Watch CBS News

Robb: Grading The Celtics Offseason

By Brian Robb, CBS Boston

BOSTON (CBS) – With an eventful July in the rear view mirror, the Celtics' braintrust look done (for the time being) with their offseason maneuverings this summer. While trades are a distinct possibility during training camp due to a crowded roster situation, enough pieces are now in place to properly evaluate the team's offseason. Let's take a look at the team's individual moves and see how Danny Ainge fared upon trying to improve on last season's 48-win squad.

Signing Al Horford to four-year deal worth $113 million

Celtics fans may not have been excited about this salary figure at the start of the offseason, but a flurry of money being thrown around to above-average big men ensured that Horford would be getting a max contract somewhere. As the best player not named Kevin Durant to change addresses this offseason, Ainge has the right to feel good about landing the biggest free agent in team history from a playoff rival. Year four of the deal at $30 million may look ugly, but that's not a concern for the time being when Horford is still in his prime.

Grade: A

Re-signing Tyler Zeller to two-year, $16 million contract

This contract is an overpayment more than anything else, but it's an acceptable one for a couple reasons. First, it's merely a depth signing towards the end of free agency period. Zeller was a restricted free agent and clearly wasn't attracting a ton of offers after a down 2015-16 season. The Celtics already upgraded their frontcourt with Horford but still lacked real size in the middle, especially after Jared Sullinger's exit. Despite his rocky tenure last season, Zeller, 26, has shown he can excel under Stevens if given ample opportunity, something he didn't see last year. It's not clear yet whether he'll get that chance in 2016-17 but the Celtics overpaid in the short term to find out. With the added benefit of a non-guaranteed year two salary, Zeller is nice Horford injury insurance and could also come in handy for trade purposes in next 12 months for salary matching.

Grade: B

Signing Gerald Green to one-year deal for veteran's minimum

Over the past two offseasons, we've seen Ainge go after both extremes of the free agent market, strategy that makes sense for team that's rebuilding on the fly in Boston. It's either chasing big fish (Kevin Durant, Horford, Kevin Love) or maintaining the team's flexibility with short-term value signings (Evan Turner, Jonas Jerebko, Amir Johnson). Green became the latest player to fall into the latter category after signing a one-year guaranteed deal with his original team. While his all-around skillset isn't as impressive as Turner, he's capable of being a sparkplug off the bench at about 1/18 of the cost of Turner's new deal. His 35 percent career 3-point shooting should help space floor for bench unit that could include Jonas Jerebko and Kelly Olynyk. For such a low price, Ainge couldn't get much better upside.

Grade: B+

Overall offseason grade: A-

Brian Robb covers the Celtics for CBS Boston and contributes to NBA.com, among other media outlets. You can follow him on Twitter @CelticsHub.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.