An emerging need for the Celtics' holiday wish list

NBA teams will begin to go shopping next month once the restriction on trading free agents is lifted on December 15th. The return of Gordon Hayward from a fractured left hand around that time will be a nice boost to the C's prospects, but that talent boost won't cover up one emerging need on Boston's depth chart as we head deeper into the winter months.

The first month of the season is largely about evaluating what a roster has and that's specifically true for this Celtics group that has so many new faces and rookies. The front office is thrilled with the development of Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown through these early stretches, and they have to be pleased with the team's top group when it's been at full strength. The starting five of Walker/Brown/Hayward/Tatum/Theis has been one of the best five-man groups in the league early on based on net rating, with its ability to stretch out the floor on offense and provide versatile coverage on the defensive end. Smart has filled in extremely well in the starting group as well as he's spent the majority of his year filling in for one of Brown/Hayward on most nights.

Without Smart, the Celtics' bench has fought back from a slow start and turned into a surprising net positive for this group. In fact, Boston's reserves rank 10th in net rating (+0.7) across all NBA benches, a tribute to the improved play of Brad Wanamaker, the defensive intangibles of Grant Williams and selective big nights from others (Rob Williams, Enes Kanter, Carsen Edwards, etc.) across the C's roster while being led by one of the starters like Tatum or Brown that head up second units.

"I love it. I think it’s great," Stevens said of playing so many young guys lately. "They play really hard. They’re really together. We can’t count Jayson as a young player, even though he’s got a lot of room to grow. But he wants a lot of responsibility and he has a lot of responsibility. Jaylen’s the same. Now, we think when they’re 28 they’re going to be way better than they are now, and that’s just part of the growth of a basketball player. But those guys have to be the older, savvy guys that have been through a lot in those moments."

Yet, as Brad Stevens gets a better sense of what he has with this group, it's hard to ignore a glaring discrepancy that's building between the top and bottom of the C's depth chart. 

Put simply: The Celtics' bench isn't just shooting poorly from 3-point range. They are barely shooting it at all.

Through 16 games, Boston's reserves rank dead last in 3-point attempts per game (8.6) and 27th in 3-point shooting (26.8 percent). A closer look at the personnel makes the issue a little bit more alarming since it's hard to determine where exactly improvement will come from.

Carsen Edwards (33 percent on 2.8 attempts per game): Likely the team's best hope to be a floor spacer off the pine but he's been incredibly streaky in the early going, losing out on minutes to Brad Wanamaker at points. He hasn't been shy with his shot selection but the elite shooting from summer league and the preseason hasn't translated yet.

Semi Ojeleye (33 percent on 1.3 attempts per game): Never a good sign when Ojeleye leads the bench in 3-point shooting accuracy. A couple of strong shooting games in the past two weeks bumped his numbers up after a woeful start but he obviously can't be counted on yet for consistent shooting despite his hard work.

Brad Wanamaker (31 percent on 1.2 attempts per game): He's been a net positive on the offensive end with his ability to get to the free-throw line and create for others but perimeter shooting has not translated well so far. He shot better last year with a limited sample size (41 percent from 3) but it's evident that this is still not a consistent strength of his at age 30.

Grant Williams (0-of-18): He's been good for one attempt and miss a game at this point. The Celtics aren't ready to pull the plug on this experiment yet but it's safe to say a lack of production on the offensive end has caused him to lose some of his minutes to Williams/Kanter.

With Enes Kanter and Rob Williams serving as non-threats from the perimeter, the C's second unit spacing looks pretty limited even when there are two starters on the floor. Life will get a little bit better on this front for Stevens when Smart (34 percent on 6.9 attempts per game) returns to the second unit but it's already apparent that this group could use more of a spacing threat on nights when the starters don't have it going from deep.

The challenge for the front office is finding a player that can bring some perimeter gravity without taking too much away from the team on the defensive end. That's been the calling card of this team early on for the bench unit given the number of gritty defenders and hard workers in this group. Bringing aboard a shooter who doesn't play much defense could defeat the purpose of being the upgrade on that front.

Still, it's possible a player like that could have some of their weaknesses covered up well playing alongside savvy defenders like Smart, Williams and Ojeleye. As the C's offensive rating continues to fall back to earth (1st to 12th in NBA over the past three weeks) this is an area that bears watching even as the team returns to full strength. Amid all the talk for this team to improve its bulk in the frontcourt, the bigger help might simply be another floor spacer, whether or not he's a big man.