Quarter-Season Grades for Each Boston Celtics Player

The Boston Celtics faced high expectations this preseason, but they have struggled to live up to that hype a quarter of the way through their 2016-17 campaign.

Several players are putting together terrific individual numbers—such as Isaiah Thomas and Avery Bradley—but the team overall has been saddled by uneven stretches for the first two months of the year. The periodic struggles have been, for the most part, due to injuries to key contributors (Thomas, Al Horford, Jae Crowder). 

"We had a lot of tough challenges, especially at the start of the season, ahead of us," head coach Brad Stevens said last week. "There are things you can't predict going into a new year with regard to availability, but I said at the beginning of the year we're as close to second or third as we are to 10th. We still are."

The tide may be turning after a comeback win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night. It was the third straight victory for Boston amid signs it is beginning to find a rhythm with the opening-night starting five fully healthy. The Celtics are 10-3 in games when that core has been intact, although many of those wins have come against inferior opposition. 

That promising play will be put to the test during the coming weeks, with six of Boston's next seven opponents sporting .500 or better records. 

Since roles differ across the roster, players will be graded on a sliding scale in this report card. A star like Thomas faces different expectations than rookie Demetrius Jackson, and he will be judged accordingly. Players are listed in order of importance. 

Deep Reserves

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No. 15: Demetrius Jackson, PG

The Celtics backcourt is the deepest spot on the roster, which has forced Demetrius Jackson to spend the majority of his rookie season earning reps with the Maine Red Claws, Boston's NBA D-League affiliate. The 22-year-old showed plenty of promise during the preseason, but his 17 total NBA minutes aren't enough to grant him a grade.   

Grade: Incomplete

No. 14: Jordan Mickey, PF

Jordan Mickey's best chance of making an impact during the 2016-17 season likely came and went when Al Horford (concussion) and Kelly Olynyk (shoulder) were sidelined for extended stretches. The 6'8" forward failed to prove himself a capable contributor in his nine games of action, as shown by his team-worst plus/minus (minus-3.8 per game).

Grade: D+

No. 13: James Young, SG/SF

The writing was already on the wall for James Young in October when the Celtics elected not to pick up the option on the fourth year of his rookie deal. The 21-year-old forward has yet to make the front office regret that decision, as he's failed to crack the 28 percent mark from three-point range for the third straight season. Young's defensive awareness is also a liability, giving him no clear path to regular minutes in Stevens' rotation.   

Grade: D

No. 12: Gerald Green, SG/SF

The scoring decline this veteran swingman experienced with the Miami Heat last year has carried over to Boston so far. Gerald Green, 30, is last on the Celtics in both field-goal percentage (29.4) and three-point percentage (26.9). A hip injury during training camp could be affecting his jumper, but the 6'8" wing may not stick around Boston much longer if he can't break out of that slump in the coming weeks.

Grade: D

No. 11: Tyler Zeller, C

The 7-footer was a regular part of the team's big-man rotation at the start of the season, but his playing time has diminished in recent weeks, as Olynyk and Horford have received clean bills of health. With Stevens opting for lineups that can stretch the floor, Tyler Zeller's offensive limitations make him an afterthought behind the likes of Olynyk and Jonas Jerebko.  

Grade: C-

Bench Rotation

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No. 10: Jaylen Brown, SF

The Celtics drafted Jaylen Brown at No. 3 overall because they believed he would contribute right away. The rookie has lived up to expectations on that front, showing impressive flashes of athleticism around the rim, as well as an improved three-point stroke (32.1 percent) from his freshman year at Cal. He's an unfinished product, but he's outplayed Green and Young on the wing to earn regular minutes behind Jae Crowder.  

Grade: B-

No. 9: Kelly Olynyk, PF/C

Offseason shoulder surgery kept Kelly Olynyk on the sidelines for the first two weeks of the regular season, but he's still struggling to find his offensive rhythm as 2017 approaches. The 7-footer is posting career lows in points per game (8.0), field-goal percentage (43.4) and three-point percentage (34.8) in the final year of his rookie contract. That inefficient production has caused the offense to sputter when Olynyk is on the court, as the Celtics are scoring 9.1 fewer points per 100 possessions with him out there.  

Grade: C

No. 8: Jonas Jerebko, PF

Jonas Jerebko has been one of the few bench members with a reliable three-point shot (38.0 percent) through the first two months of the season—that has made him a critical staple of Stevens' big-man rotation. The 6'10" Swede earned his first start of the season on Dec. 5 against the Houston Rockets, and more opportunities could be looming, thanks to his spacing ability and versatile defense.

"There will be games where Jonas starts," Stevens said last week. "Probably not quite as many as Amir [Johnson], but certainly, there will be games...when we just feel like we need the skill on the floor and we wanted to match [centers] up with Al [Horford]." 

Grade: B

No. 7: Terry Rozier, PG/SG

The offseason departure of Evan Turner created a lack of shot creators off the bench, and Terry Rozier has tried to fill that void during his second season. The 21-year-old has lacked efficiency within his offense (37.5% FG) as he's increased his workload, but he's also been a positive contributor in other facets of the game.

Rozier's 5.6 defensive rebounds per 36 minutes are the fifth-best total on the team despite his 6'2" frame. He's also turning the ball over on just 7.5 percent of his possessions, the lowest mark among Celtics regulars.    

Grade: B

No. 6: Marcus Smart, PG/SG

The belief was that Marcus Smart's shooting numbers from last season (34.8% FG, 25.3% 3PT) couldn't get worse. But the problem is that they haven't gotten much better. Through 28 games, he's only improved his shooting percentage from the field (36.3) and three-point range (26.9) by just over 1.5 points, making him one of the league's least accurate high-volume shooters.

