Boston Celtics: Brad Stevens’ hidden gem offseason signing

The Boston Celtics have begun to settle down after a busy summer, shipping out and bringing in multiple starters and rotational pieces in an attempt to bounce back from their disappointing 2020-21 season.

Brad Stevens has flipped the roster he coached and shaken up the bench he sat upon, hiring Ime Udoka and multiple high-level assistants to take up the mantle of head coach for the Boston Celtics.

Seeing Stevens courtside next to the Celts’ owners instead of their players will be a change of pace, but it’s one that Cs fans will have to come to accept and even be grateful for. Stevens has inserted a vision into the Celtics front office and has thus changed the energy in the building.

He’s been much more financially fluent and less patient with the players that have been rotting at the end of Boston’s bench. Tacko Fall, Carsen Edwards, Tremont Waters, and Semi Ojeleye have all been let go or traded in the last two months and replaced by seasoned veterans, something Stevens wanted Ainge to do a long time ago.

However, the Boston Celtics haven’t gone through this offseason without taking on a couple of projects. Outside of the projects already on the Cs such as Romeo Langford and Grant Williams, Bruno Fernando and Juwan Morgan have been added to the group, hoping to prove themselves in a new atmosphere.

Today we look at Juwan Morgan, in particular, diving into what he can do for the Boston Celtics and what his upside is.

The potential good and bad of Juwan Morgan’s Boston Celtics stint

I’m not going to lie to you, Juwan Morgan is not a spectacular offensive player. His offense has primarily been why he’s been unable to see the court considering his defense is quite good. He’s inconsistent and unplayable in medium to high-leverage minutes, spending most of his time with the Jazz grabbing garbage time.

Nevertheless, there are some excellent takeaways from Morgan’s offensive film. Firstly, he’s a good roller. Morgan has good hands and comfortability finishing around the rim, hitting 69% of his shots within three feet of the basket.

But that’s not remotely the best part. Morgan can pass too. The 24-year-old big man has an acute touch and great vision, utilizing his excellent finishing to draw defenders then swinging the ball to the open man. He can hit cutters, dump-offs, and kickouts using many passing techniques, but he prefers one-handed fast-balls.

Outside of rolling, Morgan doesn’t provide much value. He’s a willing shooter but not a particularly productive one, taking 43% of his shots from behind the arc but only netting a 30% return rate. His form is fine, but his accuracy is inconsistent.

He won’t be a reliable floor-spacer immediately, but his foundation is good enough that I believe the Boston Celtics’ training staff can get something out of him by the end of the season.

Overall, Morgan’s case for a rotational spot won’t be centered around his offense but rather his defense. Sure, his rolling, offensive rebounding, and streaky shooting could provide value in small minute samples, but with the Celts looking at high-level contention, it’s unlikely Morgan sees the floor outside of garbage time due to his offense.

However, Morgan’s defense may be the difference maker between him being a forgotten practice player or a critical role player.

At six-foot-seven and 232lbs, Morgan can provide some desperately needed defense at the four behind Jayson Tatum. Morgan can hold his own against bigger and stronger players but is a little more serviceable against smaller and quicker players on switches.

His foul rates are excellent, albeit in a low-minute sample, leading me to believe he won’t suffer from the same dilemmas as Grant Williams did at PF. If Udoka decides Morgan is better suited as a small-ball five, then the transition will be seamless, considering Morgan played 71% of his minutes last season at center.

Morgan will need to beat out Grant Williams, Jabari Parker, Sam Hauser, Juancho Hernangomez, Bruno Fernando, and Enes Kanter out in training camp if he wants any chance of securing a role on the 2021-22 Boston Celtics. Hopefully, the young big can succeed, and if not, take a thing or two from this season and come back the following season an improved player.