The Boston Celtics are 19-21 on the year and sit 10th in the Eastern Conference.
Given the expectations that this group came into the 2021-22 NBA season with, it’s safe to say that’ve underachieved massively thus far.
To make matters worse, they’re not just losing – they’re doing so in embarrassing fashion. Role players hate stars. Stars hate role players. Franchise legends are calling out this current incarnation of the Celtics for embarrassing a proud legacy.
It’s a mess.
One of the main problems Boston is attempting to figure out is how its two best players, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, actually fit together.
During a recent session with the media, Brown attempted to tackle that topic head on.
“I think we can play together,” Brown said. “We have played together well for the majority of our career and things like that. The last year or so hasn’t gone as expected, but I think a lot of the adversity that we’re kind of going through now is going to help us grow and get better in the future.
“If we get over this slump and continue to learn, I think there’s a lot of good basketball on the other side of this. I only can control what I can control. I understand everybody has to do their jobs, but me and JT talk.
“We talked after the game, communicated with one another, and things like that. So we’re on the same page. I get where all the other frustration comes from, but as long as I’m on the same page with him and he’s on the same page with me, that’s where we’re most focused on.”
While Brown’s measured approach is obviously the right way to move forward, it’s hard to ignore the facts at hand: he and Tatum have been playing together for five years. And as a unit, the Celtics are getting worse – not better.
There has been a lot of chatter in recent weeks about possibly blowing this whole squad up.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, though – that is unlikely to happen any time soon.
“The 19-21 Celtics have indicated to rival teams that they want to build around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown — and have no interest to split up the two All-Star forwards right now, sources said. … [the]Celtics appear open for business around other players on the roster. Boston engaged with the 76ers before the season about a potential Simmons deal, but showed no inclination to move Brown.”
It will be interesting to see where Boston goes from here. Thus far, the team has been linked to one significant trade, but nothing has come to fruition up to this point.
An intriguing trade with the Los Angeles Lakers has also been floated, but it is difficult to see a scenario where these two franchises actually try to help each other.
Ayesha kept it real. https://t.co/Axen69IFCx
— Game 7 (@game7__) January 10, 2022
At the end of the day, clearly the Celtics need to do something. Because while Brown and Tatum are saying all the right things in the media, on the court their play is saying something radically different.
Will the Celtics ultimately be able to turn this disappointing season around? Time will tell.
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Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
