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NLL Insider - Team by Team: Boston Celtics

by vt, updated on Friday, October 02 2015, 04:21 pm EST

 

2014-15 Finish: 61-21


Season Highlight

In Week 3, on December 16th, the Boston Celtics defeated the New York Knicks in their newly acquired star's best game of the season with his new team. He dropped 44 points in that win, to go along with 11 boards and 4 assists. From that date through Week 12 of the NLL season the Boston Celtics went on a 38-4 tear, including a spectacular 30 game win streak. They were unstoppable and looked like the unquestioned favorites to win the NLL title. Pau Gasol was dominant, OJ Mayo was playing his best beasketball since his rookie campaign, Vucevic was averaging a double-double, and even Lance was playing well as he held down the PG positon for the team. Then, tragedy struck...

Season Lowlight

Injuries were the only thing that could stop this team. The first, to Josh McRoberts, was not a huge blow. However, after Week 12 the team found out it would be without its star small forward for the remainder of the season. No other injury would so greatly impact another team. Losing to the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the playoffs was definitely a lowlight. Getting swept in the first round was not what GM jmac had expected at the season's outset. But to many, it was this one injury that all but sealed the Celtic's fate and doomed them to an early playoff exit in the East. While they had still been able to secure a fairly high playoff seeding and had played well without their star, they drew a tough first round matchup and folded in four to a late-blooming Hawks team. As good as this team can be without their star, they just are not good enough to be championship contenders. There is a big difference between a playoff team and a championship team, and this guy is the difference between the Celtics being a playoff team and a championship contender.

Best Trade

Best Trade, Celtics 2014-15

The Celtics did not need to make too many big moves in the way of trade last season as they used free agency to bolster their roster. However, the one big deal they did make was a great one for their team. While they did give up good value, the team got better in the process. The Celtics were able to exchange an aging center in Samuel Dalembert, an average stretch four (Thaddeus Young), and a good point guard (Ricky Rubio) for an elite rebounder in Nikola Vucevic. Not only is Vucevic a great rebounder but he is young and improving steadily in each season he plays in the NLL, much unlike any of the talent the Celtics traded away to get him. And if all that wasn't enough, Vucevic is set to sign one of the most cap-friendly deals in the NLL. A stud at a bargain is one of the most valuable assets you can attain in this league, and the Celtics got one of the few here.

Worst Trade

Worst Trade, Celtics 2014-15

There weren't too many other trades and not many one would consider "bad," but I suppose this one was the "worst." Trading away six GM points for a guy who will never play for you is definitely not a good move. At the time the risk was worth the price of acquiring Kirlienko, but now that the season is over (and hindsight being 20/20) many can point to this deal and say with absolute certainty that it was the worst trade made by jmac and the Celtics this past year.

Other Notable Trades

The Celtics officially decided to call their Lance Stephenson experiment quits after just one year with this deal. Consummated just this past offseason, right after the draft, neither player has had the opportunity to suit up for their new teams yet and so we cannot yet evaluate how well each team did in this deal. But everyone loves a little speculation, right? Jefferson is a big-time offensive player, but is now on a team now loaded with talented big men. Do the Celtics need another big? Or even another scorer? While Jefferson has the ability to score upwards of 20 PPG there is no way he can reach that potential playing beside Pau Gasol and Nikola Vucevic as his playing time will most certainly be limited. Playing alongside one of the best scoring wings in the game will not help either, as his socring opportunities will be limited even when he is in the game. Will Jefferson really have an impact on this squad? Stephenson, though, was considered a bust by many this past year. Grabbing a talent like Jefferson for a player the league has proclaimed a "bust" must be a win, right? We shall see!

