Missing piece: Boston Celtics need to develop a center
By Damon Bailey
The center position isn’t as valuable as it used to be in the NBA, but recent history shows that a team seldom makes a championship run without a serviceable big. With the offseason coming closer to its end, the time is now to take a look at the need for the Boston Celtics to develop a young big man on their roster.
It’s grown nearly impossible to build a team around a true center in the modern NBA. Anthony Davis prefers to play power forward, Nikola Jokic practically plays point-center, and Giannis Antetokounmpo is position-less. With the dawn of the modern NBA, the value of the stereotypical big-man has crashed and settled at an all-time low. Much like the running back in the NFL, NBA teams (including most notably the Boston Celtics) have opted to spend money on other positions with the center position considered an afterthought.
You can’t just rack up points and rebounds anymore. You have to offer another skill. Can he shoot? Does he protect the rim? What’s his +/-? How does he do fighting around switches? These are all questions that have to be raised before a team invests in a big man during this era.
With the dearth of quality free agent centers and the ill-advised trade ideas that have been floated in some circles, it seems as though the options are limited. This leaves us with the cheapest and old fashioned way to nab a solid starting center: draft and develop.
It’s worked for the Rockets (Clint Capela), Nets (Jarrett Allen), and many other competitive teams who have buoyed their lineups with young, defensive centers.
When the Boston Celtics picked up Enes Kanter this summer they knew what kind of move it was: low risk, moderate reward. Kanter has never played more than 30 mpg in a season and has been complimented best when paired with a defensive minded big. In fact, his +/- when spending more than 90% of his minutes at center is abysmal compared to when he acts as a complimentary big.
According to Basketball Reference, the last team to start Kanter in more than half of their games was the 2015-2016 New York Knicks. It’s a safe bet to assume that Boston doesn’t want to emulate that game plan.
By signing Kanter and letting Horford/Baynes walk, Danny Ainge has placed a bet that only pays off if one of the young big men in the Boston Celtics organization develops into a defensive force. The odds on favorite for this role is the highly athletic, slightly perplexing Robert Williams. Dark horse candidates include fan-favorite Tacko Fall and international signing Vincent Poirier of Baskonia. The energy Daniel Theis brings is obvious, but he doesn’t have the size or athleticism to consistently defend the rim against top-tier players.
Aside from this season, the development of a big man is an excellent value play for the future. It prevents the Boston Celtics from overpaying in free agency going forward and it allows the team to polish up a trade chip should an elite player be thrown onto the trade block by a struggling franchise in the coming seasons.
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One of these young centers needs to take a step forward if the Boston Celtics want to form a well-anchored defense. Otherwise, the fans at TD Garden will be witness to a porous front court for the foreseeable future.