HOOPSAHOLIC

“Paging Larry Bird…. Paging Larry Bird… The Celtics need your help.”

After a year of complete weirdness in Boston, the Celtics now face a 2014 season in which they can expect similar results to last season, as one of the NBA’s bottom feeders. Simply put, the Celtics' roster isn’t very good. Not only is the roster not great, but their best player doesn’t want to play for them, and there are even reports that the front office is saying Rajon Rondo is now “uncoachable”. To top it off, those reports came before the Celtics announced he will be out for a couple of months because of broken hand.

Glass half full perspective? Well at least they drafted Marcus Smart. Very true though, because Smart does look to be one of the more complete players in the 2014 draft class. He's able to do it all from scoring to rebounding to playing defense. If he doesn’t run into any rowdy Texas Tech donors in Boston, then he surely will prove to be a great NBA player. But the big question is: how long will that take? Under the instruction of Celtics' coach Brad Stevens, Smart should flourish, partially because Stevens is used to coaching college-aged talent since it was basically yesterday he was coaching at Butler. But the Celtics' roster doesn’t really seem to have a bunch of guys that Smart can turn to as a mentor. Paul Pierce and KG bounced outta town a couple of years ago, and the Celtics were lacking in veteran leadership last season. 

I personally wouldn’t mind seeing Rondo and Smart get on the floor together just to see what would happen once Rondo is healthy. Two-point guard systems have worked recently seeing what the Phoenix Suns did with Dragic and Bledsoe, and what the Thunder did in the playoffs starting both Westbrook and Reggie Jackson. I think the athleticism of the two could at least cause some havoc on the floor and be a handful for opposing defenders. 

Jeff Green is someone the Celtics will have to lean on to carry the scoring load. Yes, Rondo is “technically” the best player, but he’s never been known to drop 30 points on a nightly basis, or really even a yearly basis. Also he's always hurt!! So they will need to trust in Green to be the go-to wing scorer that averages at least 17 to 18 points a game. We all know Green can score, but if the Celtics have any hope, he will need to do it consistently. 

Avery Bradley is another interesting piece to this Celtics' puzzle. He’s been the staple lock-down defender for this squad the last few seasons, but he has to stay healthy and improve his scoring. He averaged 14 points last season, which was an upgrade on previous seasons, and had a steal a game, but names like Green, Bradley and Rondo will have to carry this team. The Celtics also added Evan Turner this offseason so he will be an interesting fit to the puzzle. Many people have put some of the blame on him for the collapse of the Pacers last season since they fell apart once he was traded to Indiana. 

I think for the big men, it will be interesting if Kelly Olynik pans out to be the prospect we all thought he could be coming out of Gonzaga. He’s "balled out" in summer leagues, but has yet to do it on a consistent basis in the regular season. He averaged eight points and five rebounds a clip, but the Celtics will need more production from him moving forward. His defense needs some work too. One of his “bang bros” in the post will be Brandon Bass who I think will have another productive season. He played every game last year and averaged 11 points and five rebounds. If him Olynyk and Jared Sullinger can team up and become dominant on the boards, then the Celtics will be a lot better than what I’m projecting them to be.