How Celtics Plan To Fill Leadership Void Left By Offseason Departures
Should the Celtics be concerned?
BOSTON — The Boston Celtics moved on from several key pieces in the offseason, thus, swapping intangibles for an enhanced lineup.
That trade, while more than justifiable on paper, meant the loss of not only Boston’s heart in Marcus Smart, or front-court defensive anchor in Robert Williams III, but its leadership — an obvious must-have for any championship contender, regardless of star power.
So that now leaves the door open and begs the question: Who will step in and fill the now-vacant leadership seat for the Celtics?
As crucial as the subject matter may be, the C’s aren’t worried just yet with the way their current roster has shaped out after a busy offseason.
“Everyone’s a part of it. It has to come from everybody,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said at Celtics media day. “Everyone has to communicate. It’s not just on one person to communicate and everyone else not to. I think sometimes when you get into, like, coaches talking about, ‘We need to communicate better,’ there’s two pieces to that. There’s the communication piece and there’s the reciprocal piece. … It’s not just one person’s job.”
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The past few seasons have proved that the Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown All-Star tandem isn’t enough. They’ve been granted the likes of Gordon Hayward, Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker, among others within the last five seasons. And in response, the Celtics have underachieved time and time again, forming the expectational norm in Boston; preseason hype with nothing to show for it in the playoffs.
It’s become slowly evident that a leader is an essential component to a still struggling Celtics team.
“My voice, my presence is felt,” Tatum explained at media day. “During the games, huddles, locker room, practice, you know. I speak up. Everybody may not see it. I may not be the loudest, but I speak my mind, I listen to guys and guys listen to me. So it’s mutual respect.”
Last season, Boston had Smart who’s proven to not fear the bright lights. In several crunch-time instances, various costly fourth quarters, neither Tatum nor Brown were reliable. On the one hand, yes, the Celtics reached the Eastern Conference finals, making them eligible for a finalist banner. But that’s lousy, content thinking.
In reality, the Celtics squandered a perfect chance to a No. 8 seed Miami Heat team that barely snuck into playoff contention. Therefore, redemption is necessary in order for Boston to do what should’ve been done already.
