When Kyrie Irving departed in the summer of 2019, the Celtics were turned over to Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The young wings showed flashes throughout their careers, including an Eastern Conference Finals run a year prior that proved that taking a shot and building around them was worth it.
There were still questions about Tatum and Brown. Could they be the two best players on a championship team? Should the Celtics commit to them as the building blocks?
In free agency, Ainge searched for a third star. Enter Kemba Walker. Walker was the Kyrie replacement. He was the new point guard, the new lead ball handler and the new guy who was going to take the last shot.
Subsequently, the 2019-20 season saw the breakout of the Jays and a return trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. However, it was a very flawed roster. The five best players —Tatum, Brown, Walker, Gordon Hayward and Marcus Smart — were great but there was a lack of center depth and too many little guards.
Daniel Theis, Enes Kanter and a young Robert Williams was a flawed center room. Kemba headlined a tiny front court that included Carsen Edwards, Tremont Waters and Brad Wanamaker.
During the 2020-21 season, those roster issues again reared their ugly head. They added Tristan Thompson, but Hayward’s departure left a hole on the bench. Again, shaky center depth (though Robert Williams began to emerge) and too many little guards was the Celtics’ demise.
This led to a 36-36 record in the shortened season. When Jaylen Brown missed the last seven games of the season and all of the playoffs due to a torn ligament in his wrist, the Celtics were bounced in the first round.
After that season, Ainge stepped down and went to work for the Jazz and Brad Stevens became the new man in charge. Subsequently, the team-building approach changed.
The first move Brad made, even before replacing himself as head coach, was trading Kemba Walker for Al Horford. That move signaled a new strategy on building around Tatum and Brown: be an elite defense and let the Jays carry the offense.
Derrick White was acquired at the deadline and he was the perfect fit as a good decision maker and an elite point of attack defender; he just needed to develop a jump shot. After shooting 40% from three in the playoffs this past season, I’d say White has found it.
In the second half of the 2022 season, the Celtics turned themselves into one of the greatest defenses the game has seen. It carried them all the way to the Finals until the offense ran out of gas as turnovers killed them and costed them a championship.
After a disappointing end of the 2022-23 season, Stevens got back to work, reshaping the roster again. He sent out the heart and soul and fan favorite Marcus Smart along with Malcolm Brogdon, Robert Williams and Grant Williams, to acquire Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis.
Porzingis changes the way you have to guard the Celtics. He is a mismatch nightmare for the opponent and he stretches the floor in ways a 7-foot-3 person should not be able to do. He is also one of the best rim protectors in the NBA to go on top of all the things he brings on the offensive end.
Holiday is the perfect do-it-all guard to pair with Derrick White in the backcourt. Holiday is a knockdown shooter who can affect the game on defense in a variety of ways. He is still able to guard high scoring guards at an elite level but Mazzulla unlocked Holiday as a roamer off the ball, too.
Stevens has also targeted pure shooters more than Ainge did, including Sam Hauser, Nik Stauskas, Svi Mykhailiuk and Baylor Scheierman.
Meanwhile, Ainge loved little guards who could score like Isaiah Thomas, Kemba Walker and Carsen Edwards. Even some of the guys he has with the Jazz are little guards who can score like Jordan Clarkson, Collin Sexton, Keyonte George, and Isaiah Collier.
Under Stevens and Joe Mazzulla, Tatum and Brown have the ball in their hands a lot so having a guard who’s at their best with the ball in his hands doesn’t make sense, especially if they are little and don’t play defense.
Empowering the Jays has allowed them to grow to new levels. With a championship already in hand and the roster locked in for several seasons, the next step is putting together a dynasty.
