Mid-Season Report Card: Celtics

If losing the last three of four ECFs wasn't enough, the Celtics are just above .500 in a weak conference, but are a move away from real contention.

What happened?

The Celtics had a very quick return to play following their Bubble run that ultimately came up short against Miami in the conference finals, and that combined with both a lack of depth and inconsistent play from their three stars adds up to why they've been bad.

They essentially have the same record as the Knicks, which no one would've believed if they were told that prior to the start of the season.

Jayson Tatum was sidelined with Covid for a couple of weeks which explains the record of this team, and upon returning, he hasn't been himself. Tatum stated that he hasn't been able to catch his breath as well as before contracting the virus, and that's a very unfortunate situation.

Jaylen Brown stepped up in his absence, earning his first all-star selection, but cooled off in the games going into the break.

Kemba Walker hasn't been able to string together games with efficiency, and the Celtics hope he can turn it around before the playoffs start since they need a central facilitator to complement the two scoring stars.

The backbone of the team in Marcus Smart has missed an extended period of time following an injury against the Lakers, which also attributes to the Celtics' struggles.

Depth

Danny Ainge needs to go shopping, and he needs to acquire that one piece that they're lacking if he wants his team to make it past the first and second rounds of the East playoffs. They have pieces in Thompson, Robert Williams, Grant Williams, and surprise rookie Payton Pritchard, but none that can be reliable any given night.

The departure of Gordon Hayward proves his importance to the previous Celtics teams.

Said shopping

Given the aforementioned list of players, the Celtics don't have enticing pieces to give away for a star like Nikola Vučević. We'll see how Ainge approaches this apparent issue.

Grade:

C-