Boston Celtics: 5 free agent targets for the mid-level exception

Paul Millsap, PF/C

While he still serves as a starter on a Denver Nuggets team that is still in contention (although that statement may depend on how you feel about their Game 1 walloping by LA), Paul Millsap isn’t likely to have a robust market when he hits free agency after this offseason.

The teams with cap space (Atlanta, New York, Charlotte) have no need to spend big on an undersized and aging big man who is approaching the twilight years of his career. Contenders with limited money to spend make more sense for a veteran who shot a blistering 43 percent on 3-pointers in 2019-20.

With the Nuggets set to feel the sting of Jamal Murray’s extension and potentially pricey new deals for Mason Plumlee, Monte Morris, and/or P.J. Dozier, Millsap could be had this offseason for cheap. If that is the case, he is a justifiable veteran frontcourt presence that could either be a small-ball center or a true power forward in Brad Stevens’ lineup.

Aron Baynes, C

While he may seem foreign because of his beardless face, that clean-shaven bloke in the above photo is Australian center Aron Baynes back during his days playing for the title-winning San Antonio Spurs. Of course, Boston Celtics fans known Baynes as the Dothraki-looking brute who cleaned up the glass and intimidated opposing rim-runners the past two years at the TD Garden for the home team.

Like Millsap, Baynes is a very easily justifiable expense. He may be offered more on the open market, but if Ainge could convince Baynes to return on a one-year deal to maximize his stats with the coach that turned him into a respectable 3-point shooter–before cashing out in 2021 free agency–Boston would embrace the return of the Aussie.