The Boston Celtics have revamped their roster this off-season. Keeping franchise players like Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the Celtics traded away other key pieces like Marcus Smart and Robin Williams. These moves became essential as the team failed to close the deal many times in the past few years, something that made Celtics management and players very impatient.
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The Celtics have since acquired Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis to go along with their two wings. Though these moves are solid, Celtics legend Kevin Garnett was quick to point out that their current lineup doesn’t have grit and grind/defensive-minded players. Being a champion himself with the Celtics, Garnette knows what it takes to win in the NBA, and his recent opinions might be concerning for his former team.
Kevin Garnett reveals his concerns about the Boston Celtics roster
Kevin Garnett and Tony Cavallo recently took to The KG Certified podcast to discuss all the recent trades and movements around the league. While talking about depth and longevity during the season, Tony Cavallo brought up an interesting question to KG regarding his old team, the Celtics.
Referring to Rob Williams and Grant Williams as the ‘grit and grind guys’ of Celtics, Tony asked Garnett’s views on the depth. He said, “Now you bring in guys like Porzingis, who is a great player. You bring in Jrue Holiday, who will get his fair share of Tommy’s points. I can name you their top six guys easily, I don’t know if I can name you their seventh or their eighth. You know what it takes to win a Championship, it’s not just the starting five. You know? What are we worried about their depth there? Or do you think, not the time to worry about it right now, we see how it goes?.”
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Kevin answered in a concerned tone, ” No No, you got to worry about it. Your bench is everything. I don’t think you can exhaust Jay Brown and Tat, I don’t think that you can exhaust them early on. I think as you get into the second half of the season, you can pick their minutes up a little bit. But you want to have solid pieces. I am sure Brad and they have thought about this. They are very strategy-driven. I can see them bringing in some help. But I mean, it ain’t going to be Marcus Smart. It ain’t going to be Rob Williams.”
Compared to the rest of the teams, like the Lakers and The Warriors, the Celtics have a lackluster bench. The Celtics will miss Rob Williams as a shot-blocking and rebounding big. Grant Williams was great both defensively and offensively, so definitely a loss on that front as well. Though Jrue Holiday is a great replacement for Marcus Smart, the lack of any good role pieces for Smart definitely will come to bite the Celtics in the behind later in the season.
Another Celtic Champion weighs in on Boston depth issues
Kendrick Perkins was another Boston Celtics Champion who immediately voiced his concern about the construction of the current roster. Perk, during an episode of NBA Today, told his co-hosts, “I am not concerned about the offense. We’re playing in times where nobody is strapping up across the league. But defensively, I worry about their front line. We know about Robin Williams and his health issues and Al Hoford, he is not getting younger, he is getting up in age. He is going to qualify for his pension in about five or six years.”
Big Perk even showed concern surrounding Porzingis. Perkins doesn’t believe that Porzingis has ever remained healthy when it matters the most, and he is not wrong. The Celtics legend even set this year’s expectations for the Celtics at ‘Champions or bust.’ The ESPN analyst also believes that the roster staying healthy is the most important factor in the Celtics achieving their potential.
