Regardless of what happens in game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston Celtics will enter the off-season armed with the Taxpayer Mid-Level exception, worth $5 million.
According to Bleacher Report, Boston should look to see if their status as perennial championship contenders is enough to convince Lonnie Walker IV to take a slight pay cut to join their roster next season.
“When the Boston Celtics’ offense turns out sickeningly ineffective stretches, the symptoms are always the same: aimlessness, indecision, and an alarming disregard for ball security,” Bleacher Report’s staff wrote. “He made $6.5 million on the one-year deal he inked with L.A. and may have priced himself out of Boston’s range, which tops out at the mini midlevel exception of $5 million. But we’re being ambitious, and Walker’s aggressive, decisive style could cure what ails the Celtics’ offense.”
Walker IV has been impressive for the Lakers this season, providing them with regular-season averages of 11.7 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game while shooting 44.8% from the field and 36.5% from deep.
Lonnie Walker IV Doesn’t Fill a Core Need for Celtics
Despite Walker IV’s scoring ability, he doesn’t fill a positional need for the Celtics, who are already stacked at both guard positions. In fact, third-year guard Payton Pritchard has seen minutes hard to come by this year and will likely be heading to new pastures during the summer.
Payton Pritchard is tonight’s Tommy Award winner
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As such, adding another guard player doesn’t project to be the best use of Boston’s limited resources. Instead, we should expect the team to focus on finding a backup wing who can help fill minutes when Jayson Tatum and/or Jaylen Brown go to the bench.
Otherwise, the Celtics will face similar rotation issues to the 2022-23 season, where any time Brown or Tatum misses a game, Joe Mazzulla is forced to play a smaller lineup and give additional minutes to guard players in wing positions.
Jaylen Brown Wants to See The Celtics ‘Grow’
During a May 27 post-game appearance on TNT, Jaylen Brown discussed how the Celtics almost lost game six against the Miami Heat after squandering a ten-point lead down the stretch.
“I guess we just like doing it the hard way,” Brown said. “I’m not sure why we do it. It seems like when we get in those moments, we get a little bit apprehensive, and we kinda like it a little bit like we just don’t want to be the one that messes up, and it causes you to be the one that messes up. I feel like in those moments, we’ve just gotta grow, and in…this next game that we got, we just got to be better.”
Boston and Miami will now face off in game seven on Monday, May 29, with the Celtics looking to make history as the first team to overturn a 3-0 deficit in the postseason and progress onto the next round.
Of course, as with any win-or-go-home game, both teams will look to be the best version of themselves, with a trip to the NBA Finals to face the Denver Nuggets waiting for whichever team comes out victorious.
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Lakers’ Bucket-Getter Floated as ‘Ambitious’ Celtics Target in Free Agency