On Sunday evening, the Boston Celtics played their first game since Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 114-106 in a preseason matchup. As it was just an exhibition, the final score was mostly meaningless. This was more of an opportunity for Boston to evaluate its revamped starting lineup than anything else.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla seemingly acknowledged this, making the decision to rely on his starters in the first half. With training camp in the rearview mirror, he finally had a chance to evaluate the “new look” Celtics in a competitive environment, complete with hometown fans cheering them on.
When the Celtics made the move to send point guard Marcus Smart to the Memphis Grizzlies in a deal that netted them big man Kristaps Porzingis, that looked to be the end of their offseason moves. Things changed when Jrue Holiday suddenly became available after the Portland Trail Blazers acquired him during the trade that sent Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Until that point, it looked like Boston’s only other major move would be signing Jaylen Brown to a $340 million contract extension, which kicks in next year. Under the new CBA rules, it didn’t look like the Celtics had an opportunity to make another huge move before the season began. Holiday, however, was not just a fantastic veteran two-way player, he would be a much better fit in the point guard position than Brogdon, penciled in as the everyday starter.
So, the Celtics made a risky move right before training camp, sending Brogdon and center Robert Williams III to the Trail Blazers. While their main motivation was that Holiday filled in perfectly in Smart’s old spot, an additional factor for the move might have been that Brogdon was reportedly upset after being included in the initial Porzingis deal. The Celtics organization may have seen this as a “two birds, one stone” situation.
Yet, it’s not exactly a win-win move for Boston. While the deal makes their starting six of Jayson Tatum, Brown, Porzingis, Holiday, Al Horford and Derrick White maybe the best group in the Eastern Conference, it also makes them a much thinner team in comparison to last season’s deeper squad.
With that in mind, the most notable stat from Sunday’s game might have been Payton Pritchard’s 26 points in 23 minutes off the bench. After struggling to find playing time last season, Pritchard looks primed to benefit from the extra minutes freed up by Boston’s offseason moves, which is likely why he signed a four-year, $30 million contract extension right before his impressive preseason debut.
The additions of Porzingis and Holiday could very well indicate that the team is fully moving on from the Ime Udoka era. When Udoka resigned due to violations of team policy, Mazzulla took over a lineup that, in the benefit of hindsight, wasn’t tailored to his strengths. This was quite clear during this year’s playoffs where the team attempted far more three-pointers than advisable given the team’s personnel.
So the team is potentially taking a step backward defensively without Smart, a former Defensive Player of the Year, and Williams, an elite rim protector when healthy. However, their replacements should make the Celtics a more reliable three-point shooting squad. Porzingis shot 38.5% from three with the Washington Wizards last season while Holiday hit a nearly identical 38.4% of his long-distance attempts.
The Boston Celtics have made not one, but two bold moves this offseason. By sacrificing team depth by going after Holiday, they effectively doubled down on a “championship or bust” season. Now it’s time to see if the cards fall in their favor.
