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Yes, the Boston Celtics agreed to sign star point guard Kemba Walker as free agency opened up on Sunday evening, but as great as Walker is and as much as he will bring to the locker room, the move felt hollow.
Not because Walker would be replacing Kyrie Irving, who agreed to join the Brooklyn Nets, but because Boston lost linchpin Al Horford to the Philadelphia 76ers, traded sturdy backup center Aron Baynes to the Phoenix Suns, and will likely lose Marcus Morris to free agency, as well.
Basically, what made the Celtics look so incredible going into this past season was their depth, but now, Boston has a very thin roster that does not go much deeper than its starting five.
Sure, there is still plenty of time left in free agency, and the C's will almost certainly add a big man and a couple of other cheap pieces, but the Celtics have gone from being the class of the East to a virtual afterthought in a matter of nine months.
While Boston still has some great young talent in the form of guys like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, and Robert Williams, not to mention rookies such as Romeo Langford and Grant Williams, the C's have so many question marks at the moment.
The biggest might be how Gordon Hayward will play next season, as his first year back from his gruesome ankle injury was anything but smooth sailing. Also, the front-court has gone from incredibly tough, rugged, and loaded to completely empty aside from the two young Williams', and with Terry Rozier also gone, there is no real backup point guard on the roster.
To be fair, this team is probably still better than the Isaiah Thomas-led Celtics team that won 48 games back in 2016, but given how that squad lost in the first round of the playoffs, that's not saying all that much.
This club definitely has more potential than that iteration of Boston, but still, it's clear as day that the C's are not even remotely close to being title contenders, and while they have erased the Boston free agency stigma by landing three top-tier free agents since 2016 (Horford, Hayward and Walker), it's going to be difficult for the Celtics to quickly reach the point where they were as loaded as they were heading into this past season.
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Replacing Irving with Walker should certainly be seen as a positive, as while Walker is definitely not better than Irving, it's not a huge dropoff, and Walker is an incredible locker room guy who should make a great impact on Boston's youngsters.
As a result, guys like Tatum and Brown could potentially break out this season, as the C's should not have the same toxic atmosphere in their locker room that they had this past year with all of the clashing of egos.
So that's good, and it's a step in the right direction.
But the Celtics weren't supposed to be taking steps in the right direction; they were supposed to be contending for championships, and even if the addition of Walker is exciting and could allow Tatum and Brown to flourish, Boston is still a long way away from being seriously relevant.
And that is probably the last thing we thought we would be saying nine months ago.
