People have been speculating what the Boston Celtics will do when free agency begins on June 30. We don’t know where Kyrie Irving and Al Horford will end up, but we do know that the Celtics will look very different for the 2019-2020 season.
Boston drafted some quality players, but president of basketball operations Danny Ainge may have confirmed what we already believed about his free agency strategy. There were two major takeaways about Celtics’ free agency plans based on the players they drafted.
Boston will pursue a big in free agency:
The Celtics had plenty of opportunities to take power forwards and centers in this draft such as Mfiondu Kabengele, Bruno Fernando, Nicolas Claxton and Bol Bol. Instead, the only forward the Celtics drafted was Grant Williams, who is an undersized power forward that might end up playing on the wing a decent amount.
If Boston moved up in the draft, they may have selected a big man, but it is now apparent that they will focus on acquiring a big when free agency begins. I think the Celtics made the right call here, considering the power forwards and centers on the free agent market are much better than the players that were available to Boston in the draft.
The Celtics should specifically go after Nikola Vucevic, who is coming off his first all-star season. Vucevic is a powerful player and a machine on the boards.
Vucevic has also shown an ability to get it done on the offensive end as he averaged over 20 points per game this season. Vucevic’s physical playing style would be a much-needed addition to Boston after the departure of Aron Baynes and possibly Horford.
Kyrie Irving is leaving, and the point guard hunt begins:
As if we didn’t think Irving was already heading out, the Celtics pull the trigger on two point guards in this year’s draft. Carsen Edwards and Tremont Waters are both small point guards, but they are very quick and agile with the ball.
With the uncertainty surrounding Terry Rozier, it makes sense that the Celtics would take their chances on a few point guards in the draft. My sense is that the Celtics will look to resign Rozier, but they drafted two point guards just in case they are unsuccessful.
While Edwards and Waters are similar in some ways, they have a key difference. Edwards is more of a score-first point guard and Waters is more of a facilitator. It was smart to draft two point guards with different playing styles, but they will both play behind Rozier if he returns.
Once again, I believe the Celtics had a solid draft, but they made their free agency plans even more obvious. Now the Celtics must take action and execute their plan.