few weeks!
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