The Boston Celtics have lost three of their last four games to bring their record down to 14-12 but overall it's hard to not be impressed by the way they have played this season. Boston has become one of the very best defensive teams in the NBA and head coach Brad Stevens continues to prove he is one of the best in the NBA. Still though, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge is not satisfied with this team and roster so he wants to add a big piece, according to Jay King of Masslive.com.
Ainge likes the performances the Celtics have gotten from some of their less heralded players so far this season but he still thinks they need a go-to scorer to really take things to the next level.
"I think the one thing that we could really use is a go-to scorer. We have some guys that have carried us Kelly Olynyk has carried us, Avery Bradley has carried us, Isaiah Thomas hascarried us, Jared Sullinger has carried us at moments during the season, Evan Turner has carried us. But we have got to, it would be nice to find another player that's a reliable scorer at the end of games, night in and night out," said Ainge.
While the Celtics are a great defensive team they rank 19th in the NBA in offense so Ainge has a good point as they have a lot of guys that are solid role players but really only Thomas is a go-to scorer. Thomas leads the team with his 21.2 points per game but Boston's second leading scorer, Bradley, is not a shot creator and is more of a spot up shooter.
If you look around the league most championship contenders have at least two guys who can carry a team on offense at times. The Warriors have Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, the Cavaliers have LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love and the San Antonio Spurs have Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge so you can see why Ainge badly wants another bonafide scorer on the team.
The Celtics certainly have the assets (first round draft picks and young, talented players) to pull off a blockbuster trade but it will come down to who is available. Boston has been linked to DeMarcus Cousins a lot but the Kings have contiuously denied that he is available so Ainge might have to look in another direction.
This Celtics team is very good and they could make some noise in the playoffs this season but Ainge is not wrong in saying he thinks they need another go-to scorer, just look around the league at all of the championship contenders.
