Boston Celtics: 2 potential low-cost replacements for Kemba Walker

Potential Boston Celtics starting point guard No. 2) Elfrid Payton

Like we stated in the opening slide, the Boston Celtics will have little cap room to work with this offseason, hence why we started out with a commodity already on their payroll in Pritchard as a cheap option to consider.

However, should they look to the free agency market for a potential low-cost flier to serve starter’s minutes, a seventh-year veteran floor general in Elfrid Payton could be both within their price range and, on paper, quite a nice fit within the team’s rotation.

Yes, we’re quite aware of the lowly season from a statistical standpoint the point guard is having, averaging 11.2 points, 3.4 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game but, in theory, this could turn out to work in the C’s favor should they believe this level of play to be somewhat of a fluke and they wish to name him on the low.

Now, of course we’re not under the impression that Payton is this great guard who can guide a franchise on his own and take over games. That said, with the fact that the team has two All-Stars in tow already in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, they wouldn’t need him to be such a player anyway.

What the Celtics could use is a player who can properly set up their franchise cornerstones for easy and quality looks at a bucket. Frankly, the team as a whole could use for such a talent, as they rank an underwhelming 24th in the league in assists per game while ranking within the top-10 in isolation-play frequency.

In truth, the 27-year-old’s struggles are predominantly due to the fact that New York tends to take away his on-ball duties and, instead, give them to their point-forward, Julius Randle, forcing him to play off-ball which is just simply not his strong suit.

Traditionally, a Stevens-led system is run through a lead point guard, and though he may not be the shooter that Boston is used to, his pass-first mentality could be of great service to this stationary offense.

For his career, Payton boasts per-game averages of 11 points, 6.2 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.3 steals on 45 percent shooting from the field while holding a 33% assist percentage.

We’ve been saying for a while now that a quality set-up artist could be a sound and much-needed addition to this team, and a guy like Elfrid Payton would likely be a low-cost option for this team to consider trying out.