Originally Posted by
flyingdutchdevil
Celtics played hard. But they are flawed. Here are the biggest issues:
1. Big men. Theis is one of those Boston players who the city of Boston loves. He's a no-name player who does the dirty work and never gets upset because he didn't get 5+ shots up. But in reality, Theis just isn't elite nor will be ever be. If Theis is your cheap option in the starting line-up, he needs to be very good at defense. Think of Battier on the Heat or Damian Jones/Bogut on the Warriors (and I get Bogut is a former All-Star but he wasn't paid much in his final years); really good defenders who won't get murdered by opposing players. And Theis got murdered by Bam (who, by the way, is just a wonderful player).
2. Coaching. I love Brad Stevens. I want him to stay and be a Celtic lifer. But in truth, I believe the best coach in the NBA is Spoeltra. This isn't recency bias; Speoltra has been elite for a while. His in-game adjustments are easily the best in the NBA. His ability to counter-punch in the fourth quarter is becoming legendary. He completely out-coached Brad Stevens this series. Also, what the hell was Stevens thinking in the 4th quarter? Just jack up crap 3s? If there is one team you don't want to trade 3 point shots with, it's the Heat. If the Celtics want to advance, Stevens needs better in-game adjustments. His game plans, especially for the first 3 quarters, are excellent. 4th quarters? Not so much.
3. Depth. If Grant Williams is your best bench player in an elimination game, you're done. Yes, the Celtics had Hayward. But he's coming off an injury and had a horrible game. The Celtics need depth, but building through the draft is just too long a process.
4. Kemba. Great leader. Great teammate. Great regular season player. But he was poor in these playoffs. He shot 44% from the floor and 31% from 3. That's unacceptable, especially when you have Tatum and Brown (and sometimes Smart) who can spread the floor for you. I like Kemba, but he had a bad playoffs.
So what do the Celtics do? Well, keep the core of Kemba/Tatum/Brown/Smart/Theis. Trade Hayward asap (and if they don't, I'll lose a lot of respect for Stevens because he's doing what's best for the player and not the team). Trade draft picks. Trade / release low-value rotation players like Kanter, Ojeleye, Edwards, and maybe Wannamaker (but he's an okay two-way player). And get in young, good players through those trades, including an upgrade at the starting 5 and 2-3 high impact bench players. With the Celtics Hayward-chip and draft picks, this should be very doable.
In all honesty, I'd like to see the Celtics pick up Harry Giles, who I think can be a good bench player. He has a horrible attitude, but if anyone can fix that, it's Stevens.