The Boston Celtics are the NBA’s most recently eliminated team after nearly becoming the first team in NBA history to overcome a 3-0 deficit. Still, in Game 7, they suffered an embarrassing, tough loss versus the Miami Heat, which leads to many questioning what they will do this offseason.
Coach Mazzulla
The number one discussion point with the Celtics is their coaching situation. Many blamed Joe Mazzulla for the 3-0 deficit and some of the struggles versus the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers in earlier rounds.
To me, it doesn’t feel like Mazzulla deserves that much blame. He still led the Celtics to a 57 win season and was just a game away from the Finals. Sometimes it takes more than a year for a coach to truly gel with a roster; see the NBA Finals this year, as both head coaches are some of the longest tenured coaches with their organization currently in the NBA. Mazzulla was thrown into the job without much notice with a staff that wasn’t even his. In fact, three of the Celtics assistant coaches will be leaving this offseason to join Ime Udoka in Houston.
Jaylen Brown
The next biggest topic of discussion is Jaylen Brown, who is eligible for a massive $295M supermax extension after making the All-NBA 2nd Team. This would be the biggest contract in NBA history, and let’s be honest -- is Brown truly worth this large of a contract? Does he deserve the richest contract, given he still is a flawed player in some aspects despite his clearly immense talent? He’s an awesome shot creator and has the basis to be a very good defender, but his handle, playmaking, decision making are not up to par to being quite worth this contract.
Additionally, people have brought up the idea of trading Jaylen Brown, with destinations including the Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets, and Atlanta Hawks. If you’re Boston Boston, a win now team, where can you really move Brown that allows you to improve? The only option feels like Damian Lillard, and that doesn’t feel super likely. It feels like paying Brown is the best option because Boston cannot afford to let him walk for nothing after the 2023-24 season. It doesn’t feel like an amazing option, surely, but it is the best.
The Rest of the C’s Future
Boston has nearly its entire roster under contract for the 2023-24 season. Their only expiring contracts are Grant Williams (RFA), Mike Muscala (TO), Payton Pritchard (TO) -- who just asked for a trade (for what is likely a lack of playing time) --, and Blake Griffin. Their entire core is set to be back. In fact, their entire core with the exception of Jaylen Brown is under contract for the 2024-25 season, too. They are really locked in to the group they have.
And that’s why they need to decide if this group can get them over the top and win a title. They only way to truly alter this roster is going to be through trades with so much money locked up to their roster. Just look at some of the contracts the Celtics owe their guys in the 2023-24 amd 2024-25 seasons:
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Jayson Tatum $32.6M / $34.8M
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Jaylen Brown: $30.7M / expired
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Malcolm Brogdon: $22.5M / $22.5M
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Marcus Smart: $18.6M / $20.0M
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Derrick White: $18.1M / $19.3M
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Robert Williams: $11.8M / $12.7M
Al Horford is due about $10M per year for the two years, too. He is yet another question mark for this roster. He is still quite the defender, but his shot fell off in the postseason, and he will soon be 37. He can’t have a true long-term role here in Boston, so they need to find another big man. Robert Williams can’t be the only big man here.
A criticism of the Celtics over the last two seasons is their lack of a true point guard and playmaker. Although Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum have developed to be quality playmakers, neither are truly elite in the facet and are sometimes prone to turning the ball over too much. Some say they should go out and trade for a true point guard rather because their trio of combo guards in Smart, Derrick White, and Malcolm Brogdon do not create enough high quality looks for the rest of the roster.
Also, shoutout to Derrick White. He’s one of the league’s most underrated two-way players, as for stretches of this season, he was truly at a borderline All-Star level.
https://twitter.com/CharlieSpungin/status/1663620279484948480?s=20
Boston’s got decisions to make, but it really can’t be a terrible decision for the C’s to run it back with this roster. After all, they were just one game away from the NBA Finals, and we just saw how that worked for the Miami Heat.
Charlie Spungin , NBA Analyst