Celtics player grades before the playoff push

The Boston Celtics are 39-16, fifty-fivegames into a solid (if very slightly disappointing) title defense. The team has thankfully shaken off a brutal second quarter, entering the All-Star break on a 7-1 stretch that’s seen Jayson Tatum playing some of the best ball of the year.

Two-thirds into the season, it seems like a good time to take stock of how the roster has been performing with some player grades.

Note that I grade on a curve. These marks are relative to expectations and past performance; players don’t get an A simply for possessing talent. If we know someone is capable of consistent excellence, flashes won’t cut it. I want players to meet or exceed the high expectations that previous successes have engendered.

I’ve been accused of being a jerk harsh grader in the past, but fake nice-guy stuff is how the Chicago Bulls keep being the Chicago Bulls. Real teams and fans can take an unflinching look at their rosters, and I’ve tried to do that here. That said, these are always subjective, so feel free to share your grades in the comments!

Jayson Tatum: A

Tatum has been a top-5 player in the NBA yet again this season, and it feels like he’s cruising toward another All-NBA First Team finish. His shooting efficiency (58.9% true shooting is just slightly above league average) hasn’t been elite thanks to a slightly subpar season from deep (35.8% from long range), but it’s more than good enough given the sheer amount of shots he puts up.

The defense is steady, as always. Tatum’s willingness to occasionally defend opposing centers (with zero complaints, unlike certain other forwards) lets head coach Joe Mazzulla do some funky things schematically. His rebounding has been customarily elite, and the passing has noticeably improved, carrying over from last year’s playoffs.

His patience and processing speed are top-tier, but the technical improvements, like hitting shooters right in their pocket from across the court, are even more eye-catching:

It feels like Tatum can get a dunk whenever he wants, which is why some of the side-step threes can be so frustrating to watch. In a perfect world, Tatum would constantly redline his aggression levels, but he’s been more than good enough in this one.

Jaylen Brown: C

Please don’t twist my intent here. I’m not saying by any means that Brown’s been a bad player this year, but there’s no getting around the fact that Brown has had a down season by his remarkable standards. That being the case, I can’t justify a high mark.

His on-ball defense remains excellent, and he has had by far the best passing season of his career, showing real growth as a playmaker and decision-maker. The passing has consistently been a major weakness for Brown, so seeing him make such a leap this far into his career is encouraging.

However, Brown is also having the worst three-point shooting year of his career. While his finishing has improved recently, this is also his worst two-point shooting season since 2018. Brown hasn’t had as many hammer yams on fools as in the past, and his dunk rate is nearly half of what it was last season. Of course, injuries have played a part, but Brown hasn’t looked quite the same even when healthy.

His off-ball defense has also dramatically regressed to the point where advanced metrics like EPM now think he’s an actively harmful defender overall. That might be overstating it, but teams have been targeting Brown in transition and with off-ball movement to sometimes gruesome effect. Twice in a row, the Hawks exploited Jaylen Brown’s lazy defense in embarrassing fashion, prompting a furious Mazzulla timeout:

Yikes.

Again, I am not saying that Brown should be a benchwarmer. Perhaps some time off will get him right physically, as he’s battled shoulder and knee ailments throughout the year. But all in all, the Celtics are accustomed to — and need — more.

Derrick White — B+

Derrick White continues to up his three-point volume to obscene heights, and he’s still canning them with regularity. Truthfully, the defense has slipped just a tad, but there’s still no sight quite like White obliterating hubris-driven would-be dunkers at the rim:

White has continually expanded his offensive game while being either the best or second-best defender on the team every year since he arrived, and his game — predicated on shooting and intelligence — should age like fine vino. I’ve loved watching his confidence blossom over the years to the point where he’s willing to take shots typically reserved for mononymous superstars:

Perhaps Payton Pritchard’s swagger has rubbed off on him.

Jrue Holiday — D+

This is tough to write, as I’m as big a Holiday fan as there is. But he’s noticeably a half-step slower on defense this season (still good!), and the decline in three-point shooting has been so severe that teams have had no issue stashing a center on him. The Celtics’ offensive rating falls off a cliff like a bad-luck bungee jumper whenever he’s on the floor (an offensive on/off of -10.5 is in the fifth percentile). While that’s partly due to Payton Pritchard’s incandescence and injuries, including a balky shoulder, Holiday simply hasn’t been good enough on that end.

Holiday stepped his game up in the playoffs last season, and it’s more than possible he can do that again. He might be saving his best for when it matters most. 55 games into his age-34 season, however, Holiday hasn’t nearly lived up to his previous standards.

Payton Pritchard: A+

Who could have seen this coming?

There have been times this season where Pritchard has legitimately been the Celtics’ second-most-important player. His shooting, pace-pushing, and sneering audacity fit in any lineup permutation — it’s not shocking that six of the top eight lineups he’s used in most have outscored opponents by at least 20 points per 100 possessions (the Celtics’ net rating as a whole is +9.4).

