Are the Boston Celtics a better team after their offseason moves. They swapped, in effect, Marcus Smart and Grant Williams for Kristaps Porzingis and Jordan Walsh plus draft assets. They also tendered a massive extension to Jaylen Brown? Some analysts are not sure they are, including Yahoo Sports’ Dan Devine.
“I get the arguments for the Celtics’ overhaul,” writes Devine. “Porzingis, coming off arguably the best season of his career, provides a higher-end third offensive option for a Boston team whose point production often dried up when it wasn’t making 3s and which didn’t really have reliable ways to punish switches and mismatches inside.
“In theory, he vaults the ceiling of a team that scored at a bottom-five clip whenever Jayson Tatum was off the floor, even when Jaylen Brown was on it,” he adds. “And the rise of Derrick White last season as both an elite defender and a more consistent shot-maker made Smart feel less indispensable — especially in a backcourt that still features … Malcolm Brogdon and Payton Pritchard.
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“In theory, moving Smart to make more space for White — and getting off Smart as he approaches 30, with all those hard-driven miles on his body — is probably a heady decision,” suggests the Yahoo Sports analyst. “I’m just not totally convinced all that theory will pan out in practice.”
“Moving on from two of your best and most versatile defensive players — and two of your more brash and ballsy personalities … feels like too dicey a bet.”
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