(Photo courtesy of sporting news.com)
With the NBA All-Star weekend starting tonight, teams around the league will be using the week long break from action to assess their season thus far and to plan their strategy for the home stretch of the season.
For the Boston Celtics, the first 57 games of the season have given fans many reasons to be optimistic for the playoff stretch and the future of the franchise. The Celtics have overcome injuries to key players for much of the season and still enter the break with a 37-20 record, which is good enough for second place in the Eastern Conference and first place in the Atlantic Division. One could expect this record to improve when Avery Bradley, a first team All-Defense selection a year ago and the teams leading rebounder this year, returns after the All-Star break from an achilles tendon injury. Bradley has missed all but one of the teams games since January 6. The Celtics have only played 21 games in which their whole starting five have suited up and played. The much improved play of Marcus Smart and the steady rise of rookie Jaylen Brown have helped the C’s fight through the absence of their usual starters.
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The Celtics got off to a slow start in 2016, heading into December with a 10-8 record. The team was struggling to integrate their big offseason signee, Al Horford, into their offense due to a concussion that sidelined him for nine games early on. Many had already given up on the Celtics, saying that they would not reach the level of play that was expected of them heading into the season. The Celtics bounced back and won the first two in December, before Isaiah Thomas went down with a groin injury. The Celtics dropped four of the five games without him, putting the team just above .500 on the season. The team never looked back after Thomas’ return though, and have gone 24-8 since his recovery.
Of course, it is impossible to overlook the historic season that Isaiah Thomas has had. Thomas’ 29.9 points per game put him just barely behind Russell Westbrook for the leagues leading scorer. That stat would be impressive for any player in the league, let alone a 5’9 point guard under a very team friendly $6.6 million salary this season. Thomas has earned the nickname “The King of the Fourth” for his heroic performances in fourth quarters in seemingly every game this season. His fourth quarter points per game average is the highest average than any player has had in over 20 years. The performance of the Celtics only All-Star player has not gone unnoticed, as he has been nominated for the Eastern Conference player of the week for 8 straight weeks, and was named the Eastern Conference player of the week in January when he averaged a stellar 32.9 points per game, good enough for the fourth highest scoring month in Celtics history. Thomas enters the All-Star break with a Celtics record 41 straight 20 point games.
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Despite the Celtics impressive record heading into the All-Star break, their is still plenty of room for improvement, especially rebounding the ball. They rank 27th out of 30 NBA teams in rebound differential. Many thought that the acquisition of Horford would help secure the paint for the Celtics, but the starting center has averaged an underwhelming 6.7 rebounds per game. It is unusual for a guard to lead a team in rebounding, but that is the case for Avery Bradley and the Celtics. In Bradley’s absence, the teams frontcourt players have consistently failed to grab important rebounds.
The shortcoming on the glass leaves the Celtics with a void to fill at Thusday’s NBA trade deadline. The Celtics have an abundance of tradable assets to offer up, including young promising players and the rights to the Brooklyn Nets first round picks in the 2017 and 2018 drafts. However, General Manager Danny Ainge has been reluctant to pull the trigger on a trade that would relinquish these valuable assets in the past, and he has made it clear once again that he will only do so if he thinks the trade will significantly increase the Celtics chances at a championship run. It is impossible to be sure of who is really available on the trade market, but two All-Star players that The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski has reported that the Celtics may pursue are Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls and Paul George of the Indiana Pacers. Although these players would not be likely to help the team with their rebounding woes, they are the type of big names that could take Boston to the next level if they are acquired at the right price.
If the front office opts to hold keep the team in tact and wait until June to improve the team through the draft, the Celtics are still poised to make a legitimate run at the first seed in the Eastern Conference. With Kevin Love expected to miss six weeks after undergoing arthroscopic surgery to his left knee, the first seeded Cleveland Cavaliers could have some trouble creating separation from Boston, who enters All-Star weekend just three games behind Cleveland in the standings. Even if the Celtics do ascend to the top of the Eastern Conference, the Cavaliers would still be highly favored to represent the Eastern Conference in the finals. Although the Celtics have found a star in Thomas, Cleveland has three perennial All-Stars in Love, Kyrie Irving, and LeBron James, all of which are coming off of an NBA championship in 2016. James has been to six NBA finals in a row, and his teams always find a way to turn it up in the playoffs. Boston is trending in the right direction, but is still a team that is unestablished in the playoffs. The Celtics have not made it out of the first round since 2012, and Avery Bradley is the only remaining player on the roster from that team. They have made the playoffs in the past two seasons, but were bounced by the Cavaliers in 2015 and the Atlanta Hawks in 2016. If the Celtics can stay healthy, it is likely that they will build on that playoff experience and see better results this time around, but what they decide to do at the trade deadline will likely dictate if they are a legitimate championship contender.
