Could Danny Ainge have another surprise up his sleeve and go after Jahlil Okafor?
There has been all kinds of talk about the vacant roster spot for the Boston Celtics, and they really are running out of options. Andrew Bogut appeared to be the simplest route, but he is now with the Lakers.
More and more small names are dropping out of the market, and it feels as though the Celtics have no interest in any of them. Training camp and the preseason is just around the corner, and the Celtics have enough continuity issues as is.
The next name in line to speculate about is now Jahlil Okafor. His start with the 76ers has been about as disastrous as anyone could have imagined, and it was recently reported that the 76ers are seeing if there is any interest from the league.
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Danny Ainge cashed in his top assets, but he still has all kinds of draft picks. It is easy to tell that there is very little interest in Okafor, and the 76ers have absolutely no leverage.
If Ainge wants Okafor, he knows he can go out and get him. The problem is that not many people believe anyone wants Okafor right now.
The biggest problem is that Okafor has always been lacking with the defensive effort, and that is one of the biggest red flags for Stevens. That being said, they have one of the most uncertain front courts in the NBA, and why not take a chance on a once top prospect that many believed had elite potential on the offensive end.
The Celtics do not need this last roster spot to have any kind of role. Stevens already has plenty of players that he needs to figure out, and that makes this list spot as low risk as possible.
At this point, it is hard to imagine anyone being left out there that is considerably better than Okafor, and it is hard to imagine there will be any with his unlikely high end upside.
Okafor has never really had a chance to properly showcase what he can do. The problem is also that Okafor will have to be a lot better to get noticed on the Celtics than most teams, and it feels as lot like a useless addition.
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For me, if the Celtics can get him for an inconsequential draft pick, then why not use the last roster spot on something that could surprise a lot of people, rather than another garbage time bench warmer.