The Boston Celtics will have their work cut out for them this offseason as they try to beef up their roster in pursuit of a title in the 2023-23 season with one of the most expensive payrolls in the league before they add a single body to their ball cub just as the first elements of the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) designed to punish teams like Boston start to come into effect.
In layman’s terms, that means the Celtics will not have much money to work with this offseason, limited to whatever they can do with the taxpayer midlevel exception and veteran minimum deals available to them.
Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley put together a trio of potentially low-cost targets for the Celtics to pursue in free agency with those limits in place for Boston — let’s see which players the B/R analyst believes are both attainable in that range and a good fit.
In light of the new CBA, the folks at the CLNS Media “Garden Report” podcast have been brainstorming trade ideas for Brown, https://t.co/2WxJib9JsB
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) June 12, 2023
Will Barton
“The Celtics need wing depth,” observes Buckley correctly, framing a Barton pursuit as a potential upside gamble of how he played before last season with the hope being the veteran wing is not washed.
“Travel back just one season, and he was giving the 2021-22 Denver Nuggets nightly contributions of 14.7 points (on 43.8% shooting) and 3.9 assists (against 1.8 turnovers),” he relates.
We’re going to suggest that there are better, younger options for wing depth who may find themselves squeezed out of the range of midlevel deals that will be leaned on hard by cap-burdened teams, but we get the logic here.
Thomas Bryant
“The Celtics should add a big man this summer,” surmises the B/R analyst, noting the thinness of Boston’s frontcourt rotation even if they do bring back Grant Williams in free agency.
“Bryant could be a sneaky-good option to stick on the second unit, though … a 6’10”, 248-pound ball of energy who runs the floor and adds value on both ends … comfortable popping out for perimeter shots”.
Of the three players noted, Bryant is by far our favorite option for the Celtics given his 36.6% rate from beyond the arc hints at a solid fit for the cost.
Anthony Lamb
“Boston’s need for wing depth could steer the organization toward Anthony Lamb,” suggests Buckley.
“He could step right into this switch-heavy defensive scheme while adding another long-range threat to the offensive mix”.
Not our first choice, but given the constraints Boston will be working with, they could certainly do worse.
Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi
YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ
