Brad Stevens

FILE: Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Boston, Friday, Nov. 7, 2014.

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

In what should come as no surprise, Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens singled out shooting as an area he hopes his team can upgrade this offseason.

During a recent interview with Celtics.com's Marc D'Amico, Stevens said, "Our shooting needs to improve."

The Celtics occasionally pieced together beautiful stretches with the ball sizzling around the perimeter and open players knocking down shots, but still finished the regular season 27th in 3-point shooting percentage. Isaiah Thomas proved to be a catalyst after a midseason trade, but even his presence failed to boost Boston's percentages -- actually, the Celtics shot almost exactly the same clip from the perimeter with or without him on the court.

Thomas did rip open the defense with hard drives to the paint, and the Celtics shot a load more threes with him on the court -- a testament not only to how he helps, but also the skilled players Stevens liked to place around his stud sixth man. Stevens prefers a pace-and-space attack that emphasizes skill, ball movement and shooting, but he needs more players who can put the ball through the basket. Of the regulars who finished the season in Boston, only Jonas Jerebko -- a backup power forward who averaged 18.2 minutes per game -- shot significantly better (40.6 percent) than league average (35.0 percent) from the arc. Avery Bradley led the big-minute Celtics at 35.2 percent -- a number bettered by 10 teams.

"That is something that I think we can improve with work in the summer," Stevens said. "Certainly you can improve it with roster additions, but I think that all of our guys can improve their numbers, and can raise their shooting profile."

Though Jerebko could move on as a free agent, there is reason to believe Boston can improve internally. Thomas scored at an incredible rate with the Celtics, but actually managed the worst 3-point percentage of his career -- that could be due to a small sample size (21 games played) or the big burden of carrying so many offensive responsibilities. Especially if president of basketball operations Danny Ainge can acquire some talented pieces this summer, Thomas should bounce back toward the mean.

Bradley has already become a very good midrange shooter, and has worked to extend his range. He should continue to take -- and likely make -- more threes as his game evolves. Up and down the rest of the roster, the Celtics are stacked with young players who should emphasize shooting near the top of their offseason priorities. Marcus Smart, Jae Crowder, Jared Sullinger -- none of those guys are shy, but all need to work on their accuracy. Kelly Olynyk goes through stretches of offensive awesomeness, but needs to convince himself to be a consistent weapon. James Young is considered a shooter, but needs to prove himself in other areas to make a difference next season.

With Thomas on the court, the Celtics launched more 3-pointers per 48 minutes as the league leaders in that category, the Houston Rockets. That is presumably the shot profile Stevens prefers -- a Moneyball strategy of mostly 3-pointers, layups and free throws. Ainge has already said he will target playmaking/scoring this summer, a wise move, and shooting is part of that.

If the Boston front office gets its wish, some of the playing time reserved for Brandon Bass (a free agent) and Evan Turner will go elsewhere -- a change that would almost certainly make the Celtics more capable from deep. Among high-minute lineups across the NBA, the starting group with Bass and Turner finished the season as one of the most offensively inept. That unit was rarely used beyond the first six minutes of each half, but it couldn't get to the line and didn't shoot threes -- essentially, it spat in the face of every smart NBA trend.

"We've gotta continue to improve our skill," Stevens said. "We've gotta continue to improve our experience level, decision-making, all that stuff that goes into winning in a game against that level of talent (like the Cleveland Cavaliers). And we can. I think we will. I'm sure we'll make some roster additions that we think will improve us, but I think the most important thing is continuing to develop this group."