The Boston Celtics had a rollercoaster of a season this past year. It began in the 2021 NBA offseason when long-time NBA Executive Danny Ainge stepped down from his post following a disappointing finish in 2020-21 that saw the team get ousted out of the playoffs by the Brooklyn Nets in the first round in five short games.
That news was followed by the announcement that the Celtics were also losing Head Coach Brad Stevens, although they were gaining him back as a first-time general manager. Boston then hired rookie Head Coach Ime Udoka to take over the play-calling duties on the sidelines.
After so much front office turnover, it wasn’t exactly a shocker to see the Celtics struggle out of the gate, limping to an 18-21 record nearly halfway through the regular season. What was surprising was the miraculous run they made from that point on. Boston ultimately wound up clinching the second seed in the Eastern Conference and battled their way through the postseason to reach the 2022 NBA Finals.
It wasn’t an easy path to get there, though. Ultimately, their staunch defense and some stellar shot-making from some of the unusual suspects were able to carry the Celtics through back-to-back seven-game series against the Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat. But their luck ran out in the title bout against the Golden State Warriors.
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According to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer, General Manager Brad Stevens has plans in place to address at least one of those needs and they include finding a stretch-four to pair with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Among the names linked are TJ Warren and Danilo Gallinari.
Boston appears focused on high-scoring, small-ball forwards for the Celtics’ mid-level. They have been linked to Danillo Gallinari and TJ Warren, among others. Gallinari is also expected to draw interest from Miami should it lose PJ Tucker.
In the NBA Finals, the Cs’ roster deficiencies were exposed even further; mainly, they showed a glaring lack of playmaking and wing depth behind Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
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While they’ll definitely still need to identify another ballhandler to solve their playmaking issue, adding either TJ Warren or Danilo Gallinari will give Boston one of the strongest wing rotations in the league.