Best Free Agent Signing

Pau Gasol

Pau Gasol

After just one year with the L.A. Clippers, Pau knew where those guys were headed and so he left town to join a team of winners. He definitely made the right choice. He joined a team where he could play beside one of the league's best scorers, where each could shine and help lead the team to the promised land. But when the other star went down, Pau stepped up. Playing in more games this past year than any other Celtic Pau averaged a double-double (14.9 PPG, 11.4 RPG) over 78 games played. Neither of those marked anything nearing individual career bests, but Pau spent last season leading the Celtics to the best record of any team he has played pn previously. Pretty impressive considering they played over half the season without that other guy.

Worst Free Agent Signing

McBob

Josh McRoberts

McRoberts suited up for just eight games before getting injured. Out for the rest of the year, there was little McBob could do to help the Celts during the year. In the eight games he did play he averaged just 3.4 PPG and 5.0 RPG in 17.5 minutes per game. While not terrible, the expectations were a bit higher for McRoberts. The team didn't even wait until the end of the year to trade him away after locking him up for 4 years (3 plus the one year player option) during the free agency period. And the worse yet is that they traded McRoberts for a relatively similar player in Ryan Anderson.

The Star

KD

This Guy

Although he played in only thirty-three games for the C's this season, there is no other choice for this team's star. In those 33 games he averaged 29.9 PPG, 7.6 RPG, and 4.3 APG. And while his scoring numbers (PPG, FG%, 3P%) all declined from his numbers in Toronto, he increased his assists per game by two. Even with the scoring declines he is one of the best in the league in that regard. With a real point guard on board this season (more on that below!), Durant should be able to put up even better scoring numbers and help lead Boston to a league championship this next year.

Surprise

KJ McDaniels

K.J. McDaniels

Nobody thought that the Celtics would get much out of rookie K.J. McDaniels this year, but injury pressed him into service early and he delivered once called upon. McDaniels averaged 11.3 PPG on a respectable 43% shooting from the field. Even more impressive was his 51.7% effective field goal percentage. McDaniels benefitted from the spectacular play of his talented teammates, sure, but he more than held his own as well.

The Goat

Lance Stephenson

Lance Stephenson

I am not entirely sure that Lance deseerves this title, but I do know that the Celtics must. I doubt he'd have been traded otherwise. This team did not need another big in Al Jefferson, but traded away Stephenson to get him anyway. To me, this points to only one conclusion: he must be "The Goat." Despite averaging just under 20 PPG (on a very respectable 47% from the field), over 5 APG, and pulling down just under 5 RPG Lance was never fully appreciated in Boston. There were many reasons for this; there were high expectations he could never live up to and OJ Mayo had a strong year playing the same position. But the biggest reason was the lack of production from his NBA counterpart. Many see this as a sign of a decline still yet to come, so the Celts shipped him out.

Draft Report Card

The Celts sent their only draft pick (Tyus Jones, 24th Overall) to the Brooklyn Nets to tie up all the loose ends on the P.J. Tucker made trade earlier in the year. As of today the Celtics will have no rookies coming into camp this year. For a team looking to win it all this season (which they should be!) this does not seem to be a big issue.

Looking to the Future

It's championship or bust this year for the Celtics! Pau Gasol will return and there is little doubt he will continue to produce like he did this past year. O.J. Mayo will also return and bring some additional scoring punch, just like he did last season. Al Jefferson will come in to provide another body and even more scoring. A year of improvement from K.J. McDaniels could go a long way as well. Although he may not be called upon as often as last year, it will be nice to know the kid can step in and provide even more when he does get his chance. Vucevic will also come back, and should see some slight improvement as well. His rebounding ability alone will help shore up the rare misses their talented offensive players put up.

But there are two players whose fates I believe will be pivotal next year. One of them you all may know and his health alone will ensure success for the Celtics. But Boston also acquired a point guard as well. Playing much of last year without a real one, Mario Chalmers will have a chance to really make a difference for this team. Many may remember that Chalmers teamed up with another current Boston player when they both played in Toronto and were able to win a championship while there. Let's see if they can win another together in Boston!

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