It was only nine minutes for Craig in his debut but Boston already has Craig fever! I guess that’s what happens when the alternate depth options at the wing all year long have been rather underwhelming.
In any case, Craig will be a fascinating case study for the Celtics heading into this offseason. Assuming he performs well in his spot duty role, it’s likely the Celtics would welcome him back with open arms for the veteran’s minimum. Boston could in fact start being a popular destination for those type of veterans wanting to play for a ring especially if the team has to break apart this starting five due to luxury tax penalties.
That decision won’t come until we know who will be new ownership but the guess here is this is the last turn this group gets at full board. If that’s the case, Craig and other cheap veterans with proven track records will be on the radar for the Celtics in all likelihood since Boston still won’t have access to their mid-level exception if they don’t drop below the second apron.
Brian, I think many people are underestimating what a big deal a change in ownership could be for the Celtics. We’ve seen with this team and others, ownership is everything. Paul Gaston’s nine year tenure was a disaster. When Wyc and BasketBall Partners purchased the team, things trended up again. How big of a risk do you think the sale of the team is to fielding a team that is a consistent contender? —Sean Seattle, WA
It’s a huge factor given the commitments they’ve made so far with this roster. Boston is currently on the hook for $513 million in combined salary and tax penalties for next season alone. Paying that type of bill would be record breaking for any owner in the NBA history so needless to say, there’s some skepticism across the league that the Celtics new boss will come in willing to foot that bill.
Just how much the Celtics will need to trim is the bigger question. Trading away one big salary may not be enough with a deal that big. The good news for Boston is that pretty much all their contracts right now are good values outside of perhaps Jrue Holiday so they should be able to field a solid return in the event of cost cutting. Ultimately, if new ownerships decides on major cost cutting right away, it’s going to lead to some brutal decisions when determining what parts of this team’s core that Brad Stevens will need to retain. Needless to say, that’s why this current season is so crucial. The hard questions comes this summer as new ownerships takes control but for now, the team has everything it needs to make one last run at full strength.
Hey BRobb,
The C’s have reduced their 3pt attempts over the last 15 games or so and in that time they’re barely playing 500 ball. I was hoping to see that reduction and some more low post play but I only got one of the 2. It’s hard to complain having the 3rd best record in the league but last year we rolled all season long. We’re at 15 losses before the all star break against 18 for all of last year. Why do you think the Stevens/Mazzulla offense seems to be lacking a any low post game? Seems the low post starts with Tatum or Brown at the 3 pt line on iso.
What is up with crunch time? Why do they keep letting teams back in games? Which also begs the question-minutes played. Even against the Bulls we were up 15-17-15 etc throughout the 4th Q and the starters didn’t get pulled until the last 2-3 minutes. Is this going to bite them in May/June? Thanks for your work, — Peter
This question came in before Boston’s recent three-game winning streak so some of these concerns have been addressed going into the All-Star break winning seven of eight games. The low post play has been there for Porzingis against mismatches but there’s no other bigs on this team I want to see playing down there regularly. The crunch time stuff this year hasn’t been great this year amid the January malaise this team went through but they are getting back to beating teams thoroughly like last season, which solves part of that problem. Ultimately, their clutch play in the playoffs last year supersedes any worry for me in that area amid a 82-game grind.
The minutes I’m with you on though to a degree. Tatum, Brown and White are all up from last season with Tatum and White coming off an Olympic run. It was good to see Jrue Holiday get some rest in the past week given how uneven his play has been of late. The Celtics may not be able to get those top three guys to sit regularly but they need to trim those minutes while they can in the regular season with a tougher postseason path looming this season.
