Fresh off the heels of getting hit with a lowly fourth-place finish in ESPN’s much-too-early NBA power rankings, the Boston Celtics find themselves in a much more reasonable fourth-place finish in The Athletic’s latest round of league power rankings.
Trailing only the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat, there’s a solid case to be made for all three to be ahead of Boston next season in terms of future success, which is one of the primary foci of analyst Zach Harper when putting the list together.
The Athletic writer believes Boston’s biggest offseason priority is turning Gordon Hayward’s contract (presuming, we assume, Hayward opts into his final season of this deal) into multiple, lesser bench players.
Daniel Oturu interviewed with the Celtics ahead of the NBA Draft https://t.co/tR8fhrINro
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) October 16, 2020
His rationale?
“The Boston Celtics aren’t hurt by having Hayward on the roster. He’s a valuable rotation guy for them. But re-allocating the $34 million he’ll be owed (once he exercises his player option) with two or three players would be ideal for a roster with such a short bench. The Celtics have a real chance to compete for a title, but they need depth more than they need an expensive forward when they already have Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to lead them.”
Harper trusts the Celtics moving forward as much as anyone in the East save perhaps the Miami Heat, and thinks the team is “set up to be a problem in both the regular season and the postseason.”
Celtics ranked just 7th in recent ESPN ‘Way Too Early’ power rankings https://t.co/vE17k6E6RP
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) October 14, 2020
While it’s true that the Butler product is exactly the sort of player Boston could use to compete at such a level, and while his injury history has been an unusually unlucky one, his poor luck only underscores the import of having available bodies able to play.
Add in that if that cap space should leave through some unforeseen outcome at the end of next season, it’s gone barring internal improvement worth rewarding to those levels, and it’s hard to argue against Harper’s position.
Even if we hold Hayward in the highest of regards.
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