The Boston Celtics have lost five of their last six games and they are now teetering around .500 with their 19-18 record. Coming into the year the Celtics thought that their depth would be their biggest asset but at this point it seems to be hurting more than helping as Brad Stevens is having trouble figuring out a set rotation. Now there is a strong feeling in the organization that Jordan Mickey needs to be getting some playing time, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald, but trades may need to be made to make that happen.
Mickey was selected by the Celtics with the third pick in the second round (33rd overall) in the 2015 NBA Draft and it seemed like they may be higher on him than they were on either of their two first round picks (Terry Rozier & R.J. Hunter). The Celtics signed Mickey to a multi-year deal after he was impressive in the preseason but he has only played in three games this season for a total of six minutes.
Mickey is behind a lot of different people on the depth chart in the frontcourt including Amir Johnson, Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk among others but there is reportedly a growing feeling that the Celtics want to see what Mickey can do at the NBA level. Mickey has spent the majority of his time this season in the D-League where he is absolutely tearing it up so Boston doesn't see much of a benefit of keeping him in the minors and want to see if his play will translate to the pros.
Mickey is averaging 18 points, 10.8 rebounds and 4.6 blocks in 19 games with the Maine Red Claws this season and it is clear he is ready for the next level. The issue is who Stevens will take out of the rotation to get Mickey minutes. As of right now both David Lee and Tyler Zeller are out of the rotation and they both could be contributing but there just aren't enough minutes to spread around.
That is where Danny Ainge comes in. Ainge has said he wants to get a go-to scorer for the Celtics and has plenty of assets to be able to do so now it is just a matter of pulling something off. More realistically Ainge could use the overload of bigs to get a very solid player elsewhere which would then open up some more room for the rookie.
Either way Ainge has his work cut out for him as he has given Stevens a roster with a lot of good players but with no bonafide stars to take them to the next level. The depth of the roster has also hurt them in the way they want to use their young players so while they say that want to see Mickey play in NBA games it would likely require some sort of deal to free up the minutes.
