Several Celtics have been busy this week taking part in the Olympics while the NBA offseason quiets down as a whole. With Team USA set to play some pivotal games in the knockout round next week, let’s get to a busy mailbag featuring questions on the roster heading into next season. If you have questions about the Celtics or NBA, email brobb@masslive.com or tweet @briantrobb
Who on the Celtics will have the biggest jump from last to this upcoming season? Also do you think Jaylen could have another big leap or do you think this is the best we could get just on more efficiency? –Nathan R
That’s a tough prediction given how well most of the Celtics roster performed this past year. Hard to ask more of the rotation guys when all of them shot 37 percent or better from 3-point range outside of Jaylen Brown. Out of guys who will get regular minutes, I’m intrigued by what Xavier Tillman will look like with a full year under his belt. He’s still only 25 and while knee issues slowed him down in recent seasons, he’s certainly capable of being a better finisher than we saw last year. Payton Pritchard had a strong year as well but it feels like he’s capable of still hitting another level if opportunity knocks in the backcourt.
With Jaylen, I think he’s been as consistent as anyone improving from year-to-year so I expect some more progress on that front, even though its hard to imagine he gets better from an efficiency standpoint. 57 percent from 2-point range is stellar given his shot profile so I’d be looking more for on building upon his playmaking for others/turnover reduction, something that he made some big strides in last year.
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How much is Tatum losing his shot in the playoffs just fatigue from the number of minutes he logs vs coincidence vs something else? — Daniel
Tatum has been somewhat of a streaky 3-point shooter in his career so I take most of his slump in the postseason from 3 as a coincidence above all else. The length of which he’s struggled is probably the longest of his career given he had a 25-game stretch shooting below 30 percent since the start of April. The fact the struggles have persisted so far during the Olympics schedule is not ideal and is probably a contributing factor to his benching in the opener. It was a bit wild to even see him hit the side of the backboard on a corner jumper against South Sudan and his lack of aggressiveness obviously in that contest was noteworthy, but understandable given the competition.
There’s little doubt the Celtics will be monitoring his fatigue closely this year coming off the Finals and Olympics but it’s hard to blame that for his shooting woes given the short series that the Celtics played. If he struggles out of the gate next season, it’s time to worry a little bit but I’m not there yet given his track record.
Do the Celtics have a single “bad contract? — JLK
They do not and that’s a very big part of what has made this team a success last year. Brad Stevens bought low on starter-level players (Derrick White, Kristaps Porzingis) via trade and also hit on bench players at discount rates (Sam Hauser, Luke Kornet) that allowed him to make an all-in move for a Jrue Holiday-type like we saw last September.
For all the payroll challenges the Celtics are going to have with the luxury repeater tax beginning next year, it all seems a lot more manageable with the team’s contracts on the books. With no bad deals limiting Boston’s options, Stevens will not need to dump any draft assets or players to get off a deal if he’s required to by ownership. Instead, the Celtics are well positioned to net an asset if player(s) have to be moved.
Jrue Holiday’s deal has a chance to age poorly eventually but after his play this postseason, that’s a contract most any contender would be happy to take on.
What areas of the game can the Celtics improve in the next season, including the coaching stuff. Thank you. — Nikita
It’s pretty tough to find a lot of ways for a 64-win title team to improve after they cruised through the playoffs with a 16-3 record. The Celtics had the best offense in the league and the third best defense so maintaining anything close to those levels would be a huge win for the franchise given the improvements around them in the Eastern Conference. There’s room for growth in crunch time execution from the regular season for sure but the Celtics looked far better in those moments during the postseason (see: Pacers series). Coaching-wise, the challenge will be bigger to balance playing time around injuries and filling the loss for a guy like Charles Lee will force other assistants to step up but this is a coaching staff with plenty of rising stars on the assistant front. Just doing what they did last year again would be a big win for the franchise.
