The Tyler Zeller Signing is Puzzling

The Boston Celtics brought Tyler Zeller back on a two-year deal

In his first season in Boston, Tyler Zeller had a huge role for the Celtics. He played in all 82 games and assumed the starting center role for a playoff team – 59 starts. He contributed a solid 10.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in 21.1 minutes and on 54.9 percent shooting. He also started all four games in the playoffs, however, his role was completely changed this past season.

The additions of Amir Johnson and Jonas Jerebko pushed him down the bench, as Zeller appeared in a career-low 60 games for the Celtics – starting three. While his efficiency was similar to his first year with the Celtics, Zeller only saw 11.8 minutes per night.

Despite the reduced role, and only playing in three of the six playoff games, the Boston Celtics re-signed the seven-footer. Zeller’s restricted free agent tag made it harder for teams to sign him, and the Celtics didn’t want to rescind their qualifying offer like they did with Jared Sullinger. Instead, they brought him back on a two-year deal worth $8 million per year, with a team option in year two.

Under the new salary cap, $8 million doesn’t make much of a dent and it also gives the team control over the following season. Surprisingly, this makes Zeller the fourth highest paid player on the Celtics. That’s the type of deal a lot of teams would have been willing to pay for Zeller’s services if he was an unrestricted free agent, though.

He adds size, still has room to grow as a player and has shown he can be a solid contributor off the bench. In fact, Zeller played very well when given the chance. His 18.5 points per 36 minutes was a career-high and nine rebounds per 36 minutes was just a tick under the 9.7 he averaged in his first season with Boston.

It was somewhat surprising that he didn’t see a bigger role last season. Despite his scoring being mostly done in the paint, – 43.4 percent of his shots came in the paint – Zeller made a big impact off the bench at times. In early April against the Milwaukee Bucks, he emerged as the team’s leading scorer with a career-high 26 points off the bench. He changed the momentum and gave the Celtics the extra boost they needed to pull away from the Bucks.

There were many games like that where he had a huge impact on the result, yet would return to his minimal role the next game. It may have been due to his mediocre defense and rebounding, especially when considering he’s seven-feet tall, but his size was something the Celtics couldn’t replicate and he didn’t make a lot of mistakes.

Zeller has averaged just 1.8 turnovers per 36 minutes over his four-year career. Although, he still fell out of the rotation and it’s hard to imagine he’ll see a bigger role this upcoming season, despite Boston giving him a decent amount of money.

Not only does Zeller take up a roster spot for a potential rookie, he could dig into Jordan Mickey‘s or another young player’s minutes. There’s no doubt that Brad Stevens loves what Zeller brings to the table. If not, he wouldn’t have played him in all 82 games in his first season and Zeller wouldn’t have been the opening night starter this past year.

Although, with Al Horford now on the team, Zeller became more expendable. Horford’s offensive game is a better version of Zeller’s, and he adds the size that Boston would have lost if Zeller decided to sign somewhere else.

Not to mention that the Celtics were already returning four big men from last season – Johnson, Jerebko, Kelly Olynyk and Jordan Mickey – and drafted Ben Bentil to go with Horford. Throw Zeller in the mix and Bentil will likely spend his rookie season in the D-League, and Mickey might have to wait in the shadows for another season.

Zeller won’t see the 21.1 minutes per game he saw in his first season with the Celtics, but Boston didn’t give him $8 million to be the 12th man on the bench or in Maine. With the Celtics bringing three of their four-man front court rotation back, and upgrading the fourth, there was possibly just enough minutes for Mickey, although now the Celtics will have to continue to make tough choices.

More from Hardwood Houdini

It’s possible that Zeller will assume the same role as last season, pushing Mickey back down to the D-League. This also makes Ben Bentil cracking the 15-man roster even less likely, even though he agreed on a partially guaranteed deal. Bentil was likely going to spend next season in Maine, but now it’s nearly certain.

Zeller is not a bad player by any means, but the Celtics already had very little wiggle room prior to this move. Even though Zeller still has room to grow as a player, it’s hard to predict that he’ll do much more than what he’s shown in his four years. On the other hand, Mickey has yet to show what he’s capable of at an NBA level, but his projected defensive-oriented game is a much better fit for what the Celtics need.

If Boston didn’t have as much depth then bringing Zeller back for $8 million wouldn’t have been bad. He knows the system, is willing to take a minimal role off the bench and is fairly cheap. Although, in the end, the Celtics had enough problems on their hands trying to decide which rookies to give an NBA contract to.

Next: Recap of the Celtics Busy July 23

Now, they have one less roster spot to work with and their potential future rim protector might end up playing in the D-League for a second straight season. Even more surprisingly, they didn’t bring back Jared Sullinger for $2 million less – who was their leading rebounder last season. Stevens and the front office must really like what Zeller brings to the table, and will surely use him this upcoming season.

Home/Celtics News