Boston Celtics: B/R sees Julius Randle as answer to C’s frontcourt problem

Despite their recent disappointing loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night, the Boston Celtics are still seen as a legitimate contender to take home the Larry O’Brien trophy in 2021.

Frankly, with guys like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kemba Walker in tow, this should come as no shock.

That said, since the initial tip-off of the season, the road to attaining the Eastern Conference crown by year’s end has seemingly become a bit more challenging, as the Brooklyn Nets went about and took part in a blockbuster trade to land NBA superstar James Harden, thus formulating arguably the most talented big-3 in league history with him now running alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

As rumor has it, the shamrocks could have been in the running to land the star guard but pulled out due to the price being higher than what Danny Ainge was willing to part with.

While we here at HH actually commend Boston’s front office for being safe in this scenario, this is not to say we don’t hope the team makes a trade at some point this season to help their roster better combat the star power the rest of the NBA’s top dogs possess.

Over the past few months, we’ve discussed ways the Cs can attempt to bolster their roster moving forward, with our favorite means coming in the shape of utilizing their historically high TPE.

Bleacher Report recently brought up a trade target they believe could help fix Boston’s biggest weakness within their roster, which they claim to be power forward position.

That target: Julius Randle.

B/R things Julius Randle would be a problem solver for the Boston Celtics

Citing his offensive versatility and fit within the $28.5 million in cap space available on the roster, writer Greg Swartz believes that the seventh-year big could be the ideal target for the Boston Celtics:

"Julius Randle, 26, is assembling the best season of his career (22.5 points, 11.3 rebounds, 6.0 assists per game, 35.6 percent from three) for the New York Knicks. His long-term future with the franchise was in doubt after the team selected power forward Obi Toppin at No. 8 overall this past draft, meaning Randle could be available via trade.The Celtics’ $28.5 million trade exception from the Gordon Hayward sign-and-trade is more than enough to absorb Randle’s $18.9 million salary, so the sides wouldn’t have to match money when deciding on compensation.A starting unit of Walker, Brown, Tatum, Randle and Thompson would fit together beautifully while containing better spacing and ball movement overall."

On paper, this starting lineup actually does look pretty menacing. That said, when looking into how all these players like to operate — specifically Walker, Brown, Tatum, and Randle — the union just does not seem like it would ever work.

All four of these aforementioned guys are offensive-minded ballers. Yes, Tatum and Brown are also tremendous defenders, but their role on the more glamorous side of the ball is as the main scorers, with Walker serving right in that mix.

Randle’s presence would obviously take away shots from these scoring machines, but that’s not really the biggest issue.

Perhaps the greatest concern the Houdini has about this hypothetical partnering is the fact that Randle thrives as the primary ball-handler on his ball club.

Whether it’s smart to do so or not, the 26-year-old is constantly finding himself bringing the ball up the court with the New York Knicks and is in charge of setting up the offense.

Already with the Boston Celtics, we see Kemba Walker and Jayson Tatum both heavily invested in this aspect of the game. Luckily Brown is completely fine with playing predominantly off-ball, but bringing on a guy like Randle would bring fewer touches for all three of these studs who are at their best with the ball in their hands.

Yes, power forward is certainly a weak spot within the rotation for the Cs, but Julius Randle should not be seen as the answer to this problem.