The Boston Celtics are the proud owner of the league’s best record, and yet they of all teams would know that there’s no such thing as having too much talent on the roster. Prior to the Celtics’ 125-117 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday, Boston pulled off a trade to bolster the team’s frontcourt depth, sending two second-round picks and Lamar Stevens to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Xavier Tillman Sr.
Adding Tillman isn’t exactly a needle-moving acquisition; at best, Tillman profiles as a rotation piece off the bench who can provide more two-way versatility in the frontcourt for the Celtics than Luke Kornet. Nevertheless, this could end up being a solid move that helps them in their eventual playoff push, with Jayson Tatum crediting Celtics president Brad Stevens for knowing which exact moves to pull off to try and make the team more matchup-proof.
“He’s the GM, he kind of has a check on the temperature of the team. If he sees something that we might need, or a change that could be helpful, that’s his job,” Tatum said of Stevens, per Noa Dalzell of SB Nation’s Celtics Blog.
Indeed, Brad Stevens has been on a roll over the past few years on the trade front. He was able to acquire Malcolm Brogdon for a package headlined by Aaron Nesmith and Daniel Theis, and then he was able to package Brogdon for Jrue Holiday. And then in what is looking more and more like grand larcenies with each passing day, the Celtics were able to acquire Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White for such cut-rate deals.
Now, the Celtics have plenty of weapons that make them arguably the league’s most dangerous team, with Jayson Tatum leading the way. All they have to do now is hold their end of the bargain.
“Our job is to go out there and compete,” Tatum added.
For the Celtics, exorcising their playoff demons will be a must. But at the very least, all they need to worry about now is making sure they win the mental aspect of the game as they look like the most talented team in the association.
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