The pre-season grind trudges on.
On Friday, the Boston Celtics (2-0) will face the Toronto Raptors (1-1) at the Air Canada Centre (7:30 p.m. NBA TV) . Yours truly will be in attendance, courtesy of blogfather Zarar, sitting perched in the upper bowl.
First, a state of affairs for the Celtics, who have fallen on hard times since making the gut-wrenching decision to rebuild by trading Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce in 2012. The only remaining core piece of their former championship roster is Rajon Rondo, who recently broke his hand. The injury will sideline him for the next two months, providing broadcast crews plenty of opportunities to pan over to a despondent Rondo audibly counting down the days until the trade deadline.
Without Rondo, the Celtics’ roster looks much like their 2013-14 iteration, one that won just 25 games. Their roster is light on NBA-quality talent, as swingman Jeff Green and Avery Bradley represent their most name-worthy players. Green and Bradley are fine players, certainly useful in their own right, but are ill-fitting for the part of leading man.
Past that, the Celtics trot out an assortment of fading and faded stars. That includes Evan Turner — who is being trotted out at point guard; makes sense, he’s not good at dribbling or making the right pass — and a washed-up version of Gerald Wallace. There’s also Marcus Thornton, who has bounced around the league since being a useful gunner off the bench in New Orleans between 2009-2011. Brandon Bass is still floating around, serving as a three-pointer-less version of Patrick Patterson and Joel Anthony inexplicably still has claim to a roster spot in the NBA.
What the Celtics are banking on, however, is not for solid contributions from their veterans. It’s the opposite. Boston is hoping for their veterans to flop, but to provide just enough value to serve as desirable trade fodder so the Celtics can continue with their rebuild.
They’re off to a decent start with a few quality prospects. The crown jewel is this year’s sixth overall pick Marcus Smart, a heady alpha lead guard laying in-wait for Rondo to vacate his spot in the starting lineup. Smart has good size and posted impressive numbers at Oklahoma State.
The problem, however, is that the Celtics lack more talent with the ability to develop into (wait for it…) transcendent players. Tyler Zeller has potential as a third big on a decent team. Jared Sullinger is an intriguing mix of girth and shooting, but will most likely remain too big of a liability to stick as a starter long-term. Vitor Faverani could one day develop into a gigantic version of Tas Melas of the Starters. Dwight Powell is intriguing as a versatile forward, but he’s a second-round pick. James Young can’t (yet) shoot enough to stick as a wing. Kelly Olynyk is certainly skilled as a center prospect, but will most likely remain too slow to not be a massive liability on defense, a Spencer Hawes redux of sorts.
Guards – Raptors
DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry scored a combined 48 points for the Raptors in their recent loss to Sacramento. The pairing represents one of the most formidable backcourt combinations in the league.
The Celtics have Evan Turner at point guard.
Wings – Even
At the time writing (Thursday afternoon), an update on Terrence Ross’ health has not been put out by the team, so going with rule of preseason, I’ll assume he’s sitting out. That leaves Landry Fields, James Johnson and a surprisingly decent Jordan Hamilton holding down the fort. Not exactly the most inspiring collection of wings.
The Celtics counter with a solid scorer in Green and their own version of Fields in Wallace (insert obligatory ‘Where’s Wallace?!’ joke here). This is a good test for James Johnson’s purported ability to defend larger wings, as Green is a solid 6-foot-8, 240-pounds.
Bigs – Raptors
Not having Patrick Patterson is going to hurt. The Celtics’ bigs aren’t shutdown defenders by any means, but they’re disciplined and stay at home on defense, meaning the Raptors may encounter resistance in their efforts to crack the paint without a floor stretcher. This also isn’t a great game for either Chuck Hayes or Greg Stiemsma as the Celtics lack a dominant inside presence — barring Sullinger exploding for another 20-20 game — so this would theoretically be a good time to #FreeBebe. Or, maybe it isn’t because Bebe has a minor injury of sorts. Should Bebe be put in the corner? No one puts Bebe in the corner. What are you even reading?
Bench – Raptors
If the Celtics’ starters are Turner-Smart-Bradley-Sullinger-Olynyk, just imagine how putrid the bench must be. The Raptors aren’t looking so hot with Lou Williams and Greivis Vasquez reduced to hoisting bombs without an offensively viable big to play pick-and-roll with, but there’s enough talent to trump Boston’s collection of prospects.
Prediction: ???????????
Remember Whose Line is it Anyway? Yeah, the points don’t matter. It’s preseason.
