It's always a tough call when it comes to cutting an investment loose. A lot of people stuck with the Celtics as long as they could as the evidence that it just wasn't there for this team, that it was just one of those years, mounted, then sold right before the turn. Well, the turn has seemingly happened.
Boston has won nine of its last 11, and while optimism remains cautious, the signs that this could be the dangerous playoff team it was supposed to be all along are showing up all over the place. The defense is tight. The 3-point volume is trending higher. Marcus Smart is doing Marcus Smart things. Jayson Tatum is the go-to star. We haven't seen what this can look like with Jaylen Brown and Evan Fournier healthy and the whole thing clicking together.
Most importantly, Kemba Walker is, more nights than not, looking like his old self while settling into a new role. He's not the head of the offense anymore. His usage rate reflects that of a third wheel but he's still the most dependable playmaker for others on a team highly dependent on self-creation.
It's perfect, really. Tatum and Brown are the guys. When one is out, Walker hops in the front seat. When they're all together, he's found his place as a supporting star. He starts out many sets in the corner. He's a luxury secondary creator with, when he's feeling good, lead-dog game, like a second baseman with a shortstop's range and arm.
On Thursday night, Walker hung 32 points on the Suns. He shot 11-for-17 from the field. He is not the same player he was in Charlotte, but he's clearly feeling like that player again. His knee hindered him more than most people want to acknowledge. He didn't just go in the relative tank as a player. He wasn't healthy. You can see his small-space burst is back. He's stepping back and stopping on a dime and crossing people up, and he's 11 for his last 25 from 3.
That's crucial. The Celtics don't create a ton of offense off movement. Their ball movement has become more of a priority, but Tatum and Brown need room to do their individual things. But it's not just about the spacing, as everything seems to be about these days; it's flat out about taking and making 3s.
Again, Boston's collective volume is up from deep. Brad Stevens is not a coach that stands firm on analytically friendly shot location. The Celtics can pretty much take whatever shot they want, and it's important that in the midst of that freedom Walker, in particular, is taking and making enough of the right shots.
It is not a stretch to pin Walker as arguably the league's single-most pivotal postseason player. He's not Boston's best player, but as he goes, in many ways, so go the Celtics. Brown and Tatum aren't enough. It's Walker that pushes them, in theory, to the fringe of contention.
You don't have to be a basketball genius to understand the two-way potential of a Celtics team with Smart, Tatum and Brown anchoring a switchable defense and Robert Williams circling the paint, and now the offensive potential is coming to light. Five legit creators, in some capacity, can exist together in Tatum, Brown, Walker, Fournier and Smart. The ball movement gets a lot of attention but in the playoffs, individual creation is at a premium. The Celtics are loaded with guys who can do that, and with Walker finding his stride, it might be time to get back in on this investment.