Smart is still doing enough on the defensive end to make him a positive (net rating of plus-1.2) for the Celtics, and his playmaking (4.2 assists per game) has been a plus as well. Still, his inept shot continues to cast a lengthy shadow over his overall game.   

Grade: C+

5. Amir Johnson, PF/C

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Amir Johnson remains the Celtics' starting center, but his consistency as a reliable member of the frontcourt has diminished in 2016-17. The 6'8" big man is averaging just 19.4 minutes per game, his lowest total since 2009-10.

The main reason for Johnson's reduced playing time lies within his lackluster work on the defensive glass. The 29-year-old is grabbing only 7.4 rebounds per 36 minutes, the worst mark of his career since becoming a regular rotation player. The Celtics are one of the five worst rebounding teams in the NBA, so his inability to hold his own in the trenches makes him a liability.

Johnson's biggest strength is supposed to be his interior defense, but the Celtics actually have a better defensive rating when he's off the floor.

Combine that with his inability to effectively space the floor on offense, and the 10-year veteran has a lot to improve if he wants to keep his starting slot for the remainder of the season.

Grade: C-   

4. Jae Crowder, SF

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Jae Crowder made it a priority this summer to improve his perimeter shooting in order to be a better threat within Stevens' pace-and-space offense.

"I should have a lot of shots on the court where it's just me stepping into a shot and making it," he said before the season. "So I'm just trying to work on those shots. And of course, like I said, I just feel more comfortable off the dribble, making a shot, making a pull-up, or if it be just coming off the pick, stepping back and shooting a three."

The small forward is well on his way to accomplishing that goal a quarter of the way through his sixth season. He's on pace to post career bests in both field-goal percentage (47.4) and three-point percentage (39.6) despite being slowed by a sprained ankle that sidelined him for two weeks in November.

The 26-year-old remains one of the best wing defenders in the NBA, as ESPN's real defensive plus/minus puts him No. 10 among all small forwards. That consistency—combined with his improved jump shot and the fact that he's in the second season of his five-year, $35 million pact—makes Crowder one of the best bargains around the league.    

Grade: A- 

3. Avery Bradley, SG

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Avery Bradley was one of the NBA's best backcourt defenders last year, but it's a different part of his game that has garnered headlines in 2016-17: his rebounding.

The 6'3" shooting guard has picked up the slack for an undersized Celtics front line on the glass, grabbing a team-leading 7.5 rebounds per game. That total more than doubles his career average (2.9) and has put him in position to be the first guard in franchise history to lead the team in boards. 

The spike in production has been part of a calculated strategy by Stevens to have his bigs box out while his guards swoop in to crash the glass. 

"I think Avery is doing a great job pursuing the ball, but he'll be the first to tell you that a big reason why he's grabbing those rebounds is because bigs are blocking out," Stevens said. "There is an opening to grab the rebound."

The added wrinkle to the 26-year-old's game headlines a career year for Bradley in several statistical categories (18.0 PPG, 2.6 APG, 48.2% FG, 42.4% 3PT).

However, Boston's defensive rating is five points better when Bradley is on the bench, a number that can be blamed partly on the heavy minutes he's logged with the second unit.  

Grade: A-

2. Al Horford, PF/C

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The $113 million offseason addition has excelled for his new team in several surprising areas. The 6'10" big man has been a constant facilitator for Stevens' offense, dishing out a career-high 5.3 assists per game, the second-highest total on the roster behind Isaiah Thomas. 

"I think it's one of his great qualities, his passing," Stevens said last week. "I thought that before we got him, but we're trying to make an emphasis of when he catches it, making sure we're cutting well.”

The additional playmaking has helped the Celtics post a team-best 112.3 offensive rating when Horford is on the floor, despite the fact that his individual shooting numbers are on the decline. 

Defensively, the Celtics have benefited from Horford's resurgence as a rim protector. His 2.4 blocks per 36 minutes is a career best, a surprising accomplishment for a player at age 30. He's thrived patrolling the paint while providing strong help for elite defenders like Bradley and Crowder. 

Boston's overall defensive metrics are down from last season, largely due to bottom-five defensive rebounding. That's an area that Horford is not helping in by grabbing a career-low 18.2 percent of all available defensive boards.

The four-time All-Star has shown a steady decline in that area for the past few seasons, so it will be on the front office to find a big man that can help mask Horford's glass deficiencies during the second half of the year.   

Grade: B+

1. Isaiah Thomas, PG

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After earning his first career All-Star appearance last season, Isaiah Thomas has done plenty in the first quarter of his 2016-17 campaign to prove he's worthy once again.

The 5'9" point guard is averaging a career-best 26.6 points in just 33.3 minutes per game. He's ahead of superstar names such as Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and LeBron James in that category (seventh overall in the NBA), but he has saved his best offensive work for clutch situations.

Thomas is averaging 8.4 points per game in the fourth quarter, the second-highest mark in the league behind Russell Westbrook. While carrying a heavy offensive burden late in games, he still is properly balancing his scoring instincts with his point guard duties. Thomas has posted a career-best 32.9 percent assist rate on the year, a sign that the six-year veteran is picking his spots between attacking and setting up teammates.

Boston's defensive rating remains about three points better without the undersized guard on the floor, but another career offensive year from the 27-year-old guard has silenced any questions about his importance to the team.

"If it was anybody else, we wouldn't be talking about that," Thomas said of his critics last week. "I'm 5'9"—that's the only reason why they say that. I'm fine with that. I know what I bring to the table. My teammates know what I bring. As long as they are happy, I'm fine."

Grade: A

All statistics and contract information courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com unless otherwise noted and are current as of Dec. 21. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.