The Celtics have made two trades to acquire quality bench players. In the first deal, the Bucks sent over Keyon Dooling for a second round pick (nothing pretty much). Next, the Magic sent Brandon Bass over for Glen Davis. These are nice moves that won’t be talked about enough.
Dooling brings the Celtics what they need off of the bench. Firepower! Dooling is a guy who’s streaky, but he can really put the ball in the basket if he gets hot. Shooter and a great one at that. Assuming he’ll backup Rondo, this is a great, different look to bring off of the bench. Rondo will rarely look to score, let alone take outside shots, so Dooling can come in and do what Rondo doesn’t. This diversifies the C’s guard play. Adding tomatoes to the pizza, Dooling seems to have the qualities the Cetics want in the locker room.
Bass is an offense first guy that’s gonna help this squad. He hits mid-range J’s, can post up and rebound. He’s dependable, let’s hope he stays healthy and he can play well for Boston. He plays his role, doesn’t get in the way too much and that’s the type of guy the Celtics want.
There’s a problem with this and other recent Celtic moves (i.e. the Perk deal). Defense first guys are being shipped out for guys whose calling cards are offense. While Bass surely isn’t dreadful on defense, he is an offense-heavy player. This creates issues for a team that predicates itself on D. With their money mostly tied in who they have currently, barring a trade it’s unrealistic to expect the same defense of past years. Either Ainge has got something up his sleeve or people will need to recognize the Celtics need additional offense off the bench. While the defense they play won’t be bad by any stretch, the guys they’re bringing in simply aren’t as strong on D.
These are important moves that bolster the offensive firepower of the Celtic bench. Hopefully this will provide rest for Rondo and Garnett too. If they’ll truly be effective, that we’ll see!