The Boston Celtics have an end-of-the-bench reserve in Vincent Poirier hoping for more playing time in the 2020-21 season for the Cs.
If you have followed Hardwood Houdini this offseason–and really even before the 2019-20 season ended as well–you’d know that we have been looking to offload several pieces from the end of the Boston Celtics bench in the name of clearing up roster space for the potential for three first-round draft picks, converted two-way contracts for Tremont Waters and Tacko Fall, and, in general, more leeway for ring-chasing free agents to join the hunt for banner #18.
Vincent Poirier is a name we almost always deal in hypothetical trade scenarios. The reasoning is simple: his $2.5 million salary can be used in aggregation with other smaller deals to land a mid-level trade target, and he wouldn’t exactly be leaving an established role behind in Beantown.
Poirier failed to make much of an impact in his first professional season stateside, spending much of his time at the end of the bench.
Apparently, he doesn’t want to serve in that role any longer:
Vincent Poirier seems unwilling to spend another year out of the Boston rotation. Google translate with the assist:
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) November 11, 2020
“I just told him that I will do a year like this but not two … In my head it's obvious that I'm not doing one more season at the end of the bench to applaud." https://t.co/Jk3JGUi30I
If Poirier is unwilling to accept that there may not be a larger role on the Boston Celtics, a split seems inevitable. Few teams have an immediate position for the French center to step into, but getting traded into the right situation could potentially enable him to play his way into someone’s rotation.
Who knows what team that is, but it sounds like Poirier may soon see for himself, considering the lack of a ready-to-contribute role in Beantown this upcoming season.