Celtics player power rankings: 2016-17 regular-season edition
Isaiah Thomas is easily the team's MVP, but who were the most valuable Celtics behind him in the rankings?
COMMENTARY
The Boston Celtics ended the 2016-17 regular season on a strong note, closing the year with three straight wins to help them earn the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 53-29 record. Despite being one of the statistically weakest top seeds in NBA history, the Celtics still surpassed preseason expectations. Brad Stevens and company overcame a constant stream of injuries to key rotation players and rose to the top of the conference.
In this edition of the player power rankings, we examine which players were the most valuable contributors of the team’s successful regular season.
15. Demetrius Jackson: The second-round pick only spent 17 minutes on an NBA floor during his rookie season, but he showed off a well-rounded game in the D-League (14.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 6.0 apg) over 32 contests. His contract for 2017-18 is only partially guaranteed, so he’ll have to show progress with his jump shot (27.5 percent from 3-point range) this summer to earn a roster spot next season.
14. Jordan Mickey: For all the success that Mickey has had with the Maine Red Claws in the D-League, he has failed to translate that to the NBA court during his two seasons in green. The power forward had a team-worst -20.5 plus/minus per 100 possessions this year, which essentially cost him a chance at a rotation spot in the second half of the season. He has two more non-guaranteed years on his deal, but odds are he won’t be in Boston next year.
13. James Young: The biggest moment of Young’s season came back in October when the team elected to decline his $3 million option for the 2017-18 season. That bit of cap management ended up being a wise move for the C’s front office, but it also spoke volumes about the 22-year-old’s lack of development. The swingman posted career-highs in year three in several statistical categories, but his shooting (43 percent) is still below league average. Some team will take a chance on him this summer, but it probably won’t be Boston.
12. Gerald Green: After an ugly first couple months of the season that were marred by injury and a shooting slump, Green has lived up to his reputation as a streaky spark plug off the bench. He bounced back from a down year in Miami to shoot league average (35 percent) from downtown, and his ability to create his own shot makes him a likely candidate to be called on by Brad Stevens this postseason.
11. Tyler Zeller: It was a second straight frustrating year for the seven-footer from a playing time standpoint, as Brad Stevens’ propensity to go small with lineups left Zeller with spot minutes for much of the year. He averaged a career-low 3.5 points in just 10 minutes per game, but the Celtics did always play better defense (104.5 defensive rating) when he was on the floor. With the C’s facing an imposing big man in Robin Lopez in the first round of the playoffs, Zeller still has a chance to make a major impact in this first-round series.
10. Terry Rozier: If you want to make a case for the most disappointing Celtics player based on preseason expectations, the second-year guard might be on the top of the list. Unlike Zeller and Green, Rozier had the benefit of regular playing time throughout most of the season, but he failed to carry over the momentum he had developed in a strong summer league. His shooting numbers (36.7 percent FG) rivaled Marcus Smart’s for worst on the roster, and his ability to finish at rim (46.9 percent inside 3 feet) prevented him from taking advantage of his athleticism on drives.
9. Jonas Jerebko: It was a rollercoaster ride of a season for the Swede thanks to streaky shooting. A midseason broken nose following a collision with Jaylen Brown led to some of the slumpage, but a career low PER (9.4) showcased a player that did little offensively besides taking open 3s. He remains one of the better defensive rebounders (19.1 defensive rebounding percentage) on the roster, but a sharp dip in his overall 3-point shooting (34.6 percent) made him an unreliable part of the rotation as the season wore on.
8. Jaylen Brown: Outside of Bucks point guard Malcolm Brogdon, no rookie played a bigger role on a winning team than the No. 3 overall pick. Brown ranked second among rookies in points per game (6.6) on playoff teams; and his offensive game on the whole was much more advanced than many analysts projected from the 20-year-old. The Celtics struggled when he was on the floor as a team (-2.2 net rating), but that was more of byproduct of the bench units he played with than his own play.
7. Kelly Olynyk: The seven-footer’s season was a mixed bag as he finished out his rookie contract. On the plus side were improvements to his defensive rebounding (team-best 6.7 per 36 minutes) and finishing (75.3 percent accuracy inside three feet). However, Olynyk’s perimeter shooting regressed to league average numbers (35 percent from deep), which contributed to a dip in his scoring average as well (9.0 ppg).
6. Marcus Smart: For the second straight season, Smart was one of the worst shooters in the entire league. The third-year guard showed enough growth in other facets of his game to overshadow those flaws, however. His tenacious defense has teammates like Avery Bradley openly campaigning for him to be voted on the all-defensive team, while his playmaking as a point guard (career-high 4.6 assists per game) demonstrated that he can be trusted to run an offense.
5. Amir Johnson: The most experienced member of the Celtics roster ended up being the most durable player on the team in 2016-17, suiting up in a team-best 80 games. The 29-year-old’s rebounding numbers dipped, but he remained a defensive anchor in the paint. His defensive rating (103.4) was the best among Boston’s bigs, and some unexpected stellar 3-point shooting (40 percent) was a welcome bonus on the starting unit all year long.
4. Avery Bradley: Outside of the myriad injuries and illness that cost Bradley 27 games during 2016-17, the story of the shooting guard’s season is the incredible leap he took on the glass. Bradley’s 6.1 rebounds per game nearly doubled his career average (3.1) and ranked him second overall on the roster despite his undersized 6-foot-2 frame. Combine that output with career-highs in points and assists per game and it’s evident the 26-year-old will be carrying plenty of momentum into a contract year in 2017.
3. Al Horford: The $113 million dollar man did not put up the kind of numbers that are expected from a player with a max contract, but that didn’t lessen his impact on the C’s success. His offensive playmaking (career-high 5.0 assists per game) helped catapult Boston into a top-10 scoring team. Horford’s reliable shooting touch also enabled Isaiah Thomas to turn into a top-3 NBA scorer.
2. Jae Crowder: One of the best bargains in the NBA continued to strengthen his All-Star case in year three in Boston, transforming into an elite 3-point shooter (39.8 percent). That addition to his game made him arguably the most indispensable player on the roster outside of Thomas, thanks to his defensive versatility. Crowder’s net rating (+7.8) was the second highest on the roster and he was one of the few players on the team that saw Boston’s offensive and defensive numbers improve with him on the floor.
1. Isaiah Thomas: The All-Star guard put the finishing touches on the second highest points per game season scoring average in Celtics history (28.9 ppg), sandwiched between Larry Bird (29.9 ppg) and John Halvicek (28.86 ppg). That type of production makes Thomas not just the Celtics MVP, but puts him in the conversation for All-NBA honors as well. His career-highs in efficiency, (46.3 FG%, 90.1 FT%) also highlight the 28-year-old’s skill-set in what will go down as one of the best individual season in franchise history.