Pritchard has abandoned all pretense of being a table-setter. He’s on the court to do two things: get buckets and chew bubblegum. Unfortunately for opponents, he’s all out of Wrigley’s.

The three-point shooting has been so bright that it’s blinded people to Pritchard’s other notable improvements. For the second year in a row, he’s been a legitimately freaky finisher at the rim, using his tiny shoulders as mean-spirited battering rams to free up just enough space to squeeze in a layup:

Pritchard almost never turns the ball over and attacks the offensive glass like a miniature Thompson Triplet. I’ll never tire of seeing him squirt out from a dogpile with a live dribble.

He can get picked on defensively; that’s true for anyone his size. But I don’t think there’s much more Pritchard can do on that end, and he’s been so incredible offensively that he’s actually closed a few games over Holiday.

Even with a recent relative swoon, Pritchard was by far my easiest grade.

Kristaps Porzingis: B

It didn’t take long for KP to return to form (offensively, at least) following a lengthy injury absence, and he’s been shooting the Wilson logo off the ball from deep. Per Synergy, he’s scoring 1.21 points on every post-up shot, too, a top-notch mark.

However, the team has suffered tremendously whenever Porzingis is in the lineup on both sides. Some of that is bad luck — opponents shoot 39% from deep when KP is on the floor, an unusually high number. That’s not entirely his fault, but Porzingis has not been tight in pick-and-roll coverage this year. There have been more communication breakdowns than last season, and whether that’s KP’s fault or not, he’s often involved:

If Pritchard was my easiest grade, Porzingis was the hardest. If you want to move him a full letter grade up or down, I wouldn’t put up a big fight.

Al Horford: C+

Like Holiday, Horford’s age (39!) is starting to show. He’s down to 35% from three and has clearly lost a step on defense.

That said, the Celtics are still elite on both sides when he’s on the floor. Opposing teams would still rather attack other players on defense and are reluctant to leave Horford alone on offense completely. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about what might happen to him in the playoffs, but perhaps he can flip the switch.

Sam Hauser: B+

Hauser struggled out of the gates but found his shot and his confidence six weeks in. Interestingly, he’s become even more one-dimensional this season, as he’s shooting fewer than one two-pointer per game; perhaps that’s merely a byproduct of the team’s overall emphasis on putting up huge numbers of threes.

Regardless, while Hauser has been steady in his role, I can’t completely discount the first part of the season, either.

Luke Kornet: A-

Kornet has nimbly maintained his spot as the third big on the roster behind Porzingis and Horford despite strong stretches from Neemias Queta. His underrated rim protection, offensive rebounding, and sure-handed finishes at the rim provide a reliable boost night in and night out.

If anything, I wish the team would try to feature Kornet more on offense. He has some underutilized skills, and his teammates look him off more often than I like.

He has his occasional struggles, and coach Mazzulla is more than willing to swap in a different player if Kornet isn’t in the right matchup. But at the end of the day, the team outscores opponents by nearly 14 points per 100 possessions when Kornet is on the court, the highest mark of any major rotation player.

Neemias Queta: B+

Queta always brings force and energy, two things the Celtics often need. Sometimes, that means he’s crashing the boards, laying the hardest screens on the team, and sprinting for lobs. Occasionally, it means he’s fouling the bejeezus out of opponents and running in random directions like a decollated chicken.

But you take the bad with the good, and we’ve seen far more of the latter than the former this season. He’s a situational player who deserves credit for the real improvement he’s shown this season.

Drew Peterson: B

Peterson hasn’t had a lot of burn, but he’s generally made the most of it. The shooting is promising, but he’s also had a few defensive moments that I’ve found mildly intriguing.

Jordan Walsh: D+

The nasty defense is real. Walsh can fly around the court, smack away lazy shots, and harass ballhandlers. He has the size and quickness to compete across at least three positions. In his very limited minutes, he’s avoided foul trouble this year, a previous bugaboo.

But the offense remains woeful. Walsh has the aim of a drunken snake. It’s affecting his confidence. Everyone loves the try-hard defender archetype, but Walsh has to bring something to the table offensively to earn real minutes. Right now, I’m not sure that even Walsh knows what that could be.

Xavier Tillman: D-

Tillman has been handily surpassed in the rotation by both Kornet and Queta. He’s barely played and has looked terrible in his limited minutes.

I still think Tillman’s perimeter switching might make him an intriguing wildcard in the playoffs, but he hasn’t even done that particularly well in his scant opportunities.

Baylor Scheierman: Incomplete

We’ve barely seen the first-round pick this season, and that shouldn’t be a shock. The Celtics have Sam Hauser and Drew Peterson as depth bench gunners, who have shot more accurately and defended far better.

We’ll check back in a year or two.

JD Davison: Incomplete

I can’t assign a letter grade to someone with 24 minutes of playing time. That’s a good thing for Davison, who continues to struggle at the NBA level.

Torrey Craig: A+++ Incomplete

One game, nine minutes, 100% three-point shooting, a block, an assist, and endless hustle? Can’t ask for better per-minute production.