The Boston Celtics got to work early into the 2022 NBA offseason, trading veteran big man Daniel Theis, reserve forward Aaron Nesmith, and three rarely-used deep rotation players for former Indiana Pacers point guard Malcolm Brogdon while using their mini-midlevel exception to sign veteran swingman Danilo Gallinari.
They also re-signed forward Sam Hauser to a bargain three-season deal and inked 2022 draft pick JD Davison and Las Vegas Summer League big man standout Mfiondu Kabengele to two-way deals. To wrap things up, they’ve also signed a number of potential career rehabilitation projects to camp deals, and appear poised to compete for a title in 2022-23.
For all that, The Athletic’s David Aldridge rated the Celtics’ offseason moves among the highest in the league.
After a 51-31 regular season record in 2021-22, Boston surged all the way to the NBA Finals, falling to the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 after having spent too much energy running a rotation that was ultimately a few bench players too thin .
Now, having addressed what was their ultimate undoing by adding arguably two starter-level talents to their bench rotation, they have morphed into the odds-on favorite to win it all, and Aldridge took note.
“Getting better minutes on the ball than the Celtics got in the finals from Marcus Smart was key, and acquiring Brogdon should shore that up,” suggests the Athletic analyst.
“This isn’t a criticism of Smart, who is as vital to Boston as Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown; it’s just a recognition of his limitations as a playmaker. He’s a scorer with the ball. Brogdon can score but is much more impactful as a team’s quarterback. The two of them could actually be terrific together in smaller-ball lineups with Brown at the three.”
“(…) Brogdon will only enhance Boston’s best-in-the-league defense. Gallinari still showed some offensive pop with the Hawks, and Lord knows Boston could use more consistent scoring in reserve,” suggested Aldridge.
This is of course all contingent on Boston not pulling the trigger on a deal for disgruntled Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant, which Aldridge is sure to note.
But even those in the seemingly shrinking camp that favors a deal for KD would have to admit that Boston’s offseason moves have already put them in pole position for a title, rated the No. 3 offseason in the NBA by the Athletic writer.
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