Boston Celtics: Brad Stevens’ plan for Tacko Fall is the exact right plan to have — here’s why

While countless fans would love to see the Boston Celtics play Tacko Fall in as many regular season games as possible in 2019-20, perhaps thrusting him into the deep end may not be the team’s best course of action. Brad Stevens appears more set on giving the 7-5 supergiant “swimming lessons” with the Maine Red Claws.

Since entering the league as an un-drafted free agent this past June, Tacko Fall has been a hot topic of discussion for many, if not all, Boston Celtics fans. At 7-5, the Senegalese native is already one of the tallest players to ever grace the hardwood in the NBA and, at just 23-years-old, is one of the league’s most meme’d about talents.

His ridiculous stature — 7-5, 311-pounds — alone makes him somewhat of a must roster in the league and, luckily, the Celtics pounced on the opportunity to sign the center. However, despite the potential that he brings, Fall is still a work in progress. At the moment, his offensive game is capped at alley-opp slams and put back dunks, his rebounding game, for his height, is not as impressive as it could be and his defensive prowess needs some fine tuning — don’t let his 2.4 blocks-per-game average in college fool you.

Now, this is not to say these attributes cannot be improved as Fall’s career progresses. Quite the opposite, in fact. With the proper tutelage, coupled with the right game settings, Tacko Fall should, at the very least, improve in both rebounding and defensive categories. And while some fans may want to see this progression happen while logging minutes in regular season action, it is most likely in his best interest to hone his skills, more often than not, with Boston’s G-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws.

According to Head Coach Brad Stevens, this is exactly their plan moving forward.

"“I mean we’ve played multiple games now down two bigs, and that’s only five games in,” said Stevens. “So now we’re going to have him come up for one day (at a time) a lot I think, rather than a week at a time or two weeks at a time.”"

Currently speaking, Tacko Fall finds himself on a two-way contract. This allows the rookie to play with the Red Claws, while also having the possibility of being called up to the Boston Celtics’ 15-man roster for a total of 45 games throughout the 2019-20 season. However, these games do not need to come all at once. Brad Stevens is aware of this, and appears fully content with calling up the supergiant center in short spurts when needed throughout the season.

In Maine, Fall will be coached by journeyman assistant coach Darren Erman who, for the past three years, saw himself working day in and day out with superstar big-man Anthony Davis while with the New Orleans Pelicans (2015-18). He also has experience working with Andrew Bogut, David Lee and Draymond Green during his time with Golden State (2009-14) and with Boston Celtics legend Kevin Garnett during his time in Beantown (2008-10).

Erman has his fair share of experience working with fantastic big-men over the years as an assistant in the league. Now he has a chance to take said experiences to the G-League as a Head Coach. This could turn out to be a real positive for Fall’s development.

Boston Celtics fans would love nothing more than to see Tacko Fall as a consistent participant on the team’s official 15-man roster, and hopefully one day he will be. But as of right now, Brad Stevens believes it is best for his development to garner significant playing time with the Maine Red Claws, while calling up his services periodically throughout the regular season.

I know for some, this may be a hard pill to swallow. However, in regard to his future with the Celtics, this is the perfect plan to have for the team’s 7-5 wunderkind.