Should the Boston Celtics consider Dragan Bender on a 10-day contract?

The Boston Celtics are in dire need of scoring depth after falling apart Tuesday night against the Nets. Could they roll the dice on a 2016 lottery pick?

It’s been a season of many ups and not as many downs for the Boston Celtics, but in recent times things haven’t been peachy. Two consecutive overtime losses have knocked the C’s off-course from their quest for the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Houston loss is forgivable, being that Russell Westbrook and James Harden have run roughshod over the league and the team fought hard until the last buzzer, with Daniel Theis even making a go-ahead shot after time expired. The Houdini is far less forgiving of the C’s losing to the Brooklyn Nets after bringing a 17-point lead into the fourth quarter.

What’s been clear in the two losses has been the lack of production outside of the starting lineup. No longer is Enes Kanter putting up double-doubles off the pine, and injuries have forced Marcus Smart into the first five.

That has left inexperienced NBA-ers like Grant Williams, Brad Wanamaker and Romeo Langford to pick up the scoring slack. Unfortunately, that has been too much of an ask, and Boston is beginning to show signs of weakness.

Perhaps the C’s were winning too much for Danny Ainge to realize just how flawed this roster is. Multiple deadlines have passed to make any transactions before the post-season that would help their bench woes. Luckily, the rotation will shrink as the NBA’s second season begins.

Until then, they can still make moves to improve their chances of winning in the regular season. While that may seem like a puzzling pivot, remember this; the #2 seed will have a first round playoff matchup with either the Brooklyn Nets (sans Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant) or the Orlando Magic and the #3 seed will have to get through two of the Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors en route to the conference finals and a likely collision with the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference finals.

With that in mind, would the Boston Celtics be willing to consider a former lottery pick who has had somewhat of a career renaissance in recent times…Dragan Bender?

Well, the C’s appear to have just as good of a shot to sign the #4 pick in the 2016 as all 29 other teams. The Golden State Warriors, his incumbent squad, doesn’t appear to be in any rush to bring him back like they did with Marquese Chriss or Damion Lee.

Why would the C’s pursue Bender you may ask?

Simple. Signing him now would give them a short-term boost and allow them to audition Bender for the future. All it would cost the team is one of their seldom used bench pieces (ideally Vincent Poirier or Javonte Green) and a 10-day commitment.

Danny Ainge has seemed content with his roster this season, and for the most part he should feel that way. Swapping Kyrie Irving for Kemba Walker has paid dividends, and giving Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown bigger roles has resulted in massive leaps from his lottery talents.

Making a minor change by giving a minimum 10-day commitment to a 22-year-old lottery pick that just averaged 7.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists over six games with Golden State is a no-brainer.

Steve Kerr has raved about him and after a few down years playing for a second-rate organization in Phoenix, he has shown flashes of brilliance playing in a competent culture in Golden State.

It’s a minimum investment on the Boston Celtics part for the opportunity to sign the barely legally-aged seven-footer to a multi-year deal on great value.

It is a better use of resources than continuing to roster Poirier, who even in a season where there have been injuries to multiple centers, has yet to earn consistent playing time in Brad Stevens’ rotation.