Boston Celtics: 2 free-agents Cs should avoid indefinitely

Free-agent to avoid indefinitely No. 2: Marc Gasol, C

Unlike Austin Rivers, a guy with Marc Gasol‘s skill set would fit the Boston Celtics quite nicely and, frankly, has been something they have been longing for all season.

With career averages of 14.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.4 blocks per game on 48 percent shooting from the floor and 36 percent shooting from deep, Gasol’s proven style of play would fit in very well with the shamrocks.

Only problem is, it’s not 2017 anymore.

By the end of just the second month of next season, Gasol will be 36-years-old.

Though he is proving to still be relatively effective as the Toronto Raptors’ starting five — averaging 7.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and just shy of a block per game on 42 percent shooting from the floor and 40 percent shooting from deep — it’s evident that they, too, will likely look to upgrade at the position this offseason, but will have much more flexibility with their cap room and, in turn, could strike on one of this year’s top available bigs.

With this in mind, if the Raptors were to part with Gasol, he would find himself positioned alongside Rivers within the open market’s “bargain bin”, as he still is an effective shooter, rebounder & defender and could theoretically be had at either the MLE or, better yet, the veteran’s minimum.

And yes, one could certainly make the argument that his game, coupled with his veteran leadership skills and experience — saw seven postseason appearances, four deep playoff runs, and won an NBA champion — would benefit this young (ninth youngest roster in the league) and talented Boston Celtics squad, but it would just be a waste of money.

We always argue that the Cs should seriously look into upgrading at the pivot, as they’ll likely have to go through the dominant bigs of the league (Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Nikola Vucevic, Anthony Davis — if they were to meet in the Finals –, etc). And yes, we also say Boston should look into a big-bodied, defensive-minded presence to combat these aforementioned talents.

But, at his age coupled with his mobility drastically trending-downward and the likely scenario in which they could simply add a player such as this in the 2020 NBA Draft — they hold the rights to three first-rounders –, the pairing just doesn’t seem right.

If he still wants to play moving forward, there’s no doubt he’ll make his way onto an NBA roster — I personally believe he would be a great backup to Nikola Jokic in Denver. However, in regard to his chances of winding up in Beantown, they should be slim to none.