The Boston Celtics are in the process of trying to re-tool and build a championship contender. While we wait for them to figure themselves out, we can watch the NBA Finals and some players with connections to the Celtics.
The Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks have four former Celtics on their rosters between them. Here’s a look at some old friends, and how they might impact the Finals.
Abdel Nader
Nader is the first Egyptian-born player to make an NBA Finals, and his journey began as Boston’s late second-round pick in 2016. While he didn’t make an impact on the Celtics, he showed some promise by winning the 2017 D-League Rookie of the Year award, averaging 21.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 40 games.
He was moved to Oklahoma City to clear a roster spot, and Nader started to make more of his opportunity with the Thunder. He played in 61 games in his first season there (his second season in the league), but it was his next season that saw some of his work pay off.
Nader started six games in the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 NBA season, shot 47% from the field and 37.5% on 3-pointers. He also honed his ability to get to the rim, which would be part of what earned him a chance with the Phoenix Suns.
Phoenix acquired him in the deal for Chris Paul, but he wasn’t a throwaway contract. He actually played in 24 games before getting hurt, and his ability to attack was something the Suns needed at the time. He scored 10 or more points for Phoenix six times before a knee injury cut his season short.
However, he recovered in time to get some key playoff minutes for the shorthanded Suns.
“I just think we need what he brings to the table,” Suns head coach Monty Williams said after Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals. “That's a tough first game to come back in. But I just, I like the fact that he can guard, he can rebound, he's a big body, he moves his feet, and we think he's going to be able to help us going forward.”
It might be tough to envision Nader getting Finals minutes, but there might be a chance for a slashing guard to attack if the Suns are settling too much at any point. There may be a spot for Nader to play a short stretch just to get the team into the attacking mindset again, draw a few free throws to slow the game down, and reset the offense.
E’Twaun Moore
Moore is another late second-round pick who left Boston after a tough start to find some modest success. In fact, Moore has managed to carve out a 10-year career with five teams in the league.
The 55th overall pick in the draft was always known as a shooter, and over time he developed into a reliable weapon. After being traded to Houston in the deal to acquire Courtney Lee, Moore was waived and then signed by Orlando. He played two seasons there, starting 21 games in his first season there, before going to Chicago and having a breakout season.
He played 59 games in his second season with the Bulls, starting 22 and shooting 45.2% on 3’s, which caught the eye of the New Orleans Pelicans. They gave him a four-year, $34-million deal in the summer of 2016, and the middle two years of that deal were his best in the league.
He played all 82 games in 2017-18, starting 80, shooting 42.5% from deep and posting a career-best .593 true shooting percentage. He made 128 3-pointers for New Orleans that season, Nearly twice as many as the year before, which was his career-high to that point.
Moore’s production has tailed off a bit in recent years. His role was greatly reduced in his final year in New Orleans and he signed a one-year deal with the Suns for this season. He has been used sparingly in a reserve role but injuries to Chris Paul and Cam Payne pressed him into playoff service.
"When you're a role player in this league, and this is true for any role player, myself included, you are going to have ups and downs and highs and lows," former teammate JJ Redick told AZ Central earlier this season. "You can be in a great five-game rhythm and something goes wrong one game and then you can be out of the rotation. I think he's able to deal with that because of his personality and because of his experience."
He hasn’t shot well this season for Phoenix and is just 1-5 from deep in his three short appearances against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Suns might need to find shooting against the Bucks size and their drop pick-and-roll coverage, so it’s not out of the question that we’ll see Moore get some spot minutes if Monty Williams is searching for shooting.
Jeff Teague
Those were a magical 34 games in Boston, weren’t they?
Teague’s time in the NBA is winding down, so it’s fitting he was able to dispatch the Hawks team he played with for eight seasons, infuriating Celtics fans along the way with his speed.
“I don’t know what qualifies as a superstar but I know this: Nobody in the league can keep Jeff Teague in front of them. Nobody,” Brad Stevens said back in 2015. That’s no longer the case, but it would be fitting to see him find one last drive in those legs on his way to an elusive championship.
Danny Ainge shouldn’t have signed Teague, and Teague probably shouldn’t play in the NBA Finals, but Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer does things people think he shouldn’t do, so hold onto your hats.
Jae Crowder
The best of this group, and the player Boston easily misses the most.
I’ve said this many times in many places, but I’m happy to repeat myself: Jae Crowder is the common thread between teams who overachieve.
He came to Boston as part of the Rajon Rondo trade, and immediately he and Isaiah Thomas combined the chips stacked on their shoulders to fuel improbable success with the Celtics. Those teams were tough, resilient, and were very willing to go nose-to-nose with anyone in the league.
Crowder’s competitiveness was off the charts, so much so that he got mad at Celtics fans for cheering Gordon Hayward when he came to Boston during his final year with the Utah Jazz. To him, they were cheering for his replacement, and he was not shy about expressing that feeling.
“I heard the cheering before the game,” Crowder said at the time. “ I didn’t like that at all. I think that was a sign of disrespect to me from the fans. That sparked a little fire in me.”
The Celtics could have used that level of grit this season. Crowder has since gone to Cleveland in the Kyrie Irving trade, then Utah, Memphis, and Miami before landing in Phoenix. He was a big part of that fun Memphis team from a couple of seasons ago, and it’s no surprise that the trade that sent him to Miami is the turning point that turned the Grizzlies season sour and sparked the Heat’s run to the NBA Finals.
Now Crowder will be back in the Finals for another chance at a ring. His 3-point shooting will be huge for the Suns if he makes the most of the open looks the Milwaukee defense tends to give up. He torched the Bucks from deep in the bubble, hitting 22 of 51 3-pointers in Miami’s playoff romp over Milwaukee. If his eye light up at the sight of the Bucks again, he could be a key reason why Chris Paul finally gets a ring.