Boston Celtics: “Pass or Pursue” on 5 recently rumored TPE targets
By Mark Nilon
Proposed TPE target for Boston Celtics No. 2) Thaddeus Young
Next up, we see a player at a position that actually could use for some filling in power forward, Thaddeus Young.
The 32-year-old finds himself as the elder presence on the young and rebuilding Chicago Bulls squad in 2020-21. Though he’s posting solid averages of 10.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.3 steals per game on 56 percent shooting from the field, because of their desire to focus on their future, it is highly likely that Chicago looks to move the veteran at some point this season and, should this happen, Maloney believes the Boston Celtics should be interested.
"Again, it’s hard to find a player that brings shooting, size and defense, and Young is not really much of a 3-point threat — 26.3 percent this season and 33.2 percent for his career. But he would definitely provide the latter two aspects for the Celtics. In fact, they’d be hard-pressed to find a better defensive option than Young, who is one of the most versatile and underrated players on that side of the ball in the league."
While his lackadaisical long-range shooting this year is a bit concerning, looking at his previous four seasons, Young has shot about 35 percent or better three times, which shows that he does have the capability of being a consistent stretch four, especially if he gets less pressure from the defense should he have teammates like, say, Tatum, Brown, and Walker on the court with him.
All this, coupled with his sound amount of postseason experience coupled with his only partially guaranteed contract for next season, taking on the power forward for the duration of this season could prove to be a solid move that deserves consideration.