NFL
By: Mark T. Wilson
No one wants to lose. It sucks. But if the Boston Celtics were looking for a silver lining in their Finals loss to the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 NBA finals, it was being able to see where the holes were in the roster. By all accounts, the Celtics should have walked away as champs. That’s not to take anything away from the Warriors, but on paper, the arrow was pointing to the Celtics. I guess that’s why the game is played on the court and not on paper.
As quickly as the lockers were cleared out of TD Garden, Brad Stevens was already in full GM mode. Following a great offseason in 2021 that brought back Al Horford and a trade deadline deal that blessed them with Derrick White, Stevens upped the ante this offseason with deals that snagged the Eastern Conference Champs Danilo Gallinari and Malcolm Brogdon.
Against the Warriors, the Celtics had the size and the youth, but what they lacked was bench production. White did his part averaging 9.8 points but after that, the bench was quiet. This offseason, the Celtics got the memo, read it, and made the necessary changes to run it back another year.
The starting 5 is solid. What the Celtics were in desperate need of was firepower off the pine. In a span of a few day, all that changed. Last season, for the Atlanta Hawks, Gallinari, in a reserve role averaged 11.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and shot 43 percent from the floor. With their other move, Stevens brought in Brogdon who averaged 10.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 5.9 assists while dealing with injuries for the Indiana Pacers.
The Celtics can use Brogdon to back up Marcus Smart or move Smart to SG where they can have a true floor general. With Gallinari, he will set the tone for the second unit with his ball-handling, passing, and rebounding to pair with White and Grant Williams. But the best part regarding these moves is that they will allow head coach Ime Udoka to tinker with his lineups more.
What happened in the Finals, even with the Celtics having the size advantage over the Warriors, was that they were able to beat them at small ball with better ball movement and good perimeter shooting. Gallinari and Brogdon are not mentioned as Defensive Player of the Year candidates but they both understand the concept of team defense. It was with the second unit where most of the mental breakdowns would occur for them against the Warriors. That may not be the case in a rematch.
This offseason was used to address issues. It wasn’t about going after the big names, it was about filling in the gaps that cost them a championship. Two big moves and the Boston Celtics are ready to run in back.
