Boston Celtics: 5 Biggest Issues They Need To Address This Offseason
Everything was going fine in Boston until the second half of the season started. Then, things started going south—way south. While the Kendrick Perkins trade certainly played into things, it's hard to lay everything on that.
There are more issues that the Celtics need to deal with than just that. Here are five things the Celtics need to address during the offseason to reach the NBA Finals in 2012.
This is the first in a series of articles in which I will address five things that every NBA team needs to address in the offseason in order to improve. I will be posting links for the other articles as they are completed.
New Jersey Nets: Five Biggest Issues They Need to Address This Offseason
Stay Put
1 of 5There are reports that Kevin Garnett is entertaining notions of going overseas to play during the lockout. That's really not a good idea for a player who has, for several years in a row, gone deep into the postseason.
The Celtics are a team that could benefit from a lockout if it cuts out a few games, but not an entire season. Let's face it, whether you want to admit it or not, they are getting older. The nice thing about the lockout is that it gives the team a chance to rest.
Rest is what they should be doing. Chill out, KG. Relax. Spend some time with your family and give your knees a rest. Same goes to Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. You don't need the money. You need the time.
Start the season fresh; if it's a shortened one, you might finish it that way too. This will help prevent a second-half meltdown like last year.
Figure out How To Work in Jeff Green
2 of 5The Celtics' acquisition of Jeff Green still has a chance to prove itself as a smart one. While they clearly suffered on defense without Perkins' presence in the paint, Green's a two-way player that can help on both ends of the court.
Having Garnett there to tutor him is a plus as well. If they can do a good job of incorporating him and working him into their system, he should be able to have a bit of a breakout season—and, in doing so, help the Celtics justify the trade.
Green was averaging 15-16 points per game with Oklahoma City. He is certainly capable of that kind of production again (and more) as he's still young.
With their Hall of Famers aging, the Celtics need someone to pick up the scoring; Green is a prime candidate.
Rajon Rondo Needs To Improve His Jump Shot
3 of 5There's no questioning Rondo's ability when it comes to passing. He moves great with the ball and has extraordinary vision. He is also proficient at the rim.
Here's the thing though: He's not very good away from the rim. He's a career 24-percent three-point shooter. At the rim he's 2.7 for 4.3 shots, a nice 63.1-percent field-goal percentage. From three feet away from the rim to arc, he averaged 1.7 makes on 4.81 attempts last year—that's 35.4-percent shooting.
That's bad. Really bad. That needs work—badly. Teams started to figure out Boston last year. If you played off of Rondo, and cheated to the help, you weren't going to lose anything. Rondo couldn't cut around his man because he was playing too far off of him.
Most point guards would make you pay for that with their jump shot. Rondo wasn't able to do that.
For him to take the next step he needs to work on his shot. If he adds a perimeter game then he's going to be just flat-out ugly lethal. The lack of it, though, will hinder him.
He doesn't need to score 25 points per game like Derrick Rose—or even 21 PPG like Deron Williams—but if he can elevate his scoring to 16-18, and take advantage of it when opponents are giving him the jump shot, Boston will be that much better because of it.
Celtics fans may not like to hear it, but Rondo making well under two shots per game away from the rim is not going to cut it. The good news is that it's not a hard thing to work on. It's just a matter of Rondo spending some time in the gym taking shots.
Add Some Young Scoring
4 of 5The Celtics have spent too much effort trying to prove they aren't too old by getting older. It's almost like they signed Jermaine and Shaquille O'Neal to defy the critics. Well in the end, they paid for it.
They need young scoring. They had the answer in MarShon Brooks before inexplicably trading him away.
The Celtics need to find someone in free agency with energy and the ability to create his own shot, but considering those players will be in limited supply and Boston will be limited in what they can bid, it's going to be hard for them to do that.
Add a Center
5 of 5The biggest need the Celtics have is a big man. Last year, the Celtics were absolutely dominated on the boards all year long. In terms of offensive rebound rate (and note that's rate, so this has nothing to do with shot attempts) the Celtics were only better than Phoenix at -4.20.
Then there's the interior defense that was lacking near the end of the season. Kevin Garnett is still a good defender, but he's not as great as he once was and is certainly insufficient to guard the paint all by himself.
Perkins is gone. So is Shaq. They have Jermaine O'Neal—who needs to have a comeback to reach "shell of his former self" status—listed as their starting center. Kevin Garnet is the backup. Newly drafted JaJuan Johnson doesn't have the strength to play center.
They are also egregiously over the cap, so it's hard to figure where they're going to get the money to sign anyone of significance. Dreams of Nene or Dwight Howard need to be put to rest. Even if Nene doesn't stay in Denver (which he most likely will), he's not going to Boston.
The best the Celtics can hope for is someone along the lines of Jeff Foster, Kurt Thomas or perhaps Kwame Brown, a center who can shore up the defense and grab some rebounds. That's all they need from a center though.
If the Celtics can do that, if Rondo can add some scoring to his game, if they can add a shot creator and if they can develop Green, the Celtic should be significantly improved. If the lockout takes a chunk of the season out and their Hall of Famers can get some extended rest, they could make a run at another ring.
