In between documenting the action in FIBA qualifiers, ranking teams, and players, and trying to make sense of the 2022-23 NBA schedule, analysts who cover the league are getting creative in the dog days of summer to keep the flow of content coming despite the arrival of the doldrums.
And one popular way of doing that is by floating some unlikely if possible outcomes for teams and their players for the season to come. Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley did precisely that for the Boston Celtics in a recent article, coming away with three bold predictions for three specific players on the team.
Let’s take a look at all three of them.
Celtics Lab 137: Digging into the 2022-23 NBA schedule for the Boston Celtics with Max Lederman https://t.co/9JkMVwKXN8
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) August 18, 2022
Malcolm Brogdon logs Boston's third-most minutes
Given the injury history of the former Indiana Pacers point guard, this one does feel a bit spicy at first glance, but Buckley is open about Brogdon’s health history.
“Boston needs more ball-movers, and (Brogdon’s) been a nightly source of 6.3 assists since 2019-20. The Celtics needed additional shooters, and he has hit better than 38 percent of his threes in four of his six NBA seasons. This defensive system leans on switchable perimeter defenders, and he can hold his own against virtually any perimeter player.”
“Nothing other than optimism suggests he can bury those medical maladies, but the offseason is a time of maximum optimism, so let’s expect the best here,” says the B/R analyst, acknowledging the biggest hurdle to his take becoming fact.
The league recently announced plans to retire Russell’s No. 6 jersey across the league to honor the Celtics great, but some players are excepted. https://t.co/jmLQFpiKvO
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) August 20, 2022
Danilo Gallinari makes a push for 50/40/90 enshrinement
Given his career tendencies from all three being at 42.8/38.2/87.7, this is a pretty bold take, likely the spiciest of them in fact.
“Maybe it will all click in Boston. This could be the lowest he has ever landed on the offensive hierarchy, which means opposing teams can’t pay him too much attention. That should yield him more open looks than ever, and a marksman like him can feast on those chances.”
“If everything breaks right and he avoids any age-related decline, he could make a run at his first ever 50/40/90 shooting slash,” writes Buckley.
Not only did Boston strike gold with Tatum — they traded back in the draft to do it. https://t.co/xdXvnPFAYp
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) August 20, 2022
Sam Hauser plays 60+ games, 1,000+ minutes
This take is probably the second-most spicy of the trio, but not entirely implausible on the number of games if the Celtics match their supposed level of belief in his potential with opportunity.
The minute total seems very high, though, with only a best-case scenario for Hauser (or a devastating injury to a teammate) making such a take possible.
“If he finds a helpful defensive niche, he could play his way into a substantial role in this rotation,” suggests the B/R writer.
Based on what we have seen so far this offseason, will the Nets even trade Durant? https://t.co/mfIzAHmN7I
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) August 20, 2022
Of the three, Brogdon’s bold take seems by far the most likely to actually pan out, and there’s a path for the other two to become real as well.
But it seems more possible that a young player on the rise could achieve something fairly pedestrian in the league as a whole than a vet reaching new heights he’s never gotten close to in the past.
Gripes, concerns, and suggestions for the recently-released Boston Celtics 2022-23 schedule https://t.co/ppcGE0GGVn
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) August 20, 2022
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