Decisions the Celtics Should Already Regret from This Past Offseason
It’s impossible to criticize the Boston Celtics without getting nitpicky.
They’ve won five of their first six games to open the 2023-24 NBA season, and their lone loss wasn’t decided until overtime. They also enter Wednesday night with the Association’s best net rating at a whopping plus-14.1 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com.
Life is objectively great for the Shamrocks, but when they look back on this offseason, they might still have a few regrets.
Letting Grant Williams Walk
For reasons known only to them, the Celtics effectively decided they were done with Grant Williams last season. That’s when they trimmed his rotation to the role to the point he was occasionally a healthy scratch and signaled he’d be on the way out as a restricted free agent this offseason.
So, it wasn’t at all surprising when he bounced out of Boston to sign a four-year, $54 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks. Of course, the fact it wasn’t surprising doesn’t mean it was the right decision to make.
Williams’ numbers were never great in Boston, but his impact sometimes was. His defensive versatility was immensely valuable, and his trusty three-ball (39.7 percent accurate over the past three seasons) helped open attack lanes on the offensive end.
The Celtics may have felt the new collective bargaining agreement—which places a host of restrictions on basketball’s biggest spenders—forced their hand with Williams, but that hasn’t made it any easier to watch his successful start in Dallas, where he’s averaging a career-high 15.1 points on 55.6 percent shooting (54.3 percent from range).
Not Addressing Their Wing Depth
Boston might have the Association’s top wing tandem in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. It also has next to n….