Boston Celtics: 2 immediate roster moves Cs should consider

Boston Celtics cut Luke Kornet, sign Skal Labissiere

So the first move we have here is Boston cutting bait with Luke Kornet much in the same way they did with Moritz Wagner recently. It is clear that Daniel Theis wasn’t earning a long-term deal with the team, but the two guys Danny Ainge acquired for him at the deadline don’t figure to be keepers either.

Kornet got action in the team’s latest loss to Chicago, his former team, and didn’t do much in the minutes he was on the floor. He missed his only 3-point shot, and recorded just two rebounds.

Now you may be thinking: but would Skal Labissiere really contribute much more? And the answer would be this: maybe not.

But at the very least, the ceiling for the former John Calipari-coached University of Kentucky Wildcat is higher than Kornet, a former Vanderbilt Commodore.

The prestige and level of recruiting at each basketball program notwithstanding, Labissiere was a first-round pick that co-starred on a successful UK team alongside Jamal Murray. He fell in the draft, but has actually had a decent NBA career, with his counting stats including 5.8 points, five rebounds, an assists, and a block in 17 minutes per game. That includes a 50/35/75 shooting slash. Decent.

The big man served as the de facto center in college but profiled as a more traditional 4 in the NBA. After a down year from the floor with Portland, Labissiere is now in the G-League’s Westchester Knicks. Their season is over, though, and he is out there on the FA market.

Much in the same way Jabari Parker’s scoring potential is being unlocked with the Boston Celtics, perhaps Labissiere’s floor-stretching best-case scenarios could come to fruition in Brad Stevens’ offense. Aron Baynes’ and Al Horford’s certainly did.